Sunny skies, perfect conditions, a great field of players and another Dobber in the bag. Here is your 2015 winning team.

l - r. Robert Bettauer, Bob Wheaton, Zac Andrus and Clint Hamilton. This is a PISE / Uvic collaboration with Bob Wheaton of the GVSHOF.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today, theGreater Victoria Sports Hall of Fameannounced the2015 Inductees!

This year's inductees will bring the total number of Victoria's honourees to 205. The six athletes to be honoured are: Lauren Woolstencroft (Skiing), Alexander (Sandy) Peden (Shooting), Rick Say (Swimming), Ike MacKay (Soccer), Bruce Deacon (Marathon), and Steve Sinclair (Baseball); the three builders are Elaine Dagg-Jackson (Curling), Mike Spracklen (Rowing), and Ed Ashmore (Wrestling).

The Inductees will be honoured at a special ceremony and dinner at the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa on October 17, 2015.

For further information, please see below.

Don't delay. Register now for the annual Dobber Golf Classic.

On-line registration is available by clicking on the golf ball:

Manual registration

If you wish to register manually you can complete the registration form and mail with your payment. To download and print out a PDF of the form click here!

When former CFAX 1070 sportscaster Ken Dobson started an invitational golf tournament, he wanted it to be fun and inexpensive above all else.Twenty-one years later, the Dobber Classic is sticking to Dobson's vision with its June 5 tournament at the Cedar Hill Golf Course.

"Dobson was a devoted community-minded person who supported all the amateur sports groups," says Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame director John Bate, who chaired the Dobber Classic for 20 years before passing on the role. "If anyone asked, he would show up and speak. He was committed that way."

Ken Dobson (1923 to 1995) was a colourful and much loved sportscaster and sports director at CFAX. After his death, CFAX initiated the Ken Dobson Athletic Scholarship in his memory for graduating grade 12 students who are active in sports.

Before he retired, Bate managed the old Memorial Arena and was the director of Parks and Recreation at the City of Victoria. His family lived in Saanich, two doors down from Dobson's family. "We got to know Ken quite well and really see what he was about," Bate says.

While the tournament entry price has slowly grown - it's up to $110 per person - Bate points to the loyalty of the tournament players and the number of goodies that come with each registration including tickets to the Victoria Shamrocks, Victoria Royals and UVic Vikes, among other items.

"This is one of our two annual fundraisers and it's a big deal to us, as our goal is to produce a new display (for the Hall of Fame) at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre each year, usually on that year's inductees," he says. "The tournament still a great deal for what you get. You don't find golf tournaments as fun as this where you come out with as many sponsored gifts for the price."

And the same players keep coming back each year, Bate adds. Organizers see a return rate of about 85 to 90 per cent from the previous year. "It's an annual reunion with a core of players who've been coming out since it started," he says. "Even the foursomes are the same, slowly changing one player at a time." Among the big draws is an impressive sports auction with autographed Vancouver Canucks sticks and Toronto Maple Leafs memorabilia, as well as a prized Jose Bautista bat, signed by the Toronto Blue Jays slugger.

It's safe to say a bat like that would fetch an auction price in the thousands of dollars in Vancouver. "Sometimes we need to remind ourselves there are other perks of being in Victoria. Though, all it takes is two bidders," Bate says wryly.

by Travis Paterson - Saanich News

John Bate, left, and Bob Wheaton of the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame hold a sketch of Ken Dobson, the longtime CFAX 1070 sportscaster. The Dobber Classic golf tournament at Cedar Hill Golf Course raises funds for the hall of fame each year.

- image credit: Travis Paterson/News staff