An Ice Hole Golf Tournament participant, dressed as a snowman, tees off on the frozen Spring Valley State Park reservoir on Saturday.
Spring Valley State Park hosted its annual Ice Hole Golf Tournament on Saturday, which attracted a record crowd to the frozen lake. The morning started chilly with temperatures in the low 20s, but nonetheless 45 participants signed up for the ice hole golf.
The tournament is held on the lake, where holes are drilled into the ice, making for a unique way to play nine holes with golf clubs and tennis balls. Two locals from Pioche ranked first and second place in the tournament, Joel Topping, with a score of 61, and Amanda Topping, with a score of 78. Rich Keeton came in third place, and Scott Cull came in fourth.
Leave it to Park Ranger Ben Johnson to report Eddy Heidelberg coming in last place with a score of 234. Aside from the golf tournament, the event boasted an ice fishing demo, new to the event this year, as well as a pool tournament also on the ice, as well as ice skating.
As always, food and beverages were served, and Johnson didn?t disappoint with the prizes he gave out, which were awarded to the best and worst golfing scorers and to people just for coming out and playing golf on the ice.
An Ice Queen for 2017 was selected, as the reigning queen from 2016 was a no show, and this fun honor went to Scott Cull.
This event is a way to make the best of winter in Lincoln County and is an event not to be widely seen elsewhere. The reservoirs in Lincoln County are a site to see when they are frozen over, and carry an attraction for many with ice fishing, ice skating and sightseeing alone.
This event and other events at Spring Valley State Park can be found by following the park on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SpringValleyStatePark/.