After several days of persistent rain, the skies seemed to have parted long enough for competitors to tee off at the 2016 Bill McKinney Memorial City Golf Championship.

The annual tournament at Duncan Park features 60 players, with tee times starting at 7:46 a.m. and finishing at 12:30 p.m. today.

Course superintendent — and winner of multiple city championships — Greg Brooking said there are approximately eight former city champions in the mix. Brooking said because the tournament is open to any golfer, the annual event is usually a success.

“It is without question the premiere city tournament,” Brooking said. “We have three places to play (in the Miss-Lou area) … It’s the only (tournament) open to everyone.”

Brooking emphasized the tournament’s non-selective nature. Golfers from any affiliation can enter to play in the city championship, which differs from exclusive club championships.

He said the open registration also heightens the intensity of the competition

“We have club champions from all courses playing,” Brooking said. “We have a really strong field.”

Russ Lackey was at Duncan Park Friday tuning up for his 10 a.m. tee time today. Lackey said he has competed in a handful of Natchez city championships. When Lackey worked offshore as maritime personnel for an offshore drilling company, Transocean, he said he made it a point to play in the tournament during the time he was ashore.

“It’s like a reunion, because a lot of the guys who grew up playing out here actually come in to compete,” Lackey said.

Lackey said his main focus during his practice round was to assess the course conditions.

Jay Lessley, the 2012 city champion, was also curious regarding how he will carve up the fairways as he prepared for his 11:24 a.m. tee time.

Lessley said he thinks the course will play slow this weekend.

“I don’t know how we’re going to play it,” he said. “I hope the sun stays out … I’m afraid if it rains it will be hard to get equipment on the course.”

After several inches of heavy rain this week, Brooking said the most difficult part of preparing the course was being unable to mow the grass.

Brooking maintains that the course is still in tournament condition.

“It got tough because we started getting rain Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,” Brooking said. “I’ll say you won’t find a better conditioned course in this area than Duncan Park Golf Course.”

The stroke-play tournament spans two days, and is separated into separate flights on Sunday based on the today’s scores.