Wednesday, November 2, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Fought, Black Butte Resort win golf awards
By Steve Kadel
Correspondent
Jeff Fought developed an
affection for golf early in life
during outings with relatives,
including his grandmother.
“It brought our family
together,” he said. “Those
were special times, and we
had real-life conversations
going down the fairway. Golf
was such a social element.”
He enjoyed early suc-
cess, winning the Oregon
state junior title and placing
second in the Oregon state
amateur tournament. But his
goal of joining the PGA tour
never quite came true, despite
his efforts on qualifying tours
in California, Arizona, and
Texas.
That didn’t faze Fought,
who redirected his sights
toward a club pro job, work-
ing his way up the ranks of
Oregon golf clubs to his cur-
rent position as director of
golf at Black Butte Ranch.
Fought and the Ranch
both were honored October
24, when the Oregon Golf
Association (OGA) named
him Club Executive of the
Year. Black Butte Ranch is
Member Club of the Year.
“I’m really proud about
it,” he said. “I didn’t lobby
for it.”
The awards were made
during OGA’s annual meet-
ing, held at the Portland
Golf Club. A press release
from Black Butte Ranch
explains the individual and
club honors stemmed from
the way Black Butte Ranch
handled the Oregon Amateur
Championship, held last sum-
mer on its Glaze Meadow
Golf Course.
“Their club provided first-
class support when it came
to helping with this year’s
championship,” the OGA
announced. “Most of the
volunteers that week were
residents from Black Butte
—and many of the spectators
were as well. The members
from Black Butte Ranch were
essential in making the cham-
pionship run smoothly.”
The OGA said in a news
release that Fought was cho-
sen for “exceptional leader-
ship” with an OGA member
club.
Fought said many people,
including the resort’s golf
staff and maintenance staff,
contributed to the effort.
“We did a spectacular job,
but we couldn’t have done it
without the staff,” he said.
Fought added that donat-
ing the course to OGA for
a full week was a way for
Black Butte Ranch to give
back to the game of golf.
Despite the recent success,
he acknowledged these are
not the best of times for the
golf industry. More courses
are closing than are open-
ing, although Fought said
there was a push to build new
courses nationwide during
the early 1990s. However, he
noted that the “build it and
they will come” philosophy
did not catch hold as industry
officials hoped.
Adding to the situation,
golf equipment sales are
down and fewer people have
watched golf on television
since Tiger Woods left the
game due to injuries.
“Our core golfer used to
play three or four rounds a
week,” Fought said, “but
that’s down to one round a
week now.”
He declined to reveal the
specific numbers of rounds
played at Glaze Meadow and
the Ranch’s original course,
Big Meadow Golf Course,
during recent years, although
he said the trend is positive,
with more rounds played this
year than in 2015.
Black Butte Ranch prop-
erty owners and their guests
make up a large part of the
resort’s clientele. Other
players come from Eugene,
Salem, and Portland.
Greet f all with a
beautiful,white Smile!
FREE BLEACHING FOR LIFE
With new patient exam and x-rays.
Strategies have been
enacted at the resort to
increase the number of chil-
dren taking up the game. That
includes installing “family
tees” that make each hole
shorter and more accessible
to younger and less skilled
players.
Those were special
times, and we had real-life
conversations going down
the fairway. Golf was stch
a social element.
— Jeff Fotght
Fought, a Brigham Young
University graduate, said
children also are invited to a
weekly putting challenge at
Glaze Meadow. Resort rep-
resentatives also have vis-
ited Sisters public schools
to introduce students to the
game in physical education
classes through a program
called SNAG golf—which
stands for Starting New at
Golf.
Fought believes part of
participation problem stems
from the attitudes of mille-
nials, those generally born
from the mid 1990s to early
2000s. They are used to play-
ing electronic games that give
almost instant gratification,
he said, while 18 holes of
golf takes about four hours to
complete.
PHOTO BY STEVE KADEL
Black Bttte Ranch Director of Golf Jeff Fotght and BBR itself recently
received awards from the Oregon Golf Association.
“Fewer millenials are tak-
ing up the game,” Fought
said. “Golf may be too slow
for them.”
He never felt that way
about the sport, though.
Fought relished each min-
ute on the course as a young
man, whether competing in
a tournament or just playing
for fun. When his PGA hopes
dimmed, he got married, had
a child, and began a series of
club pro jobs.
He began as assistant
pro at Willamette Valley
in Portland, and went on to
Riverside and Waverly coun-
try clubs, also of Portland. A
big role presented itself when
he helped organize the Fred
Meyer Challenge, a three-day
charity tournament in Oregon
made famous by former PGA
star and TV golf commenta-
tor Peter Jacobsen. In recent
years, he qualified three
times to play in the national
Senior Club Professional
Championships for those age
50 and over.
Still, Fought looks back
on his early days in the sport
with particular fondness. He
didn’t hesitate when asked
what trait is most valuable for
a golf director.
“I think you need to love
golf,” he said. “That’s the
main thing.”
Scott Huntsman, Black
Butte Ranch president, called
the two OGA awards “quite
an honor.”
“They are indicative of a
commitment to excellence
and passion for the game from
our golf staff, and a spirit of
community and volunteerism
from owners and golfers at
Black Butte Ranch,” he said
in a news release.
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