PLAY GOLF WHILE the sun shines.
A takeoff on the old proverb “Make hay while the sun shines,” which I first encountered in The Little House on the Prairie book series as a kid, specifically the book The Long Winter.
It turns out two of our North Olympic Peninsula golf professionals, SunLand Golf &Country Club’s Tyler Sweet and Cedars at Dungeness’ Garrett Smithson, took that mantra to heart, playing in enough events the past few months to qualify for the Western Washington Chapter PGA’s 31st annual Cutter &Buck North/South Cup Matches.
Sweet and Smithson will represent the South team (bear with me) during competition Sept. 13-14 at White Horse Golf Club in Kingston. For the event’s purposes Western Washington is divided at Interstate 405 at Southcenter, with the Olympic Peninsula considered as “southern” territory.
The pair had to play in at least seven pro-member events and finish in the top 10 of 25 competitors. Sweet played in nine events, finishing with a scoring average of 70.86. Smithson was close behind, playing 10 tournaments and averaging 71.57 shots per round.
Congratulations, to the pair. Competing and besting fellow PGA professionals is no easy task.
I know they will represent the Peninsula well at White Horse.
Sweet also played well last month at the Northwest Open at Walla Walla’s Wine Valley Golf Course.
Sweet finished 16th out of 160 competitors at that event, shooting rounds of 71, 74 and 69 to finish at 2-under-par for the tournament.
“[The] golf course is super fun to play,” Sweet said.
“It’s one of those courses that are fun to play even if you’re not on your game. The par 5’s are risk reward layouts. One of the best in the state.”
Eastern Washington has really added some fine layouts over the past decade: Palouse Ridge in Pullman, Wine Valley, Gamble Sands in Brewster — all spectacular designs and fun and challenging for players of all types.
Lady Niners crown champ
Debbie Kahle checked in to let me know the Lady Niners at Cedars at Dungeness held their Club Championship on Aug. 11 and 25.
Eleven lady golfers participated in a low-net tournament under beautiful, sunny skies each day.
The winner, with fantastic rounds of 44 and 43 was Pat Conway.
Her net for the two day event was a 63.
Well done, Pat.
SunLand champions
Nancy Harlan sent word of the many championships awarded last month at SunLand in Sequim.
The first titles up for grabs were the men’s and women’s Super Senior Championship.
A player has to be age 70 or older to qualify for this category.
Bill Dickin won the men’s championship, while Cynthia Edel is the reigning women’s winner.
Net Champions were Karl Kelley and Patricia Palmeri. There were many other prizes awarded to participating players in several flights.
The SunLand Championship followed, a tournament open to all SunLand members.
Judy Flanders won by 4 strokes to be named SunLand Women’s champion and Jay Tomlin claimed the SunLand Men’s Championship.
The Net champions were Geri O’Claray and Jerry Ahern. Here again, many other winners in other flights were awarded.
Harlan finished as the SunLand Lady Niners champion, and Kathy Tiedeman won the net crown.
“Overall, there was great participation from the members and they were rewarded with over 90 prizes in a variety of categories,” Harlan said.
SkyRidge scramble
SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim will host a three-person scramble with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start Saturday.
Cost is $90 per team ($30 per player), with a honey pot available for $20 per player.
Gross and net prizes will be awarded. Team KPs and a long putt competition are included in the tournament’s cost.
Each team must use four drives from each team member.
Lunch will follow play.
For more information, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
Two-person Best Ball
Discovery Bay Golf Course near Port Townsend will host its fourth and final event in its Summer Series, a two-person best ball on Saturday, Sept. 17.
The event is open to all players and will tee off with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Ages 70 and older will play from the gold tees.
Cost is $40 per person, $80 per team. Lunch and beverage are included in the fee.
For more information, call the clubhouse at 360-385-0704.
Dungeness also is offering reduced prices from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day through Sunday.
Weekday prices during that time frame are $36 for a single with cart, $40 on the weekends for a single and cart.
Coolest name in golf
Mike McCool, which may be the coolest name I’ve ever come into contact, recently carded his first-ever hole-in-one.
McCool used his 7-iron to ace the 150-yard No. 4 hole at Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles on Monday.
His shot was witnessed by Kerry Perkins and Mike McClean.
SunLand aces aplenty
August was a productive month for aces at SunLand.
Three singles were holed during the month, two by SunLand members.
One member, Dave Anderson, used his 7-hybrid to find the cup on the 149-yard par-3 15th hole on Aug. 5.
Bill Dickin, another club member, also carded a straight figure, using his 9-iron on No. 15 on Aug. 14.
And Robert Thompson, the golf pro at Anchorage, Alaska’s Moose Run Golf Course, also struck it clean on 15. He used his 8-iron on the shot Aug. 16.
Blake holes out
Dave Blake of Sequim notched his sixth career hole-in-one on the 142-yard, par-3 17th hole at Cedars at Dungeness, on Aug. 28.
Blake used his 9-iron and a Bridgestone ball on the shot, which was witnessed by Sequim’s Sid Krumpe, Dave Allen and Randy Gagne.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com
