EVANS CITY — The annual EDCO Park Chili Open will have golfers whacking foam balls around a nine-hole course, noshing on chili and winning prizes.

It will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at EDCO Park on Main Street. Proceeds will benefit the all-volunteer EDCO Park Authority, the park and swimming pool.

John Rogers, authority president, said he and other volunteers will drill holes in the park grounds with ice augers and lay out the snowy fairways for the event. He said each hole is 60 to 90 yards.

“People who aren’t regular golfers have more fun than people who play on a regular basis,” Rogers said.

A pavilion at the park is enclosed each year by Rich Szwaczkowski, owner of Swiss Construction, and the propane to heat the enclosure is donated by ProGas on Route 19 in Zelienople.

Chili, coffee, hot chocolate and desserts are included in the admission, as are hot dogs that players can cook over the park’s fire pit near the fifth hole.

Rogers said about 50 auction items will be available, including Pirates and Steelers merchandise, a signed Jack Nicklaus photograph, hotel certificates, and gift cards to businesses and restaurants.

Many participants come to eat, socialize and bid on the auction items and don’t even golf, Rogers said.

“There’s nothing to do in the middle of winter, and what makes this work is it’s fun in the middle of winter,” he said.

Both left- and right-handed clubs will be available to participants.

Companies can still buy hole sponsorships, which start at just $60, Rogers said.

The Chili Open and the EDCO Park Chicken Barbecue are the authority’s largest fundraisers each year. The Chili Open usually brings in $4,000 to $5,000, Rogers said.

He said 90 percent of the authority’s annual revenue comes from donations, fundraisers, pool admission, pool concessions, and swimming lessons.

Information about the event and how to donate to the authority is available at www.edcopark.com.