It’s going to be a big weekend at Meadow Greens Golf Course.

For the first time in history, Austin will be hosting the VFW state golf tournament as the 48th annual event comes to Meadow Greens this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

There are currently 80 golfers signed up for the event from around the state and in town and VFW commander Scott Weichmann said he is expecting around 120 golfers to be present.

“This is something our post has never done before. If everything goes as planned, we’ll have it for three years in a row,” Weichmann said. “It’s a good thing for the Austin community as a whole, it’s a great thing for our post and its good for the veterans of Austin to see that the VFW is active.”

There will be dinners held on Friday and Saturday night at the VFW and there will be plenty of options for prizes. Besides the raffles, there will be an awards for hole-in-ones, which include a golf cart and a $5,000 cash prize.

Dan Ruzek, who was responsible for gathering corporate sponsors for the event, said there are plenty of chances for people to bring home a prize.

“Probably half of the people at the dinner will win something,” Ruzek said. “There’s a tremendous amount of gifts and prizes for these veterans coming in. That’s what makes it exciting and we’re getting people interested. It’s always fun to play golf and win something.”

There have been 24 local volunteers who have agreed to help out over the weekend of the tournament and there have also been plenty of people helping to set up the tournament.

Bob Otterson has acted as the tournament director and he said it’s been quite the task to prepare for such a big event that will be a plus for the community.

“There’s been a learning curve with this being the first year,” Otterson said. “We want to make it as great as we can.”

There will be a shuttle bus to bring golfers back and forth from the hotels to Meadow Greens throughout the tournament.