emerald
An Oregon Daily Emerald Supplement
Wednesday, April 13, 1983
Springing into action on the links
Braving the
elements, there’re
plenty of places to
let the chips fall
Story by Mike Riplinger
Photos by Bob Baker
Golfing in Oregon in the springtime always
pits the duffer against the elements.
The usual rain, wind and a little bit of sun
shine now and again is expected, but to face
record monsoons, hail, sleet and even snow
isn't playing fair.
Maybe God has given up on his puttinq
and has taken up bowling.
Indoors may be the piace to be after the
unusually heavy rains, but area golf courses
have been slowly drying out.
With an interest in checking out the area’s
courses and a chance to improve my horren
dous handicap, I embarked on my own mini
PGA Tour — or Pathetically Gross Attempt as
my playing partners called it.
While my hacking did improve, my supply
of golf balls didn’t. I lost balls not only because
of my duck hooks and ugly slices, depending
on what I was screwing up at the time, but also
at the phenomenon of “plug balls," which are
known to frequent many Willamette Valley
courses.
That is the cruel situation where a nice
high shot zips into the cloud-filled sky, only to
land in the muck and mire of the fairway, never
to be seen again. There is nothing more
infuriating than hitting a nice shot into the
middle of the fairway and then being able to
find it because it sunk into the mud.
God must have a sense of humor.
The wet winter does leave one advantage.
No matter how much you skull your approach
shots to the green, just about anything will stay
on. That means even those rocket wedge shots
which don’t get above 10 feet off the ground
will have a chance.
With that optimistic note in mind, knowing
I had nothing to lose, I proceded to make the
rounds.
Tokatee Golf Club, 48 miles east of
Eugene on Highway 126. A gorgeous golf
course that is surrounded by a small mountain
range with the the Three Sisters laying in the
background. Easily the most scenic of the
region’s courses, which serves to bely the
often difficult 6,327 yard par-72 course.
Tokatee was listed by Golf Digest in 1981 as
one of country’s top 50 public courses and lives
up to its ranking.
The course is in fairly good condition despite
the heavy rains. The back nine, though, opened
just last weekend because of the monsoons.
The greens have recently been aerated, but
should prove to be in good shape in the weeks
ahead.
Pick up your strokes early on this course,
because the back nine is difficult.
See Golf, Page 2B
Inside* Too many‘winners’ Flinging for par Places
.page 3B .page 4B .
to run
page 8B