Andy Tullis / The BulletinDave Baker tees off at the Bend Golf and Country Club while competing in the Deschutes Cup final against Tetherow. Bend G&CC won the match, 17-13.

As the 2016 Deschutes Cup finals were finishing up, it was obvious that the tournament was coming down to the wire.

With just three of 12 two-man teams left on the course, the Ryder Cup-style match between Bend Golf and Country Club and Tetherow was all tied up.

“It’s always like this,” said Jerry Mattioda, who has been playing in the Deschutes Cup since its inception in 1996. “It seems like it comes down to one putt every year.”

It was quite the scene off the 18th green at the country club, as members of both teams, who were all decked out in their matching golf shirts, gathered to support their teammates as they finished. The boys from Bend eventually won the tournament, 17-13.

Yes, the annual match play tournament featuring teams from five different clubs in the area was definitely about the competition — and club pride was on the line.

But the tournament started as a way for the men from the various clubs to get together.

“It’s a great concept, meeting the other guys and having some fun,” Mattioda said. “You go and play with them at their courses, make the friendships — and that’s really what golf is all about.”

While meeting the guys from the area clubs was the original purpose, the tournament did get pretty serious at times.

“In about a two- or three-year period, it went from being a ‘Hey, how you doing’ thing to almost a bloodletting,” Mattioda said. “The competitiveness in everybody really came out.

“It became a ‘putt everything out’ tournament. But the cutthroat part of it has somewhat waned, which is good.”

Regardless of which club has come out on top, the real winners are the golf programs at area high schools.

Over 20 years of staging the matches in Bend, the Deschutes Cup has contributed more than $20,000 to those programs.

This year’s tournament was no different, as the clubs presented a check for $1,500 to Bend High golf coach Rusty Clemons and Mountain View coach Lucas Taroli. The money will be split evenly between the boys and girls programs at Bend, Summit and Mountain View high schools.

“We really appreciate it,” Clemons said prior to the check presentation ceremony at the conclusion of the 2016 Deschutes Cup. “Our budget for our team doesn’t cover everything that is included throughout the season, so on top of the fundraisers we do, this helps out as well.”

Clemons noted that the tournament has been contributing money to his program for as long as he had been the boys golf coach at Bend High. And that is saying something, as Clemons is in his 17th year.

The five clubs — Bend G&CC, Tetherow, Awbrey Glen, Crosswater and Broken Top — played matches against each other earlier this summer. Each team traveled to the other courses to play their match.

Tetherow and Bend accumulated the most points during the season and therefore reached the final. Bend caught a break this year as the finals match, which rotates every year, was scheduled to be at their home course.

Mattioda served as captain for the Bend G&CC teams during a successful stretch.

“We won in 2008, lost in 2009 and won in 2010, ’11 and ’12,” he recalled. “We won four out of five … not a bad run.”

Widgi Creek and Pronghorn have also participated in the tournament over the years. The wins for each club are spread out pretty evenly, noted Mattioda.

Broken Top and Widgi have won it six times each, and the win this year pulled Bend into a tie with those two clubs.

— Reporter: 541-617-7868, kduke@bendbulletin.com.