AFTER CHECKING THE weather forecast for the first time in weeks, it looks like it’s almost time.
Yes, it’s almost time to dig out the waterproof rain gear and add it to the golf bag, time to add an extra towel for run-ins with mud, time to switch to “lift, clean and replace” and carts at 90-degree rules.
In other words: a return to Pacific Northwest normalcy.
But take heart as there are a few more picture-perfect Chamber of Commerce-style fall days left to wring out some warm and dry golf outings before the damp and gun-metal grey skies win out over our portion of the globe.
Today and Thursday are both forecasted to be sunny with highs in the 60s. Take advantage by filling up the tee times at our North Olympic Peninsula golf courses.
I’m going to try and squeeze in 9 holes this evening before the drip arrives.
Help Sequim students
The fourth annual Citizens for Sequim School Golf Tournament will be held at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course on Saturday.
The four-person scramble will tee off with a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start.
Foursomes are $240 or $70 for individual players, with dinner included.
Additional contests include KP’s, longest drive, a putting contest and a chance to win a car donated by Price Ford.
Mulligans can be purchased, as well.
Players will also get refreshments in the form of four pony kegs of Port Townsend Brewery’s finest ales.
For more information phone E. Michael McAleer at 360-460-2839 or the Cedars pro shop at 360-683-6344.
Family Scramble set
SkyRidge Golf Course will hold a Family Scramble golf tournament in Sequim on Saturday, Oct. 20.
Teams should be related by blood or marriage.
The two-person scramble is limited to the first 36 teams and will have a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
Cost is $90 per team and includes a honey pot for gross and net divisions, plus lunch, KP’s, a team long putt and range balls.
There will be a $5 skins game for the gross division.
Carts are $15 per seat.
First place ties will be broken by a sudden-death playoff for gross and net only.
There’s no need for a GHIN handicap to play in this one.
To sign up, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
Grier leads UPS team
Port Angeles High School graduate and University of Puget Sound junior women’s golfer EV Grier helped lead the Loggers to a seventh-place finish recently at the Whitworth Invitational in Spokane.
Grier finished 32nd overall with a two-day total of 197.
The fall college golf season is short and basically serves a warm-up to the spring league season.
The Loggers will play their last tourney of the fall on Oct. 27-28 at the NWC Fall Classic in Ridgefield.
Hole-in-one scammer
In an update on a golf item I had in my Aug. 29 column, police in Connecticut have arrested a man wanted by Washington state authorities for allegedly refusing to pay golfers who won prizes for making holes in one.
The Hour of Norwalk reports that 55-year-old Kevin Kolenda was arrested recently in his hometown of Norwalk and charged with being a fugitive from justice and interfering with police. He was held on $500,000 bail.
Kolenda was charged in August in King County Superior Court with five counts of transacting insurance without a license, a class B felony.
He ignored a previous cease-and-desist order and a $125,000 fine from state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler.
Kolenda specializes in insuring golf tournament hole-in-one prizes, and has been accused of wrongdoing in other states.
In Washington, Kolenda is accused of illegally selling insurance and not paying up on a $10,000 prize for a 2003 Bremerton tournament, a $50,000 prize for a 2004 Vancouver event and $25,000 for a 2010 tourney in Snohomish.
Connecticut officials fined Kolenda $5.9 million in 2009 for illegally offering insurance without a license. He faces similar charges in Montana.
They booked him, Dano.
Evans Scholarship
Washington and Oregon golfers combined to raise $250,000 to benefit the Evans Caddie Scholarship Program at recent Evans Cup events in Portland and Seattle.
The funds generated at these annual fundraisers help support the Evans Scholars who attend the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Washington and Washington State University.
Currently, there are 49 Evans Scholars from the Northwest, with each of them receiving four-year, full-tuition and housing grants valued at over $50,000.
The application preference date has passed but scholars can still apply for fall of 2013 funding.
For more information on the Evans Caddie Scholarship Program, including how to apply for scholarships and how a club can provide opportunities for young applicants, visit www.wgaesf.com.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.