James Bickford was ready to move up from quarter midget racing to racing Bandoleros, but first he needed a piece of safety equipment to operate the full-bodied race cars.

That Hans Device, which supports the driver’s head and neck, can cost close to $1,000 — and a Bandolero can cost about $5,000.

In these tough economic times, the 11-year-old wanted to help his parents come up with the money. So he decided to have a fundraising golf tournament.

“He asked his parents if he could do a tournament and they said ‘Yes, but you’re going to do it all yourself,’ and so he did,” said Vintner’s Golf Club general manager Jason Boldt. “He called us, came in for two different meetings, and organized the tournament. He was originally thinking of a four-day event but he got the one day, did all the prize-finding, and was super professional the whole way around.”

The “KGA Tournament” — as in Kids Golf Association -- was to have four-member teams playing 18 holes in a best-ball format, with a $50 entry fee per player.

Despite coming up with the idea just three weeks ago, James was able to get $100 hole sponsorships for each of the nine tee boxes, and 16 players — including himself and Boldt’s 11-year-old son, Christian.

“The thing that scared me at first is that for most tournaments you have to pay money up front, but he got a bunch of support and Vintner’s really helped him,” said his father, Tom Bickford.

Boldt said James called first.

“He asked who runs the tournament, and he got to me and he was one of the most professional tournament chairmen I’ve had so far in five years,” Boldt said. “He was very organized and very determined to do a great job with the tournament.”

When James’ mother, Teresa, brought him to the club for the first time, she was going to take him to the driving range — but he asked to be dropped off at the clubhouse.

“She sat in the car as he went in and introduced himself and did the whole thing by himself,” Tom Bickford said.

He might have mentioned in passing that he’s the cousin of NASCAR star Jeff Gordon, a Vallejo native who is the stepson of Tom Bickford’s brother, John Bickford.

Asked why he wanted to raise funds through a golf tournament instead of, say, a lemonade stand, James replied, “It makes the most money, and it’s fun. We got four teams. I was expecting three. It’s a lot of work, but the kids love it. My dad’s played a lot of tournaments, but I kinda came up with the idea myself. He helped me out with the (sponsor) signs and the raffle.“

James’ aunt, Mary Ellen Robertson, who is visiting from Nashville, formatted his colorful fliers.

“He typed it all up and told me to make it look cool,” Robertson said.

The St. Appollinaris School fifth-grader said he got his business acumen from his father, who owns Bickford Precision Machine & Design in Napa.

Boldt said he used to coach high school golf and wanted to help James and give the other kids something fun to do.

“All of us parents love watching the kids hit good shots,“ he said. “We found it pretty easy to have a good time and have all the parents participate and enjoy the day while raising a little bit of money. We charged $15 for lunch, so he made $35 a player. Nevada Bob’s chipped in and we donated a couple of prizes from the golf shop, too.”

Along with Jeff Gordon Motorsports, Bickford Precision and Vintner’s Golf Club, the hole sponsors were The Wright Team: Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley, Buffalo’s Shipping, Rising World TV, Napa Golf Course, Wine Valley Insurance Services, Inc., and KMR Builders, Inc.

James’ team — led by Ariel Caro, the only girl in the field as well as the longest-hitting and best player — happened to win the tournament by one stroke with a 4-over-par 72. Good for his teammates.

“I told him he can’t win his own golf tournament, so he donated back whatever he got,“ Tom Bickford said.

James said it was his first time ever playing golf. He managed to make both shots for a birdie on a par-3.

“He’s a natural athlete,” Boldt said.

James deflected the praise.

“I had a couple of bad hits but the girl on our team hit extremely well,” he said. “She’s really good.”

Red trophies engraved with the tournament’s name went to the winners, plaques to the runners-up and medals to the third-place finishers.

James seemed happy to hand out the raffle prizes after the tournament to his peers. They included several Jeff Gordon items, such as toy replica No. 24 cars.

James — who has already won more trophies racing quarter midgets since he started at age 5 than Gordon did from the same starting age — said he plans to make his Bandolero debut in about a month at Lakeport, Ukiah or Roseville.

Tom Bickford recalled how his son used his never-say-die determination to win almost unwinnable races at the American Quartermidget Club Nationals last year in Rancho Cordova.

“Ten cars make main events, and he won the C main and B main in two different cars,” his father said. “He started last in the A main and got up to fifth. In the other car, he qualified third for A main and took the lead on the first lap and led 38 of 40 laps. But right before the white flag he had a crash and got shuffled to the back of field for the restart. After two laps, there was another caution, but he came back from last to second place. He crashed during the white flag lap and ended up fifth. He tried real hard to win but came up short. It was exciting.

“The economy hasn’t helped much with keeping sponsors for putting a race car together. It costs a lot of money making the step from little cars to big cars. But he definitely has the desire to (race).”

Did winning make James think of a possible golf career if racing doesn’t pan out?

“Probably not,” he said. “But I am going to start playing more. And I want to have another tournament here in the winter.”

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