HISTORY FASCINATES ME so my preference for the past makes writing my annual look back at the year in golf a pleasurable task.
Here is part one of the two-part column, which covers events from January through June, followed by a few current golf events.
Signature holes series
In mid-January, I started a series of columns that attempted to ferret out the signature holes of our North Olympic Peninsula golf courses.
The list produced the following:
■ The downhill 350-yard, par-4 No. 2 on Port Ludlow Golf Course’s Tide Course.
■ The dogleg right 362-yard, par-4 No. 12 at Peninsula Golf Club.
■ “Crabby,” the 490-yard, par-5 third hole at Cedars at Dungeness.
■ The 517-yard finishing hole at SkyRidge Golf Course.
■ The 150-yard, pond-fronted, par-3 No. 15 at SunLand Golf & Country Club.
■ The 412- to 476-yard, par-4 fourth hole at Discovery Bay Golf Course.
■ The pond at Port Townsend Golf Club, the 165-yard, par-3 11th hole (second set of tees).
Wear golf shoes
A post-snowfall column provided the best advice I have ever given in a golf column: if you lack snow boots, employ your golf cleats as temporary traction devices.
A tip of the cap to Hunter S. Thompson for that inspiration.
Super Bowl Vandals
Teenage troublemakers took advantage of diverted attention spans on Super Bowl Sunday, causing between $5,000 to $8,000 in damage to Port Townsend Golf Course while everybody was watching the big game.
Thankfully the vandals weren’t the brightest of bulbs, as one of them left a wallet with photo identification in a joy-ridden golf cart.
Port Townsend was back in shape before its annual Arctic Open thanks to members of its own men’s club and the help of Discovery Bay Golf Course greenskeepers and players.
Rose City redux
An early March weekend trip to Portland saw a round at Rose City Golf Course followed by my first in-person NBA contest.
Rose City, a venerable municipal course, was in good shape after a wet Northwest winter.
The well-appointed, nearly 20-year-old Rose Garden, home to the Trail Blazers, hammered home how poor of a job was done on the Key Arena remodel.
R.I.P. Seattle Supersonics.
Bubba Golf reigns
Viewers of April’s Masters Tournament were witnesses to one of the best comebacks of all-time, capped by the most-improbably clutch approach shot I’ve ever seen.
Bubba Watson earned his first major with a scorching finish, birdieing the final four holes of the tourney to force a playoff with Louis Oosthuizen.
Both went right off the tee on No. 10 before Watson conjured up a 164-yard prayer from the pine straw, landing within 15 feet of the cup.
Watson used his 52-degree gap wedge to put 40-some yards of hook on the shot.
He missed the birdie but sunk the par putt for the win.
Relieve the moment here: http://tinyurl.com/BubbaMoment.
Solid at state, again
A total of eight North Olympic Peninsula golfers finished in the top 40 in the Class 1A and Class 2A state golf tournaments in May.
Sequim’s boys and girls teams also captured Olympic League titles after both went undefeated (8-0) in league play.
Port Angeles junior Joey Barnes, a first-year golfer, led the Class 2A tournament after the first round, before dropping to a sixth-place finish.
Barnes also won the Olympic League Boys Golf MVP after posting a nine-hole average of 38.
The Roughrider boys finished fifth as a team with Barnes’ teammates Jordan Negus placing ninth and Garrett Payton 31st.
Sequim’s Ryan O’Mera finished tied for 27th in the 2A tourney.
Girls golfers Hailey Estes of Sequim (tied for 28th) and Dana Fox of Port Angeles (34th) also placed at state.
Chimacum boys Riley Downs (29th) and Nathan Browning (35th) both placed in the Class 1A tournament.
Peninsula wins cup
Peninsula Golf Club repeated as champions of the Peninsula Cup, winning the fourth-annual tournament by 57 strokes over Discovery Bay.
Local knowledge (and talent) won out, the cup was contested at Peninsula in Port Angeles this year.
PT fan at U.S. Open
Port Townsend golfer Mike Lux was able to score a VIP pass to Wednesday’s practice round and the First Round of the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Lux and a pal followed the relaxed pairing of Ernie Els and Angel Cabrera, the Euro trio of Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.
Part two of my column, July to December will follow next week.
Now, a few current events . . .
Titleist Demo Day set
A Titleist Demo Day will be held at Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Attendees can try the latest products from one of the premier golf lines, including the new 913 Driver.
Peninsula is also offering 10 percent off any gift certificate purchased from now until Christmas Eve. These can be used for greens fees, driving range, lessons or merchandise.
Holiday scramble
Port Townsend Golf Club will hold its annual Holiday Blues Scramble on Saturday, Dec. 29.
Cost is $25 per player plus reduced greens fees.
Phone the course at 360-385-4547 for more information.
New Year’s Invitational
Cedars at Dungeness in Sequim will hold a 50-team New Year’s Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 5.
The event is open to all amateurs with a USGA handicap and professionals (with a limit of one professional per team, playing with a zero handicap).
Front-nine play is a two-person shamble (best ball scramble off the tee and stroke play through the hole after that) and back-nine competition is two-person best ball.
Cost is $60 for the public, $40 for annual members and includes KP’s, greens fees, a boxed lunch, cart fees, range and a chance at $1,500 in prizes (based on full field).
Partners must be within 10 handicap strokes of one another.
For more information or to register, stop by the Cedars clubhouse or phone 360-683-6344, ext. 1.
Fingers crossed!
SkyRidge Golf Course’s new clubhouse should open soon — like New Year’s Day grand-opening soon — if all things go as planned with the final building inspection.
I’ll have more details on this soon, hopefully some photos and a write up.
The course will host a three-person Midwinter Scramble event on Saturday, Jan. 12.
Three drives must be used by each player during the round.
Shotgun start is 9:30 a.m. (barring frost) and cost is $90 per team with an optional $60 per team ($20 per player) honey pot.
Lunch will be served following play.
Power carts are $15 per seat and a small amount of heaters are $10.
Phone SkyRidge for more information at 360-683-3673.
______
Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.