Desert Golf Classic coming Sept. 15

MOSES LAKE — The Samaritan Healthcare Foundations’ annual Desert Golf Classic will see its 21st showing on Sept. 15 at the Links at Moses Pointe, raising money for the foundation’s BuildCommunity campaign

“It's one of our annual fundraiser events to raise money for whichever campaign we're doing that year,” Samaritan Healthcare Donation Specialist Alayna Webb said. “So this year, and last year, this is for our BuildCommunity campaign for a new medical campus.”

As the local community continues to grow, Webb said that Samaritan Healthcare hopes that the medical campus will help alleviate some of the stress that comes with operating in a smaller location.

“We are trying to build a new medical campus to support the growing community, The growing service lines that we have here at Samaritan,” Webb said. “We've kind of outgrown our space here at the hospital and kind of needing something a little bit bigger to take care of all the patients and all of that.”

Webb, who has run the tournament since 2018, said that the new medical campus does not have a finalized date of completion, and has been disrupted due to the pandemic.

Typical turnout for the Desert Golf Classic in the past had been around 94-96 golfers Webb said, however in recent years 120-124 players have signed up for the tournament.

“So, it's really cool to see the growth,” Webb said. “It's really cool to see the big support of the community and some of our business partners, and it's exciting for us to see that.”

With the fewer turnout in the past, some sponsors had bought spots for Samaritan employees to play in the tournament. Now, with the 30-team maximum already reached, Webb said that the increased popularity has now seen more golfers take those spots.

“I know some people are a little bummed that they're not getting the offer to play from the sponsor's back teams, but it also is kind of a good problem to have,” Webb said.

Along with the shotgun start-style tournament, players can participate in side games and other prizes as well.

“The prize holes are your hole-in-ones, your closest to the pin, longest drive, longest putt made,” Webb said. “And then the side games are things like 52 card pickup, which is a 5050 raffle. We'll have raffle tickets out there being sold. We have one called Great Leap Forward – you draw a colored ball and it matches a certain advantage on the field.”

With such a large turnout for the Desert Golf Classic, the side games provide extra entertainment off the course.

“It kind of helps with some of the bottlenecking that can happen when you have that many players, but it creates a lot of fun out there,” Webb said.

While the tournament has reached its capacity in terms of registered teams, Samaritan Healthcare is still accepting sponsorships and donations. Those interested in sponsorships or donating can reach Webb at 509-793-9645 or via email at foundation@samaritanhealthcare.com.

“We have plenty of sponsorship opportunities still available,” Webb said, “and always looking for volunteers to help out. (We’re) accepting any donations as far as raffle items for a raffle, or if they want to do any prize items we're open for that too.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Correction: The event will be held on Sept. 15. This change has been appended above.