Krause makes history in Spokane

Sam Krause makes USGA finals

Local junior golf standout and defending Class A State Champion Sam Krause qualified for the USGA National Boys Junior Championship to be held later this summer in Augusta, Mo.

Krause finished second in the Spokane qualifier to become the first local player to qualify for the finals in recent history — and maybe ever. This is a huge accomplishment for any player to make it to a USGA National Championship.

Krause fired rounds of 70-72 and made a 20-foot birdie on the last hole for birdie to seal his place in the finals. He posted the lowest annual average score in Bulldog history this past season.

Good luck in the finals, Sam, the whole town will be pulling for you.

Hole-in-one club

Two golfers playing at Whitefish Lake Golf Club recently became members of the elite hole-in-one club.

Bob Ogg aced hole number four on the North Course using a six-iron on June 24. He's a member of the Missoula Country Club but was a one-time member of Whitefish Lake Golf Club before moving back to Missoula.

Rick Murphy recorded his hole-in-one on number three of the South Course with an eight-iron on the 150-plus yard hole. Rick's perfect shot happened on June 23 in front of his foursome.

Flathead Valley Junior Tour

The next two events of the 2007 Flathead Valley Junior Tour will be held on July 9 at Cabinet View Golf Club in Libby and July 11 at Whitefish Lake Golf Club. The event in Libby begins on Monday at 1 p.m. and in Whitefish on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Interested players should call the hosting club two days in advance to register to play. The phone number for Cabinet View Golf Club is 293-7332 and Whitefish Lake is 862-5960.

The younger players will play the Lake Nine, while the older players will play on the South Course.

Fourth of July Tournament

The 2007 Fourth of July Tournament will begin Thursday, July 5 (today), and conclude on Saturday, July 7.

A full field of players will contest their skills against great course conditions and their fellow competitors. The women's derby will be played on Thursday after the completion of play, and the men will have their derby on Friday after the rounds are completed.

The top-20 players for men and women are selected for the derby, and the two-person teams play an alternate-shot format, with the highest-scoring team being eliminated after each hole.

These events are great crowd-pleasers and feature some excellent competition.

Rules of the game

Two players hit their ball into the rough and discover that both were playing the same ball with the same number. Neither is able to determine which ball is theirs since both came to rest nearly in the same spot.

What do they do now? Since the balls were not marked, both are deemed to be lost, and the players must return to tee and replay. The penalty is stroke and distance.

This is an excellent reason to mark some type of special design on your golf ball so they can be easily identified.