Camdenton, Mo—Top-rated bass anglers will display their fishing and golf skills in a unique tournament Nov. 12-15 at the Lake of the Ozarks.
Old Kinderhook lodge and golf course and Lake of the Ozarks fishing resource website Bassing Bob will host the fifth annual 2019 Missouri Invitational Pro-Am Fish and Golf Tournament that provides amateur fishermen a chance to fish and golf with pro anglers. Among the fishing luminaries returning to compete in this year’s event are former Bassmaster Classic and FLW Cup champ Dion Hibdon, FLW All-American champions, Marcus Sykora, Jeremy Lawyer and Brian Maloney, Major League Fishing pros James Watson and Mike McClelland, FLW Tour pros Casey Scanlon and Dan Morehead and last year’s Missouri Invitational champ Mark Tucker, an eight-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier. The field also includes a host of regional tournament competitors and local fishing guides.
The festivities begin Nov. 12 at Old Kinderhook with a happy hour, dinner, live and silent auction for pairings and rules review. Pairings are determined by the amateur anglers bidding in the live and silent auctions for the pro anglers they want as a partner for the three competition days.
Fishing competition days will be Nov. 13 and Nov. 15 with weigh-ins at 4:15 p.m., each day the Old Kinderhook skating rink. The golf competition will be an 18-hole scramble at Old Kinderhook golf course.
A guaranteed pot of more than $30,000 and many other payouts and prizes will be determined by an accumulated points system for all three days including total weights for two day of fishing and the scoring from the 18 holes of scramble golf. Golf will be scored as 1/2 pound for a par, 1 1/2 pounds for a birdie and 3 pounds for an eagle with a 2-putt maximum format per hole.
Legendary pro Dion Hibdon has competed in the tournament every year and looks forward to the fun and camaraderie of the event. “It is just a fun time,” Hibdon says. “I fish against these guys and I see them every weekend but this event is just a little more laid-back situation. Everybody is just as hard core to win it as any other tournament but there is something about it that is just a little bit more laid back.”
Hibdon believes the event has also helped improve his golf game. “It is fun to jack with it a little bit,” he says. The Missouri pro credits Sam Billmeyer, a retired Casey’s Stores executive who was one of Hibdon’s former co-anglers in the event, with helping him become a better golfer.
The full list of pro anglers committed to this year’s Missouri Invitational is the following:
David Ryan
Marcus Sykora
Mark Wiese
Brent Algeo
Dennis Berhorst
Jim Young
Roger Fitzpatrick
Rob Bueltmann
James Watson
James Dill
Jack Uxa
Brian Maloney
Dion Hibdon
Payden Hibdon
Lawson Hibdon
Mike Eutsler
Kelly Power
Terry Blankenship
Mike McClelland
Dirk Sluyter
Jeremy Lawyer
Brett Govreau
Dan Morehead
Justin McClelland
Mark Tucker
Andy Newcomb
Tom Silber
Doug Henzlik
Bill McDonald
Todd Goade
Shawn Kowal
Wes Endicott
Casey Scanlon
Chuck Austin
Ben Verhoef
For more information about the Missouri Invitational, visit BassingBob.com.