Memorial Day is fast approaching, making Cambrian Ridge the place to be this weekend as the annual Father-Son Championship golf tournament is slated for this Saturday.

Cambrian Ridge is the only stop on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail that hosts the tournament, and this weekend marks the 16th straight year of the tournament’s existence.

Cambrian Ridge sales and marketing director Danny Foster said that 2014 is a far cry from the Father-Son Championship’s humble beginnings.

“We started 16 years ago and we only had about 13 teams our very first year starting,” Foster said.

“Right now, we are maxing out at 120 teams, so that’s a big jump.  And we have been maxed out the last four or five years.”

The tournament is a two-person,  double shotgun scramble that will take place throughout the weekend, complete with provided lunches and a Saturday night dinner.

There are scheduled to be six or seven flights on Sunday, and Foster added that the competition is as wide open as it’s ever been.

“You can win the tournament from any flight,” Foster said.

“We’ll have scores that range anywhere from the 60s all the way up to the 100s, so everybody has a chance to win, being that there are so many flights that we put them in.  So if you’re a high handicapper, you’ve still got a as much of a chance to win in the last flight as you do in the championship flight.”

On average, the Father-Son Championship hosts attendees from at least 15 states, with guests from both coasts and everywhere in between.

The distinction of “most distant traveler” is awarded to a father-son team from California this year, but they are hardly alone in their journey.

Texas, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia are the relatively nearby states that make up a large part of the 120 teams, but there are also several local teams competing, as well. The influx of travelers to the Camellia City benefits far more than Cambrian Ridge, according to Foster.

“Most of them will come in on Friday and do a practice round, so that helps the community a lot,” Foster said.

“All of the hotels get booked up.  They’ll come in Thursday night and they stay three or four nights here.  They’ll eat at our restaurants and stay at our hotels, so it’s helping our local area with the economy.  It’s a big thing for us.”

But even more than the opportunity to play golf, Cambrian Ridge is offering an opportunity for families to experience Father’s Day a little early.

“It just makes you feel good to see fathers and sons get together and, for some of them, this might be the last time they’re together to do anything like this,” Foster said.

“A lot of fathers and sons don’t live in the same town, and this is a good time for them to share some time together. And it’s just a weekend where they come out and enjoy the friendship and have a good time.”