2007 OREGON EXECUTIVE GOLF GUIDE: NEWS
All in the family
40 years at Lewis River
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Before the 2000 fire that
destroyed the golf shop and bar and grill… and
after, a new Northwest-themed clubhouse of log and river
rock construction.
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An erupting volcano didn’t shut down Lewis River Golf
Course, but the state of Washington’s sign prohibiting
recreational activity within the “red zone” had
that effect in 1980. The golf club is celebrating 40 years of
continuous operation this year, all of them under ownership of
the Stading family.
The family of Ralph Stading Sr. launched the Woodland, Wash.,
enterprise in 1967. The front nine was designed by a family
friend, and Ralph Jr. (now known as Ralph Sr.) designed the
back nine a year later. A display in the clubhouse commemorates
the milestones in the course’s history: 1969 marked the
opening of the back nine holes; 1996, floodwaters wipe out half
of the back nine: 1996–2000, rebuilding of three holes on
the front nine; 2000, the old clubhouse and restaurant burn
down; 2001, a new clubhouse was built and opened.
One thing you won’t see in those pages is damage to the
course from the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Despite Lewis
River’s location –– just 20 miles from
Cougar, the town at the base of the mountain ––
favorable winds blew the ash away from the course, toward
Yakima. Roads were closed, though, and “everyone was
scared to come up this way,” says Darrin Nash, head pro
at Lewis River.
After 40 years, things are different at Lewis River, but much
remains the same. Two generations of the Ralph Stading family
still run the company, but these days Ralph and Karen Stading,
who were the “juniors” of those earlier years, have
become the “seniors.” Their son, Ralph, and
daughter-in law, Allison, have assumed the “junior”
title. The bitty fir trees planted back in the late
’60’s now majestically line the fairways.
“The future at Lewis River Golf looks brighter than
ever, with new facilities and course improvements providing the
draw for more people to discover and visit Lewis River,”
says Ralph Stading Sr. “We hope the next 40 years brings
great new changes, and that the people who help make it happen
continue to be members of the Stading family.”
So far, the youngest generation of the Ralph Stading family is
all girls, three of them, so the name is in some danger of
changing in the future. “Danger,” Stading says with
a laugh, “has never stopped the family from moving
forward under capable leadership.”
District finals come to Medford
The Centennial Golf Club in Medford this year will host the
RE/MAX World Long Drive District 1 Finals on Aug. 11-12. It is
the first time the prestigious event has been held in
Medford.
Medford’s Timothy
Mort, right, stands with Steve Wiley, left, marketing
director for Long Drivers of America, and Scott Ionno of
Northfield, N.J., the winner of the 2006 Exceptional
Driver Challenge World Finals in Laughlin, NV.
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Competitors will come from all District I states ––
Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and
South Dakota — to compete for a chance to advance to the
RE/MAX World Long Drive Finals in Mesquite, Nev. The local
qualifying event for the district finals will be held Aug. 10.
Pros and amateurs alike are invited to try their talents.
Also on Aug. 10, local golfers can compete in the Exceptional
Driver Challenge qualifier. The Challenge uses the same 40-yard
grid as the long drive contest, but it is for amateur golfers
only. For an entry fee of $20 per try, golfers get to hit five
balls at the grid (with a 20-yard wide “Exceptional
Zone” in the center), amassing points and potentially a
bonus ball based on a length-and-accuracy formula.
One winner from the local qualifier will represent this area
in the world finals at the Laughlin Ranch Golf Club in
Laughlin, Nev., in early 2008. The top prize is $100,000, with
a catch: The EDC champion will have to decide whether to accept
the bounty or retain amateur status.
“Anyone who can play golf has a chance to compete at the
world finals level,” says Timothy Mort, RE/MAX broker and
founder of Tournament Golf Solutions. “
Turn your bogies into pars
While a round of golf can be a fun way to spend a day, many
executives see it as a link to networking and forging business
relationships. An executive whose game is not up to par runs
the risk of not being taken seriously on the green — let
alone the boardroom.
Golfer Lou Hays is doing something to help business leaders
seeking to quickly improve their game. A 4-handicap golfer,
Hays is the author of Make
Your Golf Dream A Reality, a book that examines basic
golf fundamentals in an easy-to-understand format, showing
golfers how to achieve lower scores with the swing they already
possess. The book identifies typical high-handicapper mistakes
and provides a step-by-step system for overcoming these
score-killing faults.
Hays promises that his system of “smart” golf
immediately leads to better scoring without the struggle and
confusion of a major swing transformation. The book walks the
reader through accurate game analysis and offers explicit
shot-saving remedies that can produce lower scores immediately.
Make Your Golf Dream A
Reality is available at www.amazon.com, and
www.hayspub.com.
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