2023 Volunteer of the Year
BOISE, Idaho —The Idaho Golf Association is excited to announce the recipient of the 2023 Volunteer of the Year Award: Karen Edwards. The VOY Award is given to individuals who go above and beyond in helping the IGA and those who participate in its services. The IGA’s volunteers are asked to do a plethora of tasks: live scoring, coordinate events, Course Rating, and more.
Edwards was a stalwart all year as she volunteered for nine of the 14 qualifiers and championships the IGA hosted this past season. If the event was in or near the Treasure Valley, she was there—that’s even including the U.S. Four-Ball Qualifier at Desert Canyon GC in Mountain Home! Edwards often worked multiple days and double shifts for many of these events. As a championship volunteer, she served as a shuttle driver and as a live scorer. Edwards gave off her time and talents in whatever capacity she served in. She also fit right in with the IGA Staff and its other volunteers.
Edwards volunteered at the following events:
-U.S. Open Local Qualifier (shuttle driver)
-U.S. Junior Qualifier (shuttle driver)
-U.S. Amateur Qualifier (live scorer)
-U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifier (shuttle driver)
-U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifier (live scorer)
-U.S. Four-Ball Qualifier (live scorer)
-IGA Senior Amateur Championship (live scorer)
-IGA Senior Tournament of Champions (live scorer)
-IGA Tournament of Champions (live scorer)
The IGA’s Manager of Rules & Competitions, Nicole Bird, said: “[Karen Edwards] was very deserving of the Volunteer of the Year Award for 2023. She attended most of our championships and qualifiers this year to help with live scoring, shuttle driving, and anything else we needed.”
"She's very dependable and loves chatting with all of the players to learn where they're from and how they are playing,” Bird further stated. “The players enjoy interacting with [Karen] because she's always so cheerful and helpful out on the course. We love having [her] volunteer at our events!”
Her service will continue to be of great value to the IGA for many more years to come.
The IGA would like to congratulate Edwards again on a job well done this year and express its gratitude toward her and all the other volunteers who sacrifice time away from other meaningful things in their lives to give back to the game they each love.
For those interested in volunteering next season, please send an email to Nicole Bird at nicole@idahoga.org for championships, Nicole Rutledge at nicole.r@idahoga.org for Course Rating, and Cecilia Baney at cecilia@idahoga.org for the Idaho Junior Tour.
IGA Course Rating Volunteers: Tim and Julie Finup
1 – Where are you originally from? If not from Idaho, what brought you here?
Tim is from Michigan originally and came to Idaho for work. Julie was born and raised in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
2 – What is/was your career occupation?
Tim was an operations engineer and manager at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Julie was a supervisor for the Department of Energy overseeing operations of the contractors at the INL.
3 – What is it about the game of golf that you love so much?
Julie loves the friendly competition and friendships she has made through leagues and tournaments. Tim loves challenging himself on every shot. Every shot is different depending on the courses being played.
Julie and Tim Finup enjoy the chance to be spectators at the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links in South Carolina.
4 – What made you want to volunteer for the IGA?
The head pro at Pinecrest GC recommended it to us as a good retirement activity that would allow us to see all the courses around Idaho. Also, a friend at our country club does Course Rating and said it was really good in helping one understand the game better. When did you start? We started doing course ratings and helping with scoring at tournaments in 2022.
5 – What do you hope to get out of volunteering for the IGA? What motivates you to keep coming back?
A better understanding of how golf course conditions play into the handicapping system and playability of the course. It’s fun to work with the other volunteers and play new courses that we haven’t played before.
6 – What has been your favorite memory from volunteering for the IGA?
There are too many to pick just one. It has been interesting to hear all the different perspectives on how a hole should be rated. Playing golf and validating our assumptions has been an eye-opener.
7 – What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering?
DO IT, volunteering is very rewarding, and being able to learn and do something you love together is a plus.
8 – What is your fondest memory on the golf course?
For Julie, it was the hole-in-one she made at Sage Lakes GC in Idaho Falls. For Tim, it’s the feel of a really good golf shot.
9 – When were you introduced to the sport? By who?
For Julie, she was introduced by Tim after they got married in 1992. Tim was introduced to the sport in his freshman year (1980) of college by a friend.
10 – What is your home club? How often do you play?
Our home club is the Idaho Falls CC. Julie plays four to five times a week in different leagues in Idaho. Tim plays two to three times a week during the summer months in Idaho, and we take several golf trips during the fall and winter months.
11 – What's something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
Neither one of us likes to be around big groups of people, but golf is the exception.
12 – Who would be a part of your dream foursome to play a round of golf with?
For Julie, it would be Annika Sörenstam, Julie Inkster, Lexi Thompson and herself. For Tim, it would be Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Bryson Dechambeau and himself.
13 - What has been your favorite golf course that you have played?
We both really enjoyed playing Glen Eagles in Scotland, with Kingsbarns GC being a close second. In the States, we would have to say Firestone CC.
14 – Describe your golf game in six words.
Tim: simplicity, accuracy, and consistency
Julie: A work in progress.
15 – What's one item that you can’t live without?
For Tim, it’s a really lofted wedge. For Julie, it’s her driver.
Familiar Faces Take Home TOC Titles
Nate Smith hits his approach into the 18th at Falcon Crest Golf Club. | Shane René
Written By: Shane René
Scott Masingill acknowledges the crowd after tapping in the winning putt. | Shane René
Falcon Crest Golf Club spills down and around one of few highpoints in the long, flat stretch of land running south of Boise toward Kuna, exposing itself to the winds known well to residents of the south Treasure Valley. Players in the 2023 Tournament of Champions battled a heavy dose of those winds last week, watching golden leaves and golf balls blown from their intended lines.
It’s no surprise that some of the IGA’s most consistent and proven competitors — including Scott Masingill, Fran Matthias, Kris Fenwick, Shawna Ianson, Courtney Walters, and Nate Smith — walked away with hardware.
Senior Divisions:
Kris Fenwick. | Shane René
The festivities kicked off Wednesday for the Senior and Super-Senior divisions, as club and state champions alike took to the first tee on a brisk and cloudy morning. Karen Darrington and Scott Masingill headlined the list of favorites and found themselves pinned comfortably near the top of the leaderboard before the start of the final round.
Karen Darrington and her husband, Phil. | Shane René
Masingill, the 2023 Senior Amateur champion, opened with a three-under round of 69 for a two-stroke advantage over Whitetail’s Bob Wheeler, the only other player to drag their round under par on Wednesday. With a bogey on the benign first hole, Masingill returned to his usually mistake-free form, coasting into Falcon Crest’s famously brawny final hole. Poking driver down the middle, Masingill turned his eyes away from water, laying up into the thin stretch of refuge on the left-hand side. With a wedge and a two putt, Masingill finished with 74 — 16 pars and bookend bogeys — to win his second-consecutive Senior TOC title.
On the women’s side, Stacey Camara found herself two-strokes clear of the revered Karen Darrington at the close of play on Wednesday. In her last competitive round before embarking on an 18-month mission to Tonga, Darrington came out of the gates with a tropical heat. A bogey-free 33 on the front nine vaulted her into the lead, before she cooled off in the pond guarding the 10th green. She earned a shot back with a birdie on the par-five 11th, but leaked oil down the rest of the back nine.
In Darrington’s wake, Kris Fenwick put her head down, playing her final eight holes in even par, finishing one shot clear of Darrington. Fenwicks win is her third consecutive victory at the Senior Women’s TOC, but she notched a rare victory over Darrington, a long-time friend and competitor.
“Karen has made me a better golfer over the years,” Fenwick said. “Today I feel like I graduated.”
Following the round, Karen Darrington was given an award for her eight years of service on the IGA Board of Directors, and continued excellence as model amateur player in the state of Idaho.
Super-Senior Divisions:
While the men in the IGA’s super-senior divisions are winning the war against Father Time, they keep losing battles to Fran Matthias. But through just a few holes on Thursday morning, the tables seemed to be turning in their favor.
Matthias rolled out to a two-stroke lead on Wednesday, but two double bogeys in the early goings of his final round had him tumbling down the leader board. After a front-nine 42, another double bogey at the par-5 11th had Matthias’ chances evaporating like the autumn foliage. Then he found his first birdie of the day one hole later, collecting two more on the gettable 15th and 16th, before navigating the 18th for a bogey that would cement his second consecutive Super-Senior TOC title by one stroke. Last year, he won by 11.
If you’ve spent time around IGA Championship events before, odds are you’ve seen the name “Ianson” floating around on a leaderboard. This year, former Senior TOC Champion Shawna Ianson found her way back into the TOC winners circle with a four-stroke win in the Women’s Super-Senior division. On a golf course that was playing long without the wind, Shawna took hold of the lead with an opening round of 90, shaving one shot in the final round to be one of just two players in her division to break 90.
Men’s and Women’s Division:
Courtney Walters
In a dazzling five-birdie display in the first round of the regular TOC event, Boise Ranch club champion Emily Callahan found herself with a two-stroke lead after round one. Out of the River Club, Courtney Walters played her final 13 holes in two-under to salvage an even-par 72.
Callahan leaked oil early in the final round, managing just three pars for a score of 41 on the front nine. Walters, meanwhile, opened with birdie on the first to go along with 7 pars, opening a lead that would continue to grow as the front runners made their way to the final hole. Like many of this week’s champions, a cozy, closing bogey was more than enough to nail the coffin shut, walking home with a nine-stroke victory.
Nate Smith
On the men’s side, Tetonia resident and former PGA Tour professional Nate Smith overcame a two-shot deficit in the first round to finish four shots clear of the field for his first win since regaining his amateur status.
On Saturday, 2023 Idaho State Mid-Amateur champion Jesse Hibler rolled home with a birdie-eagle-par finish to shoot 69. Smith stumbled on the 18th hole to finish with 71. But the professional still lives within the Duke University graduate, who opened the final round with back-to-back birdies, jumping him into the lead after a double bogey from Hibler on the tight, par-four 3rd. The battle continued through the middle of the round as Hibler made back-to-back birdies on the 9th and 10th, a two-stroke swing that would send Hibler back into the lead.
Smith absorbed another bogey on the 12th, but Hibler was having bigger problems of his own, making double bogey on the 13th and 15th, a stretch that Smith played in one-under. With another birdie on the 16th, Smith arrived on the 18th tee with a four-shot lead over Issac Emerson, who made a valiant charge with a final round 70.
“Winning is hard, and it’s been a long time since I’ve won a tournament,” Smith said.
USGA Rules Team Helps You Navigate Your Fall Round
Leaves in the fairway? Aerated greens? Navigate some of the most common Rules situations you might encounter during a Fall round. (Fred Vuich/USGA)
Written by Danny Vohden, USGA
I hit my ball into a pile of leaves, now what?
This involves what the Rules of Golf calls “loose impediments.” In other words, any unattached, natural objects that can be easily removed – things like stones, loose grass and yes, leaves.
Since 2019, golfers are allowed to move those loose impediments anywhere on the golf course, including in a bunker or penalty area. If your ball moves while removing the loose impediment, it’s a one-stroke penalty and you must put the ball back… except if you’re on the putting green. In that case, just put the ball back where it was and play on without penalty.
So feel free to move those leaves out of your way before making your next stroke, but do so carefully. And keep in mind that you can remove leaves, and other loose impediments, by any means. That could mean your hands, a towel, your hat – whatever you’ve got in your bag. Just don’t move the ball!
But wait, isn’t there a “leaf Rule” that gives me free relief?
The short answer is, it depends. The golf course or the Committee running a tournament has the authority to enact Model Local Rule F-14, which allows areas with temporary accumulations of loose impediments (like a pile of leaves) to be treated as ground under repair. This means that you can take free relief from this area, including for a ball that you know is in the pile, even if you can’t find it.
My course is aerating the fairways and greens; what happens if my ball lands in one of the holes?
Aeration holes are not considered ground under repair, so relief is not allowed. But like the so-called “leaf Rule” above, relief may be permitted if a Model Local Rule (E-4) is in effect.
Everyone understands that golfers don’t necessarily want to play on greens and fairways that have just been aerated, but it’s important to keep in mind that the short-term disruption is significantly outweighed by the long-term benefits. For more on that, listen to the USGA Green Section.
What about other Fall maintenance projects underway at my course?
Let’s say there’s been a tree removed or new irrigation system installed – any holes or trenches created by the maintenance staff during those types of projects are considered “ground under repair,” and you’re entitled to free relief.
How do Fall conditions impact posting scores for my Handicap Index®?
The USGA Handicapping Department has you covered there. Check out the five things you need to know about Fall golf and the World Handicap System™.
Looking for more details? Check out the Rules of Golf Explained:
*CLICK HERE for the original article.
'...Scott Masingill goes wire-to-wire at Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Championship'
Written by Brayden Conover, USA Today
Photo credited to USA Today
SUPER SENIORS
With a 16-stroke lead heading into the final round, the only question remaining for Scott Masingill was not if he was going to win, but by how many.
“Yesterday, we talked about confidence,” Masingill told Golfweek. “You know, you can be too confident and think ‘I don’t really have to concentrate.”
No matter how experienced you are or how well you may be playing, golf has a funny way of humbling you.
Masingill had a tap in left for par on the par-4 9th. Sweeping it into the hole, it lipped out and resulted in a bogey for the 1971 Pac-8 conference champion (1971, Oregon State). Closing the championship with a 3-over 75, Masingill had wise words that everyone can benefit from:
“There’s the right amount of confidence and there’s the right amount of intensity. You can’t try too hard and you can’t assume that you’re such a good player that you can just go out and play and everything will work out, because it won’t.”
Despite the uncharacteristic day, Masingill closes the week at Wine Valley with the best score to par across the entire field at 7 under 209 and a 17-stroke win in the Super Senior division. Not too shabby for the 72-year-old Idaho legend.
Dan Parkinson (10 over) and Frank Maxwell (12 over) rounded out the podium spots.
*This story has been shortened. To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Distance, solid putting, good teamwork make winning formula
Written by Beaux Yenchik, Manager of Media and Communications
The majority of the sporting world, including those of us who have invested our time and money in golf, find that most of these recreational hobbies were designed to play with a team. Basketball has five players on the floor with the remaining teammates on the bench. Football and soccer have 11. And you get the picture.
Each team is led by a head coach or manager who schemes and plots the path to victory for those he or she leads. Cultures are established. Team banners are hung from the rafters, while parades glide through cities with celebrations adorning the air.
Yet golf, like tennis, is played as an individual. Each choice, swing, putt, etc. comes down to the operator of the golf club. There is no one to blame but oneself for an errant tee shot or a missed birdie putt from close range. Golf intensifies areas like self-accountability and integrity. But, at the end of the day, aren’t these some of the many reasons why we all love the game of golf?
However, all that individuality gets thrown out the window when it comes to team events like the Ryder or Solheim Cup! (I don’t know about you, but the week of the Ryder Cup is one of my favorite times to watch golf along with the majors.) Wouldn’t you agree?
It isn’t often that golfers get the opportunity to play team golf. You have the exceptions like those who play for their respected school teams, but beyond that, for the however many other 90-something percenters that don’t play in those settings, it can be fun and unknown.
On the local level, the Idaho Golf Association has the occasional team event that gives golfers the opportunity to drop their solo acts and go duet-style in various tournaments: the PNGA Lamey Cup, Hogan Cup, Carter Cup, Girls Junior Americas Cup, etc. These team events for both our adult and junior participants give some of our top players opportunities to play in local or regional events that feel like miniature Ryder Cups.
However, there is an event, the IGA Four-Ball Championship, that gives every IGA member an opportunity to play competitively with a partner against the likes of some of the best amateur golfers around the state. It is a two-day event, and this year it was held at RedHawk Golf Course in Nampa – one of the top public courses around.
The field consisted of 45 teams: 25 men, 11 senior men and nine women pairings. Playing a total of 36 holes, each team set off to compete in what is called a four-ball format. For those of you who don’t know what this specific format is, the USGA defines it as “a form of play (in either match play or stroke play) involving partners where two partners compete together as a side, with each player playing their own ball, and a side’s score for a hole is the lower score of the two partners on that hole.”
Simple enough?
What makes this format very intriguing is the balancing act teams have to have as they make their way through each round. The hope for each team is to have the ability to “ham and egg” it on every hole if necessary — always ensuring that at least one partner is playing well on any given hole.
"One of us hitting a birdie [made] the other one [think] ‘alright, I got this’ [and feel motivated to play better and help the team out],” Katie Dearing said when referring to the effects team play can have.
The teams that faired the most in this challenging but doable style of play were Burke Spensky & Justin Merz (men’s winners), Stephen Hartnett & Louis Burke (senior men’s winners), and Dearing & Denise Smith (women’s winners).
These three pairings tackled the daunting task that RedHawk GC presented to each and every golfer who stepped onto its lakeside grounds. From undulating fairways to hard, fast greens, each of these winners managed to rely on their individual strengths to help carry their teams through to the finish line.
For the three winning teams, it was their ability to be long and straight off the tee on a course that pushed north of 6,700 yards (from the back tees). Though the fairways were generous with their widths, if players got outside those boundaries, the long rough and fescue seemed to strangle all hope for the very next shot — a scenario the winners seemed to manage quite well.
"Distance travels everywhere,” Spensky stated. “You can hit all the greens you want, but if you are 30 feet away, you can three-putt these greens.”
"I think for us, keeping two balls in play was huge,” Dearing added. “So, it took the pressure off of one as long [was in the fairway] or at least in play…”
Though driving the ball far and keeping it straight was helpful, having short games that stood up and did not falter under pressure was even more crucial for these three duos. The team of Hartnett and Burke managed to hold off back-to-back defending champions Jay Sutton and Dan Pickens with a key birdie putt on their final hole of the tournament. Spensky’s 30-foot redemption putt on the second playoff hole to win proved to be a key ingredient down the stretch. Team Dearing-Smith rolled in two birdies in their last three holes to give them a two-shot victory.
Though each team’s philosophy and chemistry were different, each managed to take advantage of their length and accuracy off the tee and their ability to make putts when it mattered — proving team golf to be an exciting challenge unlike any other in this sport.
FINAL RESULTS
-Men’s Four-Ball: Burke Spensky & Justin Merz 65-68 = 133 (-7)
-Men’s Senior Four-Ball: Stephen Hartnett & Louis Burke 70-65 = 135 (-7)
-Women’s Four-Ball: Katie Dearing & Denise Smith 74-69 = 143 (+1)
For a complete look at the 2023 IGA Four-Ball Championships leaderboards, CLICK HERE.
Hiskey memorial unveiled at Twin Falls GC
Hiskey family members from around the country gathered at Twin Falls GC for the ceremony.
On July 29, Twin Falls (Idaho) Parks and Recreation Department unveiled a monument at Twin Falls Municipal Golf Course to celebrate the contributions of the Hiskey family to the city and the state through the game of golf. Hiskey relatives from around the country were in attendance at the ceremony, and Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued a proclamation declaring July 29 as “Hiskey Family Day.”
Pete Hiskey (1902-1987) created a golfing legacy for the Magic Valley. In the wake of the Depression, he helped build the original nine holes of Twin Falls Municipal Golf Course on the old Oregon Trail. He served as its superintendent, directed the city parks department, and helped build Blue Lakes Country Club and several other southern Idaho courses.
Pete and wife Valna raised their family in a stone house near the fifth tee of Twin Falls GC. All the kids caddied, even their daughter Beverly. Their three boys – Sonny, Jim, and Babe – won eight consecutive Idaho amateur championships. Sonny led North Texas State to a NAIA national title, and Jim won three NCAA national team titles while playing for the University of Houston.
Babe played 15 years on the PGA TOUR, winning three times, and a decade on the PGA Champions Tour. He competed in two Masters Tournaments.
The perpetual trophy of the Idaho Golf Association’s Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship is called the Hiskey Family Cup.
Story and photo credited to the Pacific Northwest Golf Association.
A couple of firsts at historic Idaho venue
Written by Beaux Yenchik, Manager of Media and Communications
For those of you who love golf course architecture, Pinecrest Golf Course in Idaho Falls, ID, is the quintessential example of old-school design in Idaho. Its 18 holes are jammed between four city streets in the heart of Eastern Idaho’s biggest metropolis. When playing this diamond in the rough, one would be reminded of what it is like to golf in the Pacific Northwest — skinny fairways lined with tall, mature pine trees.
Pinecrest was built in 1936 and is the oldest course in Idaho, so talk about being rich in history. One walks into the clubhouse and is immediately met by décor reminiscent of the past and its origins. Yet, it could be considered holy ground in the lore of Idaho golf history. So, when the field teed off for the 2023 IGA Mid-Amateur Championships, each player hoped their name would be added to the history books of Pinecrest GC.
With the course not originally designed to cater to the grip-it-and-rip-it type players, the venue found a way to sift the field — bringing the best ball strikers to the top of the leaderboard. Any wayward movement off the tee left players fighting to make par but often settling for bogey.
It was, at least in my opinion, what cost someone the championship on the final hole of regulation. (More to be shared on this later in the article!)
WOMEN’S MID-AMATEUR
There she was, two shots back of first-round leader Melinda Howard after the conclusion of the first round. Having never played in an IGA Championship, Bailey Henley had found herself amongst a field of experienced and trophy-hungry competitors. A score of 79 (+7) had given her claim to second place. Knowing that it wasn’t over by any means, Henley knew her climb to the top would be tough, especially in the local swirling winds, but doable.
Bailey Henley nearly aces the uphill par-3 10th during her opening round.
Friday changed everything for the soon-to-be winner. It could be considered what the PGA Tour calls its Saturdays: “Moving Day.” Yet, in this case, the women’s field moved in one direction from par while Henley went the other way — shooting an astonishing 68 (-4), which stands as the lowest round of the year to this point in any IGA Women’s Championship. Henley had four birdies and an eagle to go along with her two bogeys on holes five and seven.
What was working for her Saturday, and really all weekend, was the flatstick. The interesting tidbit about Henley’s putter was that it wasn’t even hers! She had putted all week with Nicole Bird’s putter, the IGA’s Manager of Rules and Competitions, after showing up to the event without one. When her original putter was offered to go back in the bag, Henley declined since the borrowed one was working.
“It was kind of more about what I didn’t bring, what I forgot to bring,” said Henley when asked about what she brought to the event that had been working for her. “I was really good with the putter this week, which was [Nicole’s] putter because I actually showed up without one...I had under 30 putts in all three rounds, so that was my saving grace this week I would say.”
With a 10-shot lead heading into the final round, Henley merely needed to avoid imploding and the Vickey Mallea trophy would be hers. Though her final round of 81 (+9) wasn’t the lowest score of the day, Henley managed to do just enough to keep her distance from runner-up Kris Fenwick, who ended the week at +19 and seven shots back.
Henley held command of her game throughout the week, not pulling the driver on every hole or attacking every pin. Yes, she took advantage of her length when the opportunity presented itself, but she showed consistent ball striking and solid putting en route to her inaugural IGA victory.
What was unique though about Henley’s performance was her presence and the way she conducted herself amongst her peers. Some may define the stereotypical golfer, at least a tournament-based player, as someone who is serious and keeps to themselves. Henley’s style was not that. She engaged in conversations, always in a happy mood, and even rooted for her fellow competitors.
As she watched her second-to-last putt slip past the hole, she jokingly made fun of the situation, stating that this was her first time and that she needed another shot to win the championship — in a non-bragging manner.
When asked about what else was working for her besides her putting, she stated: “I feel like it didn’t have as much to do with my golf game as much as it was like how much fun I was having. If I am not having a fun time, if I’m not having a good time, and being glad to be here, I am probably not going to do very good...”
Henley finished her championship by posting scores 79-68-81 = 228 (+12).
To see the entire leaderboard, CLICK HERE.
MEN’S MID-AMATEUR & MASTER-40
As he stood on the 18th tee box, Jesse Hibler had found himself two strokes behind the leader, Burke Spensky, with one hole to play. He had just executed what might have been the best up-and-down par of the tournament on the previous hole — giving himself a chance to force a playoff and win the championship if things unfolded in the best outcome possible. Needing to throw his opponent off ever so slightly, Hibler tossed a wrench into the works as he pulled his driver from the bag on a hole that doesn’t require anything more than a 4-iron or hybrid off the tee. With the fairway bending sharply to the left, Hibler proceeded to pipe his drive into a position many players had yet to see that week.
“I just know I had to try to blitz him, so I hit driver where you shouldn’t hit driver to try to make birdie,” Hibler said. “He made a double, I made a par, and we just continued on.”
Having just watched his opponent pull a gutsy move, Spensky kept to his game plan and took a long iron out of the bag — playing the hole the “correct” way. Though steady all day, Spensky proceeded to hit the shot that may have cost him the tournament. The collection of trees to the left of the fairway had reached out and pulled his ball into their grasp, leaving an unsettling punch shot toward the green.
Fast forward a few shots. Spenksy now had a tricky 5-footer for bogey to win, and he watched as his ball lipped out, having taken a brief peek at victory as it glanced at the bottom of the cup while continuing its journey onward. Hibler, needing to respond to the newly found opportunity, stepped up and sunk his 4-foot putt for par to force Spensky to play him in extra holes.
Hibler and Spensky tied with pars on the first playoff hole. Each nearly winning the championship with chips from opposing sides of the green. With the playoff moving to the 15th, the second extra hole, Hibler pummels his driver right down the middle on a hole that is visually intimidating off the tee — out-of-bounds lining the right side of the hole with trees on the left that force players to move the ball left-to-right.
Spensky, needing again to match his opponent’s aggressiveness, proceeded to duck hook the ball off the tee into the greenside bunker on hole No. 17 — never being able to fully recover. Hibler — after hitting his second on to the green — two putted for par to claim his first Mid-Amateur and Master-40 Championship. (2023 being the first IGA Master-40 Championship.) He had snagged the victory right out of the grasp of Spensky, who had gotten wafts of the winner’s circle no more than 30 minutes prior.
“[My] mental set, like I didn’t panic,” Hibler stated when asked what his biggest advantage was for the week. “If it was a 10-footer, 20-footer or a 3-footer, it was the same attitude. I think that is what panned out. I didn’t' over overreact on certain things. I gave myself five to six bad shots, so I didn’t overreact...When it gets down to playing in these things, it is always between the ears.”
Humble in victory, the newly crowned champion had accepted his win in the same manner he would have defeat. Hibler showed graciousness and poise through it all — having proven his mental set to be superior, at least for the week.
Jesse Hibler hits his approach shot on the narrow 17th hole.
So, it comes as no surprise to anyone when Hibler goes wire-to-wire with the lead at the IGA Mid-Amateur Championship. He held off fellow 2023 Lamey Cup teammates Chris Boquette and Nate Smith — who shot a tournament-low 64 on Sunday and whose quintuple bogey on Saturday had kicked him out of contention — and local favorites: Lee Reed, Scott Nelson and Taylor Price.
Hibler had tamed the beast with distance and ball-striking, putting and a crisp short game. He walked away having mastered it all as the Mid-Amateur and Master-40 Champion — shooting 66-68-70 = 204 (-6).
CLICK HERE for the full leaderboard.
CONCLUSION
It was a championship filled with suspense, playoffs, testy weather, and more. It displayed championship-caliber golf on a course that has withstood the test of time. The cream of the crop had risen and those worthy to lift their respected trophies did so.
The IGA’s next event is its Four-Ball Championship at RedHawk Golf Course on September 9 and 10. See you there!
2023 IGA Mid-Amateur Championship Payout
A Growing List of IGA Member Benefits
Written by Caleb Cox, Executive Director
For many years, we at the Idaho Golf Association have been dedicated to primarily two things: running top-notch state championships, tournaments and qualifiers for all ages; and maintaining the USGA’s core services of products. These services include everything from your Handicap Index to every golf course in the state of Idaho being rated by the USGA Course Rating System, demonstrating why these two things are the main reasons IGA memberships are purchased annually.
But did you know that the IGA has more benefits of membership than just owning a Handicap Index?
Throughout the last couple of years, we have been trying to bring you more benefits and opportunities that match your golfing ability, as well as lifestyle and other interests.
While this is a semi-new endeavor with plenty of room to grow, we have been extremely excited to bring some new programs to the IGA membership benefit scope that are well worth your time learning about.
Throughout 2023, we have been updating our member-perks list by working to form partnerships with businesses around the state, where you can take advantage of exclusive deals that are offered to IGA Members only.
These can be found in the “Membership Benefits” section of our website (IdahoGA.org) and will be advertised occasionally on our social media outlets.
These benefits provide a variety of perks, including indoor golf simulators, local online shopping discounts, and deals with local breweries!
Additionally, beginning in last month, we have a new partnership with an online discount platform that has IGA-exclusive deals on travel, food, shopping and tickets. These deals are constantly being updated, sometimes daily, so visit our website and see what’s new.
Last year, our manager of member services, Lexie VanAntwerp, launched our Ladies’ Play Days by hosting the first event at Falcon Crest Golf Club. These events were created to facilitate a great time of social interaction among women golfers of all ability levels under Lexie’s favorite slogan, “Make golf fun again!” Since that first event, Lexie has run several other Ladies’ Play Days both in the Treasure Valley and Magic Valley with an event coming soon to the Idaho Falls area.
Finally, let us not forget about a couple of our favorite events: our Vegas and Palm Desert Getaways. Designed to help golfers play great courses in warmer climates during the offseason, these two fun events have flighted formats that are great for all ability levels. We opened registration for these events in late August, so be sure to sign up early, because these trips usually fill up fast!
*Originally published in the Pacific Northwest Golfer, which will be published digitally soon!
Father Time’s Achilles Heel: senior golfers
Written by Beaux Yenchik, Manager of Media and Communications
Father Time can be quite the fickled character. He takes and gives as he pleases, never really justifying his actions or choices. Though most of his work is done amongst the senior demographic, Father Time disregards age and gender. Yet, he has an Achilles Heel, a specific group of individuals he has yet to figure out how to deal with, senior-aged golfers.
Though the style of golf they played may be slightly different from those of yesteryears, it was clearly evident at the 2023 Senior Amateur Championship that these seniors can still flat-out ball. It’s as if each stopped by the Fountain of Youth for a brief welcome drink before they pulled off of Aura Vista Way into the pebble-ridden parking lot of TimberStone Golf Course — ignoring Father Time as they passed each day.
The Senior Am simply became a new chapter in the golfing legacy of its victors. Three of the four winners claimed the title for a second consecutive year — Karen Darrington, Scott Masingill and Fran Matthias — with Marilyn Celano capturing her first senior major.
WOMEN’S SENIOR
For Darrington, Saturday’s victory was the ninth time she hoisted the Women’s Senior Amateur trophy — the trophy named after her and her legacy. As she tapped in her final putt, a decent crowd had gathered off of the 18th green to cheer and congratulate one of Idaho’s most decorated golfers. Her accomplishment was met with hugs and congratulations from her fellow competitors. The only emotion shown in that crowd was that of a smile.
But for this decorated champion, her accomplishment of winning was met by that of realizing that her near future would be different, at least for the next 18 months, as her participation in IGA Championships would soon come to a pause due to her choice of serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tonga.
After a light-hearted start to the trophy ceremony where it was joked that she should present herself her own trophy, she spoke to those gathered about how much this meant to her and the camaraderie that had been developed over the years with these ladies with whom she has competed against since her first State Amateur back in 1979.
Karen Darrington hits her approach shot on hole No. 5.
“I’m really going to miss the friendships of all of you,” Darrington said emotionally during the trophy ceremony. “We’re really lucky to all be friends and support one another. I just want you to know how much I love and appreciate you all, and I’ll miss you.”
Going into the final round, Darrington held a two-shot lead over Melinda Howard, with several others hot on their heels. Knowing she needed to shoot a good score, better than the scores she posted for rounds one and two, Darrington buckled down and played to win — a trait that very few seem to have.
"I really try to play the golf course,” Darrington mentions. “I set a goal for myself, like today, I really wanted to shoot under par. I figured if I could shoot even par or under that I could take care of business today. One of my strengths is my mental game, so I just try to use [it] to help me a lot…”
Darrington was the only female in the entire field of both senior and super-senior women to shoot a round of even par or better. When most of the field was trending in the opposite direction, Darrington remained cool, calm and collected as she hit fairway after fairway, green after green en route to her even par 72. It doesn’t matter what sport one plays, if you are consistent, you are pretty hard to beat.
Darrington finished her championship by winning by six shots and going 77-78-72 — 229 for a final score of 11-over par.
Despite taking a year-and-a-half hiatus for her mission, Darrington will be back, and it is safe to say she will still be a force for Father Time to reckon with.
WOMEN’S SUPER-SENIOR
Despite its luscious-green fairways and smooth-rolling greens, TimberStone can and did prove to be a brute to every golfer in the field. Its length can be an issue, especially for those who don’t quite hit the ball as far as they once did. For Celano and her fellow counterparts in the Women’s Super-Senior Division, the course played tough, but they pushed back with some phenomenal golf.
Celano demonstrated to the field that her game was on point and she was there to win. Celano was coming off an already successful 2023 and even late 2022. She had lost in the championship match of the Women’s Match Play to Darrington and had won the 2022 Women’s Super-Senior Tournament of Champions last October at Elkhorn Golf Club in Sun Valley. Needless to say, Celano has quickly made herself a name among various circles as a favorite to walk away with any trophy.
Finishing the event at 30-over par, going 80-84-82 — 246, Celano’s next closest competitor was a mere 16 shots behind her. That wouldn’t have been the predicted outcome for those who followed the event and saw the scores after day one. Shawna Ianson, who finished third overall, found herself tied for the lead after day one and just ended up going in the wrong direction, like everyone else in the field, with bogeys and double bogeys flooding everyone’s scorecards.
Celano, at the age of 71, proved yet again that age is just a number. For someone who picked up golf later in life, she demonstrated that hard work and practice pay off.
Marilyn Celano hitting her infamous fairway-finder.
"Well, I started playing [golf] in 1996 as a 46-year-old and was a former tennis player,” Celano said. “I tried to transfer some of those skills with trying to stay focused when I play and more on my short game…I just feel that I’m seeing some results.”
It was an impressive showing of ball striking. On a course that played long and had some difficult hole locations, having the ability to be able to hit the ball consistently off the center of the club face is so helpful, especially when your longer irons, hybrids, and even woods are used to hit into some of these par 4s and longer par 3s — showing Father Time he doesn’t have anything on her and her game.
It is also worth mentioning the appearance of Jean Smith, an Idaho legend in the amateur golf world. Smith, who finished in fourth place, put together an impressive showing for an 82-year-old competitor. Smith, a role model for many of the gals who competed, showed true grit and the fire she has always had when it comes to competing and the yearning for victory. As the only Idahoan to ever win a national USGA Championship, the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, she has to be considered a central figure on Idaho’s Mount Rushmore of amateur golfers.
MEN’S SENIOR
Anyone who has ever followed the golfing career of Masingill has seen nothing but consistency and a plethora of trophies at his side. He’s competed at every level of golf —having spent roughly 10 seasons on the PGA Tour Champions once he turned 50 years old. He has claimed nine IGA State Amateur trophies and a handful of others. And upon returning to amateur golf, Masingill picked up right where he left off.
Yet, in what may be the biggest pushback on Father Time, Masingill doesn’t seem to be slowing down. The recently turned 72-year-old had a top-20 finish at this year’s State Amateur at Jug Mountain Ranch in McCall — an event that he had a top-five finish at last year and one that many would say he has “no place” competing in. Then, to top it all off, he did a repeat at this year’s Senior Am — putting his trophy count at some absurd number like only a few others have, including the likes of Darrington and Smith.
The storyline for Masingill’s victory followed a very similar path to last year’s event, a nail-biter to the end with non-other than Scott Vermeer. The final round, or as we like to call it: “the Battle of the Scotts,” came down to the two of them seeking to capture a second Senior Amateur victory.
Masingill said: “It means something to me, especially with [ Joe Malay’s] name on the cup…But yes, this really matters to me. I work toward it. I work hard to try to keep myself in good shape and get my game in shape. It really matters to me.”
The two Scotts had hung tough through the opening two rounds, playing solid enough golf to keep themselves in the competition, sitting near or on top of the leaderboard following day two. Finding themselves paired with one another in the final group of the final round, the challenge of playing with deja vu was accepted by each golfer — allowing Father Time to flip the hourglass back in time.
Things got extremely interesting as the two entered their back nines. Vermeer went birdie-birdie on holes 10 and 11 to tie Masingill for the lead. It was on 13 when Masingill made his lone bogey of the final round, flipping the tide in favor of Vermeer who had captured the lead for the first time this tournament.
Yet, just as quickly as one can be given the lead, it can be taken away. Heading into hole No. 14, Masingill noticed his wife off in the distance — a surprise visit for the soon-to-be victor. With just 20 feet left for birdie, Masingill rolled in his putt with confidence and swagger, saying thanks to the applause from the gallery before his ball even fell into the hole. Vermeer would go on to go bogey the hole and then proceed to bogey his next two holes, finding the trophy to be just out of reach.
Scott Masingill watches as his ball falls in the hole for a birdie on hole No. 14.
"You know, I wasn’t playing all that well, [and] just wasn’t that confident,” Masingill stated. “I thought when I was one stroke down with four or five to play, I thought, you know there is just no reason to hold back. I was a little tentative earlier and my wife, Lori, showed up, so she is my good luck charm. And so I knew I was in good hands.”
After stuffing his final approach shot into the 18th green, Masingill sunk his final birdie and soon walked off the green to be greeted by his wife who proved to be the difference maker for Masingill’s quest for victory.
Hey, when you’re playing the level of golf that he is at his age, one could say he may have the upper edge on Father Time — shooting 72-70-71 — 213 (-3).
MEN’S SUPER-SENIOR
It is pretty safe to say that the Men’s Super-Senior Amateur was more Matthias’ to lose than for anyone else to step up and challenge the two-time champion. Placard in a cheetah-based printed shirt for his final round, Matthias owned the championship from start to finish in his division. Going sub-par in two of his three rounds proved that the only way he was losing was if some sort of catastrophe happened.
Finishing at a solid 5-under par for the week with rounds of 68-73-70 — 211, Matthias’ control of the golf ball and his game was simply unmatched. As players crumbled under the weight of the heat bearing down on them and the difficulty of the golf course, Matthias continued his solid play: hitting long drives into almost every fairway, accumulating greens in regulation, and rolling the rock better than the remainder of the field.
With a gentle smile and a confident walk, nothing was going to rattle him on the golf course. His work ethic is well-known, and his goal is to win and claim the throne for top men’s super-senior golfer year-in-and-year-out.
"Well, coming into it, I was a little nervous because last year I didn’t have any expectations,” Matthias said. “I just wanted to try to play my best. Where it ended up, it ended up. Being last year’s champion and coming into this year, I had more expectations for myself to finish higher and hopefully win it. I spent the week working pretty hard on my golf game.”
Clear demonstration of Fran Matthias’ practice paying off.
Sometimes it is the little moments that propel individuals into achieving great things. As mentioned above, it was the sight of his wife that worked for Masingill, for Matthias, it was his caddie, Garrett Stephenson, who asked him what was wrong with him and that he needed to straighten up a little bit after his shaky start through his first seven holes of his opening round. Taking the advice to heart, Matthias went on to par his next hole and then string together three straight birdies. Never looking back.
Must be a blessing to have your driver as the greatest weapon in your golf back, something Father Time probably throws fits about.
CONCLUSION
To keep this wrap-up brief, the 2023 Senior Amateur Championship displayed some of the best golf of the year. From all-time greats to maybe first-time participants, the golf was high quality and didn’t disappoint. Watching the process of these golfers working their way around a course is inspiring and definitely cool to see — doing things that I can’t do, being nearly 30-40 years my senior.
If I could say one thing to Father Time, it would be, “You might want to get that Achilles Heel looked at.”
For a complete look at the 2023 Senior Amateur Championship leaderboard, CLICK HERE.
2023 Senior Amateur Payout
IGA Championships Volunteer: Larry Warden Jr.
1 – Where are you originally from? If not from Idaho, what brought you here?
I grew up in Oklahoma. I met my wife, Jen, when we were both working at the University of Colorado, and we moved to Boise when she was hired as the Women’s Basketball Coach at Boise State in 2002. We made the mistake of moving away in 2005, but after years of trying, we made it back to the Gem State in 2019.
2 – What is/was your career occupation?
I currently own a mortgage brokerage and have been fortunate enough over the years to have had successful careers in athletics administration, flight instruction, banking, the golf business (both as an assistant pro and equipment rep), real estate, and my favorite…a stay-at-home dad.
3 – What is it about the game of golf that you love so much?
Golf is a reflection of the human condition. You learn everything you need to know about someone, including yourself, when you play golf with them.
4 – What made you want to volunteer for the IGA? When did you start?
I have volunteered for other state associations on our previous stops around the country and enjoyed the experience, so once we moved back, it was important to me to get involved with the IGA. I believe I worked my first IGA tournament in 2020 by helping with scoring.
Larry Warden Jr. spends quality time with his family on the water.
5 – What do you hope to get out of volunteering for the IGA? What motivates you to keep coming back?
I hope that my presence at tournaments adds value to both the competitors and the Association. I am motivated to help the families of Idaho grow their LOVE of the game, and by conducting well-run competitions, that growth will surely follow.
6 – What has been your favorite memory from volunteering for the IGA?
I absolutely love seeing the joy on a competitor’s face when they pull off the shot they had envisioned and with the level of golfers we have in Idaho, that happens quite a bit… so, many favorite memories.
7 – What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering?
This is a wonderful organization that is run by consummate professionals. The more you can surround yourself with the type of people that conduct and play in our tournaments, the happier and better you will be.
8 – What is your fondest memory on the golf course?
Hard to nail down just one…Our family was fortunate enough to be able to play together a few times while the world was shut down, and I will never take for granted the experiences that this game afforded us during a tough period in everyone’s lives.
9 – When were you introduced to the sport? By who?
My dad would take me to Kickingbird Golf Course in my hometown of Edmond, OK, with him when I was five. He would always let me hit a drive on this really cool hole where you teed off over a small canyon, or gully as we called them in OK. I can still feel the happiness of driving it over that gully for the first time.
10 – What is your home club? How often do you play?
I am a member of the Quail Hollow Men’s Association and play there a bit, and I really enjoy playing tournaments at McCall Golf Club, Boise Ranch, and Terrace Lakes. I play as often as I can, but we all know that is never enough.
11 – What's something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
I “ran” and finished the Portland Marathon in 2012.
12 – Who would be a part of your dream foursome to play a round of golf with?
My friends may laugh at this because they know I am a golf purist, but I will have to break club protocol and play a fivesome with my wife (Jen), my sons (Brice and Brock), and my dad.
13 - What has been your favorite golf course that you have played?
I have been fortunate to play amazing courses and when I factor in the things I love about our game, I would say a little nine-hole loop called Manzanita Links in Manzanita, OR. Our honeymoon was in that town and we have taken the boys there many times. That course epitomizes what is important in golf… fun times with friends and family in a beautiful outdoor setting.
14 – Describe your golf game in six words
Never dull, a work in progress
15 – What's one item that you can’t live without?
It is hard to live without sleep and I cannot sleep well without a fan, so let’s go with a fan.
Beastly but Beautiful: the 2023 State Amateur Championship
Seth Jones wades out of the meadow left of the 18th fairway. The final hole was kind to few. | Shane René
With a talented field at the beautiful and beastly Jug Mountain Ranch, the 95th playing of the Idaho State Amateur Championships was one to remember.
Written By Shane René, P.J. Boatwright Intern for Media and Communications
The lush meadow and alpine forest that line fairways and surround the greens at Jug Mountain Ranch eat a steady diet of golf balls. They seem to deliberately reach out and take them — as if starving for a dimpled snack — charging players a stroke and a small slice of dignity each time.
But it’s the final stretch that seems to haunt players the most. It’s a torture chamber for marginal ball striking and a graveyard for otherwise good days. Of the 30 scores worse than double bogey tallied in the final round, 11 were made on the last three holes.
The 16th tee. | Shane René
The 18th green site with a testy hole location. | Shane René
The par-5 16th asks players to take on a partially blind tee shot into the mouth of what looks like an intermediate ski run. Bending right from the tee, the tree line encroaches on both sides as the hole bottlenecks into a creek guarding a narrow green site. Players find themselves back on flat ground on the 17th, but the short, dogleg-left par-4 hosted more disaster last week than any other hole. Tee shots sent wide of the fairway have a snowballs chance in the hellish meadow, and the shallow, elevated green stares back at the fairway through a deep, lion's-mouth bunker. The fairway is mandatory once again on the final hole, leaving players with an uphill approach into a green that has just enough flat ground to sod the roof of a Volkswagen Bus.
The test at Jug Mountain is one of survival.
In the 95th playing of the Idaho State Amateur Championships, Jug Mountain identified two hardened survivors, crowning Trevor Garus and Maddie Montoya as the 2023 champions. Neither of them held the lead when they stood on the 16th tee last Saturday, but they both managed to separate themselves down Jug Mountain’s most harrowing stretch.
* * *
Garus on the first tee in round one. | Shane René
When Garus arrived on Tuesday afternoon for his first of two practice rounds, he’d never seen the golf course before. It’s a curious omission on the resumé of an elite junior player from Southwest Idaho, but the Capital High School senior showed up ready to do his homework.
“I loved it,” he said. “The course is great; it’s beautiful. I like the way it plays — firm and fast, which fits my game and that’s what I’m used, so I can’t think of a better venue to host the State Am.”
On Thursday, Garus found himself two shots back of the lead shared by 71-year-old, nine-time champion Scott Masingill and fellow junior talent Reid Piron. He might have found himself tied with them if it weren’t for a rollercoaster of a back nine, featuring five birdies, two bogeys and a triple bogey on 17. He made just one par for a closing, even-par 36.
The second round proved Garus was comfortable on the golf course, and that his ball-striking prowess might afford him more birdie opportunities than most. Cruising out of the gate to a bogey-free 33, Garus made his second triple bogey of the week on the 11th, a benign par 4. Undeterred, birdies on both remaining par 5s dragged him under par for the tournament, two back of the 36-hole leader Reid Piron.
“There are some big numbers,” Garus said. “There’s a lot of trouble out here, so you’ve got to have a good mental game and keep pushing through the round.”
In a remarkably young final pairing that featured Garus, Piron, and rising University of Idaho senior Matt McGann, the two juniors got off to a sluggish start. A double bogey at par-5 2nd bounced Piron out of the lead, and two bogeys on the front nine had Garus struggling to close the gap with a steady McGann.
The final group played the first five holes on the back nine in a combined five-under par, with McGann hanging onto a two-shot lead. But a bogey at the par-4 15th cracked the door open as they rolled into the final stretch.
“I knew I was playing well,” Garus said. ‘Everything felt great in my game, so I knew if I just stayed patient a door would open, and I would have some opportunity to squeak my way up there.”
Garus for eagle on 16 from just off the back of the green. | Shane René
After a trio of birdies on 16, Piron plugged his ball in the front bunker of the 17th as McGann and Garus earned looks at birdie. Unable to advance his ball onto the green, Piron scrapped his way in for bogey while his opponents traded pars. Garus was one back with one to play.
Garus played safely into the right half of the 18th fairway. McGann, taking a much more aggressive line, knocked his tee shot into the far-left corner of the fairway for a perfect angle into the severe green. Piron ejected into the meadow.
“I liked where the pin was at,” Garus said. “It was kind of on the right side — I’ve been working with my swing coach Kevin Burton to hit a fade, so it set up to my eye very nicely.”
With 195 yards uphill, he pulled 8-iron.
“It started right at the pin and faded offline,” he said. “But it ended up sticking to about 6 feet, so I gave myself a look and put the pressure on the other guy.”
Garus holding the Scott Masingill Cup. | Shane René
Looking like he would need a par, McGann’s wedge came out squirrelly and right, leaving him with an awkward, short-sided chip off a downhill lie. It ran more than 30 feet past the hole.
McGann missed his par putt, leaving Garus six feet for birdie and the win. As the putt ran out of pace, it caught the front edge and disappeared, capping off a bogey-free, back-nine 32 to win in his first ever Idaho State Amateur appearance.
“I just stayed patient and let the game come to me,” he said. “And it ended up working out.”
Emily Cadwell and her father, Dave, on 6 green. | Shane René
Montoya’s path to victory looked a little bit different. Heading into the final day, Montoya was an afterthought in a field led by Washington State University junior Emily Cadwell.
“I’m hitting it pretty well,” Montoya said following a second-round 76 to find herself alone in 5th place. “It’s just my short game that’s kind of lacking right now. I definitely will have to shoot some close and make a lot of putts tomorrow.”
Montoya, who had yet to make a birdie in her 76-76 start to the tournament, found a hot putter in the early goings of her final round. A birdie at the 2nd and an eagle at the 4th had her storming up the leaderboard before she stumbled into the turn with a string of bogeys.
In the meantime, just a hole behind her, Cadwell was moving along steadily. One-under par through 11 holes, Cadwell’s ballooning lead lost some air by the time she arrived on the 16th tee. Then, the final stretch showed its teeth.
Just ahead of Cadwell, Montoya was flawlessly plotting her way around the back nine, closing with a back-nine 34 to get into the clubhouse with a final round 71.
“I was just trying to play my game,” Montoya said. “I knew what the girls in my group were at, and I kind of estimating. I looked on hole 16 to see what the leaderboard was just so I could see on the final few holes. But otherwise [I didn’t look at the leaderboard].”
Cadwell rolled in a slippery 4-footer on 18 to end her round double bogey-bogey-par for a back nine 40. Suddenly, Montoya had a share of the lead.
Montoya and Cadwell embrace on the final playoff hole. | Shane René
The players returned to the No.1 tee for a playoff hole, both finding the middle of the fairway. First to play her approach, Montoya’s ball snagged the left edge of the green. Cadwell’s approach came out thin and right, hopping into the greenside bunker.
Maddie Montoya hoisting the Jean Lane Smith Cup. | Shane René
The tension boiled up again as Cadwell’s bunker shot landed exactly where she was looking, coming to rest inside five feet of the hole. Montoya’s lag came up short, just a notch inside of Cadwell.
Cadwell and her father, Dave, stalked the putt from every angle. Rolling at the center of the hole, it drifted left and lipped out. You could feel the gallery clutch their stomachs as they groaned.
With a nearly identical putt for the win, Montoya poured in the center.
“I’m just very thankful and grateful.” Montoya said. “I’m just kinda speechless — I started in 5th yesterday and I just didn’t know what today held. I’m just super excited.”
* * *
The 95th playing of the Idaho State Amateur Championships is a reminder to us all how bright the future of golf might be. We live in the heart of an era in which college players make seamless jumps into the professional game, and high school prodigies have more opportunities than ever before to cut their teeth against top-flight competition.
Garus is the prototype of the elite, modern junior player. He’s built like a multi-sport athlete — tall, strong, and mobile. He hits the ball high, he hits the ball far, and it doesn’t look like he has to try very hard to do either. His short game is steady and solid, as sharp as you’ve probably ever seen. He’s the kind of player that Division I programs search the country trying to find; and in the fall of 2024, Garus will join the roster at UCLA.
Montoya is cut from a similar cloth. Quiet and easy going, she will kill you with mistake free golf; with 40 pars through 54 holes, she made three more than anyone else in the men’s or women’s fields. The ability to go low when you need to is difficult — if not impossible — to teach, and her final round 71 showed everyone this week what a clutch gene really looks like. The Montana State freshman is an example of the tremendous depth that has developed in the women’s amateur game over the last decade.
“Amateur golf is the next step to bridge between junior and college golf,” said Garus, who qualified for the U.S. Amateur just days earlier. “So, I look forward to playing in all of these amateur events. To be able to walk away with a qualification for the U.S. Amateur, and a win here at the State Am, is great — I feel like I’m ready to go.”
IGA Championships Director Nicole Bird noted during the trophy ceremony on Saturday evening that well over half of the 2023 field carried a handicap index of better than 0.0. The depth and quality of the field needed a golf course to put them to the test.
“That told me that this golf course was the only golf course that could handle that test of golf for that caliber of a field,” Bird said. “It’s really amazing to me to see the talent that we had out here for the championship this year, and Jug Mountain Ranch held up to that championship, for sure.”
Just three rounds broke 70 all week.
With the perfect golf course, the 2023 Idaho State Amateur Championship hosted a test worthy of the rich history that lives behind it. And this year’s champions more than earned their place among the greats of amateur golf in Idaho.
The pond wrapping around the right side and behind the 12th green, an exciting, drivable par-4. | Shane René
Mr. Masingill: The man behind the trophy
Scott Masingill plays the 6th hole at Scotch Pines Golf Course in Payette, a non-profit track where he designed many of the holes and serves as President of the Board of Directors.
In 2019, the IGA named the Men’s State Amateur trophy after nine-time champion Scott Masingill. This week, at 71 years young, he’s still in the field.
Written by Shane René, P.J. Boatwright Media and Communications Intern
The year is 2001; it’s a Monday afternoon in mid-July and Scott Masingill knows he needs a birdie. Deep down, he worries that he may also need a time machine.
He’s standing on the tee of the par-5 18th at Idaho Falls Country Club — the final hole of the Idaho State Amateur Championship — having just clawed his way into contention against two of Idaho’s top Division I products. His 50th birthday is just one week away, less than a month before his competitors are scheduled to return to their dorm rooms.
“I hit as good a drive as I could,” Masingill said. “These kids were outdriving me by, you know, 20, 30, 40 yards.”
Masingill practicing on the putting green at Scotch Pines. | Shane René
But youth, it turns out, is no match for the wise. Left with just 200 yards off a downhill lie, Masingill flagged a 3-iron. His ball pitched on the front edge and released to the back of the green, setting up a long look at eagle that he would knock snuggly within a foot of the hole. Steady and seasoned, Masingill’s putter rarely misbehaves.
Now just one more State Amateur and a week away from 72, Masingill is as sick in love with the game as anyone you know. The ease with which he recalls old golf shots — filed away and retrieved in vivid detail — can only be found in those gripped by a terminal case of the golf bug.
“I was so excited, you know, I had this [one-foot] putt to win and I said, ‘just stop and go through your --’ and I just hit it,” he laughed, reveling in the memory. “Anyway, it went in; but that was pretty exciting.”
The birdie secured Masingill’s ninth State Amateur Championship title, the last in a 29-year run across four decades that would cement his legacy as the most decorated men’s amateur in state history.
“I had no business winning that one,” he said.
This week, Masingill will be in the field once again, now competing for a trophy that bears his own name. Since IGA’s 50th anniversary in 2019, Idaho State Amateur Champions proudly display the Scott Masingill Cup at their home clubs.
“I’m flattered that somebody feels that way about me,” Masingill said, placing his hand on his chest as his voice broke, forced to tears by the idea that he means something to an institution that has meant so much to him. “When you’re doing this, you don’t know what legacy you’re going to have. And that just embedded that all of the things that I’ve done — and what I’ve been — is worth it.”
Masingill’s resumé spills well beyond the Idaho State border. A talented junior player — taking pride, he says, in working harder than most of his peers — the Payette native found his way to Oregon State University where he won a PAC-8 Championship in 1971, just a year before he won his first Idaho State Amateur. After that, he notched a number of amateur victories across the Pacific Northwest, competed all over the world, racked up eight more State Amateur titles, and turned professional at 50 years old.
The 10th tee at Scotch Pines. | Photo: Shane René
He’s lived more golf lives than most of us can dream of, and he’s done it consistently over what is otherwise a remarkably normal life. He went to college, worked full time, raised kids, and managed to never lose touch with his craft. In 1990, he had to rush from his sons little league baseball tournament in Jerome to his tee time at the state amateur, still dressed in a t-shirt and tennis shoes. He says he wasn’t playing much during that time in his life, but he still played well enough to win his 5th state title that week.
“I was a college kid trying to beat the older guys; I was the older guy trying to beat the college kid; I was the father just trying to cobble something together,” he said, reflecting on his longevity in elite amateur golf. “I mean, so, each of those eras was a completely different challenge.”
The Scotch Pines clubhouse. | Photo: Shane René
Today, you’re likely to find Masingill out at Scotch Pines Golf Course in Payette, a non-profit track his family helped develop in the early 60’s and he now serves as president of the board of directors.
In 1985 — just a couple years after his fourth state title — he tried his hand at course architecture, designing several of the current holes to turn the 9-holer into an 18-hole championship test.
In 2000, he won his 8th state title playing the very same holes.
Playing Scotch Pines with Masingill feels like walking around City Hall with a beloved ten-term mayor. His knowledge of the property — the golf holes, the irrigation, the history — is quite literally unparalleled. He grew up on the course, perfected his craft on greens, and now funnels everything he loves about golf and his community into the facility he now oversees. His love for the game is firmly anchored in the people he shares the fairways with.
“I usually play with these donuts,” he said as we marked our balls on the 18th green at his beloved home club, pointing over at the first tee where a few foursomes were lined up waiting to play. They heckled back, unafraid to rib the man whose friendship shines brighter than his legacy.
When you spend a little bit of time with Masingill — time with which he is remarkably generous — you’ll notice that he can’t avoid running into moments where his humble nature melts away under the blinding light of his legacy. His resume speaks for itself, and he’s spent a lifetime learning how to hit it exactly where he’s looking.
Masingill hits his approach into the par-4 3rd hole at Scotch Pines. | Photo: Shane René
“See that U-shaped branch there?” he asked me as we stood near his ball that had just leaked into the rough right of the par-4 13th. “I’m aiming for that gap.”
I saw the gap he was talking about, and it did not look like an appropriate place to hit a golf ball.
We both collapsed in laughter as the ball pitched on the front of the green. He two-putt for par.
Of course, Masingill knows how good he is. It’s hard to win that much and pretend like you’re just some normal guy. But even after turning professional, where he would make 29 of 33 cuts on the Champions Tour, the normalcy of amateur golf still had some allure that he couldn’t resist. He’d spent his life building his summers around the State Amateur Championship, competing within the context of a community that shares more than just golf.
“I’ve lived in Idaho my whole life,” he said. “So, anything that says it’s a state tournament, I’m interested in it. I’m a resident of the Pacific Northwest; anything that says it’s a Pacific Northwest event, I’m interested in it.”
Ultimately, Masingill says the magnet that drew him back to the amateur game is the people who play alongside him. They are doctors and lawyers, plumbers and schoolteachers, students and social workers; they are successful, he notes, in other parts of their lives. Their lives are enriched by the game, but never made miserable (at least, not too miserable) by the horrors of their short game. They are people for whom golf is not a matter of life and death, but a matter of heart and soul.
Masingill is drawn to them because he’s one of them; he’s one of us. And every year we gather to celebrate normal people who happen to love the game and play it well.
It’s only right that they compete for the Scott Masingill Cup.
Scott Masingill strolls through the fairways he knows better than anyone. | Photo: Shane René
IGA Course Rating Volunteer: Bruce Martini
1 – Where are you originally from? If not from Idaho, what brought you here?
I was born in Portland, Oregon and spent my first 10 years in St. Helens...just downriver from Portland. My wife & I moved our family of four (two elementary-age kids then) to Boise in 1992 from Southern California. My maternal grandparents lived in the Treasure Valley from the 1890s until 1917. I am the first of all my relatives to return to Idaho.
2 – What is/was your career occupation?
I started working for an international civil engineering firm in Los Angeles in several different positions including scientific computer programming. After 10+ years working in many locations, I started my own construction company. After our son was born, I decided to go back to university to get an earth science degree & credentialed to teach secondary education. When we moved to Boise, I taught math, earth science, and technology classes for a local high school until retirement.
3 – What is it about the game of golf that you love so much?
The people, history and outdoors!
4 – What made you want to volunteer for the IGA? When did you start?
I was working part-time at a local golf course after retirement. In spring 2009, my boss Jerry Breaux suggested I explore the IGA Course Rating program to give back to the game. He had been recruited to find volunteers by Russ Peterson who had recently moved to Idaho & participated in the rating program. I did and the rest is history.
5 – What do you hope to get out of volunteering for the IGA? What motivates you to keep coming back?
I have played every hole of golf in the IGA region as a result of being on the rating team. I enjoy golf and the people who play golf. No matter one’s ability, the enjoyment doesn’t diminish with time.
6 – What has been your favorite memory from volunteering for the IGA?
The many places I visited for USGA Calibration Training that I was fortunate enough to attend.
7 – What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering?
The golf courses are many and varied, plus the other volunteers and IGA staff are fascinating to get to know and share the rating experience with.
8 – What is your fondest memory on the golf course?
Playing first rounds with our then young two kids and then playing the many rounds with a great person who became well-known in the golf world…Tom Lehman.
9 – When were you introduced to the sport? By who?
My dad took me with him to a rural golf course in a small Oregon town called Scappoose in the mid-1950s.
10 – What is your home club? How often do you play?
RedHawk is my current home club...I work as an ambassador more than I play due to recent medical issues.
11 – What's something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
I managed several offices in Nigeria in the mid-1970s for my international civil engineering firm.
12 – Who would be a part of your dream foursome to play a round of golf with?
My dad, Jerry Breaux and Tom Lehman
13 - What has been your favorite golf course that you have played?
Several in Scotland, including the Old Course at St. Andrews...and whichever course I am playing/measuring/rating that day.
Bruce and his wife, Maggie, share a kiss on the beach in San Diego, California.
14 – Describe your golf game in six words
Many years and many, many shots.
15 – What's one item that you can’t live without?
Maggie...my wife of 50+ years.
2023 Match Play: A new class of champions have been crowned
Written by Shane René, P.J. Boatwright Media and Communications Intern
The 2023 IGA Match Play Championship came to close Friday afternoon, ending with the kind of drama we’ve all come to expect from golf’s original format. Jerome Country Club played firmer and faster as the week went on, ramping up the difficulty as the field whittled its way down from 70 players to six.
With six divisions — four of them competing over the course of 72 holes — the 2023 champions run the gamut from familiar faces to rising stars in the Idaho golf scene. IGA board member Karen Darrington and Fran Matthias returned to the IGA winners’ circle, while junior stand-outs Caroline Caven and Derek Lekkerkerk took home their first non-junior titles.
MEN’S DIVISION:
Derek Lekkerkerk
The final match in the men’s division featured two of the top junior players in Idaho, both of whom made quick work of the fields in front of them.
Trevor Garus, a capital high senior and UCLA commit, took on the title of the No. 1 seed and brought the game to back it up. In his four matches, he played beyond the 16th hole just once, with margins of 5 & 4 and 8 & 7 in his first two matches.
Storming out of the other side of the bracket, the No. 11 seed Derek Lekkerkerk might have been a surprise addition to the championship match if you’d never seen him play. Lekkerkerk moved seamlessly through quality competition in each round before meeting his toughest test in the championship match.
Lekkerkerk hugs friends after winning his final match.
“I’ve known Trevor for quite a while,” Lekkerkerk said. “[My thought process] was the same it’s been for the last couple of days. I kept saying to myself: ‘Process oriented, neutral to positive.”
Lekkerkerk had his back against the wall as the championship match, which had been close all day, moved into the final three holes. One down with three to play, the soon-to-be Colorado State freshman made birdie on the par-5 16th to square the match, before pars on 17 forced the match on to 18.
Lekkerkerk found the fairway, and hit a quality approach to 20-feet right of a tucked-left hole location. Garus, finding trouble right off the tee, advanced his second shot just short of the green and chipped it up to inside of 10 feet. But Garus wouldn’t need to hit the putt as Lekkerkerk rolled it in for birdie to win the championship on a green surrounded by friends and family.
“I love [match play],” Lekkerkerk said. “I feel like it’s a lot more of a battle and it brings out that competitive side. In stroke play events, the last day is what kinda feels like match play when it’s just you and the other guy. But you kinda get that last-day Sunday high every match and I love that part of it.”
Caroline Caven
WOMEN’S DIVISION:
In the Women’s Division, Caroline Caven introduced herself to the field and let everyone know she was here to stay.
Caven, a junior player out of Cole Valley Christian, showed up on Wednesday morning excited to play in her first ever non-junior IGA event and cruised through her opening match with a 4 & 2 victory.
“I was excited to be out here playing with some older women and just seeing how they play different and seeing the strategy behind match play,” Caven said.
In her semifinal match, Caven ran into a tough test against No. 1 seed Christine Cho from Northwest Nazarene University. Caven found herself 3 down through the front nine but hung around to force the match to the 18th hole where she would advance to the championship.
“That back nine was one of the best rounds I’ve ever played,” she said.
While trying to close out her final match, Caven found trouble on the par-5 16th and was forced to take an unplayable. After the drop, she knocked her 4th shot from about 70 yards onto the green, where she would use two putts to tie the hole and close the match.
“I was really proud of that shot afterwards because I was kinda like: ‘okay, I can still tie the hole, I’m still in this, I’m good,” she said.
SENIOR WOMEN’S DIVISION:
Karen Darrington
If you see her name in the field, she usually has a good chance of winning. And once again, Karen Darrington showed her competitors why she’s the one to beat in what was a comfortable setting at the 2023 IGA Match Play.
“This is kind of like home to me,” Darrington said. “I grew up in Twin Falls and my brother lives here and he likes to caddie for me. We had a great time together... I always look forward to that relationship.”
But Darrington’s victory this week was a far cry from a cake walk. After a comfortable 3 & 2 victory in the opening round, No. 4 seed Abby Black took her to extra holes. Darrington was finally able to close the match on the 22nd hole.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match and Abby is one of my best friends,” Darrington said. “I could have finished it off on like the 16th hole and it just kept going.”
In the championship match, Darrington faced Marylin Celano, who had managed to win her first two matches in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion on the 18th hole. But Darrington proved to be too consistent on what she says was one of her best ball striking days of the week. She closed the match on the 15th green, winning 4 & 3.
“We had a great field; it was really tough. You can’t look past any match. I just tried to look at one match at a time because you can’t move on if you don’t win each match... I like match play, so I’m just thrilled to win it.”
Jason Clifford
MEN’S MASTER-40 DIVISION:
Jason Clifford says he’s not going to let match play change the way he plays his own game, and his game proved good enough to beat a strong Master-40 division at the 2023 IGA Match Play Championship.
Clifford, the No. 4 seed coming into the week, sailed through the first round, with a 4 & 3 victory, but he was forced to battle from there. He lost his momentum late in his second-round match against Ryan Hansen, dropping the last two holes to find himself in a playoff, where he closed the match on the 1st hole.
“That match was tough,” Clifford said, “Ryan played really well.
Clifford says he focused on simply keeping the ball in play and forcing his opponents to make birdies. That formula worked well in the championship match against Brian Riff, where he took an early lead and never gave it back, locking up his match play title with a birdie on the 16th hole.
MEN’S SENIOR DIVISION:
Jay Sutton
In a stacked men’s senior division, 2014 Senior Amateur champion Jay Sutton came out of the No. 4 seed to take down No. 1 seed Darren Kuhn in the championship match.
“If you look at the senior group we had here, anybody could have won this thing,” Sutton said. “I’ve got a lot of good friends here... and they are all great players.”
Sutton snuck through his first two matches on thin margins, winning 2 up and 1 up, respectively, taking down 2019 Senior Amateur champion Scott Vermeer in the quarterfinals.
In the championship match, neither Sutton or Kuhn were able to get more than 1 up at any given time, trading blows the whole way. Kuhn, sitting one down on the 18th tee, made birdie to force the match into extra holes, where Sutton would end the match and clinch his title.
“It was a great match,” he said. “It was up and down all day.”
Sutton says the secret to his week was his ability to get the ball up and down, which he did at a 77% clip. He credits an old friend and short-game master, Joe Stump, for helping him sharpen up his game around the greens.
“That makes a big difference,” Sutton said. “When you start missing greens a little bit, if you can get it up-and-down, you’re really going to go somewhere.”
Fran Matthias
MEN’S SUPER-SENIOR DIVISION:
Another familiar winner, Fran Matthias, breezed through the Men’s Super-Senior division, needing no more than 14 holes to close either of his matches.
The six-man field was the only division to play a seeding round of stroke play on Wednesday, where a cool, calm and collected 73 bought Matthias the No.1 seed and Thursday morning bye. He says avoiding a match on Thursday morning was important to help him feel fresh for his final two matches.
His championship match squared him off against a familiar face in Bob Lutz, who has multiple IGA titles to his name.
“It was fun to see Bob Lutz come through, he’s a close friend of mine,” Matthias said. “Bob said he got a good night's sleep and he’s still a great golfer for somebody in their 80s — the guy can flat-out play.”
Matthias says the championship match turned on the 10th hole where he knocked his second shot close to go 3 up. He rode that momentum through the 14th hole, where the match ended with a pair of pars.
Unnecessary Flop Shots: Musings on Match Play
*Note from the author: Sometimes good ideas are late to the party. “Put Me Down For a 5,” my weekly column about all things golf, has been renamed “Unnecessary Flop Shots.” This article is the second of this series, following my first column on how we talk about (and use) tee markers.
Match play championships have become a novelty in the modern game, and it deserves a bigger spotlight
Written by Shane René, USGA P.J. Boatwright Media and Communications Intern
Things were going just according to plan for Kris Fenwick as she made her way through the turn in the first round of 2023 IGA Match Play Championship. The No. 2 seed in the Senior Women’s Division had won three consecutive holes to find herself 4 up through 10, firmly in control of her match against Marilyn Celano.
In match play, momentum is king, and Fenwick had plenty of it.
But then Celano bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 11th to pause Fenwick’s momentum and cut her own deficit down to three. After trading pars on holes 12 and 13, Celano rolled in another birdie on 14. As they walked off the 16th green, the match was square.
A difficult up and down from long left of the 17th green matched another routine par from Fenwick, moving the match to the 18th hole where Celano rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt to advance into the semifinals. Fenwick’s tournament had come to an abrupt end.
In match play, momentum is king, but he’s not always loyal.
“What are ya gonna do?” Fenwick said with a laugh.
As I watched Celano’s putt rattle into the back of the hole, having successfully flipped a match that had been drifting out of reach for the better part of four hours, I was reminded of what’s so beautiful about single-elimination match play. This kind of rapid changing of the tide — whether it be a heroic comeback or harrowing collapse — lives at the core of what makes match play so compelling. It’s unkind and unfair; merciful and rewarding; impossible to predict. The undercurrent can change direction without notice, and suddenly you’re a mile down shore wondering how you could have lost.
“The momentum shift was so subtle,” Fenwick said. “I didn’t really change anything... and then it was tied. I can only think of two swings I wish I had over again; neither one was horrible, but just bad enough.”
Despite the rarity of match play championships in the modern game, match play represents golf in its original form. When itinerant fisherman invented the game in the sand dunes of Scotland some four centuries ago, stroke play never crossed their minds.
Even Old Tom Morris, were you lucky enough to see him as you walked off the 18th hole at St. Andrews, probably wouldn’t ask “what did you shoot?” He’d want to know who you beat.
In fact, the ubiquity of stroke play is something of an American invention. In 1911, the USGA introduced the word “par” to establish the expected score of an expert player on a given hole (that’s right, ‘expert’ player; stop crying about bogeys!). If you look back at major championship results prior to that year, scores were listed in terms of the total number of strokes made over the course of the tournament. This evolution played a critical role in making stroke play the game’s dominant format, leading players to prioritize their success against the course rather than against the player beside them. By emphasizing total score, we’ve de-emphasized a competitive element that makes many other sports so engaging for broader audiences.
“You’re definitely more aware of what the other person is doing.” Fenwick said. “It’s not that it changes my strategy, it just puts more pressure on you, or it doesn’t if they hit a bad shot... In stroke play... you’re just worried about your score, or you know that tomorrow you can make up a shot or two if you just had a bad hole. Whereas match play, you know every swing where you stand and there is that little bit more pressure.”
Match play is much more of a competitive waltz than a lonesome walk. You can’t afford to withdraw from the world and focus on yourself. You’re forced to engage — to react and respond — to someone who’s out to beat you and you alone.
Skeptics of match play cite the randomness and small sample sizes as the format’s critical flaw, and they make a fair point. The reason 72-hole stroke play is played on professional tours is because it’s the most reliable way to identify the best players. With a larger sample size, the cream tends to rise to the top — you can only get hot for so many holes.
But if you’re going to tell me you don’t love to see the underdogs prevail, I better not catch you filling out a bracket next March.
Not only has match play become a novelty in organized competitive golf, it’s also less commonly played by recreational golfers. Looking to maintain their handicap (which is a valuable thing for all players), many golfers will go out with their Sunday foursome and focus on their own score. What they miss out on is a much more dynamic format. In match play, a sloppy eight won’t ruin your round — you’ve only lost one hole, or, if your buddy makes nine, you’re walking off the green with a big, fat, cheeky grin on your face.
Wouldn’t life be better if we all had a reason to smile at snowmen on the scorecard?
IGA to create Idaho Golf Hall of Fame; introduces two new competitions
Written by Caleb Cox, Executive Director
I’ve always been intrigued by history books and by the people who have gone before us. I believe there is
a very important role for us all to play in preserving the history of the golf community, and the remembrance of the ones who brought us here.
It’s possible that, like myself, you may not have lived here long and are still experiencing things for the first time as an Idahoan. Still, others have lived here for many years and may remember the stories that have made up the history of Idaho golf.
I invite each of you to join me in the coming season in exploring and learning the history of the game in Idaho and remembering those who have blazed a trail for us today.
There are several endeavors that the IGA has embarked upon this year in the honor and preserving of our rich history. In previous writings, I announced that the IGA will be launching the Idaho Golf Hall of Fame. I am very pleased to say that the first class of members of the Idaho Golf Hall of Fame will be inducted in a ceremony scheduled to be held in the late summer of 2024.
This endeavor has been one that the IGA has been working on tirelessly and is an effort that we are greatly looking forward to launching in the coming months. Having an Idaho Golf Hall of Fame is a great looking glass for us to continue to honor those who have been major contributors to the wonderful history that this state possesses in the game.
In addition to the Hall of Fame, the IGA will be looking to bring back two different competitions from our history this year that possess great tradition in the IGA and will enhance our current events.
Jackie Gasser of Twin Falls was well known in the amateur golf community as a fun and lighthearted personality, a fierce competitor, and an individual dedicated to the support of amateur golf in the region. In addition, Jackie was a vital member of the IGA Board of Directors for more than a decade and a member of the PNGA Board of Directors for nine years.
Jackie Gasser (far right) competed in numerous IGA championships, including the event that was named after her.
In 1982, the Gasser Cup was created as a team trophy awarded within the Idaho Women’s Amateur competition. Pitting participants from across the state in a club vs club competition, the Gasser Cup was a staple of the Idaho Women’s Amateur for nearly 40 years and is sure to be an integral part of this competition in 2023.
Keith Stanwood was a PGA Professional at Purple Sage Golf Course in Caldwell. Keith was well-known and dedicated to the teaching and coaching of players. He was a two-time recipient of the Golf Professional of the Year in the Northern Chapter of the Rocky Mountain PGA.
Keith Stanwood
In 1987 the IGA created the Stanwood Cup as a memorial to Keith’s untimely and unfortunate passing. The Stanwood Cup was contested as part of the Idaho State Amateur for more than 30 years as a bragging rights competition for clubs around the state. The competition format is where the best two of three scores are taken each day from three-player teams from the top three handicaps of each club, thereby creating
a two-day team score where the best club team wins. This format was a stalwart of the State Amateur for many years, and we are very excited to bring it back to the Amateur in 2023.
These are the stories of loved ones of the IGA community, and it is truly an honor to begin this journey in learning and remembering the names of these icons of Idaho golf.
Put Me Down For a 5: What we talk about when we talk about tee boxes
A case for reconsidering who plays from where, and why.
Written by Shane René, USGA P.J. Boatwright Media and Communications Intern
I spend an outrageous amount of my time thinking about golf. Whenever I’m not getting lost in the melodrama of PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, I spend a lot of that time thinking about recreational golf — the game reserved for people who can’t feed their family with a good week of ball-striking and a hot putter.
Recreational golf is, unfortunately, plagued by a number of barriers to entry. A starter set of clubs and a bag will cost a few hundred dollars at minimum; add golf balls, shoes, gloves, clothes and things can get pricey before you’ve even paid a greens fee. It also takes a lot of time, and finding five free hours amidst the chaos of life isn’t always easy. But even if we put the financial burden aside, and assume time is for killing, golf can seem like an impossibly difficult game to a novice player.
Of course, the unrelenting difficulty of golf is what makes it so enchanting. It is maddening and rewarding in decidedly unequal parts, and there is something beautiful about the pursuit of rare satisfaction amidst hours of getting humbled by grass. But that’s not a very compelling pitch. If we want recreational golf to thrive, introduce new people to the game and keep our facilities flush with cash, we have to make that difficulty more accessible. We have to create a culture within the game that encourages success and enjoyment above all else. I’ve come to believe that this problem has a natural starting point, and the way we talk about and utilize tee boxes is in desperate need of an overhaul.
The first time I ever thought critically about tee boxes was in middle school. My friends and I were out at Shadow Valley Golf Course, holed up in the pro shop waiting to make the turn.
“Let’s play the back nine from the red tees,” I said, hoping to take a few birdies and some confidence home with me after a miserable front nine.
“Did you bring your purse for the ladies’ tees?” my friend chirped back.
“The forward tees,” interjected a woman whom neither of us knew. “Not all women play from the forward tee.” And she was right — tees have colors and yardages, not ages or genders.
As I’ve gotten older, playing competitive golf through high school and into college, I think back on that interaction quite often. I now know and have watched many women play from a wide range of tees, moving further back as they improve, and then forward as they wish. The IGA’s own Lexie VanAntwerp, a skilled player and former club professional, says she almost exclusively plays from the forward tee when she has the choice.
“It’s still hard, it’s just more fun.” VanAntwerp said. “There’s no reason to grind it out hitting 3-woods or hybrids into par-4s. I have more fun with my 9-iron and wedges.”
Men, I've noticed, are much less likely to do the same. Stubborn and proud, they tend to chain themselves to the “mens’ tee,” ensuring that the first time they break 80 is “legit.” And when they dribble their tee shot short of the “ladies' tees,” the self-imposed emasculation shows no mercy. Such a perspective is unhelpful to men, disrespectful to women, and disruptive to anyone trying to have a good time.
This tee-box ethic creates two primary issues. First, it ties tee boxes to identity (age and gender), which is an incredibly limiting, if not archaic, way to determine how someone should engage with a round of golf. If you look carefully at a scorecard, you’re unlikely to find tee boxes listed with any association to age or gender. What you will see are course ratings for men and for women (usually for every tee box), a women’s par, and women’s stroke index. Each of those metrics are divorced from how the game is actively played and are only relevant to handicapping, which separates male and female players to account for significant disparities in average distance. But tee boxes themselves can, do, and should exist independent of age and gender, open to anybody who wishes to play them.
The second issue is one of pride and legitimacy. Perhaps the hardest rounds of golf to watch are the ones in which someone trying to shoot in the 70s for the first time makes a double on the last hole to shoot 80 or 81. Those are the rounds that expose golfers to the game’s ruthlessly thin margins and produce the scar tissue that can make this game so discouraging. My suggestion to anyone in this situation, regardless of the target score, is to move up a box and disabuse yourself of the notion that your score is any less legitimate because of the yardage. As long as you leave the mulligans and licorice rope at home, 79 will always be 79.
This argument may sound familiar. The USGA and the PGA of America have partnered up for “Tee-it-Forward” campaigns over the last handful of years based on Adams Golf founder Barney Adams’ belief that many golfers were robbing themselves of a good time by teeing it up much too far from the hole. Tee-it-forward campaigns often come with a chart connecting average driving distance to an ideal playing length to guide golfers to the most suitable tee box. Alternatively, a 2020 Golf.com article proposed taking your average 5-iron distance and multiplying it by 36 to produce an ideal playing length (example: 150 yard 5-iron x 36 = 5,400-yard ideal course length). A USGA survey following the “Tee-it-Forward" campaign found that moving up a tee box or two was overwhelmingly positive. More than 50% of players reported faster rounds and an increased desire to play again, 85% said they had more fun, and more than 90% of players said they would continue to “Tee-it-Forward."
(Credit: United States Golf Association)
These guidelines have great utility for any player, and it’s fair to place my argument in the broader “Tee-it-Forward" bucket, but deciding what tee you should play doesn’t need to be so mathematically rigid. Consider your distance and consider your skill level, but always prioritize the reason you’re out there: to enjoy yourself.
Whether you’re a scratch player or just picked up a club, try playing from the forward tee. Set a target number, perhaps a score you’d only dream of shooting, and go get it. Then move back a box and try it again, moving back each time you hit your target. Skilled players will learn how to score, and beginners can make things easier on themselves.
You can also build your own set up, picking your tee box on each hole based on your own criteria for what makes a fun golf hole. Want that short par-four to be drivable? Move up a box. Did you hit a wedge into the last two par-3s? Mix things up and move it back on the next one.
If you’re worried about how playing from different tees might influence your handicap, there is no cause for concern. Since the adoption of the World Handicap System, your index is now portable, adjusting with the course rating for each tee box so your sandy buddy won’t get sandier if you drag him to the forward tees with you. And if you take my suggestion to play from an unrated collection of tees, the USGA has a process for posting those scores. (You can always contact your club pro or the IGA with any handicap questions).
So, next time you go play, experiment with the tees you play from. See your home course through a different lens, shoot lower scores, and enjoy the game. Life is too short to lay up on par-4s.
IGA Championships Volunteer: Paul Nelson
1 – Where are you originally from? If not from Idaho, what brought you here?
Hailey, Idaho
2 – What is/was your career occupation?
I am retired from Suez Water of Idaho (now Veolia).
3 – What is it about the game of golf that you love so much?
I like golf because it is a sport I can still play with my sons.
4 – What made you want to volunteer for the IGA? When did you start?
I started volunteering with the Junior IGA (Idaho Junior Tour) in 1995 when my oldest son was eight years old and playing in the junior tournaments and volunteered again when my youngest son started playing junior golf. Now that I’m retired, I have more time to volunteer.
5 – What do you hope to get out of volunteering for the IGA? What motivates you to keep coming back?
I get to learn more about the game and the rules. Volunteers help the IGA programs/tournaments and that helps the IGA to continue to be successful.
6 – What has been your favorite memory from volunteering for the IGA?
One of my favorite memories was volunteering with the Junior IGA (Idaho Junior Tour) and my youngest son was six years old and won his very first three-hole tournament.
7 – What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering?
The IGA is a great organization, the people are fun, and what’s better than hanging out at a beautiful golf course.
8 – What is your fondest memory on the golf course?
In 2019 my sons and I did a golf trip to Palm Springs and one of the courses we played was the PGA West Pete Dye Stadium Course.
9 – When were you introduced to the sport? By who?
I was introduced to golf in 1986 by my older brother Mike.
10 – What is your home club? How often do you play?
I don’t have a home club, but I mostly play at Boise Ranch.
11 – What's something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
The only golf lessons I’ve taken were through the Boise Community Education Program when I first started playing. And you can tell!
12 – Who would be a part of your dream foursome to play a round of golf with?
My two sons and Brooks Koepka.
13 - What has been your favorite golf course that you have played?
PGA West Stadium Course in Palm Springs and Circling Raven Golf Club in Idaho.
14 – Describe your golf game in six words
One. Good. Hole. Keeps. Me. Playing.
15 – What's one item that you can’t live without?
My family.
The Road to College Golf
Chris Carew followed his career with the Idaho Junior Tour into three different levels of collegiate golf, then returned to the IGA to help develop junior golf in his home state.
Chris Carew is a former Idaho Junior Tour player who went on to play golf at the collegiate and professional level. After a brief stint with professional status in 2020, Chris returned to Idaho where he began coaching the Men and Women's golf teams at The College of Idaho while helping the Idaho Junior Tour run events in the summertime.
The college recruiting process for sports teams can be difficult and confusing. Using his years of knowledge and expertise on the subject, Chris has written a guide of sorts to make the process more manageable for those looking to play competitive golf at the next level.
“The process of going through recruitment for college golf can be a daunting one. I remember having absolutely no idea where to start and did not take the initiative to educate myself early on... Starting this process early with the proper tools… will give you the best chance at playing for a school that will help grow your game…”
CLICK HERE to read more of Carew’s advice for juniors looking to make the leap to the collegiate level, and Q&As with college coaches.