Letter From Bryan Nicholson, PGA Director of Golf

Spring has certainly been the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in our weather department. After one of the coolest April’s on record for the Puget Sound, we managed to finish the month of May as the second warmest in history. With the calendar flipping to June, this earlier than expected start to “summer” has been quite pleasant and the golf course has certainly been the benefactor of such fantastic conditions. Around our campus, the agronomy team has done a marvelous job getting the golf course into peak playing condition. We recently hosted the Sahalee Players Championship preview event featuring members from both the University of Washington Men’s and Women’s Golf Programs, and the compliments were plentiful by the players concerning our golf course.

Our events at the Club have been a tremendous success, highlighted by the inaugural Senior Men’s Invitational that was played in the middle of the month. A total of 78 players (39 teams) participated, with nearly half of the field playing in a Pro-Am prior to the start of the tournament. In the end, Bob Burkhardt and David Feeney ran away with the overall title by an incredible 10 points over two teams which included Mike Denton and Jim Hayes and Mark Andrews and Phil Brown Well played, Mr Burkhardt, and we hope you will come back in ’24 to defend the title!

The Men’s Division also hosted an annual “homage” to the anniversary of Sahalee’s hosting of the PGA Championship, now 25 years ago in 1998. Featuring the Sunday hole locations from the ’98 PGA on the course, many players found the challenge to be quite the test of golf. Ben Minyard outlasted the field of 80 players with a gross 74, while 6 golfers tied for the low net round of the day. Featuring a 6-man playoff, two players Kollin Malsam and Jeff Ratzlaff, advanced after the first hole (9 North) with net birdies. On the second playoff hole (1 North), Malsam outlasted Ratzlaff, after the approach by Ratzlaff found the penalty area. Congratulations to both of our SMD PGA Champions!

Our Women’s Division hosted a spring “mixer” earlier in the month, with a total of 44 ladies participating on a beautiful sunny morning. Playing a rotating format every 6 holes, most everyone enjoyed the opportunity to meet new friends and enjoyed the spirited competition. The SWD will be back in action with two events including their annual Spring Field Day on Friday, June 9, and their Presidents Cup on Tuesday, June 27

May was capped by our first annual Goose and Gander, “Mixed” Championship that was played over Memorial Day weekend! A total of 24 teams took on the modified chapman format, and I am happy to report that all teams were speaking to one another after the round! A hearty congratulations to Kim Shek and Norman Cheuk on their two-stroke victory firing a net 66 to edge Tomoko and Jeff Ratzlaff who shot a solid round of net 68.

The golf events at Sahalee are just heating up – and we have so much for you to look forward to later this month. The Pro’s Exhibition on Friday, June 16 at 4:30 PM will be an event you won’t want to miss. This one-hour show will be filled with fun, education, and instructional information. Following the clinic, the golf professional staff will offer a complimentary 5-minute swing analysis to anyone attending. There is no charge, and complimentary beverages (beer and wine) will be available We’d love to have a large audience to see the Sahalee Professionals in action!

Also in June, we have our annual Parent-Child golf tournament on Saturday, June 17 over Father’s Day weekend Last year, we had over 50 families join us on the course for a special day with their parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle We hope that you will consider joining us for this fun golf tournament with multiple age divisions including Adult/Adult, 14-17, 11-13, and 10 & Under Divisions

Pivoting a bit, you may have heard about our Sahalee VIP Guest Program. This is your opportunity to offer your guests the very best and memorable golf experience in the Northwest. Our team is delighted to offer a “white glove” type of guest experience that is easy for you to arrange. Simply notify the golf professional team through our Sahalee App or Website, (or drop in to let us know) and you can access options for you to customize their visit to the Club. We offer services such as customized guest locker tags, pre-arranged food and beverage before/during or after the round, bag tags, golf shop merchandise, and caddie services. There is no cost for this enhanced service, other than the applicable food and beverage or caddie fees. To access the program through the Sahalee App – just click on GOLF>GUESTS>VIP GUEST PROGRAM. From there, you will complete a short form. We look forward to serving you and your guests during an upcoming visit with us at the High Heavenly Ground.

This month, we welcome a new face to our Golf Team as our newest Assistant Professional in Training, Cody Oakes. Cody is a recent graduate of Western Washington University, as is a native of Washington. Graduating from Arlington High School, Cody finished this past season as an all-conference selection and Captain of his golf team The Vikings qualified for NCAA Division II Nationals this past season, and Cody finished his collegiate golf career with a 15th place finish We are excited for Cody to join our fabulous team, and we look forward to his contributions as part of our team!

For this month’s instructional corner, I thought I would pass along some golden nuggets related to tee shot placement. After studying results from golfers nationally (through Arccos Golf) – it is reasonable to conclude:

1. If there is trouble on one side of the hole, and not on the other side, do not be afraid to shift your target WELL away from the trouble. While your fairway hit percentage will drop, the percent of shots you hit into trouble will drop significantly, which will have a massive impact on your scores.

2. If you are not trying to shift away from penalty strokes and just trying to play up one side of the fairway for a better angle, you need to stop doing this. The marginal increase in ending up on a side of the fairway will be more than offset by how much more you will miss the fairway.

3 Know where the center of your shot pattern is Especially if you are a mid or high index player, and setup and play it accordingly!

We can help you with managing your game or working on your technique to play better golf!

See you on the tee!

Bryan