98th annual Women's Metro Open tees off in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The 98th annual Women's Metro Open teed off this morning at Erskine Park Golf Course in South Bend.

The three-day tournament is open to amateur women and junior girl golfers.

Round two will be tomorrow at Elbel Golf Course, and the third and final round will be on Thursday back at Erskine Golf Course.

And it's been drawing stiff local competition for nearly 100 years.

"I would say just the competition. I think in itself is the main thing. I think it's, you know, it's a good way for women to showcase their abilities into more of a tournament atmosphere. It's a little bit different than just playing with your friends on a, you know, in a league event or something like that. So I just think the competition itself," stated Erskine Park Golf Course Head Golf Professional Dave Firestone.

The tournament has three divisions: a two-day stroke event for junior girls, a three-day version for women ages 16 and older, and one for a women's senior division.