Youth exchanges and other cultural programs will be the beneficiaries of the Anacortes Sister Cities Association’s annual Doyle Geer Golf Tournament Saturday, June 28 at Similk Beach Golf Course.

Registration, hole assignment and team photos start at 7 a.m., followed at 8 a.m. by a proclamation by award-winning Anacortes Town Crier Richard Riddell. A shotgun start is at 8:15 a.m. The course is 18 holes and there is a four-ball scramble format.

The grand prize for the winning team is four certificates for 18 holes of golf at Similk Beach and four $50 certificates for Flounder Bay Seafood Café. A Hole-In-One Prize is a 2008 Honda from Sims Honda. A putting contest has a $5,000 prize and there will be other skill and raffle prizes.

Entry fee is $75 per golfer and includes green fees, lunch and prizes. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For entry or sponsorship forms, contact Duane Clark at 293-8088 or visit http://www.anacortessistercities.org. Participation is tax deductible, minus the $29 green fee and less $5 for each meal.

The event is underwritten by the Anacortes Youth Sports Coalition Auction and benefits the association’s cultural efforts, including sending 12 students to Japan this summer and hosting four students from Russia.

The tournament’s purpose is to have a great time while raising funds for the many varied Sister Cities programs, including adult and student exchanges to Lomonosov, Russia, Kisakata, Japan, and Vela Luka, Croatia; cultural visits and performances by Russian folk singing champions the Kazakov Family, the Japanese Taiko drummers and Kyudo archers, and the Croatian Kumpanija dancers; the “Save Our Ferry” campaign, international town crier events and parade exchanges with Sidney, British Columbia; the Highway 20 flagpole project and more.

The tournament’s name honors Doyle Geer, who played an important part of ASCA until his death in December 2004. Geer was the mayor of Anacortes when the first ASCA relationship was established with Lomonosov, Russia, and he oversaw the beginnings of the relationship with Kisakata, Japan.