Almost before the ink was dry on the winner’s check for what was expected to be the final Hollywood Slots Greater Bangor Open Golf Tournament, people were attempting to save the 41-year-old event.

“We had people talking about it almost as soon as it was over,” said Bangor Municipal Golf Course head pro Brian Enman on Friday.

Their efforts have paid off as Enman has announced that the Hollywood Slots GBO will be held July 23-26, its traditional weekend on the New England golf calendar.

“There are a bunch of people who were involved [with the GBO] before who didn’t want to see it die,” said Enman.

One of the people involved is Earl Black of Holden, who was on this year’s GBO board of directors. He hopes that the renewed efforts will provide a strong base for the event.

“I think we can revive it and keep it going,” said Black. “I think we can do it.”

Black believes it will be possible to keep the tournament going because of the commitment local people are making.

“If we hadn’t had the strong support of people, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” said Black. “I think that support is what’s driving us to try again.”

Enman pointed out Black as one of those strong supporters.

“He’s always been very committed to the tournament and done a great job,” said Enman.

Hollywood Slots at Bangor was also ready to remain as the major sponsor.

“Hollywood Slots said as long as we hold the tournament, they would be involved,” said Black.

There were a number of reasons why it was thought this year’s GBO was going to be the final one.

Enman cited the business climate and numerous fundraising golf tournaments as one factor.

“The economy hasn’t been good the last few years, and with the price of fuel now, it costs more to business,” he said in noting the declining sponsorship dollars the GBO had been able to raise.

The continuing rise in the number of golf fundraisers means available money becomes spread out more.

“You could play a couple times a week” with the number of charity events conducted throughout the summer, said Enman. “[Businesses] get a lot of requests, so they look for the most bang for the buck.”

Black, president of Town & Country Realtors of Bangor, has seen that first hand.

“I know as a small business owner what we see as requests [from fundraisers],” he said.

Enman thinks the GBO can compete for those sponsors.

“I think there are still enough people … to back it,” he said.

The North Atlantic Pro Golf Tour also was expected to have a major impact on the number of pros in the field because it had scheduled one of its events for the same weekend. Players who had paid to compete on that tour were expected to choose the tour event over the GBO because of the money the players had already invested in it. Enman said in June that he expected only about 50 of the usual 100 or so pros.

However, many of the players had only paid to play in half the tournaments so they could also play in other events such as the GBO. The competing NAPGT event was canceled due to lack of players.

Enman hopes that a repeat of the scheduling conflict won’t happen again this year.

“I don’t foresee any conflicts,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of loyal guys.”

It was that loyalty from the players that was part of the trigger to keep the GBO alive.

“The golfers were telling us we were premature,” said Black. “The clientele was telling us they wanted to keep it.”

Enman is expecting approximately the same number of players next year, about 120 pros and amateurs.

“One [hundred] forty or 150 would be better,” he said with a little laugh, “but we can run a successful tournament with 120 total.”

John Hickson of Topsham, winner of the 1997 GBO, was pleasantly surprised to hear the tournament was continuing.

“I think it’s neat,” said the Hampden native. “It was sad [to see it ending].”

He also has another reason for it to continue.

“The last couple of years, I have not dome well,” he said. “It’ll be nice to go back there and play well.”

Participation on the board had also been a factor as the number of active directors, included Black and headed by Bangor Muni assistant pro Rob Jarvis, had dwindled to four.

“We had two meetings, and it looked like we were going to get the support, so Jarvis has taken over that part,” said Black.

The sponsorship drive will be two-fold now, according to Enman and Black, taking better care of the corporate sponsors and aiming to draw in more individual sponsors as well.

While the post-round dinner at the clubhouse will remain, the organizers are also hoping to hold a special event tied in with Hollywood Slots.

“We are hoping [the new facility on Main Street] will be ready by the time the tournament comes around,” said Enman. “We want to invite the sponsors and their significant others and the players and so forth for a cocktail party at Hollywood Slots, make a day of it.

“That’s part of what we’re hoping to do.”

Enman expects the purse to be the same as this year but probably handled differently.

“It’ll be a $50,000 purse, but we may change how it’s paid out,” he said. It may mean less money for the winner and more for some of the lower spots, he added, but no decisions have been made yet.

Black is happy that the community – including some nongolfers, he said – is trying to keep the GBO alive.

“Once you lose something like this, it’s almost impossible to get it back,” he said.