The Powell Golf Course will begin a mission to secure its future when it launches its Keeping it Green in 2015 Crowdfunding Project on Friday.

The PGC is in great risk of losing the greens and fairways of its 18-hole golf course due to aging water storage tanks that provide irrigation for the facility. Powell Golf Club board member Toby Bonner of Powell is spearheading the crowdfunding project and said the course’s more than 50-year-old tanks are deteriorating, and could fail at any moment.

“We’ve been able to see the deterioration inside the tanks and know the walls are thinning,” said Bonner, a co-owner and the general manager of the Powell Tribune.

“Literally, people have to go down into the tanks and clean them each year because they fill up with so much sediment that the bottoms of the tanks are literally rusting out,” he said. “They’re holding water now, but they’re nearing a failing point. You can’t go in and patch these things ... they’re more than 50 years old. Once they’ve failed they’ve failed.”

Bonner has strong ties to the PGC. His grandfather, John D. Bonner, was a founding member in 1946, and Toby Bonner has spent a majority of his life playing the links in Powell.

Behind Bonner, the PGC is launching a massive online movement to first retire the club’s $100,000 bank note through donations. If the debt can be relieved, the club can move forward with renovating its irrigation system.

“I couldn’t think of anybody better to [manage the project],” Powell Golf Club Board President Jerry Herweyer said of Bonner. “He actually knows the history of the course and is very passionate about it. He’s one of many. There are a lot of people out there that are very passionate about what we have.”

The PGC is hoping to tap into that passion when it hosts a crowdfunding launch party from 5-8 p.m. Friday. The launch party will give the people of Powell and Park County a chance to learn the ins and outs of the campaign and a better understanding over the project’s overall goals. The event will also feature food and drinks, as well as chipping and putting contests with prizes.

When the launch begins, the PGC’s funding website, igg.me/at/growpowellgolf, will go live. Donations can also be rewarded with several perks, which can be found on the website.

“The coolest part about all the rewards is it’s a perk,” Bonner explained. “You fund, you help us get us to our goal, and in return you’re going to get — we call it the swag — you’re going to get some goods back for your donation.”

The city of Powell is also prepared to match donations dollar for dollar following the initial net costs of the reward items. And the city’s willingness to help comes as no surprise to Bonner, who said the golf course provides more than just recreation to the community.

“It’s economic development for Powell,” he said. “There are doctors that work at Powell Valley Healthcare that wouldn’t have come to Powell if it weren’t for a golf course. There are teachers in the high school who wouldn’t have chosen to teach in Powell if it wasn’t for an 18-hole golf course. The amount of money that is brought into the community from state and local, and fundraising tournaments is huge.

“If this fails ... we lose recruitment of business ... economic development for the future ...,” he continued. “But the thing is, it won’t fail. Our community is strong, and our community will pull together.”