NOSTRADAMUS, I AM not, but I’m glad some of the predictions and prognostications found in my preseason high school golf columns came to fruition.
Golfers from Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend and Chimacum represented the North Olympic Peninsula in fine fashion in league and exhibition matches all season long.
The results show that they turned up their games when it mattered the most, at districts and at last week’s state tournaments.
State qualifiers from the North Olympic Peninsula included Port Angeles golfers Jordan Negus, Garrett Payton; Sequim’s Ryan O’Mera, Steven Loerlein and Mallory Maloney; Port Townsend’s Ronnie Harrell, Cody Piper, Sean Anderson, Gabe Hensley; and Chimacum’s Mason Moug and Eric Nelson on the boys side.
Port Angeles girls Tracie DuPuis, Ev Grier, Emily Cook made the Class 3A state tournament, Sequim’s Zoei Zbaraschuk, Kim Duce, Hailey Estes made the 2A tourney and Port Townsend’s Jenny Grauberger and Alexa Russell qualified for the 1A competition.
The best finishes were turned in by Port Townsend’s Harrell and Sequim’s Zbaraschuk, each finishing fifth in their respective tournaments.
Grauberger was sixth for the Port Townsend girls and Chimacum’s Nelson placed seventh in the 1A boys tournament.
Chimacum finished in fourth place as a team and Port Townsend was sixth in 1A.
A hearty round of golf claps for all area high school golfers in 2010.
You and your games are the better for participating.
Huskies at NCAA’s
Right now the Washington men’s golf team is in the thick of competition at the 2010 NCAA Division I Golf Championships at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn.
I say thick with a nod at this week’s weather forecast for that area.
The Pac-10 and regional champion Huskies will have to counter more than just the course and their competitors.
They will have to deal with hot and muggy conditions as well.
Washington is a tourney favorite along with Oklahoma State, but I don’t think they come home with the championship.
I’m not wearing my crimson-colored Cougar glasses while writing this, I swear.
The Huskies’ lack of preparedness for conditions of this type – mid 80’s to low 90’s with thunder storms and partly cloudy conditions — will be their undoing.
It’s tough to prepare for that type of weather when you play in 60 degrees nearly every day and difficult to acclimate yourself when you get there.
Of course, the UW does play tourneys in Arizona and California during the year, but Southern-style humidity is like a good chilli, thick and chunky.
This isn’t football or basketball, so I’ll be rooting for the UW to represent the state and the Pac-10 well at the tournament.
There’s no television coverage of the tournament.
(Where did that go? I remember watching the tournament on ESPN in years past.)
But you can follow Huskies coach Matt Thurmond as he walks the course with his guys at www.twitter.com/MattThurmond.
For more Huskies golf information, visit http://tinyurl.com/2fv3ddb.
Port Townsend events
Port Townsend Golf Club will host the Port Townsend High School and Chimacum High School Alumni Golf Classic on Saturday, June 12.
The archrivals will pair up for a benefit tourney to raise money for each school’s respective alumni association.
The associations provide scholarships to college-bound students.
This event is open to all, not just those with diplomas from either institution.
The four-person scramble tournament has an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.
There will be prizes for gross and net.
Entry fees are $40 per player, and $25 for current students.
Port Townsend will also host a two-person best ball format benefit for the Jefferson County Family YMCA on Saturday, June 19.
Entry Fee is $45 per player with $10 greens fees for non-members.
Port Townsend continues its weekly Thursday afternoon skins games between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. each week.
Entry fee for the skins game is $10 plus $10 reduced greens fees for non-members.
Bring your GHIN handicap. If you don’t have one, they will give you a 0.0 for the skins game.
For more information on anything related to the Port Townsend Golf Club, phone the pro shop at 360-385-4547.
ESPN tourney set
The ESPN National Golf Challenge local qualifying tournament will be held at SkyRidge on Sunday.
This two-person better-ball format is the first stage in the quest to reach the national finals in Las Vegas in November.
Local qualifiers will be invited to play at Avalon Golf Links in Burlington on Aug. 23.
Winners there can book trips to the finals in Vegas
The cost for the SkyRidge qualifier is $65 per player, which includes a dozen HX Tour Callaway golf balls and a year’s subscription to Golf Magazine.
The maximum handicap allowed is 24, and teams can be any gender mix.
A minimum of two teams are guaranteed spots at regionals.
For more information, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
Dungeness Ladies
Pat Conway, captain of the Cedars at Dungeness Women’s 18 Hole Golf Club, held her annual Spring Luncheon Meeting on Tuesday, May 25.
Sixteen woman were in attendance for the meeting following a round of golf where fourteen of them participated in the “333” game.
Discussions were centered on their annual tournament, Days of Whine and Roses, scheduled for Sept. 20- 21.
This is a big event every year and very well attended by clubs from all over the Peninsula and Puget Sound.
Two new members were introduced: Arlene Cox from Arizona and Barb Burrows from Bremerton.
Anyone interested in joining the ladies group or playing as a guest can phone the pro shop at Cedars at Dungeness, at 360-683-6344.
The women play every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
Players should be present for the blind draw by 8 a.m.
The ladies will play their Monthly Medal competition next Wednesday.
Soroptimists tee it up
The Port Angeles Soroptimist Noon Club will host its sixth annual Soroptimist Tees Off For Cancer golf tournament at Peninsula Golf Club on Saturday, June 26.
Proceeds from the four-person scramble event support Operation Uplift, a grass roots support group for both women and men with all types of cancer on the Peninsula.
The cost for the event is $75 for the public and $50 for Peninsula members.
The golf package includes lunch and a ticket to a dinner and silent and live auction at Port Angeles Crabhouse.
For more information, or to register, call the Peninsula pro shop at 360-457-6501.
Save the date
Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course will host the fifth annual Claws and Paws Golf Tournament — a benefit for the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society — on June 26.
The event features two divisions: handicap and Callaway.
Entries are limited to the first 100 players.
The $100 entry fee includes cart, range balls, tee prizes, longest drive prizes, KPs, raffle tickets, luncheon and a prize field of $1,500 (based on 100 players).
Tickets for the luncheon only are $15.
All proceeds go to the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society, and all donations are tax deductible.
For more information, or to register, call Garrett Smithson at 360-477-2718 or Andy Anderson at 360-809-0144.
Tournament directors are also seeking sponsors.
For more information about becoming a sponsor, call Kandace Schmidt at 360-461-2810 or Marsha Robin at 206-650-5431.
For more information on golfing at Cedars, call the pro shop at 360-683-6344 (ext. 1).
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Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column appears on Wednesdays. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.