Beko golf tourney at Furnace Creek

The 19th annual William P. Beko Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament will be contested March 15-16 at the Furnace Creek Golf Course in Death Valley to raise money for the scholarship fund, which subsidizes students in central Nevada.

Bob Perchetti, a close personal friend of Beko, started the scholarship fund. To date, the fund has awarded over $37,000 to deserving local students. The foundation has raised over $80,000 in funds and Perchetti said that long after the tournament ends he hopes to still give out scholarships to needy students.

“He was a close personal friend of mine all through high school and college. He introduced me into my fraternity and he sponsored me. My father and I even hunted with him and we were close friends my entire life. It really came as surprise to me, his death. We played a lot of golf together, in fact I was with him when he made his hole-in-one in Bishop, Calif. So when he did pass, I knew he loved golf so I called his daughter Vicki and his son Tom and I said, ‘Let’s start a tournament that will give money to the district he served.’ That first year we gave to Hawthorne, Tonopah, Round Mountain, Beatty and Pahrump graduating seniors.

Perchetti believes this year the tournament will reach more people thanks to Furnace Creek sending out flyers to their huge mailing list. He said this was the first time they have ever done this and this should increase this year’s numbers of play.

The March 15-16 tournament will be a four-person blind draw scramble. Tee times will start at 9 a.m. and teams will go off every eight minutes. The Tonopah Golf Association hopes to have 36 teams totaling 144 golfers.

The cost will be $50 per person, which includes green fees and a cart. Prizes for Saturday’s tournament include individual team awards for the first six teams and longest drives on various holes and closest to the pin on holes two, four and eight.

For golfers coming early, there will be a $10 Skins Game on March 14. For more information or to obtain an entry form, call Bob Perchetti at 775-482-3304 or 482-7721.

For reservations in Death Valley, call Furnace Creek Ranch at 760-786-2345 or fax 760-786-2514. There are 30 rooms reserved for the tournament, so call early and ask for the Bill Beko Tournament.