Of all the Special Olympics sports, golf is the only one with a dedicated annual tournament. This year, the Special Olympics National Invitational Tournament will be held in Ames starting Friday.

The tournament, which started in 1995, is expected to draw about 190 athletes from 29 states. On the field will be six athletes from Iowa competing for the first time, ranging in age from 24 to 54.

With that many athletes involved, a large staff is needed to keep things on track.

“We have over 300 volunteers for this event, which is great,” said volunteer Elaine Hieber. “It’s typical of Iowa and Iowa State that they reach out for this event.”

With the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games on the horizon, organizers are using this event as a trial run for their new systems.

“We are testing the shuttle service, software, advertising – as many different procedures as we can we are trying to apply to this event,” Hieber said. “We are using this not only as an opportunity as a national event, but as a way to iron out the kinks for next year.”

Hieber has been involved with the Special Olympics for 20 years, dating back to when she was the senior associate athletic director for Iowa State. She said there are always things that go wrong, and now is a better time to learn about them than next summer.

“Special Olympics North America ran the registration, and there were some snags, but that’s to be expected; we’re learning,” Hieber said.

The U.S. Golf Association and the Professional Golf Association of America are partners with the Special Olympics for the tournament, which will be held at the Ames Country Club and Coldwater Golf Links.

“I just think it’s a fantastic event, and I think the community in general should get involved in this,” said Ames Country Club board member John Bodehnal.

“When I was approached, I said yes, and that was before I even met with the board.”

Hosting the event was still subject to board approval, but it passed easily.

“Ames Golf and Country Club really jumped on right away to host this event,” Hieber said.

“They were the only ones to really embrace it.”

There are five levels of competition for the athletes, ranging from a skills contest to individual stroke play over nine or 18 holes.

In the first level, the skills contest, athletes compete in five categories: a wood shot, an iron shot, a pitch shot, a chip shot, a long putt and a short putt. The second and third levels are team play; the Special Olympics player is matched with a non-Special Olympics player for 9 or 18 holes of alternate shot golf.

“It is usually a family member or a school friend that plays with the Special Olympics athlete,” Hieber said. “It is really a good opportunity for them to go out and play with a loved one.”

The last two levels are individual play, nine holes in level four and 18 holes in level five. There have been some very successful rounds in the tournament’s history, including Special Olympics golfer Kevin Erickson of Wisconsin, who two years ago posted three rounds in the 70s to capture his first gold medal.

His second round 76 is an NIT 18-hole scoring record, which included a hole-in-one. Erickson won gold last year as well and will be looking for three straight this weekend.

“The level of play is going to surprise a good number of people,” Bodehnal said. “These athletes can definitely play.”

Aside from the tournament, there will be plenty of entertainment for the athletes.

There will be a Jack Nicklaus-designed putting course that will be erected at the Ames Country Club, a nine-hole par-27 championship course.

Bodehnal said it is between 9,000 and 10,000 square feet and they will use sand for bunkers and two-by-fours for some of the borders, making a challenging little course.

Trick-shot artist Peter Long will also put on a show at 4 p.m. Sunday at Coldwater Links. Long’s exhibition will be open to the public, and Hieber said she would love for people to come and enjoy the show.