The Travis House Golf Tournament is back for its second annual event at Haymaker Golf Course on Friday, August 12.

The money raised from the event will go to Travis House, an organization designed to promote sober living and help men recover from substance abuse.

Travis House was created by Jeff Welton after his son passed away from an accidental overdose in 2016. Welton started the program to provide a faith-based home for men on the road to recovery and it officially launched in January of 2021. 

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Recent Travis House graduate, Scott Bourbeau, jumped at the opportunity to support Travis House and volunteered to help set up the golf tournament.

“We wanted to raise money because guys coming out of addiction going into sober living, they’re not coming in with a lot of support, money, or anything, so it goes towards keeping the doors open for the next guy to be able to go in and get the same help that I got, but also to spread awareness of what’s out there for treatment, especially in Steamboat, because it’s a smaller community,” Bourbeau said.  

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Last year, the Steamboat Christian Center put on a small tournament at Steamboat Golf Club. It was a quick 9-hole tournament to raise some funds, and Travis House wants to build off of that for an even bigger event this time around. 

Bourbeau wanted to ensure this would be a premiere golf tournament, so with the help of volunteer Park Smalley, they got several local businesses and members of the community involved to donate and participate. 

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It’s not nearly as easy as it sounds to put these tournaments together, but Bourbeau and Smalley have some previous experience.

“It’s a checklist,” Smalley said. “You’ve gotta make sure you got all your stuff set up for the tournament, you got your registration, your special tournament holes, a format, and getting guys to play.”

The tournament will be a scramble format with a shotgun start beginning at 8 a.m. and finishing up sometime in the early afternoon. 

The par-3 17th hole is a double-down betting hole where players can bet $5 and if they hit the green from the tee box, they get $10 back. 

The conclusion of the tournament will lead to a lunch celebration for all the players and be the final opportunity to bid in the silent auction. 

Anyone can bid in the silent auction, it is not exclusive to those competing. The auction will start at Haymaker Golf Course first thing in the morning and run for the duration of the tournament.

Over 25 silent auction items will be available for bidding. The items range from original artwork to gift certificates and custom golf equipment. 

“Almost everybody knows somebody that is struggling with an addiction issue, so the community support has been overwhelming,” Bourbeau said. “The amount of sponsorships we’ve gotten, the amount of silent auction options, it’s incredible.”

The original goal for the event was to reach about 40 players to compete in the tournament. In just a few weeks, they got to 40 registrants, and have now doubled that number to 80 participants where they had to cap it off. 

Bourbeau says they have already begun planning for next year’s tournament and in working with Haymaker Golf Course, they hope to expand to as many as 130 competitors for next summer. 

While the event has closed registration, donations can still be made at TravisHouse.org/Donations.

 “The main purpose for the golf tournament is really to grow the program and to get a bigger house so we can serve more guys and get them into a house that would work even better,” Welton said. “I just didn’t want anybody to die like my son did from an overdose, and I didn’t want any parents to feel the way I did. God just put it on my heart.”

To reach Tom Skulski, call 970-871-4240, email tskulski@SteamboatPilot.com.