INUVIK
Golfers are all teed up for the First Annual Northwind Open Golf Tournament this weekend.

Gordie Kasook makes his best shot at the golf course in 2010, when the course opened. - NNSL file photo

"The main reason we're doing it is to get out there and support the golf course," said organizer Brent Connell. "There's usually only one tournament all year, and we thought it would be good to have another one."

To be held July 15 to 17, the Roads End Golf Club will be playing host to the tournament, including a steak dinner on July 16. Connell said that it will be a best-ball format open to teams of two. He hopes to get about 30 co-ed teams of players out, but especially wants to encourage people who might otherwise be shy to give golf a try.

"It would be good to get more people out and introduce them to the game," he said. "We have a great facility out here and it would be great to see more people using it."

To draw out those potential players, Connell said there will be many prizes, donated by various companies in town. Furthermore, all the entry fees will be pooled and go directly towards prizes.

Club president Conrad Baetz said a second tournament is a great addition to the summer schedule. He said the Mayor's Classic, which is played later in the season, often gets players excited about the game, but then they only have three or four weeks left of the season.

He hopes the Northwind tournament will spark interest among newcomers and reignite the passion in familiar faces earlier in the season.

"The more events we can have down here, the better," Baetz said. "At the end of the day, when you build something, you hope people will come."

He named Northwind as just one of the companies and organizations that put effort into creating the course, adding proudly that it is likely the most northerly grass golf course on the continent.

"The biggest hope is always to have good weather," he said. "And lots of people to come out and use this facility."

Connell agreed, adding that the effort so far has garnered a lot of support from the community.

"We're trying to make this a marquis event every summer," he said. "And hopefully every year it will get bigger and bigger."

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