Last year the Mountain State Golf Classic was bursting at the seams with a field of 136 golfers.
Now in its 45th year, the prestigious and highly popular tournament will tip the scales with 148 players when it opens up Saturday morning at Grandview Country Club.
Round two will move to Pipestem Resort Sunday with the final round will being contested Monday on The Cobb Course at The Resort at Glade Springs.
Originally known as the BNI Tournament and enjoyed as a reunion of friends and competitors, the Mountain State Golf Classic has also evolved into a charity tournament in recent years.
The event helps the Senior Friends at the Raleigh General Hospital which distributes money to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association and other organizations.
Davey Jude is the defending champion and has three titles to his credit (2014, 2021, 2023). Jude will be joined by former champions Jackson Hill (2019), Landon Perry (2017), Dennis Vass (1982) and Alan Wharton (2008).
Tournament veteran Mike Mays has the most wins with six and will celebrate the 40th anniversary of his first win back in 1984, just three years after his high school graduation.
WVU Tech standout golfer Bryson Beaver leads a strong contingent of young guns who all have the game to take home the championship.
Beaver was the low medalist back in April at the River States Conference Golf Championship to earn a spot in the NAIA National Championship in Dalton, Ga. The former Class AA state champion was also named RSC Golfer of the Year, while earning first team All-Conference honors and Champion of Character accolades.
Joining Beaver in the marque foursome is good friend Tanner Vest, who starred at Shady Spring. Vest helped lead Shady Spring to a state golf championship and is currently playing for Marshall University.
Vest and Beaver have combined to win two W.Va. Four-ball titles in the last three years.
Brothers, and former Woodrow Wilson standouts, Jackson Hill and Zan Hill round out the group. Jackson recently completed a stellar career at Wofford College and qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 2022. Zan was the W.Va. Class AAA individual state champion as a senior in 2021 and now plays for Concord University.
Playing right behind them is another marque group of Shady Spring golfers who all have state tournament experience on the links.
That foursome includes Tyler Beard, Cooper Ward, Nate Richmond and Jack Williams. Ward and Williams played on the 2024 Class AAA state champion basketball team.
The fearless leader of the Shady Spring baseball team and Beckley Post 32 American Legion team, Jordan Meadows, will be stalking birdies over the weekend. Meadows will look to gain bragging rights over two of the top umpires in the area in Jay Rutledge and Dave Crone.
A couple of area golf coaches, Jim Workman (Liberty) and Jerod Ewing (summers County) are also teeing it up, along with former Woodrow Wilson head golf coach and assistant basketball coach Butch Freeman.
Longtime participants Rusty Ray, Darrell Bailey, Rick Vass and Dennis Vass will hit lead-off at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The final group will go off at 1:40 p.m. which will include Mountain State Golf Classic committee member and newly elected Beckley mayor, Ryan Neal.
The Mountain State Golf Classic is divided into an Open Division and a Senior Division. All players in the Open division will play the white tees the first two days and the Senior division will play the gold tees.
For the final round, the championship flight will move to the blue tees. The remainder of the field will be flighted and play the white tees.
