July 25, 2019 – Olympia, Washington
Event host Rob Ahlschwede reports:
The 2019 Gearhart Hickory Classic is in the books. Forty-five players in four divisions faced interesting pin placements and greens that ran to 11.5 on the stimp meter. Fairways were hard and fast and that led to some great scoring. It also led to some head scratching and the use of words not usually found in mixed company!! The weather was clear with temps in the 60s creeping into the low 70s every day – kind of iconic weather for the Oregon coast in July.
First day saw Bill Geisler of Winter Park Fla., and former SoHG president, set an 18-hole scoring record for the Gearhart Hickory Classic. His one-under par 71 was a terrific round which saw him sink almost putt he needed to sink and helped him become the eventual Senior Division Champion. He backed that round up with an 80 on day two.
Though Bill’s overall score was lowest, competing in the Open Division was Jeff Olsen of Seattle who won the first place honors with some fine scoring of his own, a 79-76. Jeff is also the 2019 Pacific Northwest Hickory Champion. We are looking forward to the Spokane Hickory Open in September to see if he completes the trifecta of Northwest Hickory Players’ major events.
In the other divisions, Pam Rowland was crowned the Ladies Champion and Galen Peterson garnered a win in the Super Senior Division.
The field enjoyed a great tournament dinner provided by the Baked Alaska Restaurant of Astoria, served on the deck overlooking the Astoria Harbor on the Columbia River on a cool, blue sky evening. Locally caught salmon highlighted the meal.
The Gearhart Hickory Classic for 2020 is tentatively scheduled for July 9-11, a Thursday through Saturday set of days. The event will be officially scheduled when those dates become established.
Other results:
Open Division–Champion—Jeff Olsen; 2nd—Gabe Tonan; 3rd—Jim von Lossow
Open Net; 1st—Steve Henneuse; 2nd—Jim Bucher; 3rd—Jeff Lefferts
Senior–Champion—Bill Geisler; 2nd—Tom Tracy; 3rd—Peter Yagi
Senior Net–1st—Ed Horvat; 2nd—Steve Franich; 3rd—Dave McDonald
Super Senior–Champion—Galen Petersen; 2nd—Matt Nelson; 3rd—Ed Ronco
Super Senior Net–1st—John Hoffert; 2nd—Mike Kosich; 3rd—tie—Lyle Roland/Chuck McCollum
Ladies Division–Champion—Pam Rowland; 1st Net—Sandy Bucher
The Northwest Hickory Players invite you to check its website – nwhickoryplayers.org – for the schedule of other events, including the Washington State Hickory Championship, held this year on Aug. 10 at Trophy Lake Golf and Casting Club in Port Orchard, Wash.
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- The Open Division Scoreboard.
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- The Senior Division Scoreboard.
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- The 2019 Gearhart Hickory Classic players.
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- Pam Rowland, left, and Sandy Bucher enjoy a pre-round chat. Pam finished as the Ladies Division Champion, with Sandy claiming the first Net title for the Ladies.
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- Jeff Olsen, left, of Seattle, was the Open Division champion for the 2019 Gearhart Classic.
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- Bill Geisler, left, accepts congratulations from Rob Ahlschwede on his Senior Division title and his low score record round of 71 for the Gearhart Classic.
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- Galen Petersen, left, was Super Senior Division champ at the 2019 Gearhart Hickory Classic.
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- Event host Rob Ahlschwede, left, congratulates Jim Von Lossow on his 3rd place Open Division title. Jim also ran the scoring for the event and, in general, helped make it a smooth operation for Big Rob.
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- Dinner at the Baked Alaska Restaurant featured locally-caught wild salmon.
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- Nothing a spade mashie couldn’t handle.