CONTINUED TRIBAL INVESTMENT in the game of golf west of Puget Sound continues with the grand opening of a new clubhouse Sunday at White Horse Golf Club in Kingston.
The Suquamish tribe, which owns the Clearwater Casino on the way to the Bainbridge Ferry, purchased the course and 159 undeveloped lots nearby in 2010.
Since then, the course has had more than $700,000 worth of improvements made in an effort to soften the course for the average golfer.
The new 22,000-square-foot multipurpose facility features a full-service restaurant, meeting space and indoor and outdoor wedding venues.
The clubhouse, which was designed by DH Briant Associates of Bainbridge Island and constructed by Korsmo Construction of Tacoma, overlooks the 18th hole.
Highlights include an outdoor patio with a view of the 18th green, and a full-service bar located next to — count them — three fire pits.
This new facility comes a little under two years after the opening of the Squaxin Island tribe’s Salish Cliffs Golf Course near Shelton and six years since the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe purchased Dungeness Golf Course and renamed it Cedars at Dungeness.
North Olympic Peninsula golfers have been able to delight in the improvements made here at Cedars, including the remodeled clubhouse and pro shop, the reworked Double Eagle Restaurant and addition of Stymies Lounge, entrance improvements and on-course fixes.
Golf fans are in good hands with these tribal stewards running the show.
Peninsula Golf Club events
Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles kicks off their men’s club schedule Sunday with an opening-day four-person scramble.
The popular event traditionally draws a full field of Peninsula members, paired together by handicap (one low handicapper, two middles and one higher) to ensure National Football League-buzzword “parity” for all teams.
Low handicappers drive from the back tee’s, middles play from the middle and high handicappers take the forward tees.
A fun note about this event: a kickoff dinner and team strategy session gets the season rolling Saturday night.
Twenty events dot the Peninsula men’s club schedule from now until October with scrambles, best balls and individual competitions all set.
Several tournaments at Peninsula Golf Club are open to public play and the course is open to the public after 11 a.m. on Monday and Friday and after noon every other day except Thursday, when the course is closed for members-only play.
For more, phone Peninsula’s golf shop at 360-457-6501.
A SkyRidge signature
The Gutbuster, one of SkyRidge Golf Course’s signature golf tourneys, is on tap for the Sequim course Saturday, March 23.
Golfers will play from the tips (6,529 yards for men and 5,737 for women) and putt to the most difficult pin placements Jeff Pedersen and SkyRidge staffers can devise.
The format is individual medal play.
For the $65 entry fee, players will receive their Gutbuster round, lunch, range balls, honey pot and a shot at three KP prizes and one free practice round on Friday, March 22.
Tee times will begin at 8:20 a.m. on March 23.
Carts are an extra $15 per seat.
Get into the Gutbuster by phoning SkyRidge at 360-683-3673 (FORE).
Shamrock Scramble
SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim will host its seventh annual Shamrock Scramble tourney Saturday.
The four-person scramble has a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start.
Entry fee is $40 per player, $160 per team and includes golf, lunch and range balls, plus KP’s and a long-putt contest on hole No. 18.
Carts are an extra $15 per seat.
An added bonus for this one is a prize for the best-dressed team.
Leprechaun wear is entirely acceptable.
Unlimited Ludlow golf
Indulge your golf addiction with an unlimited golf special at Port Ludlow Golf Course through April 15.
Golfers can play all day, enjoy a hamburger or hot dog lunch and receive a sleeve of Callaway golf balls for $45 Monday through Thursday or $50 Friday through Sunday.
At this time of year, with an average round running about four hours and time taken out for lunch, a player could get around 50 holes in per day if they used all available daylight.
Golf nut and NBA legend Michael Jordan used to try for 54 holes on off days and was widely rumored to have played 36 holes before NBA playoff games.
Be like Mike, everybody. But have the ice packs and aspirin ready at home.
Disco Bay madness
With college basketball’s March Madness in full swing — I celebrate the entire month, from Big South Tournament to the Final Four — Discovery Bay Golf Course near Port Townsend is halfway into its month-long March Madness deal.
March Madness is a two-for-one golf promotion where you and a friend can play nine or 18 holes for $22 total. Use of a cart is not included in the deal.
Discovery Bay’s ladies and men’s clubs are recruiting new members and have scheduled their first meetings for March 28 and April 24, respectively. More info on the meetings will be found in upcoming columns.
Port Townsend events
Port Townsend Golf Club will host a two-person Saint Patrick’s Day best ball on Saturday.
The tournament costs $35 per player, with only $10 greens fees for nonmembers.
Players will tee off with a 9 a.m. shotgun start, and will build their appetites for a corned beef dinner following play.
Up next on the Port Townsend Golf Course schedule is the 17th annual Camp Beausite Northwest Golf Tournament sponsored by the Port Townsend Kiwanis Club, set for Saturday, March 30.
This one helps provide camp scholarships for people with special needs and funds youth projects.
In a change from year’s past, the event is a straight-up two-person best ball, with no mulligans for string purchases.
Cost is $50 per player with $10 greens fees for nonmembers and includes play, KP, LP, long drive and lunch.
A 10 a.m. start will kick things off.
A raffle will follow after play.
Merchants League play tees it up at Port Townsend Golf Course beginning on Tuesday, April 9, and running until September.
Now is the time to form a team, get a sponsor (or sponsor a team yourself) and get involved with a fun, weekly game of golf.
If you’re an individual that would like to play, contact Port Townsend Golf Club and someone there will try to find you a team.
Not available every week? Become a substitute and help teams stay in the running for a trophy.
Phone the Port Townsend Golf Club pro shop at 360-385-4547 to get involved.
Chamberlin ace
Sequim’s Robert Chamberlin notched his first-ever hole-in-one on March 8.
Chamberlin’s single came with his 6-iron and a Titleist ProVI ball on the 140-yard fourth hole at Cedars at Dungeness.
His shot was witnessed byed Karl Dryfhout and Ron Fye, both of Sequim.
Take my medicine
Take a one-morning break from your ritualistic oatmeal breakfast and it all goes downhill.
I went with a peanut butter and jelly as my morning repast while working on last week’s column and made a few but prominent errors in the section on Peninsula Golf Course.
I incorrectly stated that the club’s Winter League competition had wrapped when there was still a week to play (play has since wrapped with The Golf Shop Guys taking home the title); I misspelled Mike Hamel as “Mike Camel” which brought about some laughter and quite possibly a new nickname for Mr. Hamel; and I had Hamel on the wrong team, he plays for Joshua’s Restaurant not The Golf Shop Guys.
I also bobbled the name of Peninsula member and column contributor Paul Reed, either lapsing back to Election 2012 or confusing him with Cedars member Paul Ryan. More likely the latter than the former.
Never again! I’m back on Wilford Brimley’s team and I encourage using oatmeal before any round of golf or writing session for its legal, performance-enhancing properties.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.