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Date: 10/9/2019
WESTFIELD – For the third straight year the Westfield Lion’s Club will be hosting a Glow Golf tournament over the Columbus Day Weekend at Tekoa Country Club.
The tournament began in 2017 when the Lion’s Club wanted to put on a fun golf tournament, said Karly Grimaldi, a member of the Westfield Lion’s Club Board of Directors.
“That year we tried to do a Friday the 13th theme, with a glow tournament at night and a Halloween type of atmosphere,” she said, “We hadn’t seen anyone doing a local glow tournament so we thought it would be something fun.”
Unlike most golf tournaments, the glow tournament is at night so players have to use golf balls that glow in the dark and participants have to walk the entire course, Grimaldi said.
In addition to the tournament, Grimaldi said the club is also offering food for the participants in the country club’s clubhouse that is open throughout the tournament. “We have food in the clubhouse, typically most people eat it towards the end but you can come in when you swing around to that hole. We’ll have sandwiches, soups and desserts for the golfers,” she said.
Along with the refreshments, Grimaldi added that they will have a raffle during the tournament. She said the prizes consist of gift cards to local businesses along with some gift baskets.
According to Grimaldi, participants have said their favorite part about the tournament is how different it is from a normal golf tournament.
“A lot of people just enjoy the fact that it is a totally different experience. It’s such a small thing but people love the glow golf ball,” she said.
While the Lion’s Club doesn’t require participants to wear Halloween costumes, Grimaldi said they are encouraging golfers to dress up for the tournament.
“I wish people would wear costumes because it would be really fun, during our first tournament we actually had six teams wear costumes,” she said.
Grimaldi said all proceeds from this year’s tournament will be supporting research and education for diabetes. She added that the event supports different causes each year, including last year when all of the proceeds went towards the Westfield Public School’s Food Drive.
Currently, there are 12 teams signed up for the tournament but Grimaldi said, “In the past couple years we’ve done the tournament there’s always been a big rush the last week before registration, so I expect there to be about 18 teams before the day of the tournament.”
Grimaldi added the event is being sponsored by various local establishments. She said the sponsors this year include OMG Inc., Commercial Scale and Balance, Camp K-9 Doggy Day Camp and 37 Lighting.
Registration is open to anyone but Grimaldi said there is an $80 fee to play that goes toward equipment along with the food at the tournament. She added that registration is open until the day before the tournament, Oct. 11.
Team registration begins at 5:30 p.m. while the tournament itself tees off at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 12.