WELCOME TO PART one of my two-part look back at the year in golf.
Today, I will tackle January through June and next Wednesday I will wrap the year by looking at July through December.
But first, as always, there are local items of interest to pass along.
New Year’s Eve event
Port Townsend Golf Club will host a blind draw Holiday Blues/New Year’s Eve Scramble at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 31.
Get in the game for $30 per player.
You can sign up in the clubhouse or phone the course at 360-385-4547.
Port Townsend is also offering its $10 Tuesday discount, where players pay $10 and play to their hearts’ content (or the sun goes down).
The $10 rate is $3 off the normal rate for nine and $7 off the typical $17 greens fee for 18.
Peaked early, real early
I was teamed up with Port Townsend assistant pro Gabriel Tonan and Al West in last Saturday’s Toys For Tots Fundraiser scramble.
There was some grumbling about the arrangement at tee time but it quickly became apparent that it was best that I as the worst player be teamed with the best in the field.
Tonan had the genius idea of the day, taking a propane heater along to warm us up before the sun came out.
Thankfully, I was able to contribute a little bit, helping us get off to a birdie-birdie start with a 20-foot putt on our first hole and a nice drive on our second.
My game went off the rails just after that but I did drop a few more putts and we ended up taking the victory after ending birdie-birdie for a 65 (net 49.7.)
Thanks for having me!
Midwinter Open event
SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim will host its annual Midwinter Open Three-Person Scramble on Saturday, Jan. 14.
The tourney has a frost-free start at 9:30 a.m. and each team must have a total handicap index of 15 or higher.
Cost is $90 per team and includes 18 holes of golf, range balls, two KPs, a long putt and a late afternoon lunch.
Carts are $12 per seat with some heaters available for $10.
There’s also an optional $60 honey pot per team.
Call early, sign-ups are limited to 24 teams.
To register, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
Proven wrong in print
It’s always fun when a prediction you make and fully believe is completely uprooted.
I never thought video game players would see Augusta National, home of the Masters, in another video game but it was announced back in early January that the course was to be featured in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12.
February a little slow
Two quarterbacks who play the game of golf met up in the NFL’s Super Bowl.
Ben Roethlisberger, who was investigated for public urination on an Ohio golf course (its public record, people!) was bested by good guy and Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament participant Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl.
Yes, I am still bitter about the Seahawks’ loss to Big Ben’s Steeler’s in 2006.
Wurtz to Disco Bay
Chimacum High School graduate and former University of New Mexico Lobo Mark Wurtz started his new job as head golf pro at Discovery Bay Golf Club in Port Townsend on March 7.
Wurtz learned the game out at Port Ludlow Golf Club where his father Ted Wurtz was head pro in the 1970s.
The Masters in April
Port Angeles High School golfers Jordan Negus and Terrance Stevenson worked as housekeepers in the press room at a very memorable Masters Tournament in April.
For three days the green jacket looked like it had been cut and styled to fit the frame of Northern Irelander Rory “Tin Cup” McIlroy.
But then he broke down on the first hole of the back nine, going into no-man’s land in an area of the course television cameras normally never see and posting a triple-bogey on his way to a final round 80.
Tiger Woods was rolling that Sunday, breaking out the victory red shirt and the fist pump but he also struggled down the stretch to finish fourth.
And eventually Charl Schwartzel, Jerry Seinfeld’s long-lost younger brother, bested the field to take the most beautiful green jacket in existence.
Golfers at state in May
Chimacum High School’s Mason Moug placed fourth at the Class 1A state tournament at the Home Course in DuPont in May.
“I thought about [going for the championship],” said Moug, who came into Wednesday’s final round two strokes behind eventual champion Brett Johnson of Ridgefield.
“But I just kind of went in there with an open mind, knowing most of those kids play golf the whole year and I only play four or five months.
“Anything in the top five I was pretty happy about.”
Moug’s finish was the highest of any North Olympic Peninsula high school golfer.
Port Townsend’s Jenny Grauberger was fifth in the girls 1A tourney, and the Redskins’ Cody Piper was ninth in the boys meet.
It was the second straight year Port Townsend had a boys golfer finish in the top 10.
Sequim’s Ryan O’Mera bounced back from a rough opening day to finish eighth at the Class 2A tourney at the Classic Golf Course in Spanaway.
The Wolves’ Kim Duce and Hailey Estes also made the cut at the 2A tourney, finishing in 27th and 33rd place, respectively.
Peninsula takes Cup
Port Angeles’ Peninsula Golf Club claimed the first-ever road victory in the three year history of the Peninsula Cup in May, besting five other North Olympic Peninsula teams at Port Ludlow Golf Course.
Team members included Gary Thorne, Mike DuPuis, Rick Parkhurst, Gerald Petersen, Lane Richards, Gene Ketchum, Greg Senf, Dave Wahsten, Jim Cole, Eric Schaefermeyer, John Tweter and Darrel Vincent.
McIlroy, tops in June
Bouncing back in an epic fashion, Rory McIlroy lapped the field at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional.
The record-setting performance (16 under par) legitimized the claims of McIlroy being the “next big thing” in pro golf.
I’m a bit of a soft touch for sports drama and its always touching to see the winner of the U.S. Open give his dad a big hug after winning the title on Father’s Day.
Part two of my golfing year in review will appear next week.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.
