By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka golfers hit the fairways in a neck-and-neck competition that ended in a tie breaker Sunday in the annual Chamber of Commerce golf tournament, at the Sea Mountain course.
For Chamber Executive Director Rachel Roy, the sunny skies and temperatures that went into the 60s stood out as a highlight of the tournament.
“We had an awesome weekend,” Roy said over the phone this morning. “We play our tournament rain or shine, but shine is so much more fun. And the sun was shining from the moment we got out to the golf course and it didn’t even get blocked, really, throughout the whole tournament, so the teams were so happy, and it was really, really fun out there.”
Wendy Lindskoog, of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, one of the corporate sponsors of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce golf tournament, takes a shot at Sea Mountain Golf Course Sunday. It was the first time the tournament has been held since the pandemic. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
At the end of 18 holes of play, the two leading teams were tied with 52 strokes.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had a tie for first place and it’s not the first time we’ve had a tie between these two teams… you kind of felt the frustration of not winning,” she recalled.
To break the tie, the teams broke down their scorecards hole by hole.
“We use a best score from hole number four in the first round to determine the winner and the teams that got it – they were still tied. So I went back to hole number two and that was the tiebreaker,” Roy said.
With the winner settled, Ed Conway, Wayne Hagerman, Willy Schrantz, and Tyler McCarty wound up on top in Sitka’s first golf tournament since before the beginning of the pandemic.
Players on the second-place team were Jess Coltharp, Bryn Calhoun, Brian LeBlanc and Jesse Pepper.
Third-place team members were Lonny Greenough, Joel Whitcom, Greg Bartolaba and Todd Cline.
In previous years, Roy noted, tie breakers have been so tight that teams have had to determine the winner in a putting competition.
“We’ve even had a tie that took us out and we had a putting contest to see who might break the tie,” she said.
Prizes went to the top teams, and to the worst team with the most strokes. No one made a hole-in-one on the third hole to claim the $25,000 prize, though a number of players on the leading teams made a birdie – one below par – on the par three hole.
Despite the competition, Roy stressed the relaxed social aspect of the game.
“There’s always a lot of laughter and kind of camaraderie you see in the players being really supportive or being jovial or joking. They’re playful with each other. We also have a lot of support for newer players and seasoned players that team up with someone who has less experience golfing,” she said.
She added that representatives from Alaska Seaplanes and Royal Caribbean were present and networking at the tournament. The presence of cruise line representatives foreshadowed the expected return of large cruise vessels to Alaskan ports this summer. Sitka is slated to see its first big ship in late July. Roy was also appreciative of SEARHC’s sponsorship of the game.
“We’re really thankful for their sponsorship, it makes for a really successful tournament,” she said.
She hoped that the tournament would encourage Sitkans to golf more over the summer.
“Getting people out there to see the course and encouraging people to check it out this summer. They’ve done such a good job keeping all the trails and pathways… It’s so green out there and such a cool thing to do on your weekend or evening,” she said.
