The Wareham Community Associates held their first ever charity golf tournament at the Little Harbor Golf Course on Saturday Sept. 7.

The golf tournament was held in place of the usual clambake to raise scholarship money that the group had put on for 40 years. The scholarships are often in memory of someone in the community who has passed away.

"It's very expensive to do [a clambake]," said member Apryl Rossi. "While it was well attended and well received, the profit for the scholarship was a lot lower so they decided to do the golf tournament this year."

With the rising cost of seafood and the increasing age of many of the members, the time and money needed to put on the clambake became too much.

"The bake just became too much work," said Wareham Community Associates treasurer Alan Slavin. "The bake was getting to the point where our net profit was getting down between $5,000 and $6,000 which means we could give out three or four scholarships and we were almost out."

According to Rossi, the group does not have a specific number in mind that they are hoping to raise, but they are hoping to bring in more scholarship money due to the lower cost of the golf tournament compared to the clambake.

The money raised from the golf tournament will go directly to qualified high school seniors living in Wareham. The scholarships range from $500 to $1500, and Rossi, a Wareham School Committee member, hopes to be able to give out bigger scholarships in the future.

"They do varying dollar amounts which helps with books and housing and food to help offset what the kids are spending on school," said Rossi. "What's nice about the scholarship is that it goes to the student and not directly to the college so the student can use it however they need it for that particular school year."

Rossi's son Dylan Turner volunteered his time at the golf tournament and was a recipient of the scholarship a year ago. According to Turner he found a lot of support from the local community.

"I went to the clambake last year and the amount of positivity and support in the area was crazy to me," said Turner.

This support continued at the golf tournament with different members from the local community coming out to support the event.

"We're playing for a dear friend of ours that passed away, Ben Hathaway," said tournament attendee said Tim Bessey. Hathaway ran Watch Hockey, a Wareham based organization that got Wareham High School hockey alum to continue playing together.

Many local organizations sponsored the event, and some even sent people to participate.

"My husband's company JC Engineering is a sponsor and we are huge advocates of helping the community, especially the future of the community," said Kerry Churchill, who played in the only all women group at the tournament.

There were also representatives of Wareham High School present to support the cause.

"I think that the scholarships our students get really make a huge impact in their ability to go to college," said Assistant Principal Andrea Cannon. "Our community in general is so giving to the high school that it's just really great to be able to support the different community agencies that do these things."

The Wareham Community Associates has been around for over 100 years, and they hope to make this golf tournament the first of many, according to Rossi.