Fourth of July Tournament heats up WLGC
<p>Spencer Williams hits out of a bunker in the final day of the Fouth of July tournament in 2015 at Whitefish Lake Golf Club.</p>
An outstanding field of some of the best players in the region are set to partake in the annual Fourth of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club this weekend. The championship flight will feature more than 20 players with a scratch handicap, meaning they normally shoot par or better.
A large contingent of college players will be part of the field along with some more seasoned competitors and past champions. Look for Craig Holbert, Shawn Tucker, Rob Bergeson to place high, and youngsters Conner Rooney and Ryggs Johnson could be strong contenders. Johnson just finished his freshman year at Libby High School and last week finished third in the prestigious U.S. Junior Amateur with a final round of 66.
This year a senior division has been added for the over 50 age group of men players with 60 players in that division. In the senior division Carroll Lilly will be hard to beat on his home course but could be challenged by other local senior division players.
The ladies flight is wide open with several local players poised to finish in top tier.
This past Monday, Larry Gilhuly, USGA Agronomist, visited the Whitefish Lake Golf Course to evaluate present practices and potential ways to further improve the course conditions and playability.
WLGC has been involved with site visits for well over two decades and historically utilizes the service advice to upgrade the operation. The main focus this year was on the greens and other turf conditions.
Gilhuly was really impressed with course conditions this spring and commented that WLGC is one of the best maintained courses he has visited. That is impressive since he has been consulting for more than 30 years and visits around 100 or more courses per year.
Noticeable improvements were evident in the greens where problem trees were removed to allow more sunlight penetration to the putting surfaces. The importance of morning sunlight was emphasized to promote healthy turf.
The consulting service validated the excellent job that superintendent Dick Collins and his staff does to maintain a course with such a high volume of rounds played in a concentrated time frame.