66th Ozark Invitational golf tournament

Ben Godwin of Poplar Bluff, hits out of the sand on No. 10 at Westwood Hills Country Club in Poplar Bluff, Mo. during the Ozark Shootout on Friday, April 27, 2012. (DAILY AMERICAN REPUBLIC/Brian Rosener)

The 66th annual Ozark Invitational will be held this weekend at Westwood Hills Country Club in Poplar Bluff. The 36-hole tournament brings the best amateur players from the region to town.

I'll provide updates, including tee times, here throughout the weekend.

SHOOTOUT: Justin Gosa of Germantown, Tenn. won the annual pre-tournament Shootout on Friday afternoon.

Gosa made a sand save on the final hole for a tap-in birdie while Ron Mangold of Pocahontas, Ark. had his eagle try slide past the hole, down a hill to the front fringe. His putt back uphill missed.

Mangold survived a chip-off on the previous hole when his shot hit the flag stick about 5-feet high, bouncing back. His tee shot on 18 took another fortunate bounce when it bounced off a rock in the creek that cuts through the fairway and landed in play. His approach shot, however, landed below the hole but ran past, leaving a tough downhill putt on the fast green.

Gosa also survived the chip-off on 17 with Shane Burkett of Jay, Fla., who finished third. Brian Craig of St. Louis was fourth after winning a putt-off on 16 with Tom Barry of St. Louis. Gosa and Mangold both had two-putts for par on the par-3 16th and all five players carded pars on 15.

The top 12 players from last year were invited to play. The group started on the 10th tee and with each hole a player was eliminated. Ties were determined by chip-offs or putt-offs.

Defending Ozark champ Nick Brown of Meridian, Miss. was knocked out on No. 11.

Ben Godwin, a four-time Ozark champ, was the lone local entry after finishing tied for second last year. He was eliminated on No. 13.

Only once has the Shootout champ also won the Ozark when Rob Long did it in 2004.

NAME CHANGE: The tournament has been renamed the Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational. Hoover has been the tournament director since 1986 and will again be posting scores this weekend.

Here are the tee times for Saturday:

Championship Division

8 a.m.

Mike Sissum, Dudley

Taylor Smith, Doniphan

Alex Vahldick, Kansas City, Mo.

Eric Vahldick, Springfield, Mo.

8:09 a.m.

John Gilmore, Poplar Bluff

Hunter Pyland, Poplar Bluff

Jake Seabaugh, Cape Girardeau

8:19 a.m.

Steve Hardin, Qulin

Adam Jolly, Malden

Tony Markham, Piedmont

Ed Norton, Poplar Bluff

8:28 a.m.

David Gilmore, Poplar Bluff

Rob Meeh, St. Louis

Travis SImmons, Jackson

Jason Waddell, Poplar Bluff

8:38 a.m.

Austin Brewer, Rutherford, Tenn.

Corey Connell, Cape Girardeau

Tanner McKinney, Piedmont

Jake Russell, Poplar Bluff

9:25 a.m.

Mark Bolhofner, Cedar Hill

Tim Holmes, Springfield, Mo.

Chris Rahlmann, Poplar Bluff

Ronnie Strong, Jackson

9:35 a.m.

Sam Bass, Doniphan

Patrick Britt, St. Louis

Steve Davis, Dyersburg, Tenn.

Chris Montgomery, Poplar Bluff

9:44 a.m.

Chuck Greene, Springfield, Mo.

Brett McCauley, Poplar Bluff

Derek Rahlmann, Collierville, Tenn.

Patrick Riodan, Wildwood

10:03 a.m.

Tom Barry, St. Louis

Nick Brown, Hattiesburg, Miss.

Ben Godwin, Poplar Bluff

Justin Gosa, Germantown, Tenn.

10:13 a.m.

Shane Burkett, Jay, Fla.

Brian Craig, St. Louis

Danny Green, Jackson, Tenn.

Ron Mangold, Pocahontas, Ark.

10:23 a.m.

Brian Haskell, St. Joseph

Scotty McClellan, O'Fallon

Bobby Prichard, Paragould, Ark.

Ted Ward, Ironton

10:32 a.m.

Ben Brumitt, Poplar Bluff

Jeff Chandler, Kenton, Tenn.

Brad Nurski, St. Joseph

Joshua Rhodes, Paducah, Ky.

10:42 a.m.

Buddy Allen, Pevely

Brevin Giebler, Cape Girardeau

Antonio Serrano, Rogersville

Carr Vernon, Poplar Bluff

10:51 a.m.

Wayne Fredrick, Springfield

Bobby Godwin, Poplar Bluff

Brent Holmes, Cape Girardeau

Scott Hovis, Jefferson City

11:38 a.m.

Kyle Christian, Dexter

Blake Driskell, Cape Girardeau

Nathan Fredrick, Springfield

Chris Love, Poplar Bluff

11:48 a.m.

David Bremer, St. Louis

Drew Brown, Greensboro, N.C.

Kent Phillips, Cape Girardeau

John Shock, Poplar Bluff

12:06 p.m.

Bob Englehart, Jackson

Trent Hillis, Poplar Bluff

Ben Johannsen, St. Louis

Jerrod Murphy, Poplar Bluff

12:16 p.m.

Luke Chailland, Poplar Bluff

Jarrod Moulds, Meridian, Miss.

Aron Persons, Little Rock, Ark.

Jeff Resnik, Poplar Bluff

12:25 p.m.

Justin Bliss, Brentwood

Brian Hall, O'Fallon

Jamie Hathcock, Springfield, Mo.

Ted Moloney, Manchester

12:35 p.m.

Sammy Gonzales, Poplar Bluff

Shad McCue, Springfield

Cory Mills, Dexter

Justin Robinson, Cahokia, Ill.

12:44 p.m.

Troy Bell, Poplar Bluff

Russell Brightman, St. Louis

Ian Soutar, Cape Girardeau

Richard Williams, Eminence

1:03 p.m.

Mike Ivie, Poplar Bluff

Chris Johnson, Columbia

Evan Monheifer, Blue Springs

Michael Pigg, Doniphan

1:13 p.m.

Brady Dixon, Mounds, Ill.

Glenn Eubanks, Sedgewickville

Bob Hanneken, St. Louis

Thomas Simpson, Benton, Ill.

1:23 p.m.

Tyler Berry, Poplar Bluff

Ryan Fisher, Columbia

Tyler Stalker, Springfield, Mo.

Billy Wynn, Nixa

Senior Division

8:47 a.m.

Lonnie Hickman, Poplar Bluff

Walter Powell, Springfield, Mo.

Thomas Rainwater, Jackson

Barry Stahl, Ellsinore

8:57 a.m.

John Bailey, Nashville, Tenn.

Brett Combs, Eureka

Schooner Fitzgerald, Cahokia, Ill.

Terry Souchek, Columbia, Ill.

9:06 a.m.

Tony Brown, St. Louis

Ron Eilers, Columbia

Michael Hartman, St. Louis

Neil Vanleeuwen, Tarpon Springs, Fla.

9:16 a.m.

Karl Elbrecht, St. Louis

Bernie McGuire, Chesterfield

Billy Pyland, Poplar Bluff

Tom Viers, Cape Girardeau

11:01 a.m.

Tim Boyd, Eureka

Ron Brewer, Leadwood, Kan.

Bill Jett, Maumelle, Ark.

Dirk Teagarden, O'Fallon

11:10 a.m.

Steve Groom, Raytown

Jeff Johnson, Ballwin

Robert Meeh, St. Louis

Mike Shelbourne, Paducah, Ky.

11:19 a.m.

Don Bliss, Chesterfield

Ben Cantrell, Cape Girardeau

Robert Trittler, Wentzville

Mickey Williams, Fisk

11:29 a.m.

Cord Dombrowski, Cape Girardeau

Vincent Lopiccolo, Creve Coeur

Jim Moser, Pine Bluff, Ark.

Rocky Walther, St. Louis

12:54 p.m.

Gary Adkins, Metropolis, Ill.

Wes Gilmore, Poplar Bluff

Donny Ngala, Dittmer

R. Sherwood, Paducah, Ky.