Wonders Of Washington -- People, Places And Performances That Have Made History Or Have Ingrained Themselves In Golfing Lore

Here's a primer on Washington state golf. These are people, courses, events or performances that have figured in this state's golf history or are topics of golf conversation:

MALE GOLFERS

Rick Acton - Former PGA Tour and two-year Senior Tour player and longtime pro at Sahalee Country Club. Ex-Husky baseball pitcher will test new artificial knee in Washington Open this month.

Don Bies - Seattle native and seven-time winner on the Senior Tour, including 1995 Raley's Senior Gold Rush in California. Won the 1975 Greater Hartford Open on the regular tour.

Mike Combs - Tri-Cities golfer won 1990 U.S. Public Links Championship.

Chuck Congdon - Club pro at Tacoma Country and Golf Club for 30 years and winner of 1947 Portland Open with a final-round 64 to beat Ben Hogan. He also won the 1948 Canadian Open.

Fred Couples - The best male golfer in state history. O'Dea High School grad who learned the game at Jefferson Park. Winner of 1992 Masters and 12 other Tour tournaments.

Rick Fehr - Two-time winner on the PGA Tour who lives in Redmond.

Rod Funseth - Spokane native who won three Tour victories and two senior events before dying of lung cancer at age 52 in 1985.

Harry Givan - Was one of nation's top amateurs and a member of 1936 Walker Cup team. He won several Northwest titles and still is a member at the Seattle Golf Club.

Jim McLean - One of nation's premier golf instructors, he graduated from now-defunct Glacier High School near Sea-Tac.

Al Mengert - Spokane native who won Washington Open four times. Played on PGA and Senior PGA Tours. Led U.S. Open with first-round 67s in 1966 and 1967.

Bill Sander - Won the 1976 U.S. Amateur at age 20 at the Bel Air Country Club in Los Angeles. The Shorecrest High grad later played on PGA Tour.

Ken Still - Tacoma golfer on the Senior Tour. Three-time winner on PGA Tour and member of 1969 Ryder Cup team. Crazy about baseball, and former Dodger great Sandy Koufax was best man at his wedding.

Bill Tindall - Seattle native won 1960 national Junior Amateur at age 17. Played on PGA Tour. Ex-Husky player and coach, and has been pro at Broadmoor Golf Club since 1977.

Kirk Triplett - PGA Tour pro who was born in Moses Lake and graduated from Pullman High School. Has won more than $2.6 million.

Jack Westland - In 1952, the Everett golfer won the U.S. Amateur at the Seattle Golf Club at age 47 and also was elected to Congress. Three-time member of Walker Cup team and was captain in 1961. Won French Amateur in 1929 and U.S. Seniors title in 1963. Died in 1982.

Marvin "Bud" Ward - Olympia native who won U.S. Amateur in 1939 and 1941 and was on Walker Cup teams in 1947 and 1948.

Bill Wright - Franklin High School grad became first African-American to win a United States Golf Association championship when he won the U.S. Public Links title in 1959.

Kermit Zarley - West Seattle native who won 1962 NCAA title at University of Houston. Senior Tour veteran who won 1994 TransAmerica tournament. Two-time winner on regular PGA Tour.

WOMEN GOLFERS

JoAnne (Gunderson) Carner - LPGA Hall of Fame member and graduate of Lake Washington High School in Kirkland. She has won 42 LPGA events, three player of the year honors, five U.S. Amateur titles.

Peggy Conley - Spokane golfer who was on 1964 and 1968 Curtis Cup teams and on LPGA Tour.

Heather Graff - Kennewick golfer who was 1996 U.S. Women's Public Links Championship and member of Arizona team that won NCAA title.

Connie (Oldershaw) Guthrie - Spokane golfer won 1984 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship.

Pat (Lesser) Harbottle - Won 1955 U.S. Women's Amateur and represented U.S. on two Curtis Cup teams in the 1950s. Also won women's intercollegiate title for Seattle University in 1952 after winning national Girls Junior Championship in 1950. Married to John Harbottle, one of Northwest's top senior golfers. Mother of golf architect John III.

Edean Ihlanfelt - Winner of 1982 U.S. Women's Senior Amateur and former UW coach.

Ruth Jessen - Roosevelt High School grad was 11-time winner on LPGA Tour from 1959 through mid-1970s.

Kelli Kamimura - Sedro-Woolley High School senior and UW recruit who is ranked among the top 10 junior players nationally.

Anne (Quast) Sander - Marysville native has played more competitive rounds in United States Golf Association championships than anyone. Won 1952 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and captured U.S. Amateur in 1958, 1961 and 1963. Played on eight Curtis Cup teams.

Jo Ann Washam - Auburn native and WSU hall of fame member who won three times on LPGA circuit.

HOLES

The "apple hole" - The island green par-3, 136-yard (white tees) 17th hole at Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima is shaped like an apple.

Homestead's 18th hole - Island green on par-5 in Lynden.

"Old Crabby" - The signature hole at the Dungeness Golf and Country Club outside Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula is the par-5, 483-yard third hole abutted by a big sand bunker surrounded by eight smaller bunkers resembling crab legs.

"The Rock Hole" - The 12th hole at Battle Creek is a 161-yard, par-3 with a huge boulder stuck in front of the green.

The sixth at Desert Canyon - Long, spectacular 638-yard (white tees) hole that sits atop a canyon.

Double dogleg at Alderbrook - The eighth hole at Alderbrook Resort golf course is a 508-yard (white tees) double dogleg that bends right then bends left.

COURSES AND CLUBS

Broadmoor Golf Club - Prestigious Seattle club has been site of several national tournaments.

Canterwood Golf and Country Club - A tough-on-purpose course in Gig Harbor with nearly 80 bunkers.

Desert Canyon - Some folks just call it "Arizona North." It's the much-talked-about Jack Frei-designed course carved from desert 23 miles north of Wenatchee.

Everett Golf and Country Club - Railroad baron Jim Hill provided the land and the first pro in 1911 was Tom Morris, nephew of the legendary "Old Tom" Morris of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Fircrest Golf Club - Historic Tacoma course designed by Arthur Vernon Macan.

Gold Mountain - A 36-hole municipal facility outside Bremerton whose Olympic Course has earned national acclaim.

Indian Canyon - Spokane municipal course opened in 1936 and was designed by H. Chandler Egan, who redesigned Pebble Beach. Indian Canyon has made Golf Digest's list of top 25 public courses several times and twice has been the host course for the U.S. Publinks Championship.

Indian Summer Country Club - Well-regarded course in Lacey was site of Western Washington Nike Tour stops.

Inglewood Country Club - Site of many significant tournaments, including PGA Senior Tour stop from 1987-95.

Kayak Point - Nationally regarded course outside Stanwood operated by Snohomish County.

Manito Golf and Country Club - Spokane club was the site of the 1944 PGA Championship. Bob Hamilton beat Byron Nelson 1-up.

McCormick Woods Golf Club - Lovely Port Orchard course is a fixture on most lists of top Northwest courses.

Meadow Springs Country Club - Robert Muir Graves designed this course in Richland, which is site of annual Nike Tour stop.

Meriwood Golf Course - Lacey course consistently is ranked among best in the Northwest.

Port Ludlow Golf and Country Club - This 27-hole complex has been ranked among the top 10 golf destinations in the nation.

Royal Oaks Country Club - This 6,735-yard course in Vancouver is among the best in the state. Tiger Woods won the 1993 PNGA Championship there.

Sahalee Country Club - Consistently ranked among the nation's top 100 courses by Golf Digest, this Redmond club will be the site of the PGA Championship in August.

Seattle Golf Club - Exclusive club with good course and wonderful, historic clubhouse. Site of 1952 U.S. Amateur and 1961 Walker Cup.

Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club - Award-winning resort in Blaine with course designed by Arnold Palmer.

Spokane Country Club - Site of the inaugural Women's U.S. Open in 1946 won by Patty Berg.

Tacoma Country and Golf Club - Founded in 1894, the club claims to be the oldest continuing golf club west of the Mississippi.

PERFORMANCES

Ockie Eliason's ace - In the second round of the 1964 Seattle Open at Broadmoor, Tacoma pro Ockie Eliason scored a hole-in-one with a 3-iron on the 225-yard seventh hole to win a special prize of $10,000. He failed to make the cut but still took home more money than the tournament winner, Billy Casper, who won $5,800.

Jeff Gove's 61 - The Nike Tour pro from Kenmore shot a course-record 61 at Overlake Country Club on the final day of the Ernst Championship in 1995.

Chris Mitchell's eagle binge - In the 1990 Rosauer's Open at Indian Canyon in his hometown of Spokane, Mitchell fired a 66 that included three eagles. He had a hole-in-one on a par-3, a 2 on a par-4 and a 3 on a par 5.

George Lanning's 60 - The late George Lanning, a Tacoma pro who played on the Senior Tour, shot 60 at Tumwater Valley Golf Course and the round included a bogey. Lanning's record round was May 1, 1977 in the pro-am for the Washington State Open. Al Mengert's 29 - Al Mengert shot a 29 on the front side of Broadmoor in the 1950 Hudson Cup on the third nine of a 36-hole Hudson Cup match against Porky Oliver.

Ted Naff's 1990 double-eagle, eagle - In the 1990 GTE Classic at Inglewood, local favorite Naff had an eagle and a double eagle in the same round. He sank a 221-yard 3-wood on the par-5 second hole and had an eagle on the par-5 18.

Byron Nelson's 259 - Nelson set what was then a PGA record with a 21-under-par total of 259 (62-68-63-66) in the 1945 Seattle Open at Broadmoor.

Arnold Palmer's 66 - Arnold Palmer shot his age for the first time in his life on his 66th birthday in the GTE Classic on Sept. 10, 1995 at Inglewood.

Northwest women's domination - In the 14-year span from 1955 to 1968, Washington women won the U.S. Women's Amateur nine times. JoAnne (Gunderson) Carner won five, Ann Quast Sander won three and Pat Lesser Harbottle won once.

John Bodenhamer's 55 - John Bodenhamer, now executive director of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, fired a course-record 55 for two rounds on the par-34, nine-hole Fort Steilacoom Golf Course in 1978 when he was 16 years old.

ODDITIES

"Divot the dog" - The Riverside Golf Course in Ferndale was once home to a Brittany spaniel named "Divot" that would jump into power carts, press the accelerator and take off down a fairway.

Mikkelson's obsession - In 1983, Dave Mikkelson played 501 rounds of golf, most of them at Mount Si Golf Course. No one in the nation played more recorded rounds that year.