SUMMIT TWP — The 25th annual Butler Eagle County Amateur golf tournament takes place Aug. 11 at Hiland Golf Course.

Hiland will be hosting the event for the first time since 2011, when Bennett Smith emerged as champion.

“It's a nice mix of holes there,” Eagle Amateur committee member Rob Voltz said of Hiland. “If you play well, you can get a lot of birdies.

“The last two times we've had this tournament at Hiland, the winning scores were 65 and 67. The greens are always in great shape.”

When Smith won the Eagle Amateur in 2011, he snapped Sean Knapp's string of three successive Eagle Amateur titles. Knapp went on to win the event in 2012 and 2013.

He has not won since and will not be playing in this year's event.

“Sean will be playing in a national tournament that day and won't be available to play,” Voltz said.

The single-day, 18-hole stroke play tournament has produced four different winners in the past five years. Only Scott Vice (2015, 2017) has won twice during that time.

Jeremy Enslen shot a 3-under-par 67 to win last year's Eagle Amateur at Oakview Golf Club. He was a first-time winner of the event.

“Jeremy has all of the information on this year's tournament and we're hoping he comes back,” Voltz said.

Golfers may access entry forms at butlereagleamateur.com as well as from editions of the Butler Eagle.

Voltz said the annual goal of the tournament is to get 144 to 180 golfers.

“A typical PGA event has 156 golfers,” he said. “We try to match that for a day here.”

Shotgun starts on Aug. 11 are at 7:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Entry fee is $70 and covers greens fees and skins games.

Golfers may use a cart for an additional $14. Deadline for entry is Aug. 4.

The Eagle Amateur features four flights and a seniors (over 50) division. A women's division is included as well.

“We're hoping to get more numbers for the women's division this year,” Voltz said. “There is a robust women's league that plays twice a week at Hiland and we're hopeful of getting a number of them to join the tournament.

“Hiland is very strong in terms of men's league play, too, and we're trying to get a lot of those guys to participate on their home course this year.”

Voltz emphasized that Hiland owner Sarah Zediker and her staff “are doing a great job keeping that course in shape.

“We know it's gonna be in great condition for us.”

BUTLER EAGLE COUNTY AMATEUR

Previous Winners

1995-Mark Young, 1996-Jim Hepler, 1997-Bill Black, 1998-Dave Hungerman, 1999-Sean Swidzinski, 2000-Greg Minda, 2001-Chuck Young, 2002-Mark Young, 2003-Chris Morrow, 2004-Mike Toubakaris, 2005-Doug Knox, 2006-Nathan Bilski, 2007-Rob Voltz, 2008-10-Sean Knapp, 2011-Bennett Smith, 2012-13-Sean Knapp, 2014-Mike Marron, 2015-Scott Vice, 2016-Rob Voltz, 2017-Scott Vice, 2018-Jeremy Enslen