MANSON — With this being the 150th anniversary of Manson’s Greater Crater Days, Middleton Classic Director Elias Johnson knew he needed to do something special.

For Johnson, that meant expansion.

While the two-day event will continue to feature a loaded field competing for a spot in the championship-nine, for the first time, a skills competition will be held the Friday, June 24 before action kicks off at the Manson Golf and Country Club on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26.

“We just had to do something to make it even more special,” said Johnson, a native of Manson. “We want this to allow others who can’t get into the sold-out field to still take part in events at the golf course. We’ll have the tailgate set up, the clubhouse will be open and the skills competition will be for all levels of golf.”

There will be three divisions: ladies, pro and amateur. The competition will begin at 2 p.m. at the course and feature long drive, closest to the pin, closest out of the sand and a putting competition.

Winners in all three divisions and all four events will be crowned, along with an overall champion in each division. Sign-up begins on Monday by calling the clubhouse at (712) 469-3996.

“It should be a fun spectator thing to watch,” Johnson said. “Cody Jaeschke of Highway 20 Custom and Jaeschke Trucking have stepped up as the sponsor for the day, with Fitzgerald Industries remaining the title sponsor for the weekend.

“Cody is one of those guys that whatever I ask, he always steps up and exceeds even what we ask.”

Closest to the pin will take place on hole No. 6, long drive on No. 7 and out of the sand on No. 9. The practice green will be used for the putting portion of the competition.

“Don Fitzgerald has been twisting my arm to expand to three days for the last couple of years,” Johnson said. “It’s a huge challenge adding another day of golf, and you are really hoping for great weather to get through it all. This, though, won’t take people an entire day. Instead, they can come out, do the events for a couple hours, enjoy family and friends and see the course.

“The goal is to get people to come to Manson for the celebration and to do a tour of Manson to visit all the entertainment areas. I want people to know why I’m proud to be from Manson.”

The Middleton Classic, which has been held since 2009 in honor of former Manson Northwest Webster teacher and coach Joe Middleton, awards scholarships to two graduating MNW students.

Former St. Edmond standout Eddie Doyle and Blaine Buhr repeated as championship-nine winners in a playoff over Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Ryan Kinseth and Southeast Webster grad Cory Cummins last year.

“I am just so lucky to have so many great businesses and families that support this,” Johnson said. “It’s one of the biggest tournaments in the state, but it’s one of the easier to run because I have so much help and so much backing and support to do all this fun stuff.

“We’ve got about half the teams confirmed from last year and another dozen on stand-by if someone doesn’t want confirm by May 16.”