THE ANNUAL RETURN of an esteemed spring tournament — with a new twist — and the introduction of a youth program are on the bill in May at Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles.
Peninsula will host the 53rd annual Port Angeles Invitational Shotgun Tournament, a 36-hole medal play event, on Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25.
The new twist is the addition of a 36-hole best ball format ladies invitational to run along with the men’s medal play.
“The event is a longstanding pillar of the golf community here at PGC and boasts one of the largest prize payout percentages a golfer can find,” Peninsula Golf Club head golf pro Jacob Lippold said.
An $11,000 total event prize fund is planned, based on a full field of 144 golfers.
Gross and net merchandise prizes also are planned across three divisions.
A Friday, May 23, practice round is included in the $120 entry fee ($240 per team in the women’s division) and includes an hors d’oeuvres reception at 6 p.m. that Friday with a team auction following at 7 p.m.
Power carts (brand-new ones) are available for $15 per seat per day.
Entrants must be 21 or older, and USGA handicap indexes from May 15 will be used.
For more information or to register, phone the Peninsula golf shop at 360-457-6501.
YMCA, Peninsula team
A new YMCA Youth Golf Academy for youth ages 8 to 14 will be offered in a partnership between Peninsula Golf Club and the Olympic Peninsula Family YMCA.
Participants will learn and develop golf skills under the leadership of experienced Peninsula golfers.
The academy will run from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays from May 19 to June 27.
Cost is $45 for YMCA members and $60 for the public with registration open until May 10.
To sign up for this, phone Lee Routledge at the YMCA at 360-452-9244 or email lee@olympicpeninsulaymca.org.
SunLand demo days
Two demo days are on the horizon at SunLand Golf & Country Club in Sequim.
An Adams Golf demo day is planned Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. and a TaylorMade demo day will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, May 8.
SunLand will be custom-fitting for the new TaylorMade Jet Speed driver at the May 8 demo.
Aeration at SkyRidge
SkyRidge Golf Course plans to punch and sand its greens on Monday, necessitating a closure of the course and the clubhouse, including Soren’s Cafe.
Weather willing, all aspects of SkyRidge will be operational again on Tuesday with $10 green fees for nine-hole play and $15 for 18 holes
PT Golf Club events
Port Townsend Golf Club and its Men’s Club president have decided to move Saturday’s planned tournament back a week to Saturday, May 3.
A choose-your-own team three-person scramble is planned, with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
Cost is $25 per player plus $10 green fees for nonmembers.
The decision to move the event was made to allow the recently aerated Port Townsend greens an extra week to heal from being punched and sanded.
That will give the greens just shy of three weeks of recovery time.
Port Townsend will also host the annual Jim Caldwell Memorial Rhody Classic on Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18.
The Saturday event is an individual men’s and women’s division tournament with gross and net categories.
Cost for Port Townsend members is $35 and $47 for the public.
This tournament starts at 8 a.m. and will wrap in time for golfers to make it up the hill for the 1 p.m. start of the Rhododendron Festival Grand Parade.
Sunday’s event is a two-person best ball with men’s and women’s divisions competing in gross and net categories.
Cost is $30 for members and $42 for the public.
This event raises money for the Rhododendron Festival.
Port Townsend Golf Club’s summer-long Match Play Championship kicks off Monday, May 12.
Cost is $25 per player, plus discounted green fees for the public.
Scoring for the match-play championship is done in the net format.
Port Townsend’s Merchant League is up and running. Sometimes teams need extra players to shore up absences, so stop by on Tuesday afternoons, with play getting going after 5 p.m.
Standings through last Tuesday and low gross and low net scorers from last Tuesday’s contest can be found on Page B2.
Boys & Girls tourney
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula’s 23rd annual golf tournament and fundraiser is planned for SunLand Golf & Country Club on Friday, May 9 (the Friday of the Sequim Irrigation Festival).
The four-person scramble event will include lunch and then 18 holes of fun for a great cause.
Entry fee is $100 and includes the round, time on the practice range and a commemorative cap.
Olympic Ambulance will provide a complimentary lunch, with carts provided by Sound Community Bank.
Golfers will have a chance to swing for numerous hole-in-one prizes, including a Ford F-150 pickup truck from Price Ford Lincoln of Port Angeles on SunLand’s second hole.
A Sharp LCD flat-screen television is the prize on the fifth hole, a $15,000 cash split awaits after an ace of the 15th hole, and round-trip domestic airfare for two is offered on the 17th hole.
These prizes are offered up by First Federal and Price Ford Lincoln.
Presenting sponsor is 7 Cedars Casino.
To register, visit
www.bgc-op.org or phone 360-683-8095.
Join Merchants League
Teams representing local businesses and merchants are forming for this year’s edition of the Cedars at Dungeness Merchants League.
Each team is comprised of a minimum of four and a maximum of 10 golfers per roster, with four players designated weekly.
The league meets every Thursday for a nine-hole competition at the golf course, located at 1965 Woodcock Road in Sequim at 5:30 p.m.
After play, results are announced at the course’s Stymie’s Bar and Grill, and a weekly donor prize drawing is held.
League dates run from May 8 through Sept. 11 and include two qualifying periods of eight weeks each and a three-week playoff.
The playoffs culminate in a banquet for all participating teams and the presentation of the league champion.
Team sponsorship is $100 and includes four seats for the final banquet.
Weekly green fees and competition fees are $25 per person.
Competition is head to head with players of similar skills.
Established handicaps through USGA are not required but will be established during play for league participation.
Teams will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, with prior years’ teams having priority.
For more information or to enroll a team, phone Cedars at Dungeness head pro Garrett Smithson at 360-683-6344 or email ggsmithson@7cedarsresort.com.
Accolades abound
Cedars at Dungeness has yielded two aces in recent weeks.
Port Angeles’ Michael Sutton recorded the ninth ace of his career on April 11.
He singled out on the 167-yard No. 17 hole with his 5-wood and a Callaway ball.
Sutton’s remarkable ace was witnessed by Warren Cortez and Barry Tuteur of Sequim.
Larry St. John of Sequim carded his second career ace on the 128-yard No. 11 hole on April 16.
St. John used his 8-iron and a TaylorMade ball on the shot.
It was witnessed by Ronald Grant and Gill Goodman of Sequim.
Good shooting, you two!
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or pdngolf@gmail.com.