Great fall weather was the backdrop for Friday’s third annual River Classic Golf Tournament sponsored by the Ceres Chamber of Commerce, River Oaks Golf Course & Event Center and EA Valley Trucking.
All proceeds will be dispersed to non-profit organizations in Ceres. Last year’s event raised $5,000.
The golf course was open exclusively for tournament play which drew 31 foursome teams –more than the 25 teams at last year’s event.
“This has really grown,” said Ceres Chamber of Commerce President Brandy Meyer. “Everybody here knows it’s a fundraiser so it’s not real competitive because there’s so many people here. We actually had to cut off the teams, mostly because we didn’t have enough golf carts. We actually had to rent golf carts from another company to get enough for everybody.”
Meyer said if more golf carts can be secured then the Chamber might plan for more teams to get involved in 2027.
Teams paid $500 to play for a good cause, netting thousands of dollars for the Chamber to distribute to nonprofit organizations and community causes.
Contests included for ball drop, putting, men’s and women’s longest drive, and closest to the hole.
Hole sponsors offered food or drink to golfers and hand out merchandise or shots at their booths.
“Everybody loves the food and beverages because then they just kind of eat and drink all day long,” said Meyer.
Meyer explained that Starbucks donated coffee, the Ceres Lions Club provided breakfast burritos and sliders, Buffalo Wild Wings provided wings and Howard Prep provided lunch for participants.
“It’s cool to have something for the community here,” said golfer and Ceres businessman Ryan Thornberry whose family is part owners of River Oaks.
“We’re busting at the seams,” said event co-founder and tournament organizer Leon Evans of EA Valley Trucking. “I think word of mouth from people who were here last year. It’s just a good event.”
Evans, a Ceres Chamber of Commerce board director, came up with the idea after his then employer, Sunbelt Rentals, routinely sponsored holes at the Ceres golf course and he wanted to expand it by sponsoring a whole event. So he then teamed up with the Chamber and River Oaks to kick start the event in 2024.
Teams playing this year were: Cool & The Gang, Doug Kolval, CVE Demo, Greg Houser, Pacific Mobile Structures, three teams from Sunbelt, Ross F. Carroll, California Landscape Supply, K&D / Thornberry, Hedgecock Paving, TDR, Coca Cola, River Oaks, Cal Crush/Maxim, Chris Silva, Tera & Amy Krigbaum Van De Pol, Ray Davis, United Rentals, Dameon Bayley, Collins Electric, Trent Taylor, Local Hero, Turlock Chamber, Treat Theory Embroidery, Herc Rental, Jeff Pappas and Weber Trucking.
The event drew a number of hole sponsors, including Pacific Mobile Structure, Insure Cal, United Rentals, Treat Theory Embroidery, Fabiolous Auto Body, Omega Business, Ceres Lions Club, Ceres Chamber of Commerce, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sheriff’s SWAT Team, VIPS, Healthy Rooms, Vet Center and BMO Bank.
