PENINSULA GOLF CLUB of Port Angeles crowned a hardy crew of champions from its recently completed November through March Winter League.
The Triggs Dental Lab team of Don Coventon, Pam Fisher, Sandy Gardner, Mark Mast, Deke Temres Mel Triggs and Dave Wahlsten battled the elements on Fridays over the past four-plus months to come out on top of the standings.
A well-earned salute to their stick-to-itiveness.
Our winter this year wasn’t as harsh as last year’s but it still takes some grit and some pocket hand-warmers to consistently hit the links in the middle of a North Olympic Peninsula winter.
Full results for the league and winning team photo can be found on Page B2.
Peninsula membership
Peninsula head pro Chris Repass passed along some membership information about his club, with particular emphasis on players ages 18-22 and 18-35.
The Youth/Junior Membership program is a steal of a deal for those students who love golf and who didn’t reach their 23rd birthday before Jan. 1.
A $50 annual fee and application, proof of school or college enrollment, attendance at an orientation session and a possible demonstration of skills by the applicant are all that is needed to play the course frequently and inexpensively.
The membership knocks green fees down to $5 for nine holes and $8 for a full 18 holes.
Peninsula’s other membership for younger golfers is called a Juniors Associate membership and is open to anyone between the ages of 18-35.
There are two options under this category, and both require a one-time $300 initiation fee and monthly fees to play an unlimited amount of golf and receive all associate member privileges.
Golfers can purchase a single pass for $128.06 per month or a family pass for your spouse and children ages 8-22 for $161.15 per month.
Port Townsend events
Port Townsend Golf Club will hosts its St. Patrick’s Day Best-Ball and Feast with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
A full St. Patrick’s Day meal will follow play.
Combine playing golf and doing good for hundreds of children with special needs by playing in the Northwest Kiwanis Camp Fundraiser Golf Tournament on Saturday, March 27.
The tourney raises funds for the camp out on the shores of Beausite Lake near Chimacum.
For more information, call 360-385-4547.
SkyRidge happenings
Sequim’s SkyRidge Golf Course will host its St. Paddy’s Tournament on Saturday.
The four-person shotgun scramble will tee it up at 9:30 a.m.
Cost for the event is $160 per foursome with an optional honey pot.
There will be lots of prizes and a traditional Irish stew served for lunch.
A big break skills challenge will follow tournament play.
Hooligans are welcomed, or at least golfers dressed in their best kilt and knickers outfits because there will be a prize for best-dressed hooligan.
The next weekend golfers can participate in the club’s annual Bust a Gut tournament.
Each foursome will start from the tips in this event and stay there, playing the full-length of the course each time around.
The green will have two pin placements, except for holes nine and 18.
Gross and net prizes, the chance to claim four KP’s, range balls, long putt and lunch are included in the $55 per person entry fee.
Players should form their own foursomes.
SkyRidge will also host a Spring Break Junior Golf camp for students ages 6-15 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Monday, March 29 to Wednesday, March 31.
Course staff will provide instruction for the camp.
Attendees will receive a camp T-shirt and group photo as well as snacks and drinks.
On the final day of the camp, youth golfers will head out onto the links course to play some holes.
Cost is $50 per child, with additional siblings paying $30 each.
Entry forms are available at SkyRidge Golf Course pro shop, 7015 Old Olympic Highway.
For more information on any of those events, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
On Gregoire’s desk
Those clowns in Olympia have done it again.
I just wanted to type that sentence because I see it or its variants often enough in letters to the editor in the Peninsula Daily News.
Anyway, our elected representatives in the state Capitol have approved a measure to let golf carts on public roads in cities that allow it.
On a 44-1 vote Monday, the state Senate concurred to changes made in the state House.
The bill now heads to Gov. Chris Gregoire to be signed into law.
The bill allows cities or counties to create golf cart zones.
Golf carts would only be allowed on streets with speed limits of 25 mph or slower.
Drivers would have to be at least 16 years old and must follow the same road rules as those driving regular vehicles.
Carts that are operated in golf cart zones must have reflectors, rearview mirrors and seat belts.
I sense a golf cart detailing business opening soon in the Sequim area.
An ocean apart
I recently stumbled upon a stunning set of golf photographs all the way from the slums of Mumbai, India at www.totallycoolpix.com/2010/03/urban-golf-in-india/. (See photos on this page).
The sport is routinely and rightly, given its history, associated with wealth and power.
The kids in these photos have neither, and unlike those in that fanciful film Slumdog Millionaire, likely never will.
What they do have is a wealth of spirit and ingenuity.
They use their blighted urban environment to carve out holes and melt iron bars to hit plastic balls to play a version of golf.
They do play by the same rules of play and etiquette as our game.
One of the photos struck me as eerily reminiscent of Ben Hogan’s famed 1-iron shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the 1950 U.S. Open Championship.
Take a second to look at the photos, then take a moment to reflect and appreciate the opportunities we have to play this game to the level we are accustomed in our country.
If any information pops up on how to donate used equipment to these players or to other countries that need used golf items I’ll pass it along in a future column.
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Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column appears on Wednesdays. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.
