The Verge for Youth Golf Tournament took place on July 31 at Copper Point Golf Course, with 27 teams taking part.

The annual event is put on by the Verge for Youth charity to support families in need throughout the valley.

Last year, Verge for Youth managed to raise and re-distribute over $54,000 that was collected over the course of the year. While this year’s golf tournament’s final total is still being calculated, Verge for Youth chair (and one of the many, many volunteers who put on the event), Floyd Verge, estimates that close to or over $15,000 was raised that day.

“Participation was really good,” said Verge.

“We’ve always gotten good support from businesses and local participation. We also changed some of the format this year. We received a lot of compliments about our registration process.”

The golf tournament, as Verge stressed, is a large team effort which relies on dedicated volunteers and other help, such as donations.

Planning for the next Verge for Youth Golf Tournament, for example, will begin in September of this year through various meetings leading up to the date. In short, it takes close to a year to completely set up the event.

This was the third year in a row for returning tournament participant Mark Brough, who first started taking part in the event in 2009, and has been doing so ever since.

“You just can’t speak highly enough of this charity, not just about their local work but their work throughout the valley,” said Brough. “It’s unbelievable and deserves much recognition.”

Brough also commented on the day’s wonderful, warm sunny weathwhich, after last year’s rainy event, was a welcome change.

“We’re still out there though, rain or shine,” said Brough. “It really does deserve every recognition it can get. It’s a really well thought-out event with lots of fun things this year, like golf bingo. Nobody came off that course unhappy that day.”