Bring on the champions: ASGA starts new event.

Club champions now have a chance for bragging rights beyond their pro shop or the clubhouse bar.

The Arkansas State Golf Association is unveiling a new championship to add to the series of tournaments it manages each season. The Club Champions Championship, with divisions both for men and women, will be contested on Oct. 20-21 at the Granada Course at Hot Springs Village.

All clubs that are members of the ASGA will be invited to send their club champions to the tournament for 18 holes of stroke play. The women will compete the first day, the men on the next.

Arkansas has about 200 golf clubs, with 145 members of the ASGA.

"It should be a fun event," the ASGA's Mac Stubbs said. "A lot of those people don't play in our regular championship events, like the stroke play or match play. There are some darned good golfers around the state who never bring their game to competition outside their club. We wanted to get them out in a comfortable site, introducing them to tournament play, and maybe they'll participate one day in our stroke and match play tournaments."

Stubbs added, "We'll take all the club champions and figure out who is best in the state. You have your scratch players whose names everybody reads about, the Chris Jenkins, Bev Hargraves, Stan Lee types. I think you'll see some new blood come out of that tournament, people who can play with anybody."