Wildwood Golf Course

Bombatch: Easier course setups could improve Middletown city tournament

By John Bombatch

Staff Writer

Covering the Middletown City Golf Championships this past weekend, I couldn’t help but wonder how so much was being enjoyed by so few.

When I first started covering the event nearly 20 years ago, the tournament fields were more than double the size than they are now. It was common for the men’s tournament to attract more than 100 players while the women’s field had more than 20 competitiors. There were 77 players in the men’s tournament last year.

I’m not sure if it’s because of tough financial times in a struggling economy — the men’s entry fee was $140 — the dismay at the current tournament set up — or both — but the numbers for this year’s tournament were down.

This year, there were 48 players in the men’s tourney and eight in the women’s tourney.

The men’s event took place over four days at Brown’s Run Country Club, Wildwood Golf Club, Shaker Run Golf Course and Weatherwax Golf Course. The women’s event was 36 holes at Weatherwax. For the men, it was the second straight year playing four different courses over four days.

I covered the final three days of the tournament and my favorite memories of the tournament came off the course.

After the third round at Shaker Run, players were milling around the leaderboard, joking and talking with each other about their rounds. As the scores were posted, young and old alike were sharing their favorite stories over cold drinks. Most of all, they were laughing and having a good time.

While Michael Roberts was dueling with the defending champ Tim Sorrows and young guns like Connor O’Hea and T.J. Selby for the tournament crown, the others — all accomplished golfers in their own right — were out there doing their best, too.

The city championships are events Middletown should be proud of. It brings golfers of all ages together in pursuit of a prize while enjoying the game they love.

Here’s one thing I think could make the tourney more enjoyable for everybody:

Save the tough pin placements and back tees for the pros. Set the courses up for amateurs, with a few wrinkles here and there. But don’t turn a fun event into work for the majority of golfers.

Wildwood Golf Course | Portland Oregon Magazine

Wildwood golf course is the shortest course on the list with 5.827 yards of golf.  The course has a rating of 68.3.  Wildwood is located just 15 minutes from downtown Portland but has some spectacular scenery on the course.  There is a lot of variety on the course with each hole providing separate challenges that make it enjoyable to all golfers.  There are a lot of hills on the course and it is recommended to golfers to rent carts to use.  The location of the course in a valley makes it an ideal place to golf without having to worry about the wind.

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