REGISTRATION IS UNDERWAY for the Olympic Peninsula PGA Jr. League program for youth ages 13 and younger.
All skill levels from beginner to experienced are welcome to play in the league, which will begin June 11 at The Cedars at Dungeness in Sequim and Port Angeles’ Peninsula Golf Club.
PGA Jr. League is a way for kids to learn and play golf while bringing friends and family together to enjoy golf experiences with expert coaching and instruction from PGA and LPGA professionals, according to Peninsula head pro Chad Wagner.
Boys and girls compete in a two-person scramble format that encourages mentorship, attempts to build confidence and promotes sportsmanship.
More than 50,000 kids participated on 4,200 teams nationwide according to the PGA Jr. League, in 2018.
Players will participate in eight team practice sessions and four regular season matches during the eight-week program.
High-performing players can advance to postseason all-star teams.
A small bucket of golf balls is included daily and players also will get 15 percent pro shop discounts and deals with other junior golf programs.
Players also will receive a performance T-shirt, hat, bag tag, stickers and a drawstring bag and two jerseys, orange and blue, for home and away competition.
Jerseys are available in boys and girls sizes and customizable with team name and the preferred jersey number.
The fee is $200.
Signups are available online at tinyurl.com/PDN-PGAJrLeague or at The Cedars at Dungeness or Peninsula Golf Club.
For more information, email Wagner at cwagner@7cedarsresort.com or Dungeness PGA Pro at ggsmithson@7cedarsresort.com.
Hole-in-one
Sunland Golf & Country Club member Linda Collet collected her second career hole-in-one from the Silver tees on the 106-yard fifth hole last Thursday, May 9.
Collet used a lime green Bridgestone golf ball on the shot.
Congrats, Linda.
Demo days/clinic
The Cedars at Dungeness has a packed demo day planned May 22 with Titleist, Ping, TaylorMade and Mizuno reps on hand from noon to 4 p.m.
A short game clinic with Cleveland Golf also is planned from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Those interested in the clinic must register in advance in the pro shop or by calling 360-683-6344.
Peninsula College tourney
The annual Pirate Golf Tournament benefits Peninsula College athletic scholarships and will be held at The Cedars at Dungeness on Saturday, June 1.
The event format is a four-person scramble.
Cost is $100 per player or $400 per team and includes green fees, cart, lunch and two drink tickets.
Mulligan packages, which include two mulligans, two raffle tickets and three putt for wine tickets for $20 a person or $60 a team, also are available.
Games also will be held on specific holes.
Players will have a shot to win a car provided by Wilder Auto and to split a $10,000 hole-in-one prize with the Pirate Athletic Association.
Sponsors also are sought for tee signs ($250); tee signs and foursomes ($500) and as course-game sponsors ($1,000).
For more information, call Peninsula men’s basketball coach Donald Rollman at 360-417-6467 or email drollman@pencol.edu.
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship has been moved from August to May, and the second major of the season has a stacked field to pull in television viewers.
For the first time at a major, or any golf tournament for that matter, every player in the Official Golf World Ranking top 100 will tee it up at Bethpage Black.
The field, totaling 156 players, features 34 major champions (who own a combined 67 major championships) and 69 international players representing 27 countries. It also has 12 players who have been ranked No. 1 in the world, a distinction currently held by Dustin Johnson.
Another one of the 12 No. 1’s is Masters champ Tiger Woods, the betting favorite at 9/1 odds. Woods won the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black — a public course renowned for players camping out in the pre-dawn darkness for spots on the tee sheet and for its boisterous galleries.
Should be loud and rowdy this weekend.
Rory in the Olympics
Rory McIlroy is “more likely than not” to tee it up at the 2020 Toyko Olympics, he told reporters Tuesday ahead of the PGA Championship.
A citizen of Northern Ireland, the matter of which country he would represent is a little more complicated.
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, meaning he could play under the Union Jack as England’s Justin Rose did en route to a gold medal three years ago. But GolfChannel.com reported McIlroy represented Ireland in amateur competitions and would have the option to do so again in the Olympics.
“It’s a complicated decision given the divide between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and one that McIlroy said in 2017 led him to “resent the Olympic Games” for putting him in the position to make a difficult choice. But it’s one he now appears ready to make, reiterating that he’s “excited to play for Ireland” next summer.”
Qualification for the 2020 Olympics will conclude with The British Open next summer at Royal St. George’s, after which the field of 60 men will be finalized. Each participating country can send up to two players, although that maximum can be raised to four players per country if all are ranked inside the top 15 in the world.
