THE FASTEST WAY to a golfer’s heart?
It certainly could be a shiny sleeve of Titleist Pro V1’s or a finely milled Scotty Cameron putter.
Then again it might be just like the old cliche and be through the stomach.
To that effect, Port Townsend Golf Club will soon launch a new restaurant inside the clubhouse at 1948 Blaine St.
With course staff more concerned about getting essential items secured and in-place before Friday’s “soft opening,” the restaurant will go without a name for a little while.
That soft opening is contingent upon everything going smoothly and no last-minute problems popping up.
Check back Monday if you don’t see any restaurant activity over the weekend.
The restaurant will serve breakfast and lunch items, and will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Breakfast, featuring standard cafe fare such as omeletes and biscuits and gravy, will be available all day long.
Lunch also will be traditional, with cheeseburgers and pulled-pork sandwiches highlighting the mid-day options.
Back when I played golf at Port Townsend High School in 1999 and 2000, the course offered hot dogs but I have never been around to see a fully stocked restaurant operate at the course.
Port Townsend does have a lot of breakfast options but many of them are downtown or in other locations where parking is lacking.
That’s not the case at Port Townsend Golf Club, where there is ample room for customers.
Good luck on the new venture. I’ll have an order of biscuits and gravy next time I’m down that way.
PT events set
Port Townsend will host the Halloween 6-6-6 Tournament with six holes of scramble play, six holes of best-ball and six holes of Chapman scoring on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Another event on the Port Townsend radar is the annual Hilltop Open on Saturday, Nov. 6.
Billed as “The last major of the year,” the tournament typically fills fast, so phone the course at 360-385-4547 to claim your spot.
PT Match Play
Port Townsend assistant pro Gabriel Tonan bested 48 other players to claim the course’s Men’s Club Match Play Championship.
The marathon event started in May with players having two weeks to get together and complete each match.
Tonan knocked off Jerry Spiekerman for top honors.
Other high-finishers were Roger Ramey in third place, Gene Yantz in fourth, Woody Woodley and George Cave tied for fifth, Steve Sutorious and Scott Maxwell tied for seventh and Chris Piper, Russ Harding, Greg Miller and Rich Boyd tied for ninth.
Family Scramble
SkyRidge Golf Course of Sequim will hold a Family Scramble Golf Tournament starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
The event is open to all blood relations or those related by marriage.
Requirements are a bit looser for this tournament.
You can play with your GHIN handicap or not, be young or old, good or bad at the game. The main thing is to get out and play.
The first 36 teams are welcome to play the 18-hole two-person scramble.
Cost is $90 per team and includes gross and net honey pots, range balls, KP’s, team long putt and lunch.
Special events are available for $5, and there will be a gross-only skins game.
Carts are available for $13 a seat.
To register or for more information, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
Can’t pass this up
With the downright reasonable weather we have been enjoying lately, Port Ludlow Golf Club’s 18 holes with cart deals look better and better.
Customers can play Tide and Timber with a cart for just $39 Monday through Thursday, provided players schedule tee times before 9 a.m. and after 1 p.m.
Friday through Sunday the rate bumps up to $49 but players can play anytime.
Port Ludlow also has a prepaid golf plan where customers can lock in three rounds for $99 without a cart and $129 with a cart.
Coupons for either deal are available at http://tiny.cc/obaacrvj0y.
For more information on Port Ludlow, phone 360-437-0272 or 888-793-1195.
One last PT item
Port Townsend hosted the annual Port Townsend Elks fundraiser golf tournament last Saturday.
Proceeds from the event help support scholarships for local high school students.
A batch of brave souls toughed out steady 20-mph winds and some heavy rain for a good cause.
Chimacum High School golf coach Mitch Black and his teammate, Dean Rigsby, claimed top honors in men’s gross with a 70.
Woody Woodley and Dave Sather took the men’s net division with a 59, with Woodley taking low-gross individual Elk with a 73, and Rick Gore and Rich Gastfield notching 70s to tie for low-net individual Elk.
Full results can be found on Page B2.
Season celebration
The Peninsula Ladies Golf Club celebrated the end of its regular season last week with a nine-hole scramble, a luncheon, 2010 awards and club meeting with election of officers for 2011.
The scramble winners were Sherry Henderson, Donna Willenberg and Sandy Granger.
Finishing second were Dolly Burnett, Sue Barber and Helen Arnold.
Officers elected to serve during the upcoming year are president Duffy DeFrang, secretary/treasurer Doris Sparks, representative to the board, Deborah Jacobs, 18-hole captain, Cindy Schlaffman, and nine-hole captain, Sandy Granger.
A full list of award winners can be found on Page B2.
Lady members can continue through the winter season at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday mornings.
Can’t stop Cigar Man
A steady source of amusement for me comes in trying to understand the underpinnings of what becomes popular in our society.
Enter the “Cigar-Chomping Man,” featured in what many are calling one of the greatest sports photos of all time, that of Tiger Wood’s flubbed chip during the 2010 Ryder Cup.
The “Groucho Marx for the new century” image was a smash hit and was soon Photoshopped, i.e. digitally altered, to appear in all manner of historical photographs and media.
I even read about some digital media teachers using the picture as an aid in teaching their students how to use Adobe Photoshop.
Whether standing next to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, puffing a Cuban with stogie afficianado Fidel Castro or placed in scenes and posters from popular movies, Cigar Guy has been all over the place on the Internet.
My reasons behind the popularity? Mustaches and cigars are a little out of fashion, and coupled with his goofy expression, popping up in places he doesn’t belong, it’s worth a chuckle.
The Daily Mail in the United Kingdom did some digging and found out that Cigar-Chomping Man is 30-year-old Rupesh Shingadia, an investment analyst who lives at home in London with his parents.
Shingadia told The Daily Mail that “his costume was a ‘tribute’ to Spanish golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez,” a long-locked player with his own cigar-chomping habit.
The investigative article and a host of Photoshop images of Shingadia are available at http://tiny.cc/12q7h.
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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.