North Shore Golf CourSe BriNG 3 Play for free
(4 for the price of 3) * Must present coupon Valid Monday thru Thursday — All Day Friday, Saturday & Sunday — After 1p.m. Expires September 30th 2012
Tee times - (253) 927-1375 or (253) 838-3660 Restaurant - (253) 927-7439 4101 North Shore Blvd NE,Tacoma WA 98422
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AUGUST 2012
year. When it came time to turn pro in 2006, Moore was there for him once again, to lend advice, or merely the encouragement every rookie sometimes needs. “He’s been a good, loyal friend, just constantly encouraging me and really believing in my game,” says Gonzales, who notes the two speak every couple of weeks. “It’s encouraging to have somebody at that level have confidence in me and encouraging me to keep doing it, and that I’m good enough to make it.” Gonzales says he’s not sure what’s in the water in the Tacoma area that has produced so many outstanding golfers in recent years, including himself, Moore, Michael Putnam and Gig Harbor’s Kyle Stanley, all of whom are under 30 years old, and three of whom have PGA or Web.com Tour wins under their belt. “It definitely helps each one of us to see each other doing it, and pushes us to want to be better than each other,” he says. “I think it helps younger kids also, who might be in college right now, or junior golfers out at Tacoma [Country and Golf Club] who might see Michael or Ryan or I out there a fair amount, believe that they can make it. “I don’t think there’s that much difference in golfers throughout the country in terms of actual potential ability,” he adds. “It’s just getting it in your mind that you can do it, and then putting in the time and practice to make it happen. Any encouragement you can get is big.” Gonzales returned home in May for the Washington Open, donating all of his fifth-place winnings to
the tournament’s charitable beneficiary, Camp Korey. Charity is close to his heart — particularly research into a cure for pancreatic cancer, which claimed both his wife’s grandfather in 2002, and his own father in 2007. Last year, Andres and Kristin Gonzales hosted the first-annual Andres Gonzales Charity Golf Tournament in Tacoma, raising just under $60,000 to support pancreatic cancer research. This year’s event, featuring Gonzales and several other Web.com Tour pros, is scheduled for Sept. 7. More information will be made available as the date approaches at Gonzales’ website, andresgonzalesgolf.com. “We were really proud of it,” he says. “Especially for a first-year event. Hopefully this year we can do even better.”
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hen Gonzales does have the chance to come home, he says he can usually be found with Kristin, either on his couch in Lakewood, or sipping a glass of wine at La Petite Maison, a French restaurant in Olympia owned by their friends. Gonzales met Kristin when he was 12, a time when he was recovering from a broken neck suffered when diving into a too-shallow lake near his Olympia home. She went to Tacoma Baptist, and he went to Capital, but the two continued dating for the next decade, then married shortly after he finished his college career. “She’s always understood my passion and enjoy-
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