The 22nd annual Plant City Optimist Club/Plant City Recreation and Parks Department Golf Tournament has found a new venue.
The Saturday, Sept. 24, event will be held at Diamond Hill Golf Club, in Dover. The original plan was to host the tournament at Walden Lake Golf and Country Club, but changes were needed when the club unexpectedly closed in August.
CHANGE OF PLANS
Although the tournament has normally been held at Walden Lake, this isn’t the first time the tournament has moved to Diamond Hill. It was held at Diamond Hill in 2014 because of the conditions of the Walden Lake courses. It returned in 2015, when conditions improved.
This year, the plan was to return to Walden Lake and carry on as usual. But, according to the Optimists, things changed in August.
The group said it had paid a $1,000 deposit to Walden Lake, and the club had cashed the check. But Friday, Aug. 12, the club was closed after a workers’ compensation issue arose.
When the Optimists believed the club might not reopen in time to host the tournament, it decided to change course.
The Optimists called Diamond Hill, which was able to accommodate the event on the same day, and the club was able to book with a $250 deposit.
“We were lucky that Diamond Hill had an opening and was able to take us,” incoming First Vice President Jeb Hicks says.
Club manager Lynn Archibald has since reimbursed the Optimists.
ABOUT THE TOURNEY
According to the Optimist Club, the golf tournament is its second-biggest annual fundraiser. Only the Christmas tree lot by Plant City High School draws in more money.
All proceeds from the tournament are pumped into the city’s youth sports scene, covering uniforms and other costs for the city’s youth soccer, football, basketball and other sports programs. The Optimists also used tournament proceeds to help fund scholarships and youth events, build the playground at the Otis M. Andrews Sports Complex soccer fields and donate to the Recreation and Parks Department.
Generally speaking, the golf tournament raises between $3,000 and $4,000 each year for youth sports.
The Optimists do wish to make the tournament a bigger. Hicks estimated it gets 60 golfers per year, but there’s a fierce competitor: college football.
“It’s tough,” Hicks says. “We try to pick a weekend. It’s college football time. A lot of us in the club are Gator fans, so we try to stay away from Gator games. This one’s scheduled for the Florida-Tennessee game.”
To help generate proceeds, the tournament relies on local business sponsorships. Members of the Optimist Club seek out hole sponsorships, though several local businesses, such as Poppell Insurance, Fred’s Market and Johnson’s Barbecue, are longtime sponsors of the event. At the moment, the tournament has over 40 sponsors, but the Optimists are looking to add more.
Even though Walden Lake was long the home of the tournament, Hicks said sponsors have been understanding with the venue change.
“The sponsors that are golfers are happy with the switch … the ones that aren’t are just happy to help out,” Hicks says.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
(Note: The printed version of this article stated the Optimist Club had not gotten its deposit back at press time. The club has since notified the Plant City Times & Observer that it has been reimbursed.)