Golfers shoot it out across Sisters

A little wind, a little rain, a little snow - the vagaries of a Sisters Country spring did not deter the 308 golfers who rolled into town last weekend for the Central Oregon Shootout.

The annual event featured two-person teams playing multiple rounds in a round-robin format at three Sisters Country courses: Black Butte Ranch, Aspen Lakes, and Eagle Crest.

Golf pro Tom Baker of Black Butte Ranch notes that 85 percent of the golfers are from out of the area.

"We get people from California, we get people from the coast, people from Washington," he said. "Only a few local people play it."

That translates into a lot of golf tourism dollars. National averages indicate that a golfer on vacation can spend between $1,000 and $2,000 a day.

"Between housing, food, people going out to eat, yeah, it's a good thing," Baker said.

Rob Malone, director of golf at Aspen Lakes, which hosted this year's opening reception, said the heavy out-of-town contingent is explained by the season.

"On the west side of the mountains, they're already a little bit further into the golf season than we are," he said.

"It's kind of a guys' weekend," he noted.

Of the 154 pairs that played, only 14 were women.

The weather wasn't Central Oregon's best, but the golfers soldiered on. Sunday was a bit of a challenge.

"Guys were pretty darn cold," Malone said. "It was snowing sideways sometimes."

The Central Oregon Shootout has been rolling since 2003.