This coming weekend, August 8-10th, the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club (AGYC) will host its 38th annual “Skippers and Mates” golf tournament. This is AGYC’s largest golf tournament of the year and includes golfing couples from as far away as Bellingham, WA.

The festivities begin on Friday, August 8th with a practice round, and the tournament itself will take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 9th and 10th. Participants will enjoy continental breakfasts and delicious lunches on Saturday and Sunday, as well as a buffet dinner on Saturday night.

The frosting on the cake is the $6,000 prize fund for the winners. That makes for some exciting stakes, I think!

Even though registration for this tournament closed on August 1st, you can still enjoy golfing on one of the nicest courses in Washington State, because the Alderbrook Golf Course is open to the public. 

Here’s what one AGYC member has to say about the Alderbrook golf course:

“The Alderbrook golf course is cut into the forested hills just a mile from the Alderbrook Inn on the Canal. Someday you will be coming down our finishing hole, you will look over the 18th green, see the majestic snow-capped Olympic mountains, and say as I have many times, ‘this must be God’s country, and I’m living the dream…’ The golf course is laid out with no parallel fairways. No stray balls to duck, no other golfers to hear. Just listen to the birds and the breeze.”

Sounds like a dream to me, and a very pleasant one, at that!

Exactly one week from today, on July 22nd, the Frank Rodia Ladies Memorial Golf Tournament will kick off at the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club.

This tournament, open to female members of the Alderbrook Golf and Yacht Club, began as a memorial honoring Frank Rodia, a golf pro who lived on Hood Canal and supported golf for youth and women. When he passed away, his widow donated funds to put on a golf tournament in his memory. The Alderbrook Ladies Club has also donated money for this tournament, and expanded it as a memorial tournament for Alderbrook members who have passed away.

After the tournament concludes on Thursday, July 24th, everyone will gather at a member’s home for pot luck snacks and beverages, and to applaud the winners of the tournament.

Although this tournament is only open to members of Alderbrook, the Alderbrook Golf Course is open to the public. If you visit the home page of their website, you can watch a slide show of some stunning aerial photos of the golf course. The photo gallery (3rd link down, located on the left side of the home page) also has some wonderful ground-level views of our beautiful course. Check it out!

This weekend brings many opportunities to get out, meet new people, and have some fun. If you’re at loose ends and wondering what to do, I have a few ideas for you …

Music in the Park – This weekly outdoor concert series kicks off at 7 p.m. this Thursday, July 10th at the downtown Shelton Post Office Park and features “A Warm Cup of Jazz” with Maia Santell and House Blend, who will perform a mix of jazz, blues, swing, big band, jump blues and R&B.

 Community Yard Sale – The Community Church of Union is sponsoring this community yard sale on Friday, 7/11 and Saturday, 7/12 at the site of their future location. If you’d like to be a vendor, you pay $15 for a space ($25 if you need a table provided) and are responsible to man your booth, sell your own stuff, and take any unsold items back home with you at the end of the day.

Alderbrook Men’s Golf Club Field Day – The Alderbrook Men’s Golf Club is holding their Field Day on Saturday, July 12th beginning at 8 a.m. They will have chipping and putting contests before the event and lunch will be served at the Wickiup picnic area.

3rd Annual Mason County Fair Wine Competition – This competition, held at Alderbrook Resort in Union on Sunday, July 13th, is open to all Washington State wineries. Judging will take place in 32 different wine categories and grape varieties, and medals will be awarded based on appearance, aroma, acidity, sugar, flavor, finish, and the overall quality of each wine.

So, let’s see … music, yard sale, golf field day, wine competition … pick your favorites and check them out! Leave a comment below after your favorite event, letting us know how you enjoyed it.

Female members of the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club will celebrate one of their biggest events of the year this Thursday, July 10th, when 128 women from all over the Northwest – including Oregon and Idaho – will meet at the Alderbrook Golf Course to play in an annual midsummer tournament.

The theme for this year’s tournament is “Tour of the Vineyards,” and many women arrive a day or two early in order to catch a few practice rounds before the tournament begins.

This tournament has been held for about 30 years, and is one of the highlights of the Ladies Golf Club at Alderbrook. Tournament participants share a continental breakfast together before the shotgun start of the tournament at 9 a.m. After all play is complete, the women come together again to enjoy a delicious lunch, during which the tournament winners are recognized with prizes.

And for those women who might be afraid that they won’t win the tournament, don’t despair. You might still win a prize in the raffle which will be held during lunch, and I’ve got to tell you that there are some serious raffle prizes on the table. In fact, this year’s prizes include a trip to Mexico as well as a trip to Hawaii. Sounds like some pretty nice consolation prizes to me!

The Ladies Club at the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club will hold its annual Rhododendron Tournament on May 6th and 8th. This three-lady, best-ball team competition is lots of good, clean fun, with a great spirit of teamwork (and competition)!

Golfers who have signed up for the tournament in the AGYC clubhouse should show up at 8:30 a.m. to be ready for the 9 a.m. shotgun start on both Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

But this tournament is not just about golf; on May 7th there will also be a bridge tournament, with all the card players joining the golfers on May 8th for lunch and awards. All winners get to pick a beautiful rhododendron as their prize!

On a final note, we’d like to give our heartfelt thanks to Queen Anne Landscaping for providing the beautiful rhodies for the tournament winners. If you live here on the Olympic Peninsula and need some quality landscaping done, you might want to check them out. You can reach owner Rhoda Pykonen at 360-426-4598 for more information on the services they provide. Thanks, Rhoda!

The Men’s Club of the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club will hold its first meeting tomorrow, April 2nd, followed by 18 holes of golf. The following Saturday (4/5), they will hold their annual Ball Buster Tournament, which is open to members, guests and outside players.

The Ball Buster Tournament is a two-man best ball format. It’s fun and challenging because the tee boxes and course are set up to make each hole difficult to play. As one member put it, “It takes extremely lucky shots to even get close.”

The AGYC Men’s Club plays every Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday play is organized so that players have an opportunity to meet new people. On Saturdays, the men choose their own groups and tee times. There are about 70 men who play regularly, and 150 who play occasionally.

In addition, the Men’s Club is planning four Home and Home tournaments. In May, the Alderbrook men will play Lakeland Village; in June, they will play Dungeness; in July, they will play Kitsap and McChord.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Alderbrook’s Men’s Club or any of the above events, you can contact Alderbrook’s Head Golf  Professional Justin Gravatt at 360-898-2560.

Here’s a great gift idea for the golfer who has everything: a Segway made specifically for the golf course. Check it out …

Yup, that’s right! Golfers have their own specially-designed Segway to get them around the greens in style.

The Segway x2 Golf was named “New Product of the Year” by the Association of Private Clubs and Directors at the Golf Industry Show this year. According to Segway’s press release:

Unlike golf carts, the Segway x2 Golf can travel on fairways, speed up game play, and save on costly turf maintenance. It has low-pressure turf tires, a scorecard holder, and a bag carrier that automatically positions clubs upright when the unit is parked. It features breakthrough LeanSteer™ technology that makes the ride intuitive, and a wireless InfoKey™ controller that provides added convenience and security.

Now, that’s all well and good, but I think what really sells this is the “cool factor.” I mean, who wants to ride in an old-fashioned golf cart when you can be the envy of the course, arriving at your next hole in style? It’s like having a golf cart and a caddy all in one!

Of course, I’m waiting for the version that will tell me which club to use on this hole while giving me pointers on how to improve my swing. Now, THAT would be cool!

March is here, and spring is just around the corner. Unless you were one of the intrepid folks who braved the cold to get in a few holes of golf during the winter months, it’s been a while since you took a swing.

As we ease into spring, it’s tempting to head out for a round of golf on the first sunny, warm day. But be careful … you don’t want to end up injuring yourself! Take a few minutes and spend some time warming up your muscles before you head into the game. This is especially important when you haven’t played for a while, but it’s also a great habit that will improve your game.

Warming up before playing is one of the things separating good players from great players, and amateurs from professionals. Experts recommend taking up to half an hour before you golf to warm up your muscles by walking, stretching, and taking some practice swings. Start with slower, smoother putting swings and work your way up to the full swing drives.

You can find some specific stretches for golfers at www.golf-trainer.com and other golf Web sites.

And while you’re surfing the net, check out this video on improving your golf swing. Be sure and take notes. (grin) Feel free to share your own suggestions for improving golf swings in our comments section.

With all the hoopla about the winter storms passing through the Pacific Northwest recently, some may assume no golfing is possible during the winter on the Olympic Peninsula. Nothing could be further from the truth.

OK, yes, it’s true that we do sometimes have bad weather here. But it’s also true that we enjoy a mostly mild and temperate climate – not too hot, not too cold – even in the heat of summer or the dead of winter.

If you need proof, check out these lovely pictures (above and below) of Alderbrook Golf Course, taken in January of this year by a member out golfing – yes, you heard me – golfing!

And here’s a report on that outing from that member’s wife (who sent me the lovely pictures):

This is not spring at Alderbrook, but a day when the snow and frost disappeared and the golfers (my husband among them) finally got out to find out whether their golf swing had abandoned them during the holidays and winter storms. They had to play on temporary greens (to protect the permanent greens while the ground was still cold), but this didn’t deter any of them. They turned up the heaters in the golf carts full blast, and passed around the hot schnapps. I don’t think anyone cared what they scored … it just felt so good to be out and swinging a club.

While it’s true we may have to make some concessions to the season (and hot schnapps sounds like a pretty fun concession to make!) I think that just adds to the experience. Variety, they say, is the spice of life! Why not mix it up a little?

What’s your favorite golfing weather? Have you ever golfed under less-than-ideal conditions? Share your golf stories in our comments section.