From the first year through last year, boys and girls ages 7-18 played Wildflower Country Club (the permanent host since 2001) or then-Sammons Park Golf Course and received an embroidered hat, towel, bag tag, balls, tees, lunch and bottled water - all for $10.
And the Bukosky Open might still be the best deal in town.
However, reality dictates that as the cost of just about everything is rising, even the wallet-friendly Bukosky tournament isn’t immune.
To help cover the cost of playing at Wildflower and continuing to give kids the usual haul of merchandise, a hesitant Bukosky decided this year to increase the registration cost to $20 per golfer.
“When I raised it from $10 to $20, I got a little nervous,” Bukosky said about the 13th annual tournament, which will be played Monday, Aug. 11 at Wildflower beginning at 8 a.m. “It’s still a good deal, but nobody is immune to the cost these days.
“I want people to know that should anyone have a challenge in paying the additional fee, they can contact me and I’ll take care of it.”
That reflects the original intentions of Bukosky and his wife, Judy, when they created the tournament in 1996 after their son, Craig, died in October 1995 at age 11 after a long battle with leukemia.
The Bukoskys wanted the tournament to achieve a pair of purposes - to honor Craig’s memory and his love of golf, and to give kids in Temple and the surrounding area an opportunity to compete in a one-day event at a top course.
“I think for the first few years our intent was to memorialize and honor our son and, due to his love of golf, promote golf in Central Texas,” Mike Bukosky said. “At that time there was not a lot of junior action in Temple, and we wanted to make it one of the premier junior tournaments in Central Texas.
“It’s a tournament where everybody leaves a winner and with something whether they shoot 70 or 170.”
The Bukosky had 50 players compete in 1996 and quickly expanded to more than 100, with at least that many expected to play this year.
“We didn’t know where it would lead when we started, but is has exceeded our initial expectations,” Mike Bukosky said. “Watching the kids’ excitement and seeing their smiles, that’s all our payback.”
Bukosky said the tournament has continued to flourish thanks in large part to sponsors such as Bryan Daniel and Roger Daniel of Morgan Stanley, John Kiella of Kiella Homebuilders, Amy and Lloyd Thomas, Temple Bottling Company, Information Advantage, Inc., and the cooperation of Wildflower.
Last year’s overall champions were Salado senior-to-be Ryan O’Rear - a two-time Class 2A individual state champion - on the boys side and 2007 Salado graduate Katie Harris in the girls competition.
The age divisions offered are 16-18, 14-15, 12-13, 10-11 and 7-9. Boys 11 and younger will play nine holes instead of 18, while only girls in the oldest two divisions will play 18. Golfers are allowed to compete in an older division if desired.
Players must register by Friday and can sign up at the Wildflower pro shop or call (254) 771-1477 for more information.
“We’ve sent flyers out to all the courses in Temple, Belton, Salado and Killeen and signups are going well,” Mike Bukosky said. “We encourage everyone to register as soon as possible.”
gwille@temple-telegram.com
