A random day of golf for a foursome 34 years ago turned into an annual event that is stronger than ever today.

Glenn Ahrens - who moved to Butler from Minneapolis, Minn., in 1972 - visited the Foxburg Country Club that year and decided to play a round on the 9-hole course with some of his new neighbors.

"We all live on Muntz Avenue in Butler, so we decided to call it the Muntz Open," Ahrens said of the golf get-together.

Ahrens won the round that day. He won it again in 1973, and again in 1980. In the meantime, fellow golfers joined in and the Muntz Open became a full-fledged tournament.

"We've had 60 players for a number of years now," Ahrens said. "For a 9-hole tournament, we can't handle any more than that.

"We don't advertise for golfers. We haven't needed to. The same players keep coming back each year and when someone doesn't, someone else fills in."

The Muntz Open switched from individual stroke play to a four-person scramble in 1994. It remains that way today.

"Some of the guys are getting older and this format is more fair," Ahrens said.

Two groups from Canada - longtime friends of the Ahrens family - come to play in the event each year. Players come from New Castle and Pittsburgh as well.

Proceeds from the Muntz Open have been donated to Children's Hospital for the past 12 years.

"We just wanted to help somebody," Ahrens said. "Our tournament has always given money to charity."

This year's tournament took place Aug. 22. The winning foursome was Ray Weiland, Jeff Burkbichler, Ron Lutz and Don Rebmann. A foursome from Toronto, Canada finished second.

Weiland, Burkbichler, Lutz and Rebmann won the 2004 event as well.

"We've had as many as seven groups come down from Canada to play here," Ahrens said of Foxburg Country Club. "There's a lot of history here."

The American Golf Hall of Fame - with Ahrens a member of its board of directors - is located in Foxburg.

Bill Keelan is the only individual golfer to win the Muntz Open four times. Jim Chapin, Chuck Goehrig and Ahrens have won it three times while Dick Kraus won it twice.