— from Nicole Matisse Duke —
On Saturday, September 6, a cloudless blue sky graced the greens of the Orcas Island Golf Course as eight teams competed in the 20th Annual Orcas Center Golf Classic. For 20 years the Golf Classic has raised funds for Orcas Center’s programming while bringing players together for a competitive day of golf. This year’s Golf Classic committee – Theron Soderlund, Chris Dolan, Kathy Kantrud, and Jeremy Avondet – put together a winning day of fun for all involved, including 18 holes of golf and an awards ceremony complete with a tasty BBQ lunch featuring burgers from the Lower Tavern and beer from local brewers Island Hoppin’. Players had the opportunity to up the fundraiser ante by paying-to-play at the third and ninth holes by hitting a car placed on the green and a raft in the pond.
The big winners of the day were the Lower Tavern team of Jim Passer, James McGrath, Scott Wallace, and Josh Mayson. Their lowest gross score earned them the grand prize of a day of play at Chambers Bay, in Tacoma, Washington. Chambers Bay is the future location and host of the 2015 U.S. Open, and it is a challenging course with stellar views. Orcas Center’s team of Theron Soderlund, Chris Dolan, Jason Dean, and Leith Templin earned the lowest gross mixed score, while Dale Scharnhorst and Jenna Hall won the longest drive respectively for men and women. The closest to pin winner for the day was Foster Hildreth.
All in all it was a great day of golf and camaraderie, and made for a fantastic finale for Orcas Center’s part in the Golf Classic. Orcas Island Golf Course is taking the reins of production for the Golf Classic in years to come, so stay tuned to see what they have in store for our island golfers.
Orcas Center thanks the following generous organizations and individuals who all collectively made this year’s event possible: Event Sponsors Lower Tavern, Islanders Bank, Orcas Island Golf Course, and Island Market; Hole Sponsors West Sound Marina and Salt Spray Window Cleaning; Grand Prize Donors Islanders Bank, San Juan Airlines, and Terra Firma; Student/Volunteer Player Sponsors Josie & Wally Barrow, Geoff Lemon, Diane Jarecki, Kiwanis Club, and Stolz Kau Architects; and Prize Sponsors Country Corner, Orcas Center, and Orcas Island Golf Course.
