Inland Oil hosted a charity golf tournament Thursday afternoon for their vendors at the Bainbridge Country Club. The tournament raised more than $70,000 for local charities and gave out of town visitors a chance to play golf on a historic course.

The golf tournament was started by Lester and Ann Scaff in Lake City 15 years ago and was called the S & S Tournament. However, it was renamed the Inland tournament four years ago and moved to Bainbridge for the first time this year.

The golf tournament raised money for three local charities. Manager, Mike Harrell and CFO, Glennie Bench, said they have a committee that helped choose the charities. They wanted to benefit local places that encompassed all of their major locations: Lake City, Enterprise and Bainbridge.

Bainbridge chose to donate to the Friendship Ministries because it benefits such a variety of people, including women and children Bench said.

The tournament is special to the vendors, because it allows for them to get out in the community and get connected in a way they may not usually be able to. Scaff originally saw the golf tournament as a way to thank the vendors for doing business with them and pay them back in a fun way, but also give back to charity.

Bench and Harrell were pleased with the turnout. They said the number was similar to last year’s turnout, but what really excited them was that their new entity, Bainbridge Country Club also decided to enter some teams into the mix.

Harrell said everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves, with the perfect weather and they were really impressed by the course and the fact it had been carved out of swamp and plantation.

First, second and third place winners get a trophy donated by Inland. They don’t want a cash prize, because they want it to go to charity. Vendors also bring prizes for drawings that usually have their logo on it.

Harrell was pleased with the entire day. He said one of his favorite parts of the day was just riding the course and getting to meet and see everyone. He said he was also impressed with how great the club looked, he wanted to thank the general manager, George for the setup and having everything lined up and looking pristine for everyone out of town.