THE CALENDAR FLIPS to October and the glow-ball golf games come out of the woodwork.
Two Jefferson County golf courses, Discovery Bay Golf Course near Port Townsend and Port Townsend Golf Club, will offer the evening golf activities this weekend.
Discovery Bay will launch a series of Friday night nine hole glow ball golf contests starting this Friday.
Players should be on hand by 7 p.m. to pick up the glow ball equipment and meet teammates before a 7:30 p.m. tee off.
Ready-made foursomes are welcome, but if you want to be placed on a team, phone the course at 360-385-0704 or arrive early and let the pro shop know.
Players should bring a flashlight or a high-powered head lamp to keep safe out in the dark.
Cost is $10 for nine holes, plus a fee for the night golf gear.
The glow-ball golf will continue at Discovery Bay as long as the weather cooperates.
Discovery Bay’s men’s and ladies’ clubs are co-hosting an Octoberfest potluck Sunday.
The event starts with a nine-hole scramble tournament at 2 p.m.
Entry is $10, with a $10 green fee. Carts are extra.
The course’s snack bar has hamburgers, hot dogs and sandwiches, plus beer, wine and nonalcoholic drinks to enjoy.
Discovery Bay general manager Randy White said the course’s greens crew will continue its twice-weekly rolling of the greens into the winter.
And remember, the Seattle Seahawks play in the Monday Night Football game this week, so players won’t miss out on cheering on the defending champs if they participate in Sunday’s event.
Driving in the Dark
The annual Sunrise Rotary Driving in the Dark day/night fundraiser is set for Saturday at Port Townsend Golf Club.
Contestants play the back nine in the afternoon daylight, come off the course for dinner, then head back out for nine holes of glow golf on a course illuminated with hundreds of glow sticks.
“If you haven’t done this before, put a team together and play in it. It’s a blast,” Port Townsend director of golf Gabriel Tonan said.
“If you have already played in one, you know how much fun this event is.”
Cost is $325 per five-person team ($75 per player), and Tonan can place individuals on teams.
Entry includes green fees, range balls, a crack at winning a putting contest with a $100 purses, catered dinner and dessert, a raffle, prizes and glow-in-the-dark golf balls.
Phone Port Townsend at 360-385-4547 to get in the game.
Tonan said those not playing in the tournament can still head over to watch the spectacle of the glowing course.
Men’s club champs
Port Townsend just wrapped its annual men’s club championship in exciting fashion last Sunday.
Mitch Black and Mike Lux dueled for the low-gross title over two days of play in calm, sunny conditions.
Black fired a 1-over-par 71 to take a two-stroke lead over Lux into Sunday’s final round.
Lux rallied back with a Sunday 73, tying Black who fell back with a 75.
Lux bested Black in a one-hole playoff contested on the course’s 18th hole (the ninth hole from the far tee boxes).
Russ Jerabek led the net division after day one with a total of 62, but Doug Collins was steady, posting scores of a net 65 and a 74 (for a net 60) to overcome Jerabek and win by five strokes.
Tonan switched the tournament up this year, deciding to go with tee times rather than a shotgun start, which allowed men’s club members to watch the leaders come home at the finish.
Lux and Collins each picked up the coveted personalized “Champs” parking spots outside the clubhouse.
Tonan had special praise for Greg Miller, who fired a tournament-low round of 68 to move up the leaderboard for a third-place gross finish.
Washburn second
Chimacum’s Shelton Washburn ended up in second place at the Washington State Golf Association’s Super Senior Men’s Amateur Championship held last week at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim.
Washburn shot rounds of 74, 69 and 77, and finished eight strokes back of Gudmund Lindbjerg of Port Moody, British Columbia, who had rounds of 67, 72 and 73.
Tom Brandes of Bellevue won his fourth-straight Washington State Senior Amateur, shooting a three-round total of 5-under-par 211 to win by five shots over Karl Smith of Gig Harbor and Tom Hale of Lakewood.
John Germain of Port Ludlow had the highest area finish, a 15-over-par total of 231.
The two events were hosted concurrently at Cedars.
Ryder Cup recap
The less said about our nation’s third-straight defeat at the hands of the European squad, the better.
I will say this: you can’t leave Phil Mickelson sitting on the bench on the final day, Tom Watson.
If you are a masochist and would like to relieve one of the most awkward post-contest press conferences of all time, read this Jason Sobel piece at tinyurl.com/PDN-RyderCup.
Sobel calls the press conference, with all 12 members of the U.S. team on a podium along with captain Tom Watson, “an uncomfortable train wreck spilling into an awkward dumpster fire.”
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or pdngolf@gmail.com.
