Desiree Fortin Ivar Gals Advertisement

The 12th annual Pahrump Valley Inferno Open Golf tournament will be played on the Fourth of July at the Lakeview Executive course.

There will be a shotgun start at 7 a.m. for the medal play tournament, divided into men, women and senior divisions.

Ivar Gals, who defeated Mike Thurlow in a playoff, won the 2006 men's championship, his second; the other was in 2003. Gals and Thurlow had tied with 60s, on the par 59, 3,600-yard short course on Mt. Charleston Drive.

Gals is the third man to win as many as two titles; the others are Chad Goins (1996 and 1998) and Gary Budahl (1999-2000).

Desiree Fortin is the defending women's champion. A Pahrump Valley High School grad (class of 2007), Fortin shot a 62 to unseat Maggie Thomas as champion. Thomas had won six of the previous six tournaments; her only setback in that run came in 2002, when Julie Floyd, the PVHS girls' golf team coach, prevailed.

Russell Sloan defeated Jere McDonald in a playoff to claim the seniors (65 and over) title. Both had ended regulation with 67s.

The entry fee is $30, with proceeds benefiting the Pahrump Youth Golf Founders Club, which runs regularly-scheduled PVJGA events throughout the year.

The other sponsors are Markem Escrow, Worden Insurance, Ace Hardware, Floyd Construction Century 21 Aaimheigh, and the Pahrump Valley Times.

Entries can be mailed to the Pahrump Valley Open Inferno, c/o 2440 S. River Plate, Pahrump, NV 89048. Entries can also be dropped off at Worden Insurance or e-mailed to lgoins@interact.ccsd.net. Phone 727-6670 for other information.

Another Fourth of July tradition in Pahrump was the annual Nye County Sheriff's Office vs. the Pahrump Valley Fire Rescue Service softball game.

It will not be played in 2007 because of lack of personnel available in the PVFRS, according to a service spokesman.

Auto racing is back at the Pahrump Valley Speedway Saturday, starting at 7 p.m. on the quarter-mile dirt oval.

The modifieds, super stocks, mini stocks, bombers, and outlaw karts will be featured.

The speedway will be closed July 7, but will return July 14 with a demolition derby, said promoter Joe Rogers Jr.