Rosauers Open/2008

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Coston Conquers the Canyon

By Joseph Jones

In a week of ups, downs, and shockingly low rounds it was Jeff Coston (Semiahmoo G&CC) who hoisted the Rosauers trophy as the sun sank on Sunday afternoon at Indian Canyon. By doing so Coston becomes the only three-time winner in the twenty one year history of the event. The victory also puts Coston one step closer to another milestone in Section history. Coston’s win at Rosauers marks his 16th Section Major championship, only one behind Section legend, and all time leader in Major victories, Bob Duden.

“Playing golf in this Section has always meant a great deal to me, and to put myself in the company of a great man and great player such as Bob Duden would be really special,” said Coston when interviewed following the awards ceremony.

Going into the final round Coston trailed 2005 Champion Ryan Benzel (Mill Creek CC) by four strokes. Benzel set a torrid pace the first two days by firing back to back rounds of 7-under-par 64, for a mind boggling two day total of 128. Joining Benzel in the final grouping on Sunday was 1991 Champion Rob Gibbons (Arrowhead GC), and amateur Nick Ellis (Wenatchee G&CC) who had both sent a message to the rest of the field by posting 8-under-par 63’s in the second round.

As many players did on Sunday, Coston got off to a shaky start on the front nine. Before stepping to the eighth tee, Coston took a moment for a little “self talk”, in which he reminded himself to “keep things in perspective, and enjoy the journey.” Coston’s existential outlook, and cool head allowed him to get things back on track and remain steady down the stretch.

Capturing the honor of Low Amateur was Derek Barron (Tacoma Firs GC) who played three very steady rounds of 68-66-67, for a total of 12-under-par 201. Congratulations Derek! Also of note on the final day was the near historic performance of Ryan Gilmour (Corvallis CC) after posting 71-70- 141 for the first two rounds, Ryan came out Sunday with a new resolve and fired a 9-under-par 62, just one shy of the course record at Indian Canyon. Ryan’s performance on Sunday was enough to vault him past forty of his fellow competitors in the standings, moving from a tie for 46th into a tie for 6th place. With the Rosauers Open Invitational offering one of the largest purses of any Section event in the nation, Ryan earned himself quite a nice pay raise with his performance.

Reflecting on the fact that the Rosauers Open now has twenty one years of history on the books, Coston was quick to point out what a success the event has been. “I really admire the vision that Rosauers has had with this event, this is truly the last of the Mohicans, and they should use this model everywhere… It’s really great how the community of Spokane gets behind it [the Rosauers]”.

With events like the wine tasting and charity auction at Arbor Crest Wine Cellars during the Pro-Am, and over $1.7 million raised for the Vanessa Behan Nursery, Spokane’s support of the Rosauers is just as evident as ever.

The Section would like to extend a special thanks to Indian Canyon Head PGA Professional Gary Lindeblad, Superintendent Don Nelson, their respective staffs, and all of the volunteers for another successful event.