The Bienfait Coalers' first annual par 3 golf tournament was a success, as the hockey team raised over $12,000 at Woodlawn Golf Club on Saturday.

"It was awesome...between all the sponsors coming through at the end, and then we had about six teams sign up the morning of, so it kind of pushed us over the threshold and got us to the number we wanted to be at," said tournament organizer Taysen Holt, who is a forward for the Coalers.

Holt said they had 108 golfers, which worked out to 27 teams for the best ball format on what was a steamy day in Estevan.

"It was hot...but we figured out ways to get by. Ice on the head, coolers dumped on us," he said. "It was a great day, we couldn't have asked for it to turn out any better really."

Holt also touched on where the money goes and how it helps his hockey club.

"Every game is $500 to the refs, league expenses and league fees, beer for the other team, just any expenses that we have...we have to stock our bar in the rink so that's part of it," he said. "If we can get the bank built up enough, then we can buy jerseys with it, new socks, pretty much anything that will make us look better on the ice basically."

He said fundraisers are paramount for senior hockey league teams.

"We're not really able to function without it, because the rinks don't seat the amount of people you need to make a lot of money and drawing the crowd out there on a week night is kind of a tough aspect as well," Holt said.

"The fundraisers are really what keeps the senior hockey in the small towns alive."

Holt said with the early success, the Coalers hope to make the tournament a yearly event.