Top-rated bass anglers will display their fishing and golf skills in a unique tournament Nov. 12-15 at the Lake of the Ozarks.
Old Kinderhook Lodge and Golf Course and fishing resource website Bassing Bob will host the 5th annual Missouri Invitational Pro-Am Fish and Golf Tournament that provides amateur fishermen a chance to fish and play golf with pro anglers. Among the anglers participating in this year’s event are former Bassmaster Classic and FLW Cup champion Dion Hibdon (pictured), FLW All-American champions Marcus Sykora, Jeremy Lawyer and Brian Maloney, Major League Fishing pros James Watson and Mike McClelland, FLW Tour pros Casey Scanlon and Dan Morehead and last year’s Missouri Invitational champ, Mark Tucker (an eight-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier). The field also includes a host of regional tournament competitors and local fishing guides.
The festivities begin Nov. 12 at Old Kinderhook with a happy hour, dinner, live and silent auction for pairings and rules review. Pairings are determined by the amateur anglers bidding in the live and silent auctions for the pro anglers they want as a partner for the three competition days.
Fishing competition days will be Nov. 13 and Nov. 15 with weigh-ins at 4:15 p.m., each day at the Old Kinderhook skating rink. The golf competition will be an 18-hole scramble at Old Kinderhook Golf Course.
A guaranteed pot of more than $30,000 and many other payouts and prizes will be determined by an accumulated points system for all three days, including total weights for two days of fishing and the scoring from the 18 holes of scramble golf. Golf will be scored as 1/2-pound for a par, 1 1/2 pounds for a birdie and 3 pounds for an eagle, with a two-putt maximum format per hole.
Hibdon has competed in the tournament every year and looks forward to the fun and camaraderie of the event.
“It is just a fun time,” Hibdon says. “I fish against these guys and I see them every weekend, but this event is just a little more laid-back situation. Everybody is just as hardcore to win it as any other tournament, but there is something about it that is just a little bit more laid back.”
For more information about the event, visit BassingBob.com.
