Kiwanis golf tourney a success

Finalists (left-right): Cliff Shrock, Dean Daugherty, Jim Sandoz, John Brown (kneeling), Dale Mitchell, Glenn Keeran, Scott Lacross, Dick Kalac, Tim Calmettes, Terry Hannigor.

The annual Kiwanis Hole-in-One golf tournament, held Friday through Sunday, July 26-28 at Aspen Lakes was a success despite difficulties created by the Cache Mountain Fire.

"The smoke was heavy at times and participants were distracted by their concerns about the fire," according to Kiwanian Allan Boyette.

"Nevertheless, golfers tend to be passionate about their game and a good number of them came and participated in the tournament, though not as many as last year," Boyette said.

Golfers qualified for the semifinals by hitting a ball approximately 100 yards into a six-foot circle around a golf hole. Ninety-three balls made it into the circle.

Two contestants, Bill Kalac and Glenn Keeran, got a "bye" straight into the final event by each hitting a hole-in-one.

To qualify for the finals, each semi-finalist had the opportunity to shoot to the same golf hole. The contest was to be the closest to the pin. Based on this criteria, 10 finalists were chosen.

All 10 contestants, judges, and observers then moved over to the 152 yard, par three eighth hole at Aspen Lakes, where the final event was held.

Five flags were waiting on the green. Each finalist had one shot to get the ball in one of the five holes. Each flag represented a different prize. The prizes were a new Honda CRV donated by Bob Thomas Honda of Bend, a Chevrolet 4WD pickup truck donated by Dave Hamilton of Redmond, a Fleetwood Pride 28 foot fifth wheel recreational vehicle donated by Big Country RV, and two Arctic Cat 500 ATVs with trailer donated by Central Oregon Workensport.

John Brown got a roar from the audience when his ball rolled past the $1 million dollar jackpot hole, missing it by just eight inches. Everyone gasped when Scott Lacrosse dropped his ball, on the fly, almost directly into the Chevy truck hole, missing it by about three inches. Then, Tim Calmettes wowed the crowd by bouncing his ball off one of the flag sticks.

Though the competition was fierce, nobody won one of the big five prizes.

There were a number of assorted consolation prizes.

The finalists were: first place -- John Brown; second -- Scott Lacross; third -- Tim Calmettes; fourth -- Cliff Shrock; fifth -- Dick Kalac; sixth -- Terry Hannigor; seventh -- Glenn Keeran; eighth -- Jim Sandoz; ninth -- Dean Daugherty; 10th -- Dale Mitchell.

This year, Sisters Kiwanis raised $7,400 dollars, which will be added to the Community Ball Field Project Fund. Construction of the ball fields is expected to begin in conjunction with the new Sisters High School.