ARCANUM — The Preble County Chamber of Commerce held its annual Chamber Classic Golf Outing on Friday, Aug. 21 at Beechwood Golf Course.
19 teams hit the links in a socially distanced fashion as they looked to take prizes for the top three finishes, a Closest to the Pin contest and a Longest Drive competition.
“We have 19 teams today which we did not expect during a pandemic,” Chamber Executive Director Leslie Collins said. “We didn’t really have any expectations. We went into it hoping that we would have that. That is pretty good, and really is what we ended up with last year…so it’s a really good number to have 19 teams.”
Despite many local events canceling due to COVID-19 concerns, especially so in light of Preble County’s recent move to Level 3 in the Ohio Public Health Advisory System, Collins said that there was never any thought of canceling the event.
“From the beginning, golf was deemed one of the safe activities that you could do because it’s non-spectator, people can stay safely distanced out on the golf course, on the green,” she said. “So, actually, we thought all along that we would be okay.
Collins said ensuring that the Chamber Classic would take place would be one way to make sure they get at least one in-person networking event this year.
“It’s been a tough, tough year,” she said. “We’ve had to cancel our [Business] Expo already, [also] not knowing what we’re going to be able to do with our awards gala in December. We wanted to make this successful and knock it out of the park, and I think today is going to be a good day.”
Sponsors, including but not limited to, Reid Health, Edison State Community College and Henny Penny were prominently noted throughout the outing including marketing materials, golf carts and even on tee boxes, and Collins wanted to thank the Chamber’s sponsors for their support.
“Reid Health has been especially helpful all year long. They are our Chamber Champion in our partner-level program, and with that, our premier sponsors for a lot of our events. They provided everybody masks and sanitizers today,” she said. “Edison State Community College came on board last year as a premier sponsor, and again, did the same this year. So, we’re thankful that we have two nice premier sponsors to help us make it happen.”
Collins also said that Henny Penny stepped up once again as the lunch sponsor for the Chamber Classic, a role which they have filled for years.
Even for the teams that weren’t playing their best on Friday, they were still able to come away with various goodies provided by sponsors of the annual outing.
“We were able this year to get a golf ball sponsor so that every person actually has logoed golf balls in their bags from both Greenbrier and PrebleCountyHomes.com,” she said.
With how this year has gone, seeing people partake in small pleasures such as swinging a golf club have been rare to see, so there was excitement around the venue as the shotgun start approached.
“Everybody seems to be ready to get out there and play,” she said.
