Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

If you can't be in Augusta, Ga., for the actual Masters festivities going on Thursday, April 7, the First Tee of Central Arkansas offers a great alternative: golf in the day and a Master-themed silent and live auction party that night. Oh, and the Masters telecast from the first round on ESPN will be on the TVs, rest assured.

The First Tee announced its plans for the third annual event, which has developed into quite a shindig for golf lovers no matter what your handicap may be. A two-man scramble on the par-3 course is planned from 1 to 5:30 p.m., and the reception begins at 6. If playing is not an option, attend the reception and enjoy Masters style sandwiches and a chance to win a trip to the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional in Bethesda Md., plus the opportunity to bid on golf and Masters-related auction items and plenty more.

The main thing now is, if you plan to play in the par-3 tournament, get on the list now as space fills up fast. Visit the First Tee's website for more information, or call 562-4653.

ON ITS OWN: The First Tee depends on events such as A Day at the Masters and its fall First Tee Classic to help fund it operation. It's annual budget is about $700,000. Some of that is recouped through memberships (children are charged $150 a year, which is all-inclusive of greens fees, classes, practice balls, etc), but about a third of the 1,000 or so members are on scholarship because of their economic situation. That's where community support comes in.

Chad Kauffman, who is into his fourth year as executive director, created the Day at the Masters event, which was a perfect tie-in to the First Tee's local benefactor, the late Jack Stephens. The philanthropist and financier contributed $5 million to First Tee's national start up in 1997 and funded the building of the fabulous club house and the course, which features 9 regulation-length holes and 9 par-3 holes, all with bentgrass.

After Mr. Stephens' death, his son Warren has continued to back First Tee locally, making it one of the recipients of the annual Jack Stephens Charitable Trust tournament every spring at the Alotian Club. However, that event was only scheduled to run for five years and ended last year. Warren Stephens has publicly stated his with that the First Tee board and its management to make the Little Rock program self-reliant.

Along with A Day at the Masters, the First Tee of Central Arkansas will celebrate 10 years in its clubhouse in April. Part of the land on which First Tee sits was the former Rock Creek public course. Famed architect Tom Clark, noted in Arkansas for his work at Hot Springs Village and at Mountain Home's Big Creek, designed the First Tee layout.

First Tee offers adult and family memberships along with the individual children's membership. Adult memberships allow for free play on the two nine-hole courses.

LAST SHOT: UALR can lock up the fourth seed out of the Sun Belt Conference West Division with a win tonight against the league's preseason favorite, North Texas. The men tip off at 7:30 p.m. following the women's game between the schools.

While we mentioned last week the five men's players who will be completing their home careers, three UALR women who have made history for the program will also be ending their careers on the Jack Stephens Center home court (that is, unless UALR fails to advance to the NCAA Tournament but lands an NIT bid and a home game).

UALR fans will be sending off the school's all-time leading scorer, Chastity Reed, along with star point guard Asriel Rolfe and forward Shameka Butler. The UALR women will go into the Sun Belt tourney at Hot Springs with the top seed out of the West and the top record in the conference, though also with the sting of an upset loss to in-state rival Arkansas State last week.