After 52 Years, The Greater Bangor Open Is No More.

I'm not much of a golfer. In fact, I'm terrible. If I want the ball to go left, I have to stand to the right and vice versa. I'm still not really sure how to make it go straight. And on the green, I've got the gentle touch of a gorilla on roller skates. But when I was a kid, I read that Tommy Lee from Motley Crue was really into golf, so I decided I should be too.

But today is a sad day indeed, to hear that the Greater Bangor Open, a golf tournament that took place annually for the past 52 years at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course, has been put to rest indefinitely. Declining numbers of participants, combined with scheduling conflicts with other tournaments have left the folks with the GBO feeling like there wasn't a good enough reason to keep going anymore.

With entries down, and expenses up, the tournament was no longer economically feasible for anyone involved. Plus, it tied up the the course for four days. Which these days could be put to better use by keeping it open for players. Rob Jarvis, the club pro, said this to the BDN recently:

The days of $1 per gallon gas and a $50 a night hotel room are long gone....To have 70 guys show up and have a small purse isn’t worth it for them or for the golf course....

There will be a member-guest tournament in July, but that will be a bit quieter event. But otherwise, it'll just be business as usual at Bangor Muni this summer. Which isn't a bad thing, but it is sad to watch one more piece of Bangor's history disappear into the sunset.