The Kawerau 54-Hole Golf Tourna-ment never considered not running this weekend.

A few other tournaments around the North Island have been trimmed back or cancelled because of numbers and although there has been a drop off for this year’s 54-hole event, there was never any consideration of cancelling the event.

Organiser Flash Rowlands, who will celebrate his 25th tournament in 2027, said they were ready for another exciting couple of days.

“It’s a sign of the times, I think. People just aren’t doing as much, and that’s okay. We still have more than 90 golfers in the field.

“For us, it’s just a case of yes, we might take a little bit of a hit, but we can still raise some money from it.

“We just need to be realistic and aim for about $10,000 rather than the $15,000 to $16,000 we could get with 120 golfers.”

Rowlands said they’d had a couple of sponsors drop off but had also picked up some new ones.

“We will still have about $10,000 in prizes. We’ve managed to get a couple of other golf brands on board, but Golf Warehouse are again our main sponsor.”

He also believed it was potentially the first time in the 30 years or so of the tournament’s existence that a member of the prominent Rangihika golfing family was not lining up in the field.

“It’s going to be a bit different without any of them.”

He said, though, there was still a good number of senior golfers taking part.

Rowlands would love to see more players from the other Eastern Bay clubs.

“I think we have more from Tauranga in general than we do from Whakatāne and Ōhope combined.”

The Kawerau Golf Course is in immaculate condition and Rowlands said it would play slightly differently for the golfers this year.

“Due to the rising fuel costs, the green keeper has cut the fairways wider, so they are even easier to hit now and there is less rough.

“We will see if it makes a difference.”

Rowlands said being able to bring the golf tournament to the people in the community was exciting.

“We’re all pumped and excited for a good couple of days.”

As for who wins, well, that will come down to whoever hits the ball straight, finds the greens in regulation and sinks some clutch putts.

Tee-offs begin from 7.50am tomorrow, where players will play two rounds, before a third and final round on Sunday.