4
Wednesday, April 6, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tourney will bring many to Sisters
Not long ago, the Central
Oregon Shootout was a small
tournament that was barely a
blip on the Central Oregon
golf radar.
Fourteen years and a lot
of hard work by the three
participating golf facili-
ties, including Aspen Lakes
Golf Course in Sisters, and
the 54-hole tournament has
formed into a prized tradi-
tion and the second-largest
golf tournament in Central
Oregon.
The Central Oregon
Shootout will tee off again
April 21-24, in what will
again be a full field of more
than 300 golfers.
The two-golfer team tour-
nament features one round
of scramble, one round of
best ball and a final-round
Chapman spread over three
weekend days. The tour-
nament also includes one
gross division, four net divi-
sions and ladies net and
gross payouts. And each
round is played at a different
course: Aspen Lakes, Black
Butte Ranch’s Big Meadow
course, and Eagle Crest
Resort.
This unique team format
has helped turn the tourna-
ment into a success, Rob
Malone, Aspen Lakes’ direc-
tor of golf said. Groups of
teams, representing Oregon
cities such Astoria, La
Grande, and Portland, as well
as Seattle, travel to Central
Oregon each year to partici-
pate in the tournament.
“It really is about the
✃
camaraderie,” Malone said.
“We have a number of groups
that come from different cit-
ies and come with a lot of
teams. For them, the tourna-
ment is a chance for a group
of buddies to come and enjoy
the team format. It really is
about the camaraderie and
the fun that they have golfing
together.”
The character of the tour-
nament has evolved in its
14 years. For instance, the
tournament has hosted an
increasing number of mixed-
gender teams, including mar-
ried couples playing together.
Otherwise, not much has
changed in recent years.
“The players enjoy the
way the tournament is, and
we’ve been told by those
players to not make any sig-
nificant changes because we
might mess it up,” Malone
said.
The Central Oregon
Shootout has proven to be
a boon for the economy of
Sisters and the surrounding
area. The tournament attracts
between 320 and 340 play-
ers each year, and about 85
percent travel from outside
Central Oregon.
According to an annual
players survey, each par-
ticipant spends on average
nearly $1,000 on lodging,
entertainment, food and
more. That figure does not
include the tournament’s
$300 entry fee.
“It was designed to be a
season-opening tournament
that will bring in a number
✃
OONEO
Y
N
OA
F
F
O
O
%
50
TEM!O
ORYOI AIR OonO
ACCES OR S EN
TALO&OREP
AlsoO SALES,
ruments
indsO&ObrassOinst
strings,Owoodw
541-323-2332O
✃
✃
1531ONEO3rdOSt.OBend
Expires 6/30/16. Coupon required. Restrictions apply.
Music Nights!
Proudly sponsors a night of music every
Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Cork Cellars!
Bill Powers
April 15th Ed Fitzjarrell, Joe Leonardi
& Fiddler Bob Baker
April 22nd NT T
April 29th Brad Tisdel
Come enjoy the fun!
April 8th
of players during what would
typically be a slow time: the
shoulder season between
winter sports and summer
sports,” Malone said. “And
it has been a shot in the arm
for the golf courses, the res-
taurants and the area hotels
during the early part of the
spring.”
For a $300-per-player
entry fee, each competitor
plays three rounds of golf
with cart at three of Central
Oregon’s most coveted golf
courses. The entry fee also
includes tee prizes, merchan-
dise, as well as continental
breakfast and lunch each day.
The prize payout is expected
to be more than $20,000 in
kind, meaning a third of the
field can expect cash after
the tournament.
The deadline to enter is
April 16, if space remains
available. Already more than
120 teams have signed up.
All entrants need is an offi-
cial handicap (maximum of
36 for men, 42 for women)
and a maximum six-stroke
differential between partners.
For more information
or to register, download
the information flyer and
registration form at www.
aspenlakes.com
Central Oregon
author wins award
Rick Steber’s book “A
Better Man” has been selected
as the winner of the Best
Regional Non-Fiction Award
for 2015 in the Beverly Hills
Book Awards.
The award is part of an
international competition
open to all English-language
books. In selecting winners,
a panel of judges from all
aspects of the book industry
— publishers, writers, editors
and copywriters — consid-
ered a wide range of criteria
including the quality of writ-
ing, content, cover design and
aesthetic components.
In addition to winning this
prestigious award, “A Better
Man” was also chosen as a
finalist for the 2015 USA
Best Book Award in the cat-
egory of Health: Addiction &
Recovery.
Dave Franke might have
been content to lead the life
of a simple cowboy. But he
believed in the American
Dream, and he burned with
ambition to make his mark in
the world. He parlayed build-
ing a single home in Central
Oregon into owning and oper-
ating the largest construction
company in Oregon with a
payroll exceeding $1 mil-
lion a month. When the Great
Recession devastated the
building industry, Dave turned
to alcohol. It was alcohol that
ruled his life, until one day out
on the broad sweep of the des-
ert, God and Satan had a fist-
fight over his alcoholic soul.
This is a powerful story of
profit and loss, of weakness
and of strength, a story of
failure, and deliverance, and
redemption. This is the inspir-
ing true story of one man’s
incredible journey.
Rick Steber is an Eastern
Oregon writer and an engag-
ing Western personality with
more than 40 titles under
his belt and over a mil-
lion books in print. Rick is
the only Oregon author to
have won the prestigious
Western Writers of America
Spur Award — Best Western
Novel. He is a keen observer
of the changing American
West and he articulates these
changes in prose that is boldly
descriptive, invigorating and
creative. For more informa-
tion visit www.ricksteber.
com.
Your Care Can Treat
You For Your Allergy
Symptoms Today!
X-R
C
OPEN EVERY DAY INCLUDING WEEKENDS
S
W alk-in • Urgent Care • Occupational Medicine
541-548-2899 3818 SW 21st Pl.
Pl
Hwy. 126 to Redmond, two turns
and you’re there! (Near fairgrounds)
YourCareMedical.com