Golfers will have more than one opportunity to show off their skills at Veishea this year. Two golf tournaments will take place, each having a very different flavor.

The first is the new Glowball Golf Tournament, which will take place Thursday at the Coldwater Golf Links, 615 S. 16th St. Entrants will form teams of four and use a best-shot format.

In an unusual twist from conventional golf, the tournament will be played in the dark. To allow players to see, the course will be lit with glow sticks and players will be provided with glow-in-the-dark balls.

Tournament organizers said they think the students will really enjoy the unique atmosphere.

“It should be a whole new level of fun,” said Justin Jedlicka, tournament co-chairman. “I think it’ll be a great time.”

There will also be prizes presented at an award ceremony immediately following the conclusion of the tournament. Jedlicka said the prizes range from relatively small to very large.

“We’re giving out free rounds [of golf] to some of the nicer courses in Iowa,” he said.

One of those courses is The Harvester Golf Club in Rhodes, which is widely regarded as one of the best courses in the country, Jedlicka said.

The other event is the VEISHEA Open Golf Tournament, which will be held Sunday at Veenker Memorial Golf Course, 1925 Stange Road. Formerly a team-oriented best-shot tournament, the VEISHEA Open Golf Tournament will be an individual event this year. It will span 18 holes and is geared toward more serious golfers.

Jedlicka said he expects a number of different age groups to enter the golf tournament.

“The individual [tournament] will hopefully be pretty diverse,” he said. “We’ll have some older players, and I’ve talked to some college kids that are interested that are pretty good.”

Tess Balsley, the outing and tournament coordinator for the Veenker Memorial Golf Course, also expects the tournament to have a diverse field of entrants.

“They’re hoping to draw more public and community members,” Balsley said. “I just hope we get a lot of participation – that’s what it’s all about.

“It’s for the students more than anything.”

Veenker Memorial Golf Course is owned by Iowa State and was built in 1938, making it one of the area’s older golf courses.

“It has a lot of character to it,” Balsley said. “Just the landscape it’s on is pretty unique.”

Jedlicka said the same type of prizes will be given out for the VEISHEA Open Golf Tournament.

“We have a whole closet full of prizes,” he said.

“Our marketing people really did a good job.”