FOR MICHAEL JORDAN, the famous Nike commercial asked, “It’s gotta be the shoes?”
In the case of 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, the question could be, “Is it the sweater?”
McDowell confidently wore a V-neck cardigan in the brisk Pacific air at Pebble Beach as he became the first European to win the title since 1970.
Congratulations to him.
It wasn’t the classic Sunday duel I coveted and the star power potential of the final round failed to come through.
The greens, due to their Poa annua makeup, also looked splotchy and brown.
Memo to future U.S. Open courses, that’s not a good look in HD-TV.
Switch to bentgrass.
All in all, a little disappointing and not really what I was expecting from the national championship of golf.
Ah well, if I want to play Pebble Beach I can always turn on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.
Farris golf internship
Crescent High School graduate and University of Washington Foster Business School student Tommy Farris has landed himself a pretty sweet gig this summer.
Farris was hired as the business operations manager’s summer intern for the Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie.
This Champions Golf Tour event will be held Aug. 23 to Aug. 29 near North Bend.
There’s a host of events that go along with each PGA or Champions Tour event, and Farris will be helping behind the scenes with all of them.
Farris is doing great at school, pulling down a 3.8 grade point average while studying finance and accounting.
I’ll have more on Farris after he settles into his new position and finds out what the summer has in store for him.
I can say with certainty that Farris’ business operations summer internship will be a lot more fun than the business operations summer internship I held with Boeing.
He gets to schedule golf events and probably play some golf at a fantastic course.
I got to process pilot training records.
No complaints here, I did get to fly the flight simulator machines a few times, something a lot of Boeing employees never get to do.
Help Humane Society
Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim will host the fifth annual Claws and Paws Golf Tournament — a benefit for the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society — on Saturday.
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.
Soroptimist’s 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.
Proceeds from the four-person scramble 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, a ticket to a dinner and silent and live auctions at Port Angeles Crabhouse restaurant.
For more information, or to register, call the Peninsula pro shop at 360-457-6501.
Disco Bay information
The Discovery Bay men’s and women’s clubs are running a special.
For $40 and $35, respectively, the clubs are offering year-long memberships along with membership in the Washington State Golf Association and the GHIN handicap system (a $25 value).
June registrants will receive a free round of golf good at any time this year.
That’s a nice deal, to be sure.
For more information, or to register, phone 360-385-0704.
Tee off, help tutors
The Port Angeles Education Foundation, Kiwanis Club of Port Angeles and the Kiwanis Foundation of Port Angeles will present the Tee Off For Kids! Golf Tournament on Saturday, July 10 at Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles.
This event will raise funds to support the tutoring and mentoring efforts of programs like North Olympic AmeriCorps in the Port Angeles School District.
Funds will supply equipment, supplies and enhancement opportunities that can make the entire tutoring and mentoring program more effective.
The four-person scramble event will tee off at 10:30 a.m.
Entry fees are $240 per team with lunch included.
Prizes will be awarded to winning teams, and also for the winner of the closest-to-the-pin and longest drive competition on particular holes.
There also will be an opportunity to bid in a silent auction on holes throughout the course.
Carts aren’t included, so if you would like a cart, phone the pro shop at 360-457-6501.
Interested sponsors can get in touch with tournament chair Andrew Fitch at afitch@portangelesschools.org or by phone at 541-350-6083.
Rally for the Cure
The Port Ludlow lady golfers will host their 11th annual Rally for the Cure Golf Tournament on Thursday, July 8.
This is a nine-hole tournament to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing the breast cancer awareness message to women.
The event begins with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
It includes some unique fundraising opportunities where participants are encouraged to buy their way into the winner’s circle through the purchase of mulligans and drives.
This is a tournament with an important message but a fun focus and has strong support from the local businesses through sponsorship of holes and donations, as well as the Port Ludlow Men’s Club that provides assistance in many ways from hefting bags to measuring KPs.
Following play there will be a luncheon at the Port Ludlow Bay Club where attendees can buy raffle tickets for several theme baskets and win door prizes.
Proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Entry fees are $45 for members and $65 for nonmembers, which includes green fees, cart, a pink rally visor, prizes, lunch and a one-year subscription to a selection of magazines.
The tournament is limited to 80 participants, so sign up now at the Port Ludlow Clubhouse or call Carol Katuzny at 360-437-1157.
Port Townsend Golf Club
The Port Townsend Golf Club Men’s Club has about 40 to 50 players teeing off for 18 holes between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings.
The competition includes low gross, low net and skins games.
PTGC has also brought back its Scotch Doubles game late on Friday afternoons.
And every Friday night couples tee it up in an “every-other shot format” with reduced greens fees and competition fees of $10, around 4:30 p.m.
Players bring a side dish and the course provides different items to barbecue every week.
No handicap is necessary as handicaps are established as the games go along.
Vicki Handyside, Port Townsend Golf Club clubhouse manager, wanted to let readers know that the spring rains have been good to the course and “it is in the best shape it’s been in a long time.
Junior golf clinic
Port Townsend Golf Club owner and golf pro Mike Early and assistant pro Gabriel Tonan will hold a junior golf clinic from 9 a.m. to noon on July 7 and July 8.
Many of the past camp participants have gone on to play for the high school team that haa won the district championship seven of the last eight years.
YMCA tourney at PT
The Jefferson County Family YMCA benefit tournament has been rescheduled to Saturday, July 3.
Entry fees for the two-person best ball tournament 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 nonmembers.
Bring your GHIN handicap. If you don’t have one, they will give you an 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.
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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 at pdngolf@gmail.com.