News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
More than 120 golfers hit the links at Aspen Lakes Golf Course on Friday to support Sisters school sports through the annual Outlaw Open.
The open has been the primary fundraiser for the Outlaws football program for the past 13 years. In recent years, other sports programs have also received support. This year, the equestrian team, the lacrosse program, softball and girls basketball will receive funds raised through the Outlaw Open.
Altogether, the tourney has raised some $250,000.
The Cyrus family, owners of Aspen Lakes, offers up the course at no charge for the afternoon. The donation of the course adds up to about $10,000 in value, according to manager Grant Cyrus.
It's a donation the family is happy to make, he said.
"It helps out the schools," he said.
According to football coach Bob Macauley, the Cyruses have been partners from the start.
Macauley was scrambling to raise funds for football through a variety of small-scale efforts and "banging my head against the wall," he said.
"That's when the Cyruses, 13 years ago, opened up their course to us," he said. "Actually, then it was a nine-hole course."
The fundraiser got off to a lousy start. It was scheduled in the ideal golfing month of May. Some days, it's gorgeous, a foretaste of summer. Other days it's ... not.
On the day of the tournament, Sisters Country brewed up a sleet storm. "Oh, man, it was brutal," Macauley said.
The coach offered golfers a deal: $50 to play; $65 to go home.
Despite the weather snafu, the fundraiser survived, rescheduled to June and it has now become a Sisters tradition.
This year's 120-plus golfers experienced a chilly, breezy day, but the event was a success.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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