David Miliken, a charter member of the Par-Makers Golf & Social Club, will be honored this weekend during the 60th Par-Makers Golf Tournament at CrossWinds Golf Course.

Maybe this is the year Dale Spearman gets his name on the stone.

The Bowling Green resident hopes to someday see his name among the long list of individual champions inscribed on two stones positioned at the turn of the first hole at CrossWinds Golf Course – all past winners of the men’s and women’s open divisions of the Par-Makers Golf Tournament.

Spearman knows he faces long odds to win that title and earn his spot on the stone, but he’s ready to get it another shot starting Saturday in the two-day tournament.

“Somebody is coming to whup somebody,” Spearman said. “ … We’ve got some big hitters. We’ve got some people coming from around and they’re coming to win it. It’s one of those tournaments that you can put up under your belt and say that you won.”

This year’s tournament, organized by the Par-Makers Golf & Social Club, will be the 60th all-time for the long-running event. It began in 1963 and has been played annually except for one year, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation.

“Over the years, it’s been very important,” Par-Makers tournament director Dorian Lee said. “It really started because of segregation. There was a tournament that was held for all taxpayers in Bowling Green – they played it over at Paul Walker (Golf Course) – it was called Muni then. There was no club at that time. Black guys that played over there qualified and they were to go to the country club and they were like no, you can’t come over here.

“There was a sports writer named Bert Borrone and he told those guys that you all need to start your own tournament. Those guys got together, and they were leaders in the community, a lot of prominent guys.”

That first tournament back in 1963 drew 53 golfers to the event, named the Par-Makers Amateur Invitational Open. Lee said the tournament was and remains open to all races and has always enjoyed a diverse field of golfers.

This weekend’s tournament will honor the lone surviving member of that original founding group of Par-Makers, charter member and two-time winner David Miliken. A former college golfer at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Miliken comes from an accomplished family of golfers – longtime PGA professional Jim Dent is his cousin, while Milikin’s uncle once worked as the caddie master at Augusta National.

“David is a fine golfer,” Lee said.

From its beginning at the nine-hole Paul Walker course, the Par-Makers has had several homes, including Riverview Golf Course at Hobson Grove, Park Mammoth Golf Course in Park City and now CrossWinds.

The Par-Makers steadily grew over the years, reaching peak participation in the mid-1970s when as many as 276 golfers took part. For a time, the tournament was held on three separate courses at once – CrossWinds, Paul Walker and Riverview – to accommodate the huge field.

Lee said that setup was logistically tough and left some players unhappy, leading to the Par-Makers shrinking the entries – this weekend’s full field will feature 112 players at CrossWinds.

“The reason it has gotten smaller is we wanted to make it a great tournament for the people,” Lee said. “We play in four, maybe four and a half hours. The competition’s been very good and we fill it right up. We catered more to the golfer more than we did to the public.”

The Par-Makers features a shotgun start, with 36-hole medal play at CrossWinds. There are four divisions – Ladies and Men’s Open, Seniors (ages 60-70) and Super Seniors (age 70 and up) with two flights in every division.

“We have some very good golfers that come in,” Lee said. “We’ve got some people coming in from Detroit, Michigan, Atlanta – we get them from all over. A lot of our golfers are guys and ladies who have been competing for years. We get some new ones every year, people from around the state and a lot of people come up from Nashville.”

And while the Par-Makers tournament committee still wants to make the tournament a great experience for the players, this year’s 60th edition features a return to what was once an annual tradition first at the Par-Makers clubhouse, then later at Red Carpet Inn – a dance open to not just players but also the community that always drew a massive crowd. The Par-Makers 60th Anniversary event is set for Saturday night from 7-11 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Plaza Ballroom A and will feature a live DJ and a cash bar. Tickets are $25 for single admittance and $40 for couples and can be purchased at Shake Rag Barbershop or at the door.

“We’re trying to ramp it back up and bring it back into the community,” Spearman said. “We want to get the community a little bit more involved and a little more aware of it.

“When you’re talking about 60 years, you can go back to the younger and the older people – you get a chance to hear some true stories about how it all came about. You can get together and reminisce about all that time and get together with some friends that you probably haven’t seen in awhile.”

Lee joined Miliken as the only active Par-Maker to win the tournament and earn his spot on the stone, hopes to see new names added to that list for years to come.

“It was a big, big thing in the community and it stayed that way for a long time,” Lee said. “That’s how the stone became such a big thing. You wanted to get your name on the stone.”{&end}