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The sun beat down while spirits stayed high at this year's Yampa River Junior Golf Classic Tuesday. Seventy-five competitors between 5 and 17 played for medals in five age classes.

Boys and girls competed separately, while every entrant got a sleeve of balls, a magnetic ball marker and lunch after their games.

Tom Dockstader, head professional at the Yampa Valley Golf Course, organized the tournament and said overall numbers are down from a few years ago when 140 players turned out for the annual event.

"That was when Tiger Woods was hotter than hot. Everyone was talking about Tiger Woods," Dockstader said, explaining that that may be why numbers were so high that year.

Ken Hanneman manages the Tin Cup Grill restaurant at the golf course.

He agreed that numbers are down, but he thinks that the reason is that there are more things for kids to do in Craig in the summer. Still, he said he'd like to see more young people get involved in the tournaments and had high praise for the event.

Despite the the restaurant losing revenue it would normally gain from selling food and beverages to adults, he said he thinks there should be a junior tournament three times a year, instead of just one.

"This is the future. It's really neat ... They learn organizing skills, they learn how to be on time, they learn everything they need to be a leader," Hannerman said.

The youngest age class had three competitors. The two boys, Mike Bingham, 5, and Riley O'Leary, 6, were new to the game. Taylor Brown, 6, was the lone girl in her class. She competed last year and was back for more. The three played a total of four holes and seemed eager to play more.

O'Leary readily rattled off the merits of each type of club and Bingham explained how various grass lengths affect a shot. All three have experience with sandpits and are unanimous in their judgment that they are bad places to be.

Bingham's father, Billy Bingham, said the kids learn valuable skills such as scorekeeping, coordination, patience and good manners. Brown's mother, Toni Brown, added reasoning skills to the list.

Hanneman agreed that the golf course is a civilizing place for youth.

"I'll tell you that kids that come out here are nothing but polite. They know that when they go to a golf course they need to put on their best manners," he said.