The Bemidji Town & Country Club hosted nearly 160 golfers on June 17 at the 45th Annual Gordy Skaar Memorial Golf Tournament, one of Bemidji State University's longest-running summer traditions.

Named in honor of the late Gordy Skaar, a long-time Bemidji State Athletics supporter who founded the Skaar-Pabst Golf Tournament in 1977, the tournament has raised almost $850,000 for BSU student-athletes through the Beaver Pride fund and an endowment in Skaar's name.

Participants received tee gifts and an on-course lunch provided by Stittsworth Meats, Raphael's Bakery & Cafe and Ace on the Lake. A dinner and program was held following the afternoon flight.

On-course games included long-drive challenges, closest-to-the-pin competitions and a hole-in-one contest for a new car provided by Dondelinger GM of Bemidji. An online auction featuring BSU merchandise, golf packages, tickets to a BSU Hockey game in a Sanford Center suite and more was part of the tournament. All were invited to bid on the items, and winning bidders picked up their items in Bemidji or had them shipped to their homes.

Long-drive winners on holes 1, 3, 4, 8 and 9 were Kayla Deere, Connor McNallan, Cody Cook, Trevor Deere and Gary Erickson, respectively. Closes-to-the-pin honors went to Nikki Brink (hole 2), Chelsea Stoltenberg (hole 7), Brett Folland (hole 11) and Mike Fogelson (hole 14).

The team of Mitch Deere, Kayla Deere, Trevor Deere, JP Mortenson and Tim Traynor recorded the best low-net score of the tournament.

A three-way tie for low gross score (-20) was broken with a scorecard playoff by the team of Marcus Weidner, Travis Schussman, Alex Barrett, Rick Barrett and Erik Westin.