A WORK TRIP with the added bonus of a family vacation is in store in June for SunLand Golf & Country Club general manager and PGA golf pro Tyler Sweet.
Sweet finished seventh out of 56 golfers and just five strokes out of first place at the recent three-day Pacific Northwest Section PGA Professional Championship at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland.
As one of the top eight finishers, Sweet qualified for the biggest club pro tournament in the world, the National PGA Club Professional Championship June 22-25 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Not too shabby for the 34-year old Sweet, who balances his more than full-time duties at SunLand with his wife, Stephanie and young son, Ben, 9.
Sweet has been trying to qualify for this event for many years, and was a little surprised, but excited, to get there.
With his busy schedule, Sweet said he didn’t think he had played more than 25 rounds in the past year.
Sweet will begin working with Kenny Hall, a Sequim personal trainer and golf fitness instructor, with the goal of “coming more from the inside” on his swing in advance of the tourney.
Hall is a Titleist Performance Institute-certified instructor. He will evaluate Sweet’s flexibility, balance and strength and work on a golf-specific workout routine for Sweet.
The whole family is coming along for the trip to Myrtle Beach, with Sweet planning on having everybody in place on the Wednesday before the Sunday start of the championship.
At the National PGA Club Professional Championship, Sweet will be one of 312 PGA professionals playing the lauded Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed Dunes Golf and Beach Club and the newer Grande Dunes Resort Club, designed by the Robert Rulewich Group.
Sweet and the other PGA pros will be competing for 20 spots in the 2014 PGA Championship — yep, that PGA Championship — at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
His friend Phil Schmitt, a golf pro in Louisiana and former Nike Tour player, also qualified at a different sectional.
Sweet said that he and Schmitt, who qualified for the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club at the 2007 version of this event, plan to practice together in Myrtle Beach.
“Getting to play practice rounds with guys who have played professional golf for a living is really worth it,” Sweet said.
“It’s such a different approach. I mean these guys putt out everything, even the gimmes.”
Sweet also earned a $2,000 prize for his efforts in Richland after shooting rounds of 75, 74 and a final-day 70, for a total of 219 on the windswept, tough-to-putt, par-72 course.
The National event is conducted like a PGA Tour event, complete with a two-day cut and a caddie requirement.
“The father-in-law called dibs on that one [serving as his caddie] pretty quick,” Sweet laughed.
Sweet’s father-in-law, Steve Snover, a former Sequim resident, now works for the Walt Disney World Resort golf courses in Orlando, Fla.
The family vacation will continue down the Atlantic Coast for a visit with the grandparents (and a trip to Disney World, I am sure).
Good times!
The Golf Channel typically provides televised coverage of this event, so we may have a chance to cheer on one of our own this summer.
Congrats and best of luck to Tyler, and a tip of the cap for the tip on this news to Garrett Smithson at Cedars at Dungeness.
Long drive broadcast
Sequim golfer Matt Eveland was unable to advance through qualifying for the finals of the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship.
Eveland’s longest drive, 411 yards, earned him second place in his first four-man group. But he struggled in the next two four-man groups, with longs of 385 and 379 yards, and was eliminated.
A weekly reality show based on the event will premiere tonight at 6 p.m. on the Golf Channel.
It will continue through the final event, concluding with a two-hour show Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m.
Sequim school tourney
The fifth annual Citizens for Sequim Schools golf tournament is set for a 1:30 p.m. start on Saturday at Cedars at Dungeness.
An 18-hole scramble format event, the tourney comes complete with carts containing snacks and refreshments, on-course contests and dinner.
All proceeds from the tournament will be used to continue supporting strong schools in Sequim.
The tournament is sponsored in part by Angeles Plumbing, Seven Cedars, Eagle Home Mortgage, McMenamin & McMenamin, RE/MAX Fifth Avenue, High Energy Metals, Price Ford, Blake Sand and Gravel and DA Davidson.
To register, donate or sponsor, go to http://sequimschools.com.
Family scramble slated
SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim will host its annual Family Scramble Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 19.
The 9:30 a.m. shotgun start event is a two-person scramble, 18-hole medal play event.
Cost is $60 per team, with a $30 honey pot per team available.
The event will have gross and net winners (plus other divisions, if needed) and is open to the first 36 teams that enter.
Teams can be made up of blood relatives or partnered relationships.
No handicap is necessary, and this one is for young and old and good and bad players, as the focus is on having a fun family golf outing.
Entry fee includes green fees, range balls, KPs, team LP and lunch.
A $5 skins game is available for those in the gross division, and carts will be $13 a seat.
For more, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
PT women wrap-up
Barb Aldrich reported in with a wrap-up on the Port Townsend Women’s Golf Club 2013 season.
The Port Townsend ladies ended the year with a round of golf, followed by an awards luncheon at The Cup restaurant.
The 2013 club championship was determined by a best-two-out-of-three rounds of golf at the end of the season.
The low gross runner-up was Jane Peoples, and the low gross championship was won by Vicki Handyside.
Low net runner-up was Barb Matter, and the low net championship was awarded to Betty Gastfield.
During the final round on Tuesday, Linda Deal was earned the KP on hole No. 2.
The most accurate drive was won by Katherine Buchanan, and the longest putt was taken by Jane Peoples.
An award for Most Improved Handicap went to Janie Marcus, with Barb Aldrich and Marianne Ott as runners-up.
Jane Peoples carded the most birdies in the season.
The most improved eclectic score went to Katherine Buchanan, who improved her nine-hole score by 22 strokes over the course of the season.
New officers were also elected for the 2014 season.
Co-captains will be Barb Matter and Janie Marcus, the secretary is Elvira Schawel, and treasurer is Katherine Buchanan.
Barb Aldrich will serve as rules chair; Port Townsend assistant pro Gabe Tonan will help out with handicap assistance; Betsi Ferrell and Linda Deal will handle publicity, and Shelly Peterson, Betty Gastfield and Lee Maddock make up the end of the year committee.
Aldrich added that the Port Townsend Women’s Golf Club grew considerably this year and group members are hoping for increased membership and another outstanding season in 2014.
For information about the Port Townsend Women’s Golf Club, contact the course at 360-385-4547, or Aldrich at 360-385-5465.
Up next at PT
Port Townsend will host a Fall Blind Draw Scramble with a 10 a.m. shotgun start on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Cost is $30 per player, with reduced green fees for nonmembers.
To sign up, phone 360-385-4547.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.