The last time a women’s city golf tournament was contested, a total of four ladies entered the competition and only two came back to finish the second day.
That was three years ago. There was no city tournament in 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted any hopes of a return in 2020.
This year, Otter Creek PGA golf professional Tim Davis is going to try something new. Davis is planning to tie this year’s city tournament to a charity, much like the PGA and LPGA Tournaments do, and have both a competitive and non-competitive division.
“We want to build on the growth of women’s golf and take the tournament concept back to the grassroots of PGA Tour and LPGA Tour golf, which is combining the concept of a charity component around a competitive event,” Davis said.
The tournament, which originally was scheduled for next weekend, has been moved to Sept. 25 at Greenbelt and Sept. 26 at Otter Creek. A non-competitive division will play nine holes on Sept. 26, at the same time as the final round of the competitive division.
“Without a major change, I don’t think it can be any different,” Davis said. “When numbers go down, down, down, I don’t know what we’re going to do to change it. So if there happens to be 40 non-competitive golfers, maybe next year, five of them are going to play in the competitive division.”
All entry fees are $65, and that will include greens fees, hors d’oeuvrers, drinks and live music. Proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Center of Columbus.
“The big thing of it is, the money is going to go for a cause,” Davis said. “To grow the numbers, we have to go back to the giving, and then we’ll see the competitive side go up. But I don’t care how many we get on the competitive side as long as that check that we’re giving keeps growing.”
Davis is forming a committee consisting of himself, Greenbelt pro Keith VanDeventer, 2018 city women’s champion Mary Sturgill, Amy Henderson and Kay Leonard to help iron out details.
An entry form will be finalized over the weekend. Davis said he has a few feelers out for a sponsor for the event.
“I’m willing to take the jump off the bridge to see if this will happen because I don’t know if it will fail or succeed,” Davis said. “We’re hoping to get more women in the city of Columbus together out for the camaraderie. The template has been written at golf’s highest level. Let’s follow it and start our own.”
