21st annual Kow Pasture Klassic held Saturday

NEW HAMBURG, Mo. -- The 21st annual Kow Pasture Klassic takes place Saturday and golf enthusiasts are reminded to bring tennis balls. Even though the event is a golf parody, it is also the most serious fund-raiser for Kenny Rogers Children's Center and Missouri Veterans Home. While organizer Mitch Miller does not expect to raise the $13,000 they did last year when 55 teams signed up, registration continues until the day of the event and already 35 teams have signed up.

KRCC executive director Michelle Fayette explained that as long as there's tee time available, registration will be available.

Tennis balls and some semblance of a golf club are the only equipment needed for golfers to play on the nine-hole course that begins at the back door of Schindler's Tavern and continues along the St. Lawrence Parish property in New Hamburg. Fayette has played in the Klassic for four years and seen some outlandish golf clubs trying to fly a tennis ball over some bumpy terrain.

"There's been tennis rackets, boat paddles, homemade clubs -- even a mannequin leg. You don't have to be a good golfer to have a good time. It's a four-man scramble so you have three other teammates to count on for good scores," she said.

Golfers tee off between two empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans, symbolic of Kohlfeld Distributing and Stag/ Pabst Brewing Co., sponsors of the event. Miller, Kohlfeld sales manager, said the pre-Memorial Day event is also a tribute to veterans, who benefit through proceeds donated to the Missouri Veterans Home Foundation Perpetual Trust Fund.

At noon, the Cpl. Mason O. Yarbrough Marine Corps League Honor Guard will present a tribute to the military at the Avenue of Flags.

The event was created as a way to help two local boys, Gabe Glastetter and Josh Klipfel, receive help from the Kenny Rogers Children's Center in Sikeston, Mo. The center specializes in pediatric physical, occupational and speech and language therapies.

A T-shirt, tickets for free beverages and burgers and a free raffle ticket for a trip for four to Las Vegas are included in the entry fee of $160 per team of four. Raffle tickets for a quilt made from past Kow Pasture T-shirt graphics are also available.

For more information, call Miller at 243-3931 or to reserve a tee time, call Schindler's Tavern at 545-3709.