It is hard to believe that we are in the last month of the season. As always, the greens and fairways are in excellent condition.
Even at this late date, we are continuing to work on No. 3. The new tee box has taken shape and will be top-dressed and seeded at the beginning of next year. The cart path leading from the lower tee box is almost complete.
The next phase will be to connect the new cart path to the existing one. The following step is to create a cart path from the upper tee box to the existing cart path. The final phase is to build a turnaround next to the new tee box. As you can see, this is a time-consuming project that will be of great benefit when it is completed.
I would like to thank Chris Kimball for heading up this project. He is doing an outstanding job. I would also like to thank Jerry Norris and Noel Widmayer for their help. This project will be completed during the first month of the next golf season.
Kenai Open
The Kenai Open was a very successful tournament. The format for this tournament was stroke-play handicap. First low net was won by John Glidden with a two-day total of 147. Second low net was won by Gary Early with a net score of 148. Greg Harrington won third low net also with a score of 148, with Early winning in a cardback. Gordon Griffin and Chris Morin each shot net scores of 150. Chris Morin won fourth low net in a cardback with a great birdie on No. 18.
Other notable net scores included Demie Byram at 151, Chris Murray at 152 and Chuck Rupenthal at 154. Gross champion for this tournament is Chris Morin with a two-day total of 158 gross. He was followed by Chris Murray with a score of 160. Chris Murray and Chris Morin had a great battle that went down to the final hole. Morin’s birdie on No. 18 sealed the deal.
The gross side pot on both Saturday and Sunday was won by Chris Morin. On Saturday closest to the pin on No. 5 was won by Chuck Rupenthal with a shot of 13 feet, 5.5 inches. Chris Morin won No. 9 with a shot of 5-3. Gary Early won No. 10 with a shot of 10-1. On No. 4 Aaron Cooper won with a great shot of 3-2.5.
On Sunday closest to the pins were won by Doug Jung on No. 5 with a shot of 27-0. No. 9 was won by Rene Alvarez at 12-7. No. 10 was won by Ken Liedes with a shot of 5-5.5. No. 14 was won by Greg Harrington with a shot of 17-3. I would like to thank Mike Navarre and Arby’s for their continued generous support of this tournament. I would also like to thank Doug Jung and Safeway for providing breakfast snacks each day of the tournament. The Kenai Open was the final Atigun Cup event of the season.
Atigun Cup
The Atigun Cup, sponsored by Bob Sizemore and Atigun, is a season-long points race decided over nine tournament events throughout the season. The Atigun Cup playoff was held this past week. This even includes both gross and net divisions. The playoff system is a match play competition over two days.
In the Gross Division in round one Doug Jung had a bye, Greg Harrington defeated Todd Eskelin, Ken Liedes defeated Gordon Griffin, and Gilbert Arellano defeated Rene Alvarez. In round two Greg Harrington defeated Doug Jung, Gilbert Arellano defeated Ken Liedes. In the finals Gilbert Arellano defeated Greg Harrington for the Gross Championship with Doug Jung finishing in third place.
In the Net Division, Kirk Hyman and Mike Houghton had byes in the first round, Chuck Rupenthal defeated Aaron Cooper and Joe Deveaux defeated Steve Fickes. In the second round Mike Houghton defeated Joe Deveaux, Chuck Rupenthal defeated Kirk Hyman. In the final Mike Houghton defeated Chuck Rupenthal with Joe Deveaux finishing in third place. Again, I would like to thank Bob Sizemore for support of this event.
Senior League, Aug. 26: Eighteen seniors took to the field. The low net winner was John Davis with a net score of 32. There was a three-way tie for second low net: Charlie Waguespach, Demie Byram and Skip Dove each shot a net score of 33. Closest to the pin on No. 5 was won by Bill Davis. Congratulations, Bill! We will miss you during the last month of the season.
Senior League, Sept. 2: Fifteen hardy seniors tackled the Kenai Course. First low net was won by Bobby Bush with a net score of 33. Second low net was won by Noel Widmayer with a score of 34. One skin was won by Pat Bowen on No. 8 and one skin was won by Dwight Kramer on No. 9. Long putt on No. 1 was won by Noel Widmayer. To Bobby Bush: Congratulations on your win. We all want you to know that we think about you each and every day. My friend, keep fighting the good fight. We are pulling for you!
As you can see, the Kenai Golf Course continues to be busy with regular play, tournament and other special events. The last KGA event will be held Sunday. The final tournament of the season is the Glow Ball Tournament on Sept. 20, hosted by River City Cheer. Registration forms are available at the clubhouse, or call River City Cheer. Men’s Night is Thursday at 6 p.m. Ladies Day is Thursday at 12:30.
As always, see you on the course for some beautiful fall golf. Caribou play through!
