Local Golf Notebook -- Wells' Eagle Count Soars, As Does His Golf Business

The third time Tom Wells played golf, he made an eagle.

It was 1959 and Wells was 12 and playing the now-defunct Meadowbrook public course, now the site of Hale High School.

"I holed a 7-iron and decided, `I'm going to keep track of these,' " he said.

Thirty-six years later, the long-hitter's eagle count has reached 2,286 and includes one day when he had four eagles (two under par) during a round at Sand Point.

Wells' hole-in-one total is only two, with the second one coming this month on the 165-yard 17th hole at Mint Valley Golf Course in Longview.

"Holes-in-one are hard for me to get because I put a lot of spin on the ball," Wells explained. He said golfers whose shots roll more have a better chance at aces.

Eagles come a lot easier for Wells because his drives average 288 yards, down about 12 yards from his prime.

Wells, 6 feet, 235 pounds, knows plenty about power and plenty about equipment. He owns a club manufacturing company - Tom Wells Golf Co. of Seattle. The company has 13 employees and he said it sells about 10,000 sets of clubs a year. It also sells thousands of heads, shafts and grips to other companies.

Wells got started in the golf-equipment business in 1974 when he and a friend, Steve Cole, got the salvage rights after fire destroyed the pro shop at the Fircrest Golf Club outside Tacoma. In exchange for hauling away tons of rubble, they got to keep what remained of the clubs. They added new shafts and grips to clubheads and sold them.

Wells remained in the equipment business and Cole moved into instructing. He helped Fred Couples back in the future Masters champion's Jefferson Park days.

Wells played on golf teams at Roosevelt High School and Seattle University. He is a past champion of the British Columbia Amateur and Puget Sound Amateur and played in the 1970 U.S. Amateur.

He hasn't played a lot of tournaments in recent years, but one thing is obvious - with Wells, eagles aren't an endangered species.

Enjoyable golf book

Looking for a gift for a golfer? You can't go wrong with the book "My Unusual Game" by David Owen ($23, Villard Books). It's a hilarious and at times insightful look at the sport by a self-admitted GDP (golf dependent personality).

The best chapter is the opening one about his overview of the game. In following chapters, he goes to golf school, goes on golf vacation to Myrtle Beach with buddies ("in Myrtle Beach, the basic social unit is not the couple or the family but the foursome,") covers the Ryder Cup and actually places second in a pro-am.

Owen has explained that one of golf's main appeals to him is "the sense of infinite possibility."

"I could swing at major-league pitches for the rest of my life and never come close to hitting a home run," he said. "But in golf there is always the chance that the next shot, or the one after that, will be terrific."

New owners

Monroe Golf Course has been sold to new owners who plan to keep it a golf course.

The course had been for sale and there were fears its green fairways would turn into cul-de-sacs, homes and driveways.

The course will lose some of its rural flavor with construction of 104 homes on abutting property but the bottom line is that the course survives. New owners Terry Martin and Ragnar Pettersson plan improvements such as more sand traps and some water hazards.

The relatively flat 2,451-yard, par-33 nine-hole layout is the oldest public course in Snohomish County. It is a good course for beginners and is fun for middle handicappers. Everyone can enjoy the clubhouse, with its beautiful stone fireplace and reputation for good pies.

Monroe's weekday green fees of $10 for nine holds and $15 for 18 are among the lowest in the Puget Sound area.

Gold Creek bargain

One of the best bargains in local golf is at the Gold Creek Driving Range in Woodinville - a bucket of 60 balls for $3 or a bucket of 80 balls for $4. The facility has a practice sand trap, too.

Women's amateur

The Washington Women's Amateur Championship will be held Tuesday through Thursday at Mill Creek Country Club. The defending champion is Caroline Spiegelberg of Oakbrook Golf and Country Club in Tacoma.

This week's big tournament for men is the Sunriver Oregon Open, with a $100,000 purse. The field is 136 pros and 32 amateurs. The defending champion is Bill Tindall, pro at Seattle's Broadmoor Golf Club. The pro-am concludes today and the 54-hole tournament begins tomorrow.

Tomorrow also is the one-day qualifer at Allenmore Golf Course in Tacoma as 110 golfers compete for three spots in the U.S. Public Links Championship July 17-22 at Stow Acres Country Club in Stow, Mass.

Trevino visit

The usual glut of celebrity tournaments is under way. The one with a golfer worth watching is the BTI Americas Tournament with Lee Trevino Aug. 7 at Indian Summer Golf and Country Club outside Olympia. Gallery tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for seniors (over 65) and juniors (17 and under). Proceeds benefit Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Pete Gross House.

Opening Day party

The nonprofit Municipal Golf of Seattle takes over the city's three public courses Saturday. Opening Day ceremonies are planned at all three courses and the City Amateur tournament will start at Jackson Park then move to West Seattle Sunday and finish Tuesday at Jefferson.

Bucking a trend

Washington bucked a national trend last year as the number of golfers in the state rose. The National Golf Foundation says there were 557,000 players age 12 or over last year, up from 543,000 in 1993. Nationally, the number of players and rounds played remained flat.

Golf calendar

Monday - U.S. Public Links Qualifier, Allenmore Golf Course, Tacoma.

Monday-Wednesday - Sunriver Oregon Open Invitational, Sunriver Resort, Sunriver, Ore.

Tuesday-Thursday - Washington State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship, Mill Creek Country Club.

July 1,2, 4 - Seattle Amateur, Jackson Park, then West Seattle then Jefferson.

July 10-15 - PNGA Men's Amateur Championship, Oregon Golf Club, West Linn, Ore.

July 10-11 - Washington Junior Golf Association District 2 championships, Sand Point Country Club.

July 14-16 - Rosauers Spokane Open, Indian Canyon Golf Course.

July 17-21 - PNGA Women's Amateur Championship, Waverley Country Club, Portland.

July 18-21 - PNGA Junior Girls Amateur Championship, Seymour Golf and Country Club, North Vancouver, B.C.

July 24-28 - PNGA Master 40 Amateur Championship, Quilchena Golf and County Club, Richmond, B.C.

July 25-28 - Pacific Coast Amateur, Canterwood Golf and Country Club, Gig Harbor.

July 26-28 - WSJA State Tournament, Fircrest Golf Club, Tacoma.