PRESORT STD FREE APRIL U.S. Postage PAID COPY 2011 ISSUE THE SOURCE FOR NORTHWEST GOLF NEWS Port Townsend, WA Permit 262 Northwest Washington: Take a look at where to tee it up This month, Inside Golf Newspaper takes you on a tour of Northwest Washington, from Olympia all the way to the Olympic Peninsula and the Bellingham area, including places like Shuksan (right). For more, see the special section inside special section. WHAT’S NEW Pro golf tours heading back IN NW GOLF to the Northwest for 2011 Professional golf will again be returning to the Pacific Northwest for the 2011 season. Here’s a quick look at what’s on tap for the coming year for the professional golf tours: • The LPGA Safeway Classic (pictured right) will take place NW getting ready to Aug. 19-21 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club just west of Portland. • The Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic will be held Aug. welcome new course 26-28 at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge just east of Seattle. The Pacific Northwest will wel- • The Nationwide Tour’s Albertson’s Boise Open will come another golf course this be held Sept. 15-18 at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise. spring with the opening of the And don’t forget the U.S. Junior at Gold Mountain in July. Photo by Scott Bisch © Salish Cliffs Golf Club, part of the Little Creek Casino in Shelton, Wash. The course, designed by Gene Umpqua Bank will Bates, will play to 7,300 yards and North Shore: Back from the brink par-72. A total of 16 of the 18 holes are encircled by trees, giving golf- become the new ers the feeling that they are the only ones playing the golf course. Two sponsor for Peter of the par-5 holes will be monsters, with those two checking in at over 600 yards from the tips. Jacobsen’s event The clubhouse sits in a deep Peter Jacobsen Sports announced that ravine and will boast 360-degree Umpqua Bank has elected to become the title views of the nearby Kamilche sponsor of the upcoming Peter’s Party golf Valley. tournament. Newly titled The Umpqua Bank Challenge, the event will be played August 28-30, 2011 at Portland Golf Club in Portland, Tacoma’s Highlands will Ore. host Par-3 Championship “As far as partnerships go, I couldn’t be happier about the pairing of Umpqua Bank Highlands Golf Course in Tacoma and Peter Jacobsen Sports,” said PGA Tour has been awarded the Washington professional and Portland-native Peter Jacob- State Par 3 Championship Tourna- sen, “We’re both local companies with deep ment to be played on the weekend roots in Portland and in the state of Oregon, of June 25-26. and we’re both committed to supporting non- The field will be limited to 72 profit organizations and giving back to the players who will play 18 holes on community.” Saturday (June 25) to advance to The Umpqua Bank Challenge will feature the “Sweet Sixteen” on Sunday a Sunday pro/celebrity-am and Monday/Tues- for 18 more and a chance to claim day main field event. The main field event will the title. Applications are available showcase eight two-man teams comprised of now on the internet at the Highlands PGA Tour and Champions Tour professionals. website, highlandsgolf.net. The There will be golf clinics hosted by Peter Ja- deadline for entries is June 20. cobsen on both Sunday and Monday mornings For additional information, con- and live entertainment open to the public on tact Highlands at 253.759.3622. Tuesday afternoon following the completion There was a time a couple of years ago that North Shore Golf Course in Tacoma of play. For the most up-to-date tournament was going to be devoured by a housing development. But not any more. The information and news, including details on Riverbend set for annual volunteering, ticket sales and sponsorship op- course is turning 50 this year and is doing just fine. See inside for more. portunities, visit www.umpquabankchallenge. Play Golf America Day com or call (866) 503-2003. Riverbend Golf Course in Kent, Wash. will host its annual Play Golf America Day on Saturday, April 16. The day includes free clinics, Northwest juniors lessons, free mini putt, free par-3 play and more. You can pre-reg- finding Jr Golf Tour ister for the 15-minute lessons at 253.856.5198. For more informa- tion on Play Golf America Day call the place to play 253.tee.time. For Pacific Northwest juniors looking for a tournament series of their own, Rules Quiz look no further than the Northwest Jr A player preparing to drop or place a Golf Tour, which hits some of the top ball removes loose impediments from the golf courses in the Pacific Northwest. area that would affect the lie of the ball. For more information about the tour, OK? Not OK? See answer on Page 2 of this section. please see inside this section of Inside Golf Newspaper. Printed in U.S.A. • • • INSIDE GOLF NEWSPAPER • • • ©All Rights Reserved • Page 2 • • INSIDE COMMENTs • • Inside Golf - April Issue 2011 • Rain, rain go away: NW golf courses look for turnaround in spring, summer This winter - and into the spring, have friends that play year round - includ- Mother Nature was not kind to the golf ing myself. I played a couple of rounds courses of the Pacific Northwest. She over the winter, but did hit the practice decided to throw all kinds of weather at range just about every week with my the courses - from snow to ice to bone- daughter Rebecca, who will play at the chilling cold and now rain. Plenty of rain. Class 2A state golf tournament this Bob Marlatt Nonstop rain. Flooding rain. spring for Sumner High School. Publisher You name the kind of rain and it came. t e v e The courses in the Pacific Northwest The folks working the pro shops at the know the drill with the weather, but you Steve Turcotte courses would just sit around and watch S know what, it’s just not fair. You would the bad weather through the clubhouse think Mother Nature would be a little Editor-Advertising windows. The phones don’t ring and the Tu r c o t t e kinder. tee sheets are barren. Here’s to a warm and sunny spring and Kathy Marlatt “It was a bad winter - and the early out,” said Lotton. “As soon as the sun summer and to tee sheets full of names Operations Manager spring hasn’t been much better,” said comes out, people want to pay and the for those golf courses in the Pacific Cameron Lotton at Riverside Golf phones ring and it’s harder to get a tee Northwest. Course in Chehalis. “There’s just not time.” Contributing Writers much you can do when it rains. People If you live in the Pacific Northwest you Steve Turcotte is editor of Inside Golf Jeff Coston, don’t want to play.” have to be a patient golfer. You have to Newspaper. He can be reached at sdtur- Kathy DeNeui, Mike Peluso, Pacific Northwest courses took a beat- pick your spots when to play. I will say, I [email protected]. Brett Wilkinson, Brad Faller Photographer: Scott Bisch ing with the conditions and it doubled at the cash register. Cartoonist: Harold Bluestein But Pacific Northwest golf courses are Subscription rates: resilient. The weather can turn bad, they always make it back. There are several; $17-one year and $30-two things which help get the courses get years (U.S. funds). back on track. Most have undergone serious chang- Courier Address es in maintenance practices, meaning 460 Dennis Blvd they have thrown plenty of top dressing Port Townsend, WA 98368 and sand on fairways and greens and Mailing Address that means courses can dry out quicker P.O.Box 1890 than ever. And the other big thing is that Port Townsend, WA 98368 Pacific Northwest golfers get hungry to play after the winter months. Many are Phone fair-weathered players, but when the (360) 379-4080 Mother Nature starts to turn, when the days get longer and when the courses E-mail Address start to dry out, the phones start ringing [email protected] off the hook. “It’s amazing to see what happens www.insidegolfonline.com to the phone lines when the sun comes Golf courses in the Pacific Northwest are always at the mercy of Mother Nature. INSIDE GOLF Newspaper is a trademark of Northwest Publications, Inc. and is pub- lished on the first of each month. Unsolicited articles and photos are welcome in digital format only please. Rules Answer Answer: OK. There is no penalty. Loose impediments are not part of the lie of the ball as contemplated by Rule 20-3b. The restriction here would be in removing or creating irregulari- ties of surface which can only be done on the teeing ground. Decision 23-1/6 and 23-1/6.5 will provide information. • Editor’s note: Thanks to Paul Lucien for his rules insights. InsideGolfNewspaper.com • Page 4 • • IN THE NEWS • • Inside Golf - April Issue 2011 • PNGA and PGA Northwest Section will conduct joint Hall of Fame event; Children’s Home Society event set For the first time in Northwest golf his- Visit www.pnwpga.com to view a complete to do it.” Designed for those who have either tory, the Pacific Northwest Golf Association list of inductees and their bios. never had a GHIN handicap, or who at one (PNGA) and the Pacific Northwest Section time had one but do so no longer, the intro- Riverbend set for PGA (PNWPGA) will conduct a joint Hall Plans are set for inaugural ductory offer is a simple way to get more of Fame ceremony to honor inductees from Children’s Home Society event people playing more golf.