Best of the Boeing Classic

A 59 Watch?

BY BOB SHERWIN • CG STAFF WRITER

This year’s Boeing Classic, the PGA Champions Tour event to be held Aug. 9-11 at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, could have a suspenseful element, according to Chris Garrison, the Ridge’s head golf professional.

Garrison has been drilling down on the event for some time now, weighing past results and assessing the possible course conditions relative to the expected tournament field. He believes the winner has a chance not just to set a course record and tournament record but could venture into scoring territory rarely seen.

“Are we going to see,” he asked, “a 59 watch?”

Garrison can’t speculate who might be the one who could break the sub-60 barrier at his course but expects conditions to be optimum for a run at it. The twice-a-year sanding program has produced firm-and-fast surface conditions the pros love. Watering will be limited that week to maintain the reliable bounce in the course.

The stimpmeter rating for the greens should be in the range of 13, which is considered lightning fast. PGA Tour venues average around 12. Pro putters prefer reliably fast greens.

Kevin Sutherland established the PGA Champions Tour record with a 59 at the 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in the second round. He’s the only 50-plus player to record a sub-60 score in Champions Tour tournament history.

It was Sutherland’s course record of 60 in the second round of the 2018 Boeing Classic that piqued Garrison’s interest. He also studied Scott Simpson’s scorecard in 2006 when he set the original course record of 61.

“Sutherland and Simpson both shot a 29 on the back nine,” Garrison said. “Through the first five holes (on the front nine), Sutherland was 1-under. He then went bananas after that.”

What the fans can look for as they scan the scoreboards that tournament week, he says, is how well players handle those first five holes.

“If they go like 2-under during that stretch,” Garrison added. “They can certainly go for a 59.”

Here’s a look at some players who are expected to play.

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THE PGA CHAMPIONS TOUR pros take aim at Snoqualmie course record

FIVE LEGENDS TO FOLLOW AUG. 9-11

Stephen Ames

The defending champion has had a resurgent postPGA Tour career, with seven top-10 finishes this season, including two victories.

Last year, he won four times, including the Boeing Classic, and was runner-up at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Overall, he has eight Champions Tour victories and 61 top 10s since joining the 50-plus tour in 2014.

Ames, 60, who lives in Vancouver, B.C., had just four career PGA Tour victories in his 394 career starts. Relative to the “59 watch,” it should be noted that Ames tied a Boeing tournament record last year with a three-round 19-under-par 197. He had a final round 63, finishing the final five holes with four birdies and an eagle. Pay attention to his start. Ames has built a local fanbase here in Seattle being a British Columbian — he’s fun to watch.

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Ernie Els

The 54-year-old, four-time major champion had a prolific PGA Tour career. He had 47 international victories, including 19 PGA Tour wins and 126 top-10 finishes.

In his four seasons on the Champions Tour, The Big Easy has not had the same dominance. He has had five Champions victories in 91 starts. He may be hitting his stride, however, this season. Beginning with his thirdplace finish at the Regions in early May, he followed that with a sixth-place finish at the KitchenAid Senior Open then back-to-back victories in June at the Principal Charity Classic and the American Family Insurance.

Els, who beat Steve Stricker in a one-hole playoff to win the American Family, may come to Seattle as the Tour’s hottest golfer. But in his three previous appearances at the Boeing Classic, he has finished tied for 11th, 40th and 18th.

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Bernhard Langer

The indefatigable 66-year-old German is a two-time Boeing champion. But then he’s a two-time champion just about everywhere he has played on the Champions Tour. He has 46 career victories, one more than Hale Irwin for the most in Champions Tour history.

He set the record in grand style, at the 2023 Senior Open, his record 12th senior major victory. He also extended his record as the oldest winner ever on Tour at 65 years, 11 months, five days. He has passed Irwin (211) for the most top 10s in Tour history, now with a remarkable 214.

Langer missed most of this season recovering from an Achilles injury. It’s the only thing anyone can remember that has successfully slowed him down in his 16-year Champions Tour career. His best finish this year was third at the Principal Charity Classic, in which he beat his age (a second-round 63) for a countless time.

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Miguel Ángel Jiménez

Jiménez is the Tour’s anti-Langer. While Langer is precise, calculating with a perpetual game-face, Jiménez is gregarious, joyous and insouciant. Called the coolest man in golf with his man-bun and ever-present stogie, the 60-year-old Spaniard swings his clubs like a swashbuckler. With his odd stretching routines and colorful play, he is a fan favorite to follow. He’s also a winner, including the 2022 Boeing Classic. He has won 13 times on the Tour. He has not had much success this season; no wins and just four top 10s as of this reporting. In fact, his victory sangria has been on ice for far too long. His last Tour victory was the Boeing (and was second last year).

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Fred Couples

Far and away, Seattle native Couples, 64, is the one the gallery looks for every year. Enormously popular, Couples has said that it has been his goal to win in his home area but everything in his career has depended on the health of his back. It has curtailed his career, forcing too many withdrawals and long layoffs. He even had to walk off the course just as he started the 2012 Boeing event because of a back flare-up. He never knows. Traditionally, he doesn’t commit to the Boeing event until just weeks before. However, this season there is reason for pessimism. He played in just three early season Champions events, then at the March 24 Hoag Classic he withdrew before the second round. He has not played on the Champions Tour since but did gut it out for the Masters, missing the cut at 12-over-par. Couples has played in every Boeing Classic but one (2016 back injury) since he turned 50 in 2010. His best finish was third four times (2010, 2013, 2015 and 2019). He was T28 and T26 the past two Boeings.

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FIVE PLACES TO WATCH

10th Hole • BUNKER HILL

Spectators can keep track of those pros who attempt to reach the green on the drivable par-4 10th while also, turning to their left, noting the success rate of pros avoiding wet drives at the watery ninth hole.

13th Hole • MT. SI-GH

Fans can see action at the par-3 13th hole — and the best course views of Mount Si and the Cascades — and turn to see drives over the canyon to the 14th hole.

14th Hole • Canyon Club

The premium bleacher section just beyond the 14th green, with terrific views of the drives from tee positions high above the canyon. It’s a day-long party atmosphere.

18th Hole • Craftsman

This is where the action is, where most of the tournaments have had dramatic finishes, including five playoffs. The corporate tents line the left side while there is no limit to the number of fans that can fill the natural amphitheater hill behind the hole.

Final four

For those who might want to move with the gallery, especially keeping pace with the final groups, start on the right of the long par-5 15th. From there, you can turn 180 degrees to see how the pros fare on the short par-4 16th. Then it’s just a short walk to the par-3 17th followed by a parallel march with the leaders along the 18th. You can experience it all as the tournament closes.

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FIVE HOLES THAT CAN MAKE OR BREAK A ROUND

NO. 4 Par 4 • 426 yards

From an elevated tee position, the drive needs to cling along the left ridge. Too far to the left and the ball would be lost in the bramble. It takes a precise second shot to negotiate the green opening, as bunkers guard the right side and behind. It’s the tournament’s No. 1 handicap hole.

NO. 10 Par 4 • 353 yards

This is a drivable par 4 but it takes a precise shot. On selective rounds, the distance is short enough to tempt players to go for it. However, there are bunkers galore and any ball that falls short can trundle down 30 yards.

14 Par 4 • 448 yards

The Canyon Hole. It’s all-carry to the green over a deep canyon, a classic risk/reward hole. Tournament officials generally move up the tees to allow for players to take the chance. The green is a small target. Unless a player really needs an eagle, the safe play is to hit the drive short and to the right, then wedge it tight to the pin.

NO. 17 Par 3 • 207 yards

This is not traditionally difficult (No. 16 handicap) unless the pin is in the far-left plateau. With a pond tight along the left side, the pros must clear a gigantic rock on the exact line to the pin. And their drives all need to settle quickly to remain on the surface.

NO. 18 Par 5 • 498 yards

A short par 5 that naturally creates closing chaos and drama nearly every year. If a player needs a birdie/eagle to win/tie, this hole can accommodate. Players can reach the green in two shots, but it is surrounded by bunkers, with a small entry to the green. The tournament has had more than its share of closing heroics on 18.

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Visit BoeingClassic.com for tickets, tournament updates and transportation information.