Lilac City Invitational champ will take home $10,000

The 54th Lilac City Invitational is offering its biggest first-place check in decades.

The winner will pocket $10,000, a bump from the $8,000 collected by 2016 champion Derek Barron.

The region’s only 72-hole golf tournament takes place July 6-9 at the Fairways. Entries are being accepted through Saturday.

The Fairways was in the news in late May when the city of Spokane shut off its water due to a longtime dispute over unpaid bills and rates for water users outside city limits. The course has filed a lawsuit.

Fairways pro and general manager Kris Kallem said the course went 14 days without city water. He’s been fielding calls from golfers for weeks wondering if the course is open and the water is turned on. His standard replies are yes and yes, and that visitors probably wouldn’t notice any difference in the course’s condition.

“We had some localized dry spots that we’ve since been watering and playing catch-up with and we raised the height of the cut on the greens so it’s taken a while to get that back,” said Kallem, noting that rounds have been down significantly in June.

Barron isn’t returning to defend his title. The teaching pro from Puyallup recently competed in the U.S. Open and he’s been playing on the Mackenzie Tour (PGA Canada).

Favorites in the pro division include 2015 champion Brian Miller, 2013 winner Russell Grove, perennial contender Kevin PomArleau, Jimmy Mee and Michael Combs, a two-time Rosauers Open winner.

“We’re probably similar in numbers to previous years but we have a lot more newcomers and names we don’t recognize,” Kallem said. “We’d love to get to 100 (players) this year.”

There are separate payouts for low senior professional, low female professional, and gross and net payouts for amateurs by handicap flight. The Lilac also features a three-day putting contest and a long-drive competition on Friday followed by live music with Dusty Klink and Nobody Famous.

No. 8, which stretched to 410 yards with the installation of a back tee box last year, now has a lengthy water hazard along the left side of the fairway to go with the smaller hazard on the right side.

Tournament information: (509) 747-8418 or golfthefairways.com.