INTERESTED IN BECOMING a more serious and committed golfer, I decided to find out just what it takes to establish a handicap index.
It didn’t hurt that I have received a few e-mails from newcomers to the area asking about how to get involved with the local golf scene.
My usual response is to find a course that you enjoy playing and try to join their men’s or women’s club if you can afford it, or to talk directly with course staffers about finding other singles to pair up with.
I was surprised to find that players must belong to USGA-sanctioned clubs in order to establish a handicap index.
This being news to me may sound wildly uneducated for a golf columnist but I would still consider myself a trifle ignorant to many of the finer points of the game.
I’ve never belonged to a golf club and when I worked at Port Ludlow, my focus was on keeping the carts clean and the driving range clear.
My scores usually end up 15-30 shots over par, in the typical range of the bogey golfer or “duffer.”
I would pass the GHIN Computer in the pro shop on the way to picking up my walkie-talkie before my shift and see players huddled around waiting to pass along their scores to the central database but seeing members entering scores that didn’t, shall we say, compute.
In my jumbled head, I thought you could play any number of rounds at any number of courses, input your scores and after enough rounds played, receive a handicap.
I figured that golf runs on gentlemen’s rules, and submitting results would be an honest process.
There isn’t much upside in saying you are a scratch golfer and going out and shooting 20-over par.
Turns out though, that the USGA wants peer review to take place at these clubs, so that everything is done by the book.
All the golf clubs on the North Olympic Peninsula can issue handicap indexes as members of the Washington State Golf Association.
Once a player joins a golf club, the player should post adjusted gross scores from each round.
According to the USGA’s Handicap Index Manual, an “adjusted gross score” is a player’s gross score adjusted under USGA Handicap System procedures for unfinished holes, conceded strokes, holes not played or not played under the Rules of Golf, or Equitable Stroke Control.
When the player posts five adjusted gross scores, and a revision date passes, the club will issue the player a Handicap Index.
For more information, I would ask your club directly.
They can take you through the process step-by-step in order to smooth out any difficulties.
As for joining a club, I’m currently accepting offers!
All joking aside, I will likely join a club this spring and I should have an index by this summer.
Then I will have something to putt, drive and chip away at.
Port Townsend events
Barring a massive snowfall, Port Townsend Golf Club will hold a Winter Scramble with a 10 a.m. shotgun start on Saturday.
The club will hold a blind-draw for partners.
Cost is $30 per player.
These kind of tournaments are good for newcomers to the area and to the game, who are looking to meet new playing partners.
The club also will host its 20th annual St. Patrick’s Day Two-Person Best Ball Golf and Feast on Saturday, March 12.
This tournament is $35 per player, and food from the course’s Hidden Rock Cafe will follow play.
More details will follow on this one.
The Northwest Kiwanis Camp will be the beneficiaries of the 2011 Northwest Kiwanis Golf Tournament and Fundraiser at Port Townsend on Saturday, March 26.
Northwest Kiwanis campers range in age from 6 to 60 and have physical and/or developmental handicaps.
This tourney is a two-person scramble with gross and net prizes.
Like all tournaments, ladies are more than welcome to come and support a great cause.
Cost is $45 per player, and players can receive a tax deduction for a donation.
Port Townsend’s 2011 Commercial League is taking sign-ups for players who would like to be placed on a team, and those interested in sponsoring a squad.
The Port Townsend Commercial League competes on Tuesday evenings during the spring and summer.
It will be the league’s 25th anniversary this year.
I hope to run details for all of the North Olympic Peninsula commercial leagues in an upcoming column.
Competing in a commercial league also jumps out as a way for newcomers to connect with others and get into the game.
Plans are also in the works for a spring break golf clinic with Port Townsend PGA Pro Mike Early and assistant pro and Port Townsend High School golf coach Gabriel Tonan as instructors.
The course is considering holding it the first week of April.
I’ll have more information when the details are all ironed out.
Cedars 18-hole ladies
The Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course’s women’s 18-hole golf club will meet for breakfast at Stymie’s restaurant at the course at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 1, prior to a 9 a.m. tee time for the 2011 season opener.
New members are welcome to attend both the breakfast and/or opening day.
Cost to join the club is $15 plus $28 for a GHIN handicap for a total of $43.
Play for the day will be monthly medal with prizes for closest to the pin and least putts in all divisions.
For more information about the 18-hole ladies club, phone club captain, Bonney Benson, at 360-681-7713 or the golf course at 360-683-6344.
Peninsula Cup opens
The third annual Peninsula Cup will be held at Port Ludlow Golf Course on Saturday, May 21.
Teams of golfers from North Olympic Peninsula golf courses will try to win the cup and the year-long bragging rights that come with it.
Teams will consist of 12 amateur players with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
Scoring will be stroke play with each team utilizing the two best gross scores and eight best net scores from their 12-member team.
Lunch and tee prizes are included with each entry fee.
Cost per player is $50 plus $15 per player wishing to use a cart.
For this one, players should talk with golf staff at their club of choice to try and make the team.
SkyRidge tourneys
Sequim’s SkyRidge Golf Course will hold its fifth annual Shamrock Scramble for Charity set for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 19.
The four-person scramble will include 18 holes of golf, range balls, a traditional Irish “Mulligan” stew with all the fixing’s, dessert, an on-site cart girl to spread some good cheer, hot dogs at the turn and a pot o’gold for a lucky duffer.
A “Big Break” style skills challenge will follow play.
Cost is $180 per team or $45 per player.
SkyRidge will also hold its annual “Gut Buster” Tournament on Saturday, March 26.
Swing from the hips in this one as male players will play the black tees at 6,710 yards while the ladies will take a crack at 6,070 yards of golf course.
Players will receive golf, range balls, lunch, entry into a honey pot, four KP holes and a long putt competition on the 18th hole.
Cost for this individual medal-play tourney is $55 per person.
Discovery Bay ladies
The Discovery Bay Ladies Club recently met to discuss the upcoming season of play.
That group will begin play on Thursday, April 7.
Check-in is set for 9:30 a.m. with play getting underway at 10 a.m.
To join the ladies, phone the clubhouse at 360-385-0704.
The ladies and the public will have a chance to meet new Discovery Bay head pro Mark Wurtz when he gets into town on March 7.
He’ll host an Open House event celebrating the new golf season on Saturday, March 12.
More details will appear in next week’s column.
Save the date in August
It’s a long ways out, but the The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Foundation is holding its first “Scramble for Scholarships” on Saturday, Aug. 27.
The tourney will be held at Discovery Bay Golf Club with a 1 p.m. shotgun start.
Information and entry forms can be obtained from co-chairs Milt Morris at 360-379-1602 or Tim Perry at 360-437-1355.
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Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.