Our thoughts go out to the PGA Professionals and people of the Wenatchee area with the Sleepy Hollow fire. Unfortunately, hot dry temperatures could lead to rough summer here in the great Northwest.
July means the Rosauers Open Invitational is just around the corner. We are all excited to return to Indian Canyon and she looks to be in the best shape in years. PGA Professional Gary Lindeblad and his new Superintendent Fred Marchant are looking forward to being our hosts and presenting the best “Canyon” in years. Entries are scheduled to close today but we’ll accept them for a little while longer. Enter now!
Thank you to Josh Willis, Erik Mattille and the entire team at Crosswater for a great Oregon Open Invitational last month. Crosswater is a fantastic facility, we had perfect weather and we crowned a worthy champion in David Lebeck. As always, our sponsors make our championships a success. Bridgestone Golf, Sun Mountain, Greg Norman, AMA Golf, Abby’s Pizza and National Car Rental all contributed to the success of this championship. We appreciate all our sponsors do to make our event a success, please support them. And stay tuned for the announcement of the venue for the 2016 Oregon Open!
After 40 years, Bruce Cudd retired and we’ll be running the 41st Hawai’i Pro-Am in-house. We return to Mauna Lani on the Big Island again this year…..it’s just that good. Formal events call for January 14-21, 2016 but many groups extend their trips to enjoy a little more sunshine in January. Entries will go out shortly. There are two simple changes. First, we will not book airfare. With most players booking separately already, we’ll be just handling hotel and golf. Second, ground transportation is also an individual process. We transferred just two couples between hotel and airport the last couple of years so we’ll discontinue this option as well. What we will maintain is a great hotel, two fine golf courses, and sunshine every day in January.
Our other destination pro-am, the Holcomb-In-One Las Vegas Pro-Am heads back to the Monte Carlo and the fun only found on the Las Vegas strip. March 13-17, 2016 will align nicely with a little basketball and the last two years has led to nice weather. Join us.
Drive Chip and Putt is almost complete. Options are still available in Spokane, Missoula, Portland and Eugene. Encourage your juniors to register today at www.drivechipandputt.com.
The Pacific Northwest Section PGA Merchandise Show will visit a new venue this fall. We are pleased to visit the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. Located in downtown Tacoma, we have 30 restaurants and watering holes within walking distance. The Mirano will serve as the host hotel and is right next to the Show. Fun will be the name of the game around all our events. Thanks to our friends at Nike Golf, Mike Bender has agreed to headline our Education Program. Contracts are out to our vendors and we’ll be sharing details of the education schedule, Pro-Vendor and other fun activities.
I hope you were able to experience the US Open at Chambers Bay. Congratulations to Brent Zepp and the entire team at Chamber Bay for a job well done. I was able to drop in on Sunday — what a massive undertaking it is to stage this event! Thank you to the USGA for bringing a major to the Pacific Northwest. Next year, it’s the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club. Scheduled for June 9-12, 2016 we’ll be assisting with volunteer duties on site and with a variety of Growth of the Game activities. Mark your calendar now to assist. I’m sure we’ll have details around the first of the year.
Enjoy the hot weather. I hope to see you at the Rosauers, Senior Oregon Open or Northwest Open in the very near future.