By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
SEQUIM — Golf claps all around for SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim and Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles for providing assistance after an early morning fire Sunday destroyed the main cart barn at Cedars and Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim.
About 50 carts were lost in the blaze, which occurred before 7 a.m. Sunday, just ahead of the day’s initial tee times.
To help Cedars make it through a late-summer Sunday of play, SkyRidge and Peninsula stepped up to offer assistance.
“We borrowed some through some connections up in Port Angeles at Peninsula, and SkyRidge was very helpful in giving us a couple of carts,” Cedars’ Director of Golf and General Manager Bill Shea said.
“We had some outside play in town, so we were very thankful.”
Cedars’ also manages the pro shop operations at Peninsula Golf Club, while SkyRidge, a nine-hole links-style course nearby, is a competitor.
No one was injured in the blaze, which Shea said was still under investigation on Tuesday.
“We are going to have an insurance adjustor and fire inspector out to do a damage estimate and investigate the cause of the fire,” Shea said. “There’s been no professional diagnosis that I am aware of. Clallam County Fire [District No. 3] could tell where the fire roughly started, but at this point no cause has been determined.”
Losses included two beverage carts, a food cart, the primary golf cart used to pick up range balls, some personal carts and customized Seattle Seahawks and University of Washington/Sonny Sixkiller carts.
Sixkiller is the host of the annual Sonny Sixkiller Celebrity Golf Classic, a tournament that brings University of Washington athletic legends to the North Olympic Peninsula to raise funds for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.
The UW-themed cart, pictured above, is a centerpiece of the event. The Seattle Seahawks cart has been used to promote the course at various events on and off the Peninsula, including the Seattle Golf Show.
Replacing those customized carts is a possiblity, Shea said.
“We are certainly going to take a look at our options going forward,” Shea said. “Those are one of a kind carts that won’t be as easy to replace. Those certainly bring attention to different events.”
Shea said Cedars had an an older range cart in a maintenance building on the property and another food cart stored at Peninsula that were pressed into service Sunday.
“We actually purchased and had a backup food cart Peninsula’s golf operations stored there, so we are going to use that and be okay,” Shea said.
“And we had an older range cart at the maintenance shop to use, so there was no loss of use of the range.”
Cedars also rented some carts from Scott Alexander’s Golf Carts in Bremerton, the largest provider of golf-cart rentals in the northwest to get back up to speed. Alexander is the former director of golf at Gold Mountain Golf Club and a longtime volunteer assistant coach with the University of Washington men’s golf team.
Cedars has used Alexander’s fleet before for big events at the course.
“With the carts from Peninsula and SkyRidge we are up to 68, and the previous fleet size was 72,” Shea said.
It was the second fire at the course this year. Fire crews responded to an electrical fire Feb.7 that destroyed or damaged three carts in a different shed, Shea said.
And Shea said the fire won’t impact scheduled tournaments at Cedars — such as Saturday’s “Fore the Kids” golf tournament, a benefit for the Olympic Peninsula YMCA.
Knights host scramble
The Knights of Columbus will host their 16th annual Charity Golf Tournament at Sunland Golf & Country Club on Saturday.
The four-person scramble format event has a 9 a.m. shotgun start and will include men’s, women’s and mixed divisions.
Entry fees are $55 for the public, $30 for Sunland members, and includes green fees and contests.
North Olympic Peninsula charities benefitted by the event include the Sequim Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, The Dungeness Wellness Clinic, hospice services and more.
Sign up forms are available at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course, Skyridge Golf Course, Peninsula Golf Club and Sunland Golf & Country Club.
For more information, phone Jim Jones at 360-582-9134.
Aces abound
Three aces were reported recently at Peninsula Golf Club.
Last Wednesday, Port Angeles’ Jerrin Fiorini notched his first-ever hole-in-one on the 156-yard ninth hole.
Fiorini used an 8-iron and a Calloway Warbird ball on the shot, which was witnessed by Sequim’s Chris Brown.
Port Angeles’ Gene Middleton collected his fourth-career ace on the 98-yard 4th hole Tuesday, Sept. 4. Middleton used his 9-iron and a Noodle golf ball on the shot, which was witnessed by Lyle Andrus of Sequim.
Nick Bahl of Port Angeles aced the 157-yard 17th hole on Aug. 30.
Bahl made the single with his 8-iron and a Titleist Pro VI ball.
Witnesses included John Pruss, Kerry Perkins and Quint Boe, all of Port Angeles.
