The team from Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore, Wash. won the 8th Washington State Men's Club Team Championship, while the team from Maplewood Golf Course in Renton, Wash. won the Washington State Women's Club Team Championship. Both championships are conducted by the Washington State Golf Association, and were held concurrently at Salish Cliffs Golf Club in Shelton, Wash.
The men's champions included Andrew Larson, Brad Treadwell, Jeff Raulston and Koji Suzuki. This championship is the first time the four of them have competed together in a team competition. They finished eight shots clear of the rest of the field, but started the day two shots behind another team from Inglewood. Did they know the guys on that team? "Oh, yes," said Raulston, laughing, and then said the secret to their success today was less sleep and more socializing, "and relying on Suzuki to pull us through." This is the first time this championship has been held at Salish Cliffs, and in describing the course, Suzuki said, "It's penal. It's a great course, but you have to stay on the fairway. One bad swing and it leads to a big number." View their interview here.
In second place was the team from TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Curt Carlson, Larry Geist, Mike Duckham and Rob Bringardner. Three members of this team - Duckham, Bringardner and Geist - won this championship in 2010, when they partnered with Hani Imam. Finishing in third, 10 strokes behind, was another team from Inglewood, which included Bob Reeves, Bryan Marsh, Daryll Marshall-Inman and Jeffery Olsen.
Finishing at individual low gross, with rounds of 71-72--143, was Steve Savage, who played for the Semiahmoo G&CC team. Finishing low net was Olsen, 76-71-147.
For the Women's Club Team Championship, Carrie Jacobson, Janet Dobrowolski, Karen Sharp and Pamela Hoffmann, representing the team from Maplewood Golf Course, came from behind in today's final round to finish three shots clear of the field. This is the first time the four had teamed together in this championship. "We've played together in other team competitions," said Sharp, "but not for this." Starting the day seven shots off the lead and sitting in fourth place, it didn't look too promising. Ahead of them was the team of Kim Ponti, Diana Chow, Roberta Smith and Nicole Barclay, who had won the previous four championships while playing for TPC Snoqualmie Ridge but entered the championship this year playing for The Pro GC (and with Barclay replacing Molly Grossi). Maplewood's game plan turned out to be a simple one. "We relied on Janet," they all said with a laugh. "She hits it straight and sinks a lot of putts, and that's exactly what she did today." View their interview here.
The Pro GC finished in third place, six shots back. In second place, finishing three shots behind Maplewood, was Meadowmeer G&CC of Bainbridge Island, with Andrea Moehring, Betty J Barr, Debby Gibler and Lisa Harper.
Finishing low gross for the women, with scores of 83-84--167, was Sue Hubbard of Meridian Valley CC. Low net honors for the women went to Ponti, 80-73-153.
The format for the men's and women's championships was a 36-hole Stroke Play Team. The team score was calculated by counting two net scores and one gross score per hole. Each competitor received one hundred percent of his or her course handicap for net scoring. Each four-person team must be from the same WSGA member club. This year, both championships comprised larger fields than they have the past few years.
Owned by the Squaxin Island Tribe, Salish Cliffs opened in September 2011, and is an amenity of the Little Creek Casino Resort. Designed by Gene Bates, the championship layout has already earned Top-10 status on Golfweek magazine's "Best Casino Courses" and Golf Digest's "Best Courses in Washington." This was the first time this championship was held at Salish Cliffs. Visit www.salish-cliffs.com for more information.
