The Maine Basketball Hall of Fame will hold a golf tournament at the Falmouth Country Club in Falmouth on Monday, July 21. The Hall will induct its inaugural class of 23 on Aug. 21 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

The tournament – a scramble with an 8 a.m. shotgun start – is being sponsored by the Goodwin Motor Group of Brunswick and Harris Golf of Bath.

The event is being held to raise money for the MBHOF and to give southern Maine a presence in the Hall’s development. Organizing the tournament is Tom Maines of Brunswick, a member of the Hall’s board of directors and a former high school coach.

Maines wants to get southern Maine high school coaches and referees involved in organizing teams for the tournament. He’s hoping to have schools, communities and individuals get hole sponsors at $200 a hole.

“With a little effort, we can raise a good amount for the MBHOF,” he said.

High school basketball has such a rich tradition in Maine and has touched many lives.

Addressing the state’s coaching fraternity, Maines wrote in an email about the tournament: “This is our Hall. You never know when you, one of your players, a school alumnus or a community member will be selected for induction.”

Maines plans on making it an annual event. The invitation to play extends to college coaches and their schools.

Ideally the tournament will have 30 teams. Each team will consist of five players at $125 a player.

Following the tournament, there will be lunch at 1:30 p.m. with awards and prizes.

The tournament is also looking for volunteers – the goal is to have a scorer with each group and spotters throughout the course to help with the pace of play. Maines feels that would be a good job for players who aren’t golfers.

The deadline to enter the tournament is June 30. Checks should be made payable to the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame and sent to Tom Maines, 2 Nancy Drive, Brunswick, 04011. He also can be reached at 504-6182 or at tfmaines@comcast.net.

Eastern Maine supporters of the MBHOF will hold their tournament for the fourth straight year at Aroostook Valley in Fort Fairfield on Aug. 2. 

THE MAINE State Golf Association has released the names of the recipients of its annual scholarship fund for the 2014-15 school year. Eleven individuals will receive $1,500 a year for four years as long as they’re a student in good standing at a college or university.

The MSGA has been awarding scholarships for post-secondary education since 1950. In that time the MSGA has awarded more than $1.36 million. The criteria for consideration are demonstrating active interest in Maine golf as a player or a caddie, or by working at an MSGA member golf shop or course, establishing their need for financial assistance to attend college, being a graduate or prospective graduate of an accredited secondary school, being a legal resident of Maine, and showing outstanding character, integrity and leadership through participation in extracurricular, civic and/or community activities.

The 2014 scholars are Kyle Alexander of Brewer (Phillips Exeter Academy), Connor Arsenault of York (York High), Casey Bancroft of Chelsea (Cony High), Ashley Chubbuck of Windsor (Erskine Academy), Jackson Cogger of Cape Neddick (York High), Trevor Kitchen of Detroit (Maine Central Institute), Carter LaPointe of Mapleton (Presque Isle High), Erik Larrabee of Jackson (Mt. View High), Cameron Small of Sanford (Sanford High); Andrew Stanley of Porter (Sacopee Valley High) and Chase Whittemore of Skowhegan (Skowhegan High).

Larrabee’s award for the first year will contain an additional $500 grant for achieving the highest academic ranking of the recipients. He was awarded the Winchenbach Award, named for Dr. Francis A. Winchenbach, who was president of the MSGA when the scholarship fund started.

Chubbuck will receive her scholarship in the name of the Women’s Maine State Golf Association. Alexander will receive his award in memory of longtime MSGA scorer Davis Richardson. Small will receive his award in the name of the New England Seniors Golf Association. Kitchen will receive his award in memory of Rock Labbe, whose family started an endowment for the scholarship fund.

Annual funding for the scholarship fund comes from donations, membership and entry fees paid by MSGA golfers and support of member golf clubs.The Charlie’s Maine Open pro-am is the single biggest fundraiser for the fund outside of the MSGA. The pro-am will be played at 1 p.m. July 27 at the Augusta Country Club, prior to the two-day Charlie’s Maine Open championship. The cost for a pro-am team of three amateurs and a professional will be $750.

For more information on the fund go to www.mesga.org or call 829-3549.

TEE TO GREEN: Alan Bouchard of West Bath shot his age when he fired a 4-under 66 at the Bath Golf Course during an MSGA weekly amateur May 16. It was the second time Bouchard, 67, shot his age. The first time was in April, also a 66, at his course – Old Hickory in Fort Myers, Florida.

At Bath, Bouchard was the easy winner in the gross Senior 1 division. His score was also the lowest in the entire tournament by three shots.

“I made some 15-footers for a change,” said Bouchard, who had five birdies and a bogey.

Before this spring, Bouchard said he hadn’t really come that close to shooting his age. Playing in Florida for four months has put him in midseason form.

In past years, other rounds in the 60s recalled by Bouchard were a 65 at Sable Oaks in another MSGA tournament, a 66 at Boothbay Region, which is now his home course, and a 64 at Riverside in the 1970s.

Bouchard has long been one of the top players in the state. His resume includes playing in three United States Golf Association Senior Amateurs and one Mid-Amateur Championship.

The MSGA senior tournament at Sable Oaks, originally scheduled for last week, was rescheduled for June 23 because of course conditions.

Shawn Warren, an assistant pro at Falmouth, captured individual pro honors with a 67 at the Maine chapter of the NEPGA pro-am at Prouts Neck last week. The day before, playing in the NEPGA Pro-Assistant Pro Championship in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, Warren and Falmouth head pro Sean Barrett tied for second with four other teams with a 6-under 65. They split $1,280.

The deadline to enter the MSGA senior four-ball is June 5. The tournament will be played at the Poland Spring Resort on June 17.

Tom Chard can be reached at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH