IT’S CERTAINLY NO Lee Carvello’s Putting Challenge.
There’s no bated breath, and I’m not itching with anticipation, but I am excited to head to Sequim and pick up my reserved copy of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 for the Xbox 360.
Yes, I’m going to write a little bit about a golf video game.
As you can see, I certainly know the demographics of my readers.
My preview of the game, and a link to just what exactly Lee Carvello’s Putting Challenge is, will follow after a trip to see what’s happening around the North Olympic Peninsula.
SkyRidge anniversary
Sequim’s SkyRidge Golf Course will celebrate its seventh anniversary with its SkyRidge Chapman Tournament on Saturday.
The two-person Modified Chapman event will tee off with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
In this format, each pair hits tee shots and then hits each other’s ball for the second shot.
From there it becomes alternate shot, using the better of the two second shots.
The player whose second shot was not used would hit the third shot.
Shots continue to alternate until the ball is holed.
The tourney is $60 per team and includes 18 holes of golf, range balls, KP’s and long putt contests and lunch after the round.
An optional honey pot is $20 per team.
There will be gross and net winners.
Team handicap will be 30 percent of each players combined handicap.
Weather is supposed to be perfect for Saturday, 65 degrees and sunny, so go support the youngest course on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Discovery Bay info
Discovery Bay Golf Club of Port Townsend will host a Junior Golf Camp from Monday, June 21 to Thursday, June 24.
Youth ages 6-17 will receive some tips on their games from local coaches.
Chimacum High School coach Mitch Black and Don Rogers will be the primary instructors.
The camp’s format puts an emphasis on fun.
Cost is $50 for the four days.
Register soon to reserve a spot for your youngster.
Boxing’s days may be numbered but Discovery Bay is bringing back “Friday Night Fights” starting June 18.
Foursomes with members of both sexes will compete in a nine-hole scramble format followed by a light dinner at the club’s Putters Bay Cafe.
Also, 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 for any of these events, phone 360-385-0704.
Peninsula shotgun
Gary Thorne of Port Angeles and Dave Creighton of Kent captured tournament victories in Peninsula Golf Club’s 49th Spring Shotgun held during the Memorial Day weekend.
Thorne fired scores of 74-70 for a total of 144 to win the gross title by three strokes at the Port Angeles course over Port Angeles High School golf coaches Mike DuPuis and Mark Mitrovich.
Creighton shot net scores of 68-64 for a total of 132 to defeat Mike Kendall of Bremerton by two strokes.
Victoria’s John McMillian notched a hole-in-one to highlight Saturday’s round of play.
Players from Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and British Columbia participated in the tournament.
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, June 26.
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 and 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.
YMCA tourney at PT
Port Townsend Golf Club 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.
Save the date
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 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.
Back to video games
A fond childhood memory of mine is being woken up on my birthday (which is today) with a copy of Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball.
My parents had really come through with this present, a great game on my big day.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying but my parents always seemed to make small missteps with birthday gifts.
One year I asked for Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees baseball caps and ended up with Cleveland Indians and New York Mets caps, then the worst teams in baseball.
Another year I wanted a baseball bat and came away with a softball bat, illegal to use in my Little League.
So close, yet so far.
Especially when you are a 10-year old brat with expectations.
Now that I’m older, but not much wiser, I can pick and choose what I do with my entertainment dollar and more often than not I choose to play video games.
This Tiger Woods game will be my first tango with a golf game rendered for an HD television.
This year’s version boasts the Ryder Cup competition for the first time, including the course it will be held at — Celtic Manor in Wales.
Other courses include Pebble Beach Golf Links, the host of the U.S. Open this year; the Old Course at St. Andrews, the site of this year’s British Open; and the Straits Course at Whistling Straits, home of the 2010 PGA Championship.
There are many more courses to play on the game, including TPC at Sawgrass, Torrey Pines, Oakmont, Doral, Harbour Town, TPC Scottsdale and Pinehurst No. 2.
No Augusta National and no Masters.
Blame the fuddy-duddies in the green jackets for keeping that one away from us.
If you have a Nintendo Wii, which is becoming more and more common with seniors as they try to remain in good shape, you can play with their motion sensor controller and attempt to emulate a real swing.
More information on the game and a video of PGA Tour pro Ian Poulter playing the video game against late night host Jimmy Fallon is available at www.pgatour.com/2010/r/06/07/ea_woods_2011/index.html.
If anybody else buys this game and wants to play me on the Xbox, my gamer tag is FieldTurfPatio.
Carvello explained
Lee Carvello’s Putting Challenge refers to an episode of The Simpsons where Bart really wants a violent video game for Christmas but ends up receiving “Lee Carvello’s Putting Challenge” from his parents.
Looks like Homer and Marge took a page out of my parents’ mistaken-gift playbook with that one.
To see a clip of Lee Carvello, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac9Z6CN14Gs.
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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.