Lions Club Municipal Golf Course will shut down until about 3 p.m. today to host the 25th annual 25th annual L.C. and Hazel Ross Memorial Scholarship Benefit Golf Tournament.
The tournament, which honors the late husband and wife who were longtime educators in the El Dorado School District, starts at 9 a.m., kicking off what is sure to be a busy holiday weekend for the golf course.
On Tuesday, LCMGC manager Danny Carelock, told members of the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission that hot weather in recent weeks had slowed play at Lions Club.
However, slightly cooler temperatures and lower humidity earlier this week, the L.C. and Hazel Ross tournament and other upcoming events are changing that downward trend, Carelock said,
He noted that the golf course was packed with players when he headed out to the EPPC's regular monthly meeting just before noon Tuesday.
At least 25 golfers are expected to participate in the tournament today and more could sign up before play begins, he said.
Carelock also said that golf teams from area high schools are expected to kick off practice and play at Lions Club in a couple of weeks.
"We'll have some in the morning until school starts and some in the afternoon. They try to do Monday and Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday," he said. "They try not to interfere with us and we try to coordinate with them."
He said the golf course may have to shut down while the high school teams are there.
Despite the slowdown that was caused by the heat earlier in the month, Carelock reported that overall activity is up for the year at Lions Club.
EPPC chairman Ken Goudy said the June financial report for the facility backs up Carelock's statements.
The golf course pulled in $30,729 in revenue in April and $38,023 in May, compared to $23,477 and $30,212 April and May, respectively, in 2021.
Carelock also provided numbers through the morning of June 28, the day of the EPPC meeting, showing a month-to-date intake of just over $30,300.
Total income for June 2021 was $33,894.
"We have a couple of days left to go, so it may be close," Goudy said.
He pointed out that total revenue at Lions Club through May is $19,051 more than year-to-date revenue for the same period last year.
Storms that rumbled through the area last week put golf course workers behind schedule with their routine maintenance tasks, Carelock said, adding that crews collected 15 loads of storm debris.
"We spent three days cleaning up (debris), so we got behind in our mowing," he said.
He also said that the two-man, part-time crew is down from three, telling commissioners that a third, part-time staffer transferred to another position within the city.
Carelock said the storm cleanup was made easier, however, with the help of a powered lawn sweeper that was purchased last year with funding from the El Dorado Works tax, a one-cent city sales tax that is used for economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects.
The purchase was part of a package of funding requests that was presented last year by the EPPC and approved by the El Dorado Works Board and the El Dorado City Council to approve city parks.
Other park improvement projects included asphalting the recreational trail that encircles LCMGC, the Union County Fairgrounds and the El Dorado School District soccer fields; two new basketball courts just south of the golf course; new BBQ grills in several city parks, etc.
Carelock said three trees on LCMGC grounds were struck by lightning during last week's storms and that one of the trees "had been trying to die for a year."
"That one was already on its last leg and we had two more hit. They've got (lightning) streaks all the way down to the ground. We've got to get someone out there to take care of that soon," he said.
For more information about the L.C. and Hazel Ross tournament, call Joe Berry at 870-315-0001, Isaac Greer at 432-314-5712 or Rod Reynolds at 870-440-0026.