22 minute read
Cascade Golfer Short Game
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SHORT GAME • 1
Boeing Classic takes flight for its 19th year at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge Aug. 9-11
With all the changes and chaos casting shadows on the professional golf tours, there is a dependability and a consistency with the annual return of the Boeing Classic to The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge.
This will be the 19th year that the 78-player PGA Champions Tour event will be played at the Ridge, Aug. 9-11. The 50-plus Tour, Boeing and Snoqualmie Ridge have held steady for nearly two decades, and their cooperative efforts will continue until at least until 2029, as a new five-year extension was signed at last year’s event.
Since 2005, the $2.2 million tournament has made its mark. It has raised more than $19 million for the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and other charities.
Last year, then 59-year-old Stephen Ames had a season and a championship Sunday unlike virtually any he had experienced in his half century as a professional, including the last 10 on the Champions Tour. Ames, who lives in Vancouver, B.C., entered the final round with a two-stroke lead. He then shot a 9-under 63 — finishing with four straight birdies and an eagle – to close at 19-under, tying the tournament three-round record of 197.
It was his fourth victory of the season (one more than he had in his previous nine Champions Tour seasons combined), matching his career number of PGA Tour victories over 394 career starts.
The tournament brings the pros, sponsors, sports celebrities, and guests together for pre-tournament charity functions. The Seahawks have long been involved with the Rumble at the Ridge charitable event the Tuesday before the tournament. Many former Seahawk players and select University of Washington athletic standouts come out to fill out the foursomes.
The Korean Air Pro-Am events are Wednesday and Thursday, in which one of the professionals is teamed up with a foursome in a 56-team shamble competition. The pro’s ball can be used for all the par-3 holes.
The most unique aspect of the event, which no other tournament can match, is that a Boeing plane both opens and closes the event, with a low flyover. Clearing flight
paths through the FAA, the latest Boeing aircraft annually cruises just above the 18th fairway around 11 a.m. Friday, and that’s the cue to tee it up.
Since 2021, another flight was added down the 18th to celebrate the final putt and the champion. When the pilot — lingering to the east in the sky above Mt. Si – gets the word that the champion has been determined, he or she sweeps down the fairway again, tipping a wing to the champion and the gathering.
The field will not be known until a week before the tournament, but it’s expected that Seattle native Fred Couples, if he feels fit enough, will be among the entrants.
Visit boeingclassic.com for event details and tickets.
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SHORT GAME • 2
Nostalgic Green Lake Pitch & Putt in Seattle is an institution since 1949
Dione Taitch isn’t sure if she cries when she talks about the Green Lake Pitch & Putt because she has such good memories, or she’s worried for its future.
She only knows she gets emotional about the tiny par-3 golf course, a Green Lake institution since 1949, and what it’s meant for her and her family in 40 years of running the place.
“This is actually really good,” she said, laughing through the tears. “It’s reminding me why I still want to do it, instead of getting mad and being like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ “
There are so many stories and Taitch mostly laughs when she tells them. They’re happy stories, of people who first came to the pitch ‘n’ putt as kids and still play there as adults, or young golfers who began to learn the game at Green Lake and went on to bigger things — and still come back to say hi to Taitch and play the course.
They are stories of her family. Dione’s mother Marlene Taitch, along with her then-husband, a golf pro who needed a job, took over at Green Lake Pitch & Putt in 1984, when Dione was nine.
Her son Jorryn literally grew up on the course, first as a toddler in a playpen while mom worked the counter. He started playing as soon as he could walk, and he went on to be captain of his high school golf team. Now, at 19, he works at the course.
All those stories, and yet she can’t ignore the current reality. Soon, she must submit a new proposal to retain her concessionaire’s lease with the city of Seattle’s Parks Department.
She’s not sure she’ll be able to afford the city’s terms, or if the city can afford hers.
“I’m going to put in a proposal,” she says. “I’m going to rely a lot on the nostalgia of it. That’s what I love and what the people seem to love.”
Facts and figures about Green Lake Pitch & Putt:
• Nine-hole par is 27 for the 700-yard course.
• The longest hole is No. 5, at 115 yards; the shortest is No. 2 at 60 yards.
• The toughest hole is the 65-yard No. 3, where branches of redwood trees have crossed over the course and there are few avenues to fly it high toward the green.
• The course record is a 7-under-par 20, which was carded and attested to by a gent in 1997. The “unofficial” record was set by a man named Lane who said to Dione as he came to the 9th green: “I’m shaking. I’m about to putt for 19.” He made the putt, but he didn’t have a witness for every hole so the record couldn’t be recognized.
Taitch said another concessionaire might come in with big ideas for the place, but she doesn’t see how without jacking up prices.
“We do everything we can to keep prices as low as possible.” Taitch shared that she hated bumping the price of a round recently from $10 to $12.
“I take pride in the fact that we make it all work,” she says. “I’ve worked other jobs. I don’t feel like there’s any place else where everybody’s there to have a good time.
“I take pride in the fact that we make it all work,” she says. “I’ve worked other jobs. I don’t feel like there’s any place else where everybody’s there to have a good time.”
“When people come through, I don’t ask about their score. I ask if they had a good time.”
Make your own memories and play nine at Green Lake Pitch & Putt located at 5701 E. Green Lake Way N., Seattle. Their brief website GreenLakeGolfCourse.com has FAQs and information.
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SHORT GAME • 3
Canterwood’s superintendent Renee Geyer is blazing a trail for others to follow
The membership directory of the Western Washington Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents’ Association of America (GCSAA) lists over 350 professionals — superintendents, assistant superintendents, equipment managers, crew members, turf teachers, turf students, and other individuals involved in golf course maintenance like seed company reps, landscapers, turf growers, fertilizer specialists, irrigation specialists, etc. Of that 350-plus, only 12 are women. That’s less than five percent of the total.
One of them is Renee Geyer, the superintendent at Canterwood Golf & Country Club — a private golf club five miles north of Gig Harbor on the Kitsap Peninsula. Geyer, who earned her turfgrass management degree from Ohio State University’s Agricultural Technical Institute, graduating at the top of her class, has been at Canterwood for two and a half years and came to Washington from the famed Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, where she worked for 13 years.
Geyer loves living in the Pacific Northwest despite what she calls the ‘torrential mist’ that rolls in every November and eventually leaves in May, sometimes June, and enjoys her job tremendously. But she admits it wasn’t easy starting out in an industry that’s dominated by men.
“When I applied to OSU’s Agricultural Technical Institute,” she said on golfcourseindustry.com’s ‘Wonderful Women in Golf’ podcast in April, “I introduced myself to the program director and think he may have thought I had six heads, because I don’t think he had ever seen a girl walk through his door before. It didn’t take very long for me to realize I’d be the only woman in the room.”
Yes, it certainly was awkward at times, but Geyer had been that neighborhood kid who knocked on doors asking people if she could mow their lawns for a few bucks. She loved cutting grass and making yards look better. And she knew a life in turf management was what she wanted. “I got over that uncomfortable, uneasy feeling pretty quick,” she says, “because I soon realized I was just as good a golf course supeintendent as anyone in the class.”
Geyer attended the Inaugural Women’s Leadership Academy last year at GCSAA Headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., and is a member of the organization’s National Women’s Task Group which seeks to mentor and educate women in the turfgrass industry. “I’ve been a part of this business since 2007,” she says, “but didn’t attend a women’s-only event until 2019. There were times when I certainly felt alone and isolated. But we’ve made significant progress in recent years.”
“Women are definitely becoming a significant part of the GCSAA,” she says, “but there’s still a lot more to do.”
Geyer says it hasn’t quite reached the point where women-only events/groups are unnecessary now but notes that being a female superintendent isn’t the oddity it once was. “Women are definitely becoming a significant part of the GCSAA,” she says, “but there’s still a lot more to do.”
This trailblazer would like to see more women superintendents — women in any golf industry position — in Washington state. During the summer, she manages a crew of 18 of which only two, including her, are females. “The numbers don’t lie,” she says. “There simply aren’t enough of us yet. But it’s a great career. I’ve loved every second of it so far and hope to see many more women get the opportunities I have.”
We’ll be highlighting the careers of other women in the Washington golf industry in future issues.
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SHORT GAME • 4
Nationally-ranked Huskies close out last Pac-12 schedule with a stellar run into postseason
It is the end of an era, of sorts. The University of Washington men’s golf team is closing out the season, as well as its last — and perhaps its best — Pac-12 Conference campaign.
The nationally-ranked Huskies finished with the Pac-12 tournament at the end of April. Next year all the Huskies athletic teams will be heading to the Big Ten Conference as the school anticipates its biggest change in history.
Visit GoHuskies.com for complete postseason news and results for both the men’s and women’s teams.
This year’s Husky team has featured four seniors — Haskins Award nominee Petr Hruby from Pilsen, Czech Republic; Bo Peng from Nanjing, China; Taehoon Song from Osan, South Korea and Teddy Lin from New Taipei City, Taiwan. All of them have enjoyed team and individual success over their time at Montlake.
“They’re a pretty experienced bunch. They’ve played a lot of tournaments and won a lot of tournaments,’’ said UW seventh-year coach Alan Murray. “That’s a really cool thing. A bit of a separator.’’
Through April, the UW was ranked eighth in the nation and reached as high as No. 4. The Huskies won the Husky Invitational last fall and placed second in the Western Intercollegiate in mid-April. They had eight top5 finishes this season.
Those four seniors were sophomores in 2022 and significant contributors to the Huskies Pac-12 championship held at Aldarra.
“They’re a pretty experienced bunch. They’ve played a lot of tournaments and won a lot of tournaments,’’ said UW seventh-year coach Alan Murray. “That’s a really cool thing. A bit of a separator.’’
Murray said they were all led and influenced then by seniors R.J. Manke and conference medalist Noah Woolsey.
“They were really (influential) in a big way,’’ Murray said of their former teammates. “They were two phenomenal leaders. R.J., who was not here long (one season), and Noah had the ability to connect. They were like old voices in the locker room. It came easy to them.
“If you ask any of our guys how good of teammates and influencers they were, they would all rave about them.’’
Hruby took the leadership mantle this season, starting in the fall ranked 30th in the PGA Tour University rankings, which is limited to the nation’s seniors. The top player in the final rankings, each May, automatically earns PGA Tour membership. Players ranked two through five will be fully exempt. Players six through 10 will have conditional membership and full Korn Ferry Tour membership. Players six through 25 will earn fully exempt membership for the PGA Tour Americas.
Hruby had his highest rank of the season, 14th in early February. He was 18th by mid-April, qualifying him at the time for the PGA Tour Americas. He also was a Haskins Award nominee all season, limited to the top 15 players in the country.
Hruby’s teammates Peng and Song rose to mid-30s in the rankings last fall while Lin was in the mid-50s. Song had his highest rank on Feb. 7 at 34th.
Like every coach, Murray always has an eye toward the future, as he needs to replace half his team next season. But unlike most coaches, he has a solid connection to the talent in his native Ireland. Murray is bringing in two players from The Emerald Isle, Jack Murphy and Jake Foley.
Murphy, a Dublin native who signed his national letter of intent in late April, owns nine career top-10 finishes, including wins at the European Juniors International, the FCG Callaway Collegiate World Championship and the Mallow Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup. He was also a qualifier for the 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.
Foley, from County Cork, signed his national letter of intent last November. Three others joined him in November — Amilkar Bhana of Johannesburg, South Africa; Abel Derksen of Gouda, Netherlands; and Brock Maulding of Lake Tapps, Wash.
Boyd’s big season leads Husky women
Camile Boyd also has carried the leadership banner for the UW women’s team all season. The senior from Yorba Linda, Calif., earned the team’s season highlight March 4-5 when she took medalist honors at the Juli Inkster Invitational in Fairfax, Calif. It was her second victory at the event in three years.
Boyd also had two other top finishes. She was second out of 95 players at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Lihue, Hawaii, in mid-March, shooting three rounds in the 60s. The Huskies had their best showing of the year, tying for second behind Arizona State. Washington’s team score of 847, 17-under-par, was the third lowest to par in program history.
She also was fifth out of 50 players at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. In eight tournaments this season, Boyd has led her team or tied six times.
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SHORT GAME • 5
Yu earns Duke’s Seafood Junior Scholarship as a result of a focused career and work ethic
Some Duke’s Seafood Junior Golf Scholarship winner articles just write themselves. Here’s Steve Calhoun, a sports medicine instructor and golf coach at Auburn Mountainside High School on our choice for this month’s winner, 15-year-old freshman Esther Yu.
“Growing up, Esther played golf occasionally but was primarily a swimmer. When COVID shut down everything, she started playing golf more seriously and quickly fell in love with the game. Coming in third in District 6 and qualifying for the WJGA State Championship in 2020 cemented her passion and she was hooked. Ever since then, she has played in WJGA, Rocky Mountain, U.S. Kids, and Junior PGA golf at Meridian Valley Country Club. In her first ever WJGA tournament, she shot a 72 for nine holes. In her most recent tournament for U.S. Kids Teen Series, she shot a 79 and a 73 for 18 holes.
“With a handicap of 1.3, she has improved her game significantly over the past four years. She understands golf is a commitment and practices every day — rain or shine. As a freshman, she has broken several school records and balances practice time with schoolwork — achieving a 4.0 while taking advanced classes and playing as a starter on the school’s water polo team. Esther also mentors younger players at Meridian Valley.”
Auburn Mountainside Athletic Director Chris Carr is equally impressed.
“Esther has an amazing work ethic and drive to become the best golfer she can possibly be,” he says. “She practices with our team then goes to the range for another two hours. She prioritizes high school golf while playing tournaments almost every weekend through WJGA, recently finishing 10th at the WJGA State Match Play. She’s a very accomplished student with straight A’s her entire freshman year.”
“I’m saving up to get a new set of clubs after this tournament season is over,” she says.
Esther is pretty sure where the scholarship money will be going.
“I’m saving up to get a new set of clubs after this tournament season is over,” she says.
We certainly hope they help you get to the next level, Esther.
ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS
Win $500 For Your Young Golfer
The Duke’s Junior Golfer Scholarship is a $500 scholarship awarded three times this year in Cascade Golfer to a deserving young player from the Puget Sound region. If you know of an area youth that loves golf and has a desire to take their career to the next level, submit your letter of inquiry for scholarship consideration to both tonydear71@comcast.net and stephens@varsitycommunications.com — subject “Duke’s Scholar.”
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SHORT GAME • 6
Bandon Dunes, TPC Danzante Bay and Central Oregon trips still up for grabs for CG Cup winners
For most of the golfers competing in the 15th Annual Cascade Golfer Cup, Hawaii is a paradise lost. But there are many more rewarding trips, awards and honors yet to be won as we head into the Cup’s summer competitions.
The first event of the five-event April-to-September test of golf was just completed (April 27) at the prestigious Chambers Bay Golf Course. The two-person best ball Stableford format delivered a grand prize of a Hawaiian stay-and-play package. Another trip to the island golf heaven may not be awarded until next year, but trips to Bandon Dunes, Central Oregon and Mexico remain viable for the other events.
Winners of the first event are: (Gross) Brandon Agnew and Cameron Hanke; and (Net) Jake Johnson and Maxden Regalado.
A Bandon Dunes Thirty-Six package is the next award offered June 1 for the second in the Cascade Cup series at Salish Cliffs GC in Shelton. This gives everyone enough time to pick a partner and imagine what it will be like to win the two-person best ball event and take home that trip to the renowned coastal Oregon golf links.
Salish, which opened in 2011 and is owned and operated by the Squaxin Island Tribe, will use a best ball format over the challenging 7,269-yard layout.
Chambers and Salish will be followed by three other reputable routes: The Home Course, White Horse, and Oakbrook Golf Club.
Each tournament, limited to 64 amateur two-player teams, will be a separate event. Season standings will be used to crown a champion in gross and net divisions. Prizes also will be awarded for all teams finishing in the top 10 in the gross or net divisions at every event and on the season. Here’s a closer look at the other events/courses.
On June 29, the competition continues at The Home Course in DuPont for the Michelob ULTRA Open. This will be a two-person, stroke-play aggregate Stableford, which is generally is based on: five points for double eagle, four points for eagles, three points for birdies, two points for pars, one point for bogeys and no points for double bogeys. It’s not the fewest strokes but the most points that wins.
The Puetz Golf Shootout at White Horse in Kingston will be the fourth Cascade Golfer Cup event. It will be held Aug. 10 and played under the two-person shamble format. In that format, both golfers tee off separately then they take the best drive for their second shot. Each player will then use his/her own ball to finish the hole.
Finally, the summer of CG Cup concludes with a Sept. 7 competition at Oakwood GC in Lakewood. This will be another two-player best ball, same as Salish Cliffs.
Get a partner, set your handicaps and sign up for a summer of golf fun. Someone must win. Why not you? To learn more or to register, visit CascadeGolfer. com/Cup or email simon@cascadegolfer.com.
Cascade Golfer top prize list:
April 27, Season Opener at Chambers Bay, Hawaiian Stay and Package;
June 1, Cascade Golfer Challenge at Salish Cliffs GC, Bandon Dunes Thirty-Six;
June 29, Michelob ULTRA at The Home Course GC, Central Oregon Golf Fifty-Four;
Aug. 10, Puetz Golf Shootout at White Horse GC, Mexico Stay and Play; and
Sept. 7, The Fall Classic at Oakbrook GC, PXG drivers and equipment.
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SHORT GAME • 7
Two-day Corona Premier Shootout returns to Gamble Sands this July the ultimate getaway tourney
Last year’s staging of the Corona Premier Shootout at Gamble Sands went pretty much according to plan. Scores of golfers showed up on a gloriously sunny Saturday morning in July for the first round on the Sands Course, after which players took on the highly entertaining QuickSands par 3 course, some with beers in hand.
Many stuck around for an evening of food and fun, sharing laughs on the Cascade Putting Green during happy hour, and enjoying a drink or two around the firepit. Then, on Sunday, the rank and file returned for the second round — on a similarly fine day — and went home exhausted following a wonderful experience on one of the most exciting courses in the country.
Yep, just as we planned it.
You’ll be thrilled to hear it’s all happening again this summer. This time, participants will be able to enjoy non-golf time in The Barn, which opens in April. There, you can sit and relax in front of the TVs, enjoy a beverage, and tell everyone how you just shot the round of your life … or didn’t.
Everyone should be familiar with the format by now. The team competition will be a two-person best ball with gross and net divisions, and extra prizes for KPs (four), long and straight drive. As in years past, the top five teams will earn prizes both daily and overall, making a total of 30 team prizes.
The fee is $1,120 per team, which includes the tournament entry, green fees, Saturday round at QuickSands, use of a cart, range balls, plus lunch on Saturday and Sunday. Lodging is available at the Inn, but reservations will be difficult to come by for procrastinators.
Have you got your partner lined up yet for what promises to be the best golf weekend of the year? Go to CascadeGolfer.com to register.
Slots fill fast. Pick your partner and jump in today.
CORONA PREMIER SHOOTOUT AT GAMBLE SANDS
July 27-28, Gamble Sands
Two-person best ball Saturday & Sunday
Net and gross divisions
Prize pool daily and total Four KPs, Long Drive, Straight Drive daily
Saturday Corona Premier Happy Hour at Quicksands/Cascade Putting Course
YOUR $1,120 TEAM FEE INCLUDES
Greens fees
Cart
Range and lunch on Saturday and Sunday
Plus Saturday afternoon/evening round at Quicksands
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SHORT GAME • 8
Save money spring, summer and fall with the 2024 Northwest Golfers Playbook – over 120 offers
Here we are again. Spring is here and golf is back in full swing. Green fees aren’t going down in 2024, but don’t fret fellow golfer because we got you.
The Northwest Golfers Playbook is back again and better than ever — packed full of golf savings, ensuring that you can golf all year long without breaking the bank.
Plenty of the courses that sit in Washington’s top 15 (Gamble Sands, Wine Valley, Suncadia, Apple Tree, White Horse, Port Ludlow, etc.) are included. Of course, we have many of our local favorites — too many to list — and we’re excited to welcome back a few new faces, including Loomis Trail, High Cedars and Alderbrook.
Golf’s popularity — indoors and out — continues to soar. We had several new indoor facilities jump into the book last year, including Five Iron Golf on Capitol Hill, Lounge by Topgolf in Kirkland, Kutting Edge Fitness in Redmond, and Loft Golf out of Olympia. We still have an offer at Back 9 Parlor in Lynnwood and have added a couple of new ones — Stadium Golf in Tacoma and Evergreen Golf Club in Redmond. Oh, and of course, Puetz Golf, where you get $10, as usual, along with several other offers.
Whether you live in the city, play your golf up north, or call the south end your home, the NWGPB has a ton of options for you. Plus, if you’re a road tripper, there are loads of courses on the Peninsula or across the passes to central and eastern Washington for you to visit.
What type of offers should you expect? Well, pretty much anything goes. You will find 2 for 1s, 4 for 3s, percentage discounts, free carts, lessons, range balls, twosome specials, foursome specials, simulator time specials, food and beverage offers and more.
With courses still packed and everyone looking to get in some golf, we’re excited to be able to put together a book jammed with so many great offers. With more than 120 pages of golf deals, you simply need to use a few coupons and you’ll soon be in the black.
You can purchase a book online for $44.95. And use the code SaveTen to save another $10. Whether you play in your immediate area or head somewhere you’ve never played before, just put the book in your golf bag and count your savings all summer long.
Pick one up at NWGolfersPlaybook.com and start saving today!
