The Rotary Club of Warrnambool East's famous summer event has been given the green light after Warrnambool City Council ticked off its COVID-safe plan.

Organiser and Rotarian Peter Reeves said he couldn't image a summer without the iconic competition.

"With less tourists, we are envisioning that our hitting will possibly drop as much as 60 per cent, but that is alright because the club made the decision to push on as it's such a big part of summer in Warrnambool now," he said.

"I think it will look significantly different because there will be such a cut back in numbers at the caravan parks.

"I've heard people eager to hear from the caravan park's ballot system and we've got some families who come every year, particularly from Ballarat and they have been wonderful supporters, but they've said they're looking at booking other places."

The Warrnambool East Rotary Club Hole-In-One competition, which began in 2005, now raises almost $50,000 per year with proceeds donated to local community groups.

Last year's competition, combined with the past 12 years of hole-in-one events, raised a whopping $998,000 which has all gone back into the south-west community

Mr Reeves said he anticipated there would be less of a humanitarian effort but said it was good to keep the tradition alive.

"It has become a really big event with thousands of people hitting the course over the 31 days," he said.

"The aim is always to make money for our humanitarian projects and if that is not as successful as previous years, we will still showcase our local businesses and sponsors and put Rotary front and centre.

"It will also continue to provide good, family fun."

Mr Reeves said there would be no sausage sizzle this year and people would be required to social distance, sign in and out, and sanitise.

"We will be particularly vigilant about hygiene, sanitising the golf sticks and balls in between use, and will put as many measures in as we possibly can to ensure it is a COVID-safe environment," he said.

Mr Reeves said the famous car prize would still be on offer, as long as the event ran past January 4.

"We have to be agile in these circumstances and the car is a fairly big expense for us so we will make sure we are confident that the competition will continue in its entirety," he said.

"If an outbreak does unfortunately occur, we should be well placed to call the event off fairly quickly and we will at that point reconsider what we will do, assuming we won't have a shootout, and will potentially offer a significant cash prize for the winner."

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