We had only 4 groups for our Season Opener at Glendoveer East GC as the early forecast for rain had dampened a lot of club members desire to golf. A later forecast of showers showed us more promise and it turned out to be a dry day for the PCGC diehards except for the wet course conditions. As a result the course did not allow golf carts. This turned into a “SEAL Team” exercise as the steep sloppy hills seemed like an endless climb. Kudos to Skylar Felton and Hank Lawrence who packed their bags on their backs and completed the 18 hole obstacle course.

Clark Louie was the low man with a NET 75 despite losing his remote for his electric push cart. His golf mates retraced his tracks through the woods and over the hills in search of the remote only to discover he had it in one of his zippered pockets of his pants. This must have been his strategy to tire out his opponents. Clark may have rang the bell in the PCGC, but the SEAL Team would have rung his bell for that stunt.

Charbonneau GC is a shorter course with a Par of 62 that will allow you to post the type of scores you would see on TV. However when you factor in the handicaps the Net Scores can be quite eye opening. The first group of the day Bobby Lee and Terry Emard had their usual match and it was close as Terry netted 60 and Bobby posted 58. That however was no match to Laville Fendors who shot a career round of 34-34 for Gross 68 and Net 53!! Skylar Felton joined the 50 club and posted a net 59, but just shook his head when he saw it wasn’t even close.

The wet weather was reduced to some scattered showers and for most of the day we lucked out with a dry day. The scores were much better as 4 players posted sub par rounds. Shane Starr set the bar at Net 69 in the first group and stayed on the lead until the last group rolled in with Forrest Denno’s Net 66 for top honors. The gallery formed at the 18th green so it made for some nervous putts for those side bets. A small group decided to stop by the Lucky Dragon Chinese Restaurant in Kalama on the way home to enjoy the generous portions of “Americanized Chinese ” food that seems to be disappearing in the Portland area.

The 2024 Season opened with a blessed day of weather that reached for 70. Terry Chinn was the only one who warmed up with a NET 71 as the next closest score was Net 77 or worse. Partly to blame would be some of the pin placements that were quite challenging. To add to the disappointment the restaurant ran out of burgers, pizza and pulled pork due to the busy weekend. Beers and fries would have to do unless you are John Sturges who got a salad.

The 2023 Club Championship teed off at Heron Lakes Great Blue that found Eric Dold leading the pack with a Net 68. This weekend has always been memorable for him as it is his wedding anniversary with his wife Robyn. Now the dilemma is does he withdraw for the Sunday round to spend time with his “first love” or chase that opportunity to take home a “Trophy” for the game he loves. He ended up with the best of both worlds as Robyn came out to Eastmoreland to support him, where he barely held on to become the PCGC Club Champion. In the Race for the Lawrence Lee Championship – Low Gross Trophy it was not even close as Michael Yee bested the runner up by 13 strokes with a 2 day total of 162.

Shane Starr hosted a gathering at his home after the tournament where we enjoyed some great food and activities with his kids on his sports court and front lawn.

Tournament Chair Carl Louie did a great job creating the teams as it was a very close competition for the Glen Lee Memorial Trophy. Team Lek made the wise decision of using their mulligan on the second shot at the 18^th to capture a “bird” and the winning Team Score of 63.

Our newest members Jeff and Amy Corbett got the “red carpet” treatment at McNary as their friends living on the course posted a “Welcome” sign along with a cooler of beverages. Jeff tried to meet more neighbors as he drove his ball into the same yard twice, but both times was not rewarded with any more beverages.

It has been awhile since the club has played at Lewis River GC, but this track in Woodland, Washington has some fun holes that are definitely very challenging. It was also the setting for the 3^rd round of the Match Play Bracket. With Mike Parsons and Clark Louie having to settle their AS result in a “Sudden Death Playoff” to advance into a match against Dale Okazaki. All eyes were on the 1^st tee as Clark hit a tee shot that was not ideal that left a long approach to the green that had to carry a water hazard. Mike on the other hand striped a shot down the fairway that put the pressure on Clark to go for it. The end result was Clark took a 6 and Mike made a 4 to advance to play against Dale. Parsons went 3 UP at the turn and Dale battle back to win the 18^th hole to square up the match. In the other match we had Jay Lee facing Laville Fendors who dominated the front nine going 5 UP at the turn and closed it out at 5 & 4. Laville will face the winner of the playoff between Dale and Mike for the Match Play Championship at the OGA.

Kemper Sports manages Heron Lakes, but OKI took over the course today as in the Okazaki’s. Dale was the leader in the clubhouse with a score of Net 67 as we awaited the field of 44 to finish. April rolls in with an eye popping Net 59 to end any debate of who did it best.

We had 28 players make the trek up to Longview, Washington to take on Mint Valley GC. It was a great day for scoring as a 3 way tie for 69 only yielded one person who made the cut to take home some money. Kay Yamanaka netted 65 with an amazing 25 putt day to take top honors.  In the feature group we had Michael Yee take on Dale Okazaki for their makeup round for Match Play. Dale was feeling pretty good with a 4 UP lead at the turn, but Michael just chipped away at the lead and going into 14 the match was All Square. It remained a stalemate until the last hole where Dale was getting a stroke and matched pars with Michael to take it down 1 UP.

We had a beautiful warm day for the 2^nd round of the Match Play Bracket and the quest for the Ralph Moe Memorial trophy. In the upper bracket Jay Lee was 2 UP at the turn and put the match in dormie mode by the 13^th hole to put pressure on Lek Vongthongthip to win out. Lek did win at 14, but a bogey at 15 ended the match at 4 & 3.  Laville Fendors got out to a 3 UP lead at the turn and Kay Yamanaka rattled off 3 wins in a row to square the match back up. Laville took a 2 UP advantage with 2 holes to play but found the water at 17 to keep the door open for Kay. Laville won at the 18^th to secure a 2 UP victory.  Clark Louie played a tight match with Mike Parsons and it came down to who could salvage Par at the final hole to move on. The pressure must have been too much for both as they ended up with bogey to end the match at All Square with a pending “Sudden Death” playoff in the next round. Brandon Vanderberg just shot his handicap for the day and was pleasantly surprised that he was the recipient of the Ralph Moe Memorial Trophy.

It must be Rose Festival time as we got our annual June shower at Forest Hills. It was also Father’s Day where Brandon Vanderberg took his daughter to play day. She got to experience 18 holes of Rian Kindig “Dad Jokes”.  Steven was gifted a hat for Father’s Day by his group from last week that read “Sum Ting Wong” and I thought his last name was Chan. At the Par 3 11th Steven told Celia he had hit the stick and she told him next time you should hit the hole and now we know why he got the hat.

Charbonneau GC is an executive course with 10 Par 3’s that have some playing over 200 yards. A great test of the short game and scrambling ability. The members took advantage of going low as Toshio Sakuma posted a Net 54 for a (-8) to take top honors. Many left their drivers in the bag as the house lined course was ripe for getting hit with errant shots. The latest poll suggested there were only 2 houses hit by our club.

A beautiful day with a cool breeze welcomed 8 groups to Chehalem Glenn. 16 players of the field was involved in the first round of Match Play.  There were two players who withdrew that allowed alternates Mike Parsons and Ed Olivier back into the competition. Parsons took advantage of his opportunity and advanced with a 2 UP win over 2 seed Tim Rodrigues. Ed was not such a threat to Clark Louie and bowed out early in a 7 & 6 result. The #1 seed Jay Lee held off John Sturges 2 & 1 while their other match in the group had Lek take down Rian early to become the traveling gallery. Carl Louie struggled with his shots all day and Laville Fendors took advantage to advance 5 & 4. Kay Yamanaka lost confidence in his swing at the driving range and gave hope to Brandon who was fighting to gain control of his Driver. However Kay gain confidence in the back nine as Brandon’s struggles continues and the match ended 5 & 4. Skylar Felton got flashbacks of being upset as the #1 seed last year and being 2 down going into Hole 17 plus giving up a stroke he needed help from his opponent Dale to stay alive. Well Mr. Okazaki posts an easy Par on his scorecard and the Match was over as we didn’t hear anyone make any Eagles.  Michael Yee had a good match with Eric Morillo and made a bird on #17 to close it out 2 & 1.  The next round of action will be in few weeks at Eastmoreland to determine the Final Four.

For the rest of the field we had 3 players tied at Net 71 and Joe Ito with 3 birdies in the back nine won the tiebreaker over Laville Fendors and Mike Parsons to take first place. Lucky for everyone that Joe Ito was not signed up for Match Play this year.

April Okazaki had a strong Back 9 finish to post a Net 64 to capture the Ron Eng Memorial trophy. Kay Yamanaka figured out his swing on the range in the morning and pulled out of his slump to shoot a Gross 78 and Net 64, but was no match in the tiebreaker with April. He did do well with all his side bets and went home with a smile. In the Match Play playoff for the final spot in the bracket we saw Ed Olivier struggle to keep up with Mike Parsons and John Sturges coming down the stretch. Mike Parson had a putt on 18 to secure the final spot, but the miss resulted in a tiebreaker that went to John Sturges.

The two venues for the 2023 Founder’s Cup were top rated courses used for our past NW Invitationals. This may have added another level of prestige to our 2 day tournament. The Reserve North Course hosted not only our 1st round of play, but had the Future Champions Tournament for Juniors on the course behind us. Many of the parents that were part of the gallery walking the course were in danger of getting hit by a golf ball as some of the PCGC players don’t always play in our own fairways. It did appear that Jay Lee and Tim Rodrigues may have found fairways to both post Net 67’s for the rest of the field to chase down. Those that found the soggy rough probably found it to be most punitive.  After a week of summer like weather the local golf courses had a chance to dry out for the 2nd round at Pumpkin Ridge Ghost Creek, that offered some great conditions for us to make a run on the leaders. Toshio Sakuma took advantage with a Net 65 and was able to catch Tim, but not quite good enough to take the Cup from our Champion Jay Lee.

In the Match Play Qualifying Round the final spot for the Bracket Round is still up for grabs for 3 players that will be determined at our next outing at Stone Creek.

The trip to Elk Ridge requires the crossing of The Bridge of the Gods with a toll of $2.00, but inflation hit and it was $3.00 to cross this year. I guess Lek has to increase his side bets by $1 to have toll money to get back home. The round started with a cloudy day until our “rain dancers” opened the sky for us in the back nine. The dampness of the greens were challenging as the aerated greens were still sandy which didn’t make putting that easy.  At Hole #14 Brandon Vanderberg drove the green on the Par 4 to give himself more putting opportunities. Tim Rodrigues made it easy for himself as he kept sticking it close as we can see his name on numerous KP’s.  It was however not enough as he was edged out by Shane Starr for first place.

We head North for Three Rivers to get some of the driest course conditions in the area, however no one told the weatherman we were coming. There was a cold wind with rain, showers, sun break and back to rain. Bruce Locke has gotten soft living in California as he was put on “survival mode” to play in this weather. When asked what happens if it rains in California on the day of Golf and his reply was “Stay Home”. It sure didn’t seem to bother Carl Louie as he plays golf year round and has trained for this moment by sticking a 66 on the Leader Board.

The season kicked off at Glendoveer East where 26 players braved some intermittent showers for our Opening Day. This year the course was dry enough to allow golf carts and some even opted for the adventurous Golf Boards.  Phil Robles must have been practicing over the Winter as he had the sharpest game to take 1st with a Net 71.  April Okazaki impressed coming home as she had a “Birdie” at both Hole #16 and # 17. The first Par 3 of the day had a diabolical pin placement that was only missing the “Clown’s Mouth” as 5, 6, 7 and 8 were found on many scorecards. I just wonder if the greenskeeper may have been Carl Spackler??

The Club Championship came down to a tiebreaker where 1st round leader Skyler Felton was caught on the second day by Ryan Oliver with a net 66 and prevailed based on the a better second round score. Clark Louie held off the Senior Division and secured his hardware for 2022.  Shigeo Fukushima posted 163 to hold off Yoshio Matsuzaki by one shot to take home the Lawrence Lee Championship Trophy.  The weather was nice for both days and after the Sunday round club members went to Mike Parsons house to celebrate Championship Weekend.

The Final Four of Match Play was contested at Mint Valley GC in Longview, Washington. They are famous for the Mint Valley Burger and John Sturges convinced the board to sponsor a lunch for the members. We had Laville Fendors vs Carl Louie and Ed Olivier vs Gunar Meneks to determine who would make it to the Finals. Laville was 1 up going into #17, but his tee shot found the water and Carl took advantage to tie it up going into #18. Having to give a stroke Carl took an agressive line on the tee shot and found the fairway bunker. Laville played it safe and found the fairway and kept the pressure on Carl to win the hole outright and to go 1 UP for the match and a spot in the Finals. Gunar was not only down 1 but also had to give up a stoke on the final hole, which put the pressure of making Par or better to keep hope alive. Gunar did manage to make his par, but Ed capitalized with a bogey to secure a 1 UP victory to meet Laville in the next round for the Crown.

The Finals was contested at Heron Lakes Greenback between Laville Fendors and Ed Olivier. Laville put the match in dormie at Hole #15 and with a timely par at Hole #17 the match with over with the score of 3 &1.

The Consolation Match for 3rd place was contested at McNary GC where it came down to the 18th all square. Carl and Gunar both made double bogey 7 at the Par 5, but since Carl had to give a stoke he ended up losing the Match.

Congratulations to Laville Fendors for becoming the 2022 Match Play Champion.

The Ralph Moe Memorial landed on one of the hottest weekends of the summer as temperatures in the mid 90’s was a good test of the mental game. We had a three way tie on top of the leaderboard with Net Scores of 69.  Congratulations to June Hall who used the back nine tiebreaker of 34.5 to take home the hardware and happened to play with the competitors she beat out in her group namely Hank Lawrence and Cherie Anderson. The rest of the field was finding ways to beat the heat and didn’t put too much pressure on June Hall.

The Founders Cup started at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club which was gearing up for the upcoming LIV Golf event in July. A forecast of showers turned into a downpour that made for soggy course conditions. Bobby Lee should not have anything to complain about with a net 69 and leader in the clubhouse despite the weather. Then Skylar Felton comes in with a net 63 to take over the lead and something for Bobby to talk about. The 2nd round at Stone Creek brought a perfect day of sun at Stone Creek and Skylar Felton holds on to take home the Founders Cup. The PCGC sponsored a Burger BBQ for the members after the round and it was the perfect day on the deck to have a club social event.

A beautiful day of 70 degrees welcome the PCGC to the Salem Golf Club for competition for the Ron Eng Memorial Trophy. A net score of 72 was the low mark of the day as John Sturges won the tiebreaker with a better back nine to hold off Dale “1b” Okazaki. There were many first timers to play Salem GC for some of our members and guests, as the layout confused a couple of groups that ended up at the wrong tee box and was sent back to the right one. The patches of white clover on the course helped camouflaged some golf balls and it may have been a better idea to use a colored ball instead.  The round also served as the first qualifying round for the Match Play Bracket and the next opportunity will be at our outing at Pumpkin Ridge.

The weather watch for the Columbia Gorge was a forecast for snow in April. As Sunday approached we had 9 groups on standby in case of a snow storm, but it was just a few showers in front of our drive east to Carson, Washington. We did have to brave the cold wind and then a shower mixed with snow challenged us on the opening holes, but later settled into a pretty nice day. There were some naturally insulated golfers that didn’t need winter gear and actually still wore shorts, but some of us were bundled up and ready for the slopes. The restaurant was closed so the groups came into the clubhouse to warm up and watched the Masters as the rest of the club finished their round. It was a fun day for many of the members who bought remote control electric golf carts and ran them around the course. Clark Louie still needs to read the owners manual for his unit, as the guy in the Pro Shop pointed out that someone has a runaway golf cart outside and we realized Clark must have been playing with his remote in his pocket.

We had 28 players drive up to Longview, Washington in spite of the rising gas prices to enjoy a warm spring day of golf. The course was having a tournament and we teed off about 15 minutes behind our original assigned tee time.  The pace was set with the groups on the course and overall our club kept within reasonable time.  Rian Kindig must have watched a bit of MacGyver to engineer his repair job on his pushcart at the first tee. It was a beautiful sight to see the golf ball get forward roll instead of being stuck in the mud last week. Joe Ito took full advantage as he had the Low Net of 68 and Kelvin Onchi had a Low Gross of 78. Kay Yamanaka hit all the greens for the Par 3’s to earn the maximum 4 tickets for the next drawing.  We all gathered at the 18th green as the later groups finished and there was just a little pressure on those putts as all eyes of the gallery were watching.