GLORY’S LAST SHOT comes this weekend during the 93rd PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.
The event offers that one final chance for players to break through and pick up that first major (guys like Adam Scott, Luke Donald) or those with many on the mantlepiece like Tiger Woods or Ernie Els.
Atlanta is a long way to go to watch some professional golf but there are two options within a morning’s drive taking place in the Pacific Northwest this month.
One even has a Port Angeles connection.
Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club’s Ghost Creek Course will host the LPGA Tour’s Safeway Classic from Friday, Aug. 19 to Sunday, Aug. 21.
Former Port Angeles High School golfer Robert Rymer is an assistant pro at Pumpkin Ridge, which is located in North Plains, Ore., just outside of Portland.
I’ve been trying to get in touch with Rymer; if anybody has a lead on an email or phone number for him, send it to pdngolf@gmail.com.
Fans can also attend the Boeing Classic Champions Tour event at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge from Aug. 26 to Aug. 28.
Tickets are $40 but seniors (60 and older) can purchase tickets for $20.
For more information on either event, visit boeingclassic.com or safewayclassic.com.
Free golf at Ludlow
Port Ludlow Golf Club will hold a demo day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Vendors scheduled to appear are Cleveland Golf, NIKE, Adams, Callaway and Cobra.
Anyone who attends the demo day will be given a free round of golf valid from October to Feb. 28, 2012.
Those who buy $100 or more at the demo day or in the pro shop will receive another free round, this one with no restrictions.
Junior golf at Ludlow
The Port Ludlow Junior Golf program will host workshops from Monday to Friday.
Youth ages 5 to 16 will learn golf skills, etiquette and character-building.
The program focuses on putting, chipping and pitching, full-swing elevation, rules of golf, skills contests and three-hole on-course competition.
Cost is $110 per participant and $75 for returning players.
For more information on any Port Ludlow event, phone the pro shop at 360-437-0272.
PT youth football
Port Townsend Golf Club is hosting the Youth Football Fundraiser Golf Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Tournament fee is $40 plus a $10 reduced greens fee for nonmembers.
The format is a two-person scramble, pick your own team.
The Port Townsend Braves youth football organization has stepped up this year to sponsor a seventh and eighth grade team to replace the Blue Heron Middle School team, a victim of budget cuts.
Keeping kids playing football in those grades is crucial for Port Townsend to have any success at all at the high school level, so come out and support this tourney.
Friday nights are more fun when the Redskins are winning!
Men’s Club tourney
Port Townsend will hosts its Men’s Club championship on Aug. 27-28.
There will be prizes for gross and net, and the overall gross and net winners will get a tournament champions parking spot.
This tourney costs $50.
For more information on either event, phone Port Townsend Golf Course at 360-385-4547.
Booster tourney
The Sequim Football Boosters Club will host a two-person scramble tourney at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Cost is $100 per player, and by prepaying $15 per player for on-course contests, each player will save $5 and will receive 2 mulligans (the maximum allowed) and each player will be entered into the putting, long drive and KP contests.
For more information, phone Jeff and Tara Velarde at 360-460-2979 or email jtvelarde@msn.com.
Hole-in-one challenge
Keep the dates saved for qualifying for the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce’s second annual $500,000 Hole-In-One Challenge.
Players can qualify for the final round of the event by playing at Cedars at Dungeness and SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim, and Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles the weekends of Aug. 19-21 and Aug. 26-28.
Qualifying will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Aug. 19 and 26, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 20-21 and again on Aug. 27-28.
For $2 per ball, $10 for six or $15 for 20, participants will have the chance to qualify for the final round on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Cedars at Dungeness.
Three closest to the pin shots qualify each day from each course and any hole-in-one carded on those days will also give you a free pass to the finals.
A hole-in-one from the first ball of any player during a qualifying day at any course will receive a cash prize of $500.
In the first round of the finals, finalists will hit one shot from 135 yards on hole No. 9 at Cedars starting at 3:30 p.m.
Cash and prizes await!
Jefferson Amateur set
Discovery Bay Golf Club of Port Townsend will host the Jefferson County Amateur on Saturday, Aug. 20 and Sunday, Aug. 21.
The new event will crown the best golfer in all of Jefferson County but you don’t have to be a county resident to participate.
Anyone with a valid GHIN index is eligible to compete.
The $100 entry fee includes two tournament rounds on the weekend and a practice round on Friday plus continental breakfast and range balls.
Registration is available by downloading an application from discoverybaygolfcourse.com or stopping by the pro shop and picking one up.
Discovery Bay staffers poked around a bit in the attic and they believe the tournament will be the first Jefferson County Amateur held.
Golfers will be recognized for their performance based on handicap, and the champion will be crowned based on the low gross 36-hole total.
Save the date
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Foundation will hold its first golf tournament at Discovery Bay Golf Club on Saturday, Aug. 27.
The four-person scramble will tee off at 1 p.m.
Registration will start at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $300 per team or $75 for individual golfers.
If you are a single player, event organizers will match you up with some playing partners.
Teams comprised of police, sheriff, fire and other law enforcement disciplines will compete for a traveling trophy for the lowest scoring public-safety team.
The cost includes green fees, carts, a raffle ticket, lunch and afternoon appetizers.
For more information, phone 360-379-1602 or 360-437-1355.
Calling all Cougs
SkyRidge will host the 10th annual North Olympic Washington State University Cougar Golf Tournament on Sunday, Aug. 28.
The four-person scramble will include a barbecue lunch at noon and a 1 p.m. shotgun start.
Cost is $40 per person and carts are $12 a seat.
The fee includes lunch, golf, range balls, prizes, hosted beverages (it is a Coug event after all!) and KPs.
A $40 per team honeypot is available.
Mixed male/female teams are welcome and SkyRidge can help find a team for you if you are a single.
Cedars events slated
Entries are being accepted to the Cedars at Dungeness Women’s Golf Association fall invitational, Days of “Whine and Roses,” to be held Sept. 19-20.
Monday’s format will be a partner scramble with a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start.
Golf will be followed by awards and dinner at 7 Cedars Casino with a no-host happy hour and hosted dinner.
There will also be a putting contest, awards for long drive and KPs.
Tuesday’s game will be a partner best-ball contest with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.
Tuesday special events will include a raffle and awards for long drive and KPs.
An awards luncheon will follow golf with gross and net prizes awarded in each division.
Cost for the Invitation is $40 for Monday and $95 for Tuesday for a total of $135 per entrant.
Entry forms may be obtained by calling Pat Conway at 360-683-8980, or by visiting www.wswpla.com, and clicking on Invitationals.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.