Annual Chamber Golf Tournament celebrates 24

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce held a luau-themed golf tournament at the Links at Moses Pointe on Friday to help raise money for the chamber.

This was the 24th year of the chamber golf tournament which saw a record number of participants as they had to increase the number of teams from 32 to 36 making the total number of golfers 144 for the day. All 18 holes were sponsored with most having games for golfers to play to win prizes as they made their way through the course, said Debbie Martinez, president of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce.

“It was good, everybody had fun and the weather was amazing,” said Martinez.

Genie is one of the major sponsors of the tournament and every year they do "The Great Genie Ball Drop" where the winner has a chance at a cash prize. This year also saw Hawthorne Renewable Energy come up as a major sponsor and they brought in a money machine where a lucky winner had the chance to grab as much money as possible within 20 seconds.

There were about 25 raffle items given away to players after the tournament was over and hole sponsors also had their own prizes to give away. There were multiple split-the-pot games as part of the tournament which included the Duck Drive, All in the Cards, and the Genie Ball Drop. 

The winners of the split the pots were Pat Doremus for the Duck Drive, Chuck Sutton for All in the Cards and Jake Visker for the Genie Ball drop. All contestants decided to donate their half of the money to the Ronald McDonald House.

“We try to make it fun,” Martinez said. “We try to make it so people go away with something from the event.”

The tournament overall raised approximately $15,000 to $20,000 as a net gain to the chamber, Martinez said.

“[It’s a] great fundraiser for the chamber,” she said. “We’re a membership-based organization so members pay dues and in order to keep the dues low we have to supplement with fundraising.”

The money also helps the chamber run its general operations as they are also in charge of relocation information and a little bit of visitor information. The chamber works to draw businesses and jobs to the community to help boost the economy.

“I’m just getting ready to go to Las Vegas for a big trade show to recruit businesses to come here,” she said. “We promote business and we advocate on behalf of business so we’re really the voice of business.”

For any businesses looking to participate in the golf tournament next year Martinez advises starting a membership with the chamber. This will help give businesses more insight into when events are happening and how to get involved.

“Don’t hesitate,” she said. “If you want to play, you gotta get it in right away because it does sell out every year.”

To become a chamber member visit moseslake.com and under the chamber tab, there will be a “join me” link which will give more information or contact Lori Robins or Debbie Martinez to get started.

The next big chamber event is the Senior Picnic on June 12 at the Grant County Fairgrounds. All senior citizens in the Columbia Basin are invited to free lunch, entertainment and door prizes.

“It’s geared towards senior citizens, so the trade show event will have products and services specifically for senior citizens,” she said.”It’s free for them to attend and we’re expecting about 800 this year.”

    Team Local Tel went all in on the luau theme this year with matching costumes and decorated vehicles winning them the prize for Team Unity.
  

    Pat Doremus from Sila was the winner of the Duck Drive with a drive of 144 feet and two inches. He elected to donate his earnings back to the Ronald McDonald House.