Pro am and skins game returns to Birch Ridge

The team of Zac Cowan and Shane Sundberg and the team of Beau Forrest and George Collum tied for first place in the skins portion of the State Farm Agent Heith Groth Pro Am and Skins Game on Monday at Birch Ridge Golf Course in Soldotna.

Both teams won $1,100 in skins, while the team of Nolan Rose and Bill Engberg won $300.

In a skins game, a dollar amount is assigned to each hole. If the hole is not won outright, the dollar amount pushes to the next hole.

The event was a standard at Birch Ridge for years, but the last two years Cowan, the co-owner of the course, put the prize money in the Kenai Peninsula Open.

“Last year, we had two pros and 26 ams,” Cowan said of the Kenai Peninsula Open. “It was very small and that kind of deflated it for me.”

Cowan decided to go back to the Monday pro am and skins game. The event had three pros after a few dropped out at the last minute, but Cowan is excited about the return of the event and said he will network for more participation next year.

The lack of pros meant amateurs Forrest, Sundberg and Rose got the chance to pair with pros Cowan, Kenai Golf Course’s Engberg and Palmer Golf Course’s Collum.

Forrest and Rose are former pros, while Sundberg won a tournament at Southwestern Oregon Community College in the fall and was second in the Alaska State Match Play Championship on Sunday, so there was still plenty of firepower on the course.

The amateurs got half their winnings in gift certificates, and gave the other half to Birch Ridge junior golf.

The event started slowly when all teams made par at the first, then Rose and Engberg took $300 with a par on No. 2.

“There’s a little bit of stiffness that goes back in sitting around for an hour and a half, then a little bit of nerves at the beginning,” Cowan said. “So that’s why the first few holes are usually worth a little bit less.

“Then as you get in the rhythm of things and starting warming up, the better golf shows up.”

On the par-5 No. 3, Collum and Forrest got things rolling with an up-and-down birdie for $200.

Collum then rolled in a 15-footer at the par-5 fourth to swell his squad’s coffers to $400.

“Shane and I had our tee shots dialed in,” Cowan said. “We were hitting off the tee box very well.

“But the first few holes, we couldn’t do anything with them.”

Sundberg had played 18 holes Thursday, 18 Friday, 36 Saturday and 36 Sunday. He had to play 27 Monday.

Still, he got his team going by chipping in with a hybrid on the par-4 fifth for birdie and $300.

“That gave us some momentum there,” said Sundberg, who grew up playing Birch Ridge. “I hit that shot in college. I practiced it quite a bit.

“I told Zac before I hit it, I was trying to make it.”

The team stayed hot when Cowan hit an 8-iron to 3 feet on the par-3, 150-yard sixth.

“Shane chipping in with the hybrid on 5 gave me momentum to really focus in on that iron shot on 6,” Cowan said.

Sundberg made the putt and suddenly the team had $600.

Forrest now lives and works in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, but he grew up playing golf in the area.

He comes up this time of year for golf tournaments, family time and fishing.

Forrest was the only one to put his tee shot on the par-3, 165-yard No. 8. Collum knocked a 30-footer to gimme range and his team had $1,100, with the $500 on the par-4 No. 9 left to be decided.

Sundberg blasted his tee shot just off the front of the green, while Collum left Forrest a 128-yard approach to the green.

Forrest wedged a draw around a tree guarding the green and nestled the ball about 4 feet from the pin at the back of the green.

“That shot on No. 9 was one of the best wedge shots I’ve hit in a long time, especially under the conditions,” Forrest said.

He said Collum just told him to play at the tree and let the ball draw to the back of the green.

Cowan had a long chip shot up the hill to the pin and put in 12 feet by.

Sundberg came through by knocking in that putt for birdie.

“I played right edge and just kept the pace and rammed it in the back of the hole,” Sundberg said. “There’s no point in leaving it short at that point.

“I gave it a run at the back of the hole and it went in.”

Collum then had his short putt for birdie horseshoe out of the hole, giving Sundberg and Cowan the $500 to tie.

Forrest said he played with Collum multiple times in the past at the skins event when both were pros.

He said he’s won a lot of money with Collum and trusts him as a putter.

“He hit a great putt,” Forrest said. “If you hit that putt 10 times, it might go in five.

“With the dampness on the greens, and the grass has been growing all day, sometimes the ball just wiggles a little bit and it doesn’t fall.”

In the Pro Am, Cowan was the top professional with a 1-under par 71 for $1,000, Engberg was second with a 78 for $1,200 and Collum was third at 79 for $500.

In the amateur division, the top five in both gross and net were paid out with gift certificates to the pro shop.

In gross, Forrest was first with a 70 for $450, Rose was second with 71 for $375, Sundberg was third with 72 for $300, Marcus Dolejsi was fourth with 78 for $200 and Mark Azzara won a card-off with 79 for $100.

In net, Fred Zumbahl was first with 65 for $450, Dave Matthews was second with 66 for $375, Eugene Malone third at 68 for $300, JD Mitchell was fourth at 68 for $200 and Mike Chenault was fifth at 69 for $100.

The top team was Rose, Malone, Jared Ramm and Forrest for a team payout of $1,600.

The second team was Engberg, Keely Sundberg, Shane Sundberg and Craig Jung for a payout of $1,200.

The third team Zac Cowan, Pat Cowan, Chenault and Eddie Sibolboro for a payout of $800.

The fourth team was George Collum, Ty Collum, Mitchell and Matthews for a payout of $600.

Engberg came out of a blind draw for the fifth-place team. The squad also included Jack Meyer, Mike Navarre and Cliff Copus, and received $400.

Cowan also thanked Klebs Mechanical, Alaska Sign Source and Birch Ridge Golf Association for additional sponsorship.