RnR Cup Tournament sees record golfers

After a long period of cool, wet weather the skies cleared just in time for tee off for the Wolverines RnR Cup golf tournament which began Friday morning. Teams of golfers made their way to the Whitecourt Golf and Country Club around 9:30 a.m. for some fellowship handshakes, opening remarks, and rules of the tournament. Tracy Stark fired the miniature cannon signifying the start of the tournament.

Golf Course Manager Rick McKinnon said, “The course conditions are extremely wet because of all the rain we’ve had the past six weeks. At one point last week we had to close one of the holes due to the Athabasca River flooding. Water levels have now gone down, and we are back up to 18 operational holes.” The Whitecourt Wolverines have been hosting the annual golf tournament for five years. However, this year they’ve changed the name to what is now called the Wolverines RnR Cup. Wolverines owner Brent Stark gives the credit for this year’s tournament to Layne Brown and Cory Mercer. “They are the golf pros and wanted to change the format and open up the tournament to those who may not be the greatest golfers. They want to equal out the playing field to give everyone an opportunity to win,” he said.

This year topped out with 44 teams entered and the highest participation since inception five years ago. The tournament rules consisted of 18 holes, four-man scramble (best ball). Each team plays for one point and the first team to reach 22 and a half points will win the tournament. “The tournament is not about winning prizes, it’s all about team spirit, the pride, and winning the RnR Cup,” Brown said.

Each year, the tournament gets bigger and bigger and as Brown said, “The community support behind this golf tournament has been huge, especially this year as the economy is not the best. We couldn’t ask for anything better from all our sponsors, supporters, and golfers.”

The evening before the tournament the organizers held a skills competition event called Big Break which raised an additional $4 to $5,000 that will go to the foundation. The tournament is also a fundraiser with proceeds going into the RnR Memorial Foundation. The foundation was formed to allow underprivileged community children an equal opportunity to play hockey. It stands firm on its belief and mission, “We will set out to ensure that no youth in Whitecourt will ever be held back from exploring their athletic potential due to financial limitations,” which is a quote from their new website www.rnrmemorialfund.com.

“Youth can go to the website and fill out an application form if they are interested in playing minor hockey and require some financial assistance to achieve their goal,” Stark added.