Humboldt Search and Rescue Team Hosts Golf Tournament to Fund Emergency Response

A team that has pulled lost hikers from fog-soaked ridgelines, navigated swift river rescues, and combed Humboldt's forests in the dead of night is now trying something new: a golf tournament.

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Search & Rescue team, a 100% volunteer organization that has served the county since the early 1950s, will host its inaugural golf tournament on Friday, June 12, 2026, at Eureka Golf Course, with a 9:00 a.m. start. Proceeds from the event will support the team's ongoing emergency response operations.

The tournament marks a first for a unit that has quietly handled some of the county's most demanding rescue work for more than seven decades. Operating in coordination with the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, the team fields four specialized units: Ground, Marine, Swiftwater, and K9. Members respond around the clock, any day of the year, whether the call involves an overdue hiker on a remote trail, a person with dementia who has wandered from home, or a child reported missing in an urban neighborhood.

The Ground Unit regularly deploys into all-weather conditions, navigating darkness and difficult terrain both inside Humboldt County and beyond its borders. The team provides mutual aid to neighboring counties, including Trinity, Del Norte, and Mendocino, when their own SAR resources are stretched. Local residents who attend events like the Kinetic Sculpture Race or the Clam Beach Run may have already seen team members working in the crowd, quietly ensuring participant safety.

Despite its decades of service, the organization depends on fundraising to sustain equipment, training, and operations. The June 12 tournament at Eureka Golf Course, set along the tree-lined fairways off Fairway Drive, represents the team's first formal fundraising event of this kind and a new avenue for community support.

The team is also actively recruiting volunteers, with an application processing date of June 1, 2026, meaning new members could be joining the ranks the very week of the tournament. A two-year commitment is required.