Thanks to The Friends of Mahaska County Conservation, golf lovers will have a chance to get their clubs out this winter. An Ice Golf Tournament will be held on

January 26th to raise money for the new Environmental Learning Center expected to be built at Caldwell Park, near Oskaloosa.

The fundraiser will be held at the Russell Wildlife Area ponds, beginning at 9am, with a second chance at 1 p.m. Mahaska County Park Ranger Cole Nilson says he wants to bring something new to Oskaloosa.

One of our things is trying to come up with are things that are different all the time. Opportunities that we don't have in southern Iowa. I'm a golfer and we don't get to play golf in the winter time. So if wehave an opportunity to do something like this, it outta be pretty fun!")

If weather conditions are not ideal, the tournament will be moved to February 2nd, but Nilson is optimistic the ice will not be an issue.

Nilson mentioned, "In a perfect world we'll have eight inches of ice by the 26th, and we won't have any problems, it's perfectly safe, I'd drive my vehicle out on 8 inches of ice. If we have 8 inches of ice it's a go, if we don't have 8 inches of ice I'm probably not very comfortable with putting a whole bunch of people out on the ice, just because of the weight distribution. We'll probably postpone it until the following weekend, but at this point I don't think we're going to have to worry about that.")

Golf clubs and whiffle balls will be supplied for all participants. For more information on the fundraiser you can call the Mahaska County Conservation Board, or visit their website at mahaskaconservation.com.