County denies request for Ascarate Junior Golf Tourney fee waiver

El Paso County Commissioners denied a request by the organizer of the Ascarate Junior Golf Tournament to waive fees and let kids play for free.

The fee in place right now is $10 per child, per day. The tournament spans two days, so parents would have to pay $20 per child.

During a meeting Monday, commissioners said Ascarate has charged the fee during other tournaments and it wouldn’t be fair to waive it for this latest tournament, which is a qualifier for a junior tournament in San Diego, California.

The president of the Ascarate Junior Golf Tournament, David Martinez, said this will most likely be the final year his family organizes the event.

“It is just becoming really hard,” Martinez said. “Everything is getting very expensive … it looks like, it will definitely be the last (tournament). I hope all the kids show, and play this final year and enjoy it.”

The director of the public works department warned commissioners that she has heard from organizers of previous golf tournaments at Ascarate Park. If commissioners had waived the fee Monday, those organizers were ready to come forward and ask for a refund of the fees they previously paid.

Martinez said this year is the 52nd annual Price’s Creameries Ascarate Junior Tournament.