The 48th Annual Eugene/Springfield Joint Chamber Golf Classic – a partnership of the Eugene and Springfield chambers.
The Chronicle was delighted to sponsor and participate in the event this past Friday at Pine Ridge Golf Club. The weather could not have been better. The course was in great shape, and the Chamber folks had everything running smoothly. Kudos to all of them, particularly Dani of the Springfield chamber. As always, it was good to see John and Paige, too. We also chatted with Kelly and Heidi of the Eugene chamber.
The Chronicle sponsored the 10th hole, a 160-yard par 3. It had a tough pin placement tucked near the front left edge with plenty of green to the right. In fact, that’s where most of the shots ended up – a few waaay right. Less than 10 golfers hit the green on this hole.
If any of them had made a hole-in-one, they would have received $3,000!
My wife and I were at the 10th tee box all day, chatting with folks about hyper-local news and their interests. We gave away sunscreen, among other items. We also auctioned off a gift basket worth $200. It included Chronicle swag, a one-year subscription to the weekly paper, Kings Estate Pinot Gris, a package of Titleist golf balls and more.
Ryan, branch manager of the Springfield Banner Bank on Main St. and 7th St., was the winner.
Nic and Chris in the pro shop got us off to a good start, loaning us a bowl for our gift-basket raffle tickets. Johnny, the course marshall for the past few years, regularly stopped by to check on us. We met Sean and Andrea, who were with a finance company that sponsored the 11th hole.
Among the golfers who chatted with us while waiting to hit their potential hole-in-one were August, Ken, Kendo, and Tommy of NW Credit Union.
Dennis, a veteran radio talent, talked journalism and news reporting with us, while the rest of his group patiently waited for him.
Tami, Chris, Shaun, and Laurie were among the early team’s to tee off at the 10th hole. Juan
Trevor, wearing matching green team shirts, came through next.
The Bushnell Beacons’ team at the golf tournament, from left: Keith Porter, Chad Meadors, Corynn Gilbert, and Lars Coburn
We spoke with Corynn, Keith, Chad, and Lars from Bushnell University, which has its own fundraising golf tournament scheduled for Sept. 9. The Chronicle and the Beacons had a sponsorship partnership during the baseball team’s inaugural season, played at Hamlin Field.
We saw our friend River, representing Windemere Realty. Taylor, Tami, Erik, John, and Amy also passed through, taking their best shots at the $3,000.
We also made fast friends with Veronica and Jamie of Monster Security; their 5th-hole sponsorship was one of the more, um, entertaining stops along the course.
It’s always good to catch up with Andy, VP of Stakeholder Relations at Travel Lane County.
Most of the business teams had a mix of employees and friends or spouses in the group. Jamie, Ryan, Liz, Sean, Matt, Tom, Jeanette, Adam, Drew, and Jeff were all part of various teams.
The variety of backgrounds and work experience always impresses me. We spoke to people who were entrepreneurs, part-time workers, owners and CEOs, hourly employees, and freelancers.
The industries and trades represented included home security, digital security, insurance, health care, financial and wealth advisors, banking, education, real estate, and media and broadcasting.
And while these names aren’t related to the golf tournament, it’s worth mentioning these folks who have helped and supported The Chronicle during August.
Richard and Terri own the iconic Springfield Buick dealership on 7th and A Streets, catty-corner to our building. Due to the difficult parking conditions in our area, they have allowed us to utilize a portion of their parking lot for our staff. Along the same lines, Dov and Emma of the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council worked with the rest of their team to allow us to use their conference space a few times each month for our larger meetings. We’ve filled up our newsroom with staff and no longer have space for team gatherings.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Jeff at Mike’s Barber Shop in Springfield. It was good to finally meet him after hearing he was a big fan of the newspaper. He told me a little about his love of Oregon and the outdoors, and did a terrific job on the haircut, too.
Noel Nash is publisher of The Chronicle.
