It’s been 44 years since the tournament got started, and it keeps getting bigger.
For the second year in a row, a record number of golfers will play in the Mountain State Golf Classic. The tournament will kick off Saturday morning at Grandview Country Club.
“We’ve got 148 (golfers), with one foursome on a waiting list,” tournament director and newly-sworn-in Beckley Mayor Ryan Neal said on Monday. “And that is 12 more golfers than we had last year.”
The record is for the six years the tournament has been known as the Mountain State Golf Classic. Before that, the tournament had been called the Beckley Newspapers Invitational — affectionately, the BNI.
“I think a couple of years, the BNI had 160,” Neal recalled. “It took so long (to play a round) that that’s when they decided to split it up and half the field go to Pipestem and half of them go out to Grandview (on the first day) and then flip-flop.
“So we are past the max, and it’s just hard to turn people away.”
That waiting list was put to use, with a handful of players being replaced after having to cancel through the week.
The entire field will start out at Grandview, then everyone will go to Pipestem Resort on Sunday, following the same tee times.
The final round will be flighted and again be contested on the Cobb Course at The Resort at Glade Springs.
There will be an open and senior division. Both 2023 champions will be back to defend their titles — Davey Jude (open) and Dennis Vass (senior).
Most of the golfers are from southern West Virginia, but there are also some from North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
Neal will also play, something he has done every year since 2001. Now as director, he has seen the tournament — the 45th edition now here — from both sides.
“Not to toot our own horn, but it’s super organized, we’ve got a lot of great prizes, we’ve got a lot of great sponsors, like Little General,” Neal said.
“But the uniqueness of it is you play three courses in three days. There’s just no other tournament anywhere that I know of where you do that. And the coolest thing, too, is you get to tee it up with some of the best golfers in Raleigh County and southern West Virginia.
“I start out even with Davey Jude, and we’ll go from there and see what happens.”
Jude has won the tournament two of the last three years.
All proceeds from the tournament go to Raleigh General Senior Friends, a program that “provides valuable health information, resources and experiences that empower members to better manage their health and enjoy a healthy lifestyle” to people ages 50 and over.
Mountain State Golf Classic
Tee Times
Saturday: Grandview Country Club
Sunday: Pipestem
7:30 a.m. — Rusty Ray (Mount Hope; Open), Dennis Vass (Beckley; Senior); Darrell Bailey (Beckley; Senior); Ted Upton (Alexandria, Va.; Senior)
7:40 a.m. — Jon Forren (Christina, Tenn.; Open); Greg Simmons (Gastonia, N.C.; Open); Larry Bunting (Midway; Senior); Roy Forren (Mullens; Senior)
7:50 a.m. — Jerry Zaferatos (Flat Top; Senior); Richard Kissinger (Charleston; Senior); Don Goins (Oak Hill; Senior); Jeff Hughes (Beckley; Senior)
8 a.m. — Steven Monk (Sophia; Open); Chris Monk (Beckley; Open); Wayne Monk (Sophia; Senior); Alvin Jewell (Herndon; Senior)
8:10 a.m. — Corey Yost (Beckley; Open); Doug Bolen (Josephine; Open); Adam Etris (Morgantown; Open): Tyler Farley (Crab Orchard; Open)
8:20 a.m. — Todd Griffith (Charleston; Open); Chad Griffith (Morgantown; Open); Eric Griffith (Raleigh, N.C.; Open); Harold Griffith (Beckley; Senior)
8:30 a.m. — Matthew Dillon (Beaver; Open); Nathan Daniels (Beckley; Open); Ryan Akers (Beckley; Open); Tommy Williams (Beaver; Open)
8:40 a.m. — Brandon Tinney (Shady Spring; Open); Chad Baldwin (Green Bank; Open); Josh Arbaugh (Morgantown; Open); Tanner Buchanan (Beckley; Open)
8:50 a.m. — Nick Mays (West Mansfield, Ohio; Open); John Handy (Beckley; Open); Jordan Duncan (Caldwell; Open); Matt Tincher (Meadow Bridge; Open)
9 a.m. — Shane Zickafoose (Beckley; Open); Davey Jude (Teays Valley; Open); Ardie Jenkins (Beckley; Open); Keith Crook (Beckley; Open)
9:10 a.m. — Mike Elliot (Statesville, N.C.; Open); Mickey Carr (Mount Hope; Open); Chris Daniels (Beckley; Open); Scott Bates (West Mansfield, Ohio; Senior)
9:20 a.m. — Gary Stacy (Franklinton, N.C.; Open); Warren Nelms (Louisburg, N.C.; Senior); Steve Wrenn (Louisburg, N.C.; Senior): Joe Ferguson (Louisburg, N.C.; Senior)
9:30 a.m. — David Gorby (Mount Hope; Open); Doug Cruise (Beckley; Open); Erik Koch (Issue, Md.; Open); Brian Harmon (Beckley; Senior)
9:40 a.m. — Mike Mays (Beckley; Open); J.R. Scott (Beckley; Open); Dave Crone (Beckley; Open); Jay Rutledge (Beckley; Open)
9:50 a.m. — Kent Wimbish (Beckley; Open); Matt Jones (Grandview; Open); Jay Brown (Shady Spring; Open); Garrett Jones (Grandview; Open)
10 a.m. — Jeff Miller (Daniels; Open); Tony Giles (Craigsville; Open); Wes Duncan (Daniels; Open); Jared Gregory (Summersville; Open)
10:10 a.m. — Alan Wharton (Pickerington, Ohio; Open); Gary Wharton (Summersville; Open); Robert Wharton (Pickerington, Ohio; Open); Randy Meadows (Summersville; Senior)
10:20 a.m. — Nick Grotti (Millville, N.J.; Open); Gary Cooper (Daniels; Open); Nick Cooper (Daniels; Open); Drew Clark (Shady Spring; Open)
10:30 a.m. — Jonah Willson (Daniels; Open); Noah Wimbish (Beckley; Open); Charlie Houck (Beckley; Senior); Butch Freeman (Daniels; Senior)
10:40 a.m. — Jordan Meadows (Shady Spring; Open); Brent Osborne (Beckley; Open); Tod Williams (Shady Spring;…
The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
