Azzara, Moore win Birch Ridge Pro Am

Tony Azzara and Aaron Moore took top marks at the 2025 Alaska Sign Source Pro Am and Skins on Monday at Birch Ridge Golf Course.

Azzara was the top pro at 70 strokes, only topping second place Rich Lundahl by one. Zac Cowan, co-owner of Birch Ridge and a pro himself, said after the tournament that Azzara grew up locally — playing golf as a junior on the Soldotna course before becoming an active professional golfer.

The top four pros were rounded out by Cowan with 78 and Bill Engberg at 84.

Moore, the top amateur, came in at 69 strokes — similarly separated from second-place Shane Sundberg by only one. Moore works at Birch Ridge, Cowan said, and only weeks ago shot the course record of 62 on July 4.

“He’s one hell of a stick,” he said. “A hell of a hand too.”

The top five amateurs were rounded out by Nolan Rose at 71, Jake Eubank at 73 and Mark Azzara at 77.

In team play, Nolan Rose, Eugene Malone, Jared Ramm and Aaron Moore led with 125. Bill Engberg, Shane Sundberg, Jake Eubank and Keely Sundberg were second at 127. The team of Rich Lundahl, Ritchie Lundahl, Ryan Kapp and Nate Brinton were third at 128 and the team of Tony Azzara, Truckee Lemay, AJ Hull and Mark Azzara were fourth at 129.

The Pro Am, Cowan said, is a “bragging moment” for Birch Ridge to show off their course conditions and bring players down from Anchorage and Palmer.

“We always take pride in showcasing our product,” he said.

After the tournament wrapped, four teams pairing a pro and an amateur set out to compete in the annual skins game — though Cowan noted that amateurs can’t win actual prize money.

In a skins game, each hole is assigned a dollar value and the lowest stroke count per hole wins that total. Any ties “push” that money to the next hole. It was the team of Cowan and Shane Lundberg who took the largest prize, $500, by winning on hole 9 — but then Cowan threw out $1,000 for one more hole. After a series of ties and under suddenly pouring rain, Lundberg delivered the putt on hole 12 for him and Cowan again to take the largest pot of winnings.

Cowan said the annual skins game has always been a good time — and it was out of a sense of nostalgia that he kept the action rolling.

“It’s a lot of work towards this event, and I always look forward to it, and I’m always relieved when it’s over.”

For more information, find “Birch Ridge Golf Course” on Facebook.

This story was corrected Monday, July 21. A previous version included a photo caption that mistakenly identified Rich Lundahl as Tony Azzara.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.