THE GOLF COURSE that boasts some of the best views of any such facility on the North Olympic Peninsula now has a clearer vision of its future.
The Board of Directors for Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles recently reached an agreement with Bill Shea, Director of Golf at The Cedars at Dungeness, to manage and operate the pro shop at Peninsula Golf Club.
Club members will retain ownership of the golf course.
As part of the agreement, Chad Wagner, formerly the assistant golf pro at Cedars at Dungeness, has been selected as the new head golf professional at Peninsula Golf Club.
Wagner, a 2006 graduate of Sequim High School, has worked under the direction of Shea at Cedars since 2013.
Shea will continue to oversee both golf operations as Director of Golf at The Cedars at Dungeness and Peninsula Golf Club.
Former pro Jacob Lippold declined to renew his contract with Peninsula. He may pursue a career as a professional caddie, according to Wagner.
The partnership arose when Wagner independently applied for the open head golf pro position at Peninsula.
Wagner said he pulled Shea aside recently to tell him of his plans to pursue the Peninsula position and Shea had his own offer at the ready.
“Chad applied first, and I think he was in the running as one of their final candidates,” Shea said.
“So I asked him what he thought about us submitting a proposal, a really good program, for him to continue to work for us while managing things there and overseeing things like I do with [head pro] Garrett Smithson here at Cedars at Dungeness.
“Chad’s been nothing but a great employee and he has had Garrett mentoring him through his PGA accreditation process. The whole deal just felt right.”
Wagner, who worked his way up from washing golf carts at Cedars at Dungeness to the assistant pro position, was on board.
“I look at it as a great opportunity for Peninsula Golf Club to grow, for me to grow professionally and Cedars as well,” Wagner said. “It all worked.”
The president of the Peninsula Golf Club Board of Directors Deb Jacobs said the club’s 200-or so-strong membership is excited for the pro shop partnership.
“We have had very positive feedback so far,” Jacobs said.
“It’s a great opportunity for the management of the pro shop and we are very excited about that and the ability to grow our membership.”
Wagner was formally introduced to the membership during a recently held welcome party.
“Even though there was a couple of inches of snow coming down the event was attended by 100 to 150 people, which is an incredibly large turnout for that membership, and it shows the energy and excitement people have for Chad going forward,” Shea said.
“I was very shocked [by the turnout] to be honest,” Wagner said.
“I think we had more than 100 people that night. The greeting and the excitement up here has been very appreciative, very welcoming so far for me and my shop guy Jake Lotzgesell.”
Wagner said he already has added at least one new member, Jerry Allen, the CEO of 7 Cedars Casino and Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course — both owned by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
And his goals align with the Peninsula Golf Club membership.
“I’m focused on increasing the membership up here,” Wagner said.
“The course is a hidden gem, with beautiful mountain and water views. The biggest goal in our industry is to grow the game of golf from junior golf all the way up to seniors playing the sport for the first time.
“That’s one of the things I enjoy most about golf, it’s one of the few sports you can play for a lifetime or start later in life.”
Wagner, who played collegiate baseball for Lower Columbia and Hawaii Pacific, also has coaching experience having headed up the Port Angeles High School and Wilder Baseball programs in the past.
He said he interviewed for the now-open head girls golf coach position at Port Angeles High School last week. The Roughriders practice and compete at Peninsula Golf Club during the spring.
“I’m interested in setting up a PGA Junior League here, conducting junior golf camps and providing opportunities for youth to learn the game,” Wagner said.
And he’ll still have the guidance, assistance and friendship of the Cedars at Dungeness staff supporting him.
Wagner said Smithson helped put him on the path toward becoming a golf professional when he was washing carts for the course as a summer job nearly a decade ago.
“I consider us to be family more so than coworkers,” Wagner said. “He’s a brother to me.
“And Bill and Garrett have been, and are going to be, a huge help for me in any process in this industry. You couldn’t work for two better people.”
