The Stark Truth

Bremerton’s Marvin Williams is averaging career low numbers in his first year with the Utah Jazz, and was recently benched.

Williams, the consummate teammate, seemed to take it all in stride, said his coach Tyrone Corbin. Williams has never complained about playing time or getting a lack of shots during his career. Winning, he has said over and over, is what matters most and the Jazz are on a four-game winning streak and tied with the Lakers for eighth in the NBA Western Conference. Here’s a look at Marvin’s numbers.

Troy Kelly will try to jump-start his season at the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio this week. The Central Kitsap grad and former University of Washington golfer has made just three cuts in nine tournaments, and is No. 180 on the money list ($32,350). He tied for 62nd (Pebble Beach), 63rd  (Puerto Rico) and 67th (Tampa Bay). He’s played 24 rounds and broke 70 just three times, only once in his last 16 rounds. His scoring average (72.726) ranks No. 170. But the beauty of pro golf, as Kelly found out a year ago, is all it takes is one tournament to secure his card for another season. Last year, Kelly’s second-place finish at the Greenbrier paid $658,800. There’s still a lot of golf to play.

Surprise, surprise, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is back in the news. The All-Pro corner went off on Skip Bayless, a co-host of ESPN’s First Take.

Sherman called Bayless “ignorant” and “egotistical.”

More Sherman: “In my 24 years of life, I’m better at life than you. I’m better than you.”

“Let’s not get personal,” said Bayless.

The ESPN show, featuring Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, is hardly must-see TV, but on Thursday morning, it was pretty entertaining.

More linkage …

Willie Bloomquist and Team USA opens the World Baseball Classic against Mexico on Friday ( 6 p.m., MLB.com) in Arizona. Bloomquist, a South Kitsap and member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, gives manager Joe Torre a lot of versatility. And he’s thrilled to be wearing the red, white and blue.

“It’s an honor, especially when you get a phone call asking if you’d represent your country,” he told MLB.com. “That’s about as good an honor as you can get. Obviously, I’m thrilled. Whatever role or capacity they want me to fill remains to be seen, but I’m excited to do whatever is asked of me.”

Former South Kitsap pitcher Jason Hammel struck out four in 2 1/3 innings on Thursday against Toronto as the right-hander appears to be right on schedule for the Orioles.

Dominic Boddie, a redshirt freshman walkon tailback from South Kitsap, is the only local player on the University of Washington’s spring football roster.

Central Kitsap grad Troy Kelly fired a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Puerto Rico Open and is tied for 28th heading into Friday’s second round. It’s the best start of the season for Kelly, who survived the cut in just one of his first six PGA Tour starts. Most of the world’s best players are playing in the Cadillac Championship at Doral, Fla., but the Puerto Rico Open has a solid field. The winner gets $600,000 and a two-year exemption.

Outfielder Aaron Cunningham, a South Kitsap grad who played for Cleveland a year ago, is 6-for-16 (.375) with three doubles and a home run for the Texas Rangers this spring. His home run came against the Mariners. Cunningham’s a non-roster invitee.

Bremerton’s Jarell Flora made a couple of starts for Seattle University in February and scored a career-high 18 points against UT-Arlington, but he’s been coming off the bench in recent games for the Redhawks (8-20, 3-14 WAC). Flora had seven points in a loss to UC Bakersfield Wednesday, and the 6-5 guard is averaging 5.9 points and 16.8 minutes per game. The redshirt sophomore is fourth on the team in steals (28).

Landon Cray (fr., Chimacum) and Nate Roberts (sr., Central Kitsap) hit 1-2 in the batting order for Seattle U (3-10) in a 4-2 baseball loss to Washington (4-8) on Tuesday at Husky Ballpark. Cray was 2 for 5 with a double and is hitting .289. Roberts tripled in 5 at bats and is hitting .208.

Let’s end it with some links about the Mariners:

This CBS blogger predicts another fourth-place finish for the M’s, which means they won’t finish in the bottom of the AL West for the third straight season. That honor should go to the Houston Astros. Yeah, in case you missed it, the ‘Stros are in the AL West.

Mike Morse is bullish on his new/old team, writes Greg Johns of MLB.com.

Moving the fences in should help Seattle. That’s the gist of this Sporting News report.

Three springs ago, they were writing that the M’s were ready to challenge the Angels. No kidding. In case you forgot, here’s the proof.

It’s been a little over a year now since the Ryan Moore Golf (RMG) Club was launched and expansion could be in the works.

Founder and PGA Tour pro Ryan Moore heads the 13-person ownership group that runs the day-to-day operations at McCormick Woods in Port Orchard, The Classic in Spanaway and Oakbrook in Tacoma. His father, Mike Moore, is the CEO. Shawn Cucciardi, former general manager and co-owner of McCormick Woods, is the CCO. I ran into Cucciardi at the Seattle Golf and Travel Show last week in Seattle.

RMG Club offers three levels of unlimited-golf memberships — $49 a month (twilight golf only at one course), $99 per month (golf at one course only) or $179 a month (all RMG courses and includes range privileges). There’s other perks, too, like discounts for guests’ green fees. You can find all of the information at their website.

RMG sold around 1,400 memberships its first year, said Cucciardi, 350 at McCormick Woods. Before the RMG Club came along, McCormick Woods carried about 80 full-time members, most of them home owners in the neighborhoods that surround the golf course who were paying much higher annual dues.

“They just rejoined and saved money,” Cucciardi said of the move to RMG. “To go from 80 to 350, we’ve got a lot of new blood.”

Oakbrook, which was considering closing before RMG purchased the club, now has around 650 members, said Cucciardi.

Those are pretty impressive numbers and you wonder if it will drive other golf operators to offer similar packages. Affordable golf is a pretty good drawing card, especially if you’re providing a quality course to play on.

A year into the operation, Cucciardi said the group has its systems in place, and the group is comfortable running day-to-day business at multiple locations and exciting about expanding.

“We’re looking to grow this,” he said. “We’re looking to add three properties this year (within the Puget Sound area), then do a southern market.”

RMG Club is currently in negotiations to purchase some golf courses in the King County area, said Cucciardi.

“We’ve got people walking through here (at the golf show), telling us, ‘We love what you’re doing. When are you going to come up here’? If you live in Bothell or north Seattle or Bellevue, that’s a long way if Oakbrook or McCormick Woods is your home course.”

Cucciardi said they’ve also talked about adding some desert golf properties in Arizona or southern California to give members “some different places to go.”

Cucciardi said this is all about making golf affordable, and getting new people excited about playing the game that has gone through some trying times over the last decade.

“I think golf has long been seen as very exclusive, very expensive,” Cucciardi said. “We’ve lost a couple of generations of golfers. They don’t feel comfortable around the game. Those are the people out playing soccer and snowboarding. We need to welcome them in. It’s a great lifetime game but we have to be relevant to those generations and we’re (the golf industry) not relevant.”

Cucciardi was asked if the group has got any feedback from within the golf industry.

“Surprisingly, not a lot,” he said. “I don’t know if they’re sitting back watching.  Maybe it’s just been we’ve been so darn busy we haven’t put ourselves in a position to (hear what’s being said).”

Cucciardi said the RMG Club’s program is unique to the industry. By sharing resources and expertise, they’ve been able to make improvements at all of their existing properties.

“I have not seen anything similar,” he said. “We’ve got to strike now.”

Ryan Moore remains very involved, and calls all of the time, said Cucciardi.

“His face is on it so he definitely is going to care about what happens,” he said. “He’s a great guy and he needs to focus on his day job, which is playing great golf and he did last week.”

Cucciardi was referring to Moore’s fourth-place finish in the Waste Management Open at Phoenix.

Golf summit set for March 26

Golf Alliance of Washington’s annual summit meeting, an all-day conference on March 26 at Chambers Bay in University Point, is open to the public.

Among other things, you’ll hear about USGA Green Section Outreach initiatives, regional player development, a state of the game report from the National Golf Foundation and get a walking tour of Chambers Bay with course designers Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Bruce Charlton.

Jones and Charlton will talk about changes that have been made to the pure links course, and will give you an idea of how the course will play for the 2015 U.S. Open.

Go to www.wwgcsa.org for online registration and more information. Cost is $55, or $60 after March 22.

Chip Shots

The new clubhouse at the Suquamish Tribe’s White Horse Golf Club in Kingston is scheduled to be completed by early March. The project is on a pace to be completed in nine months. The club has operated out of a temporary pro shop since it opened in 2007. … Tucker’s Restaurant at Gold Mountain has been re-named The Restaurant at Gold Mountain by Columbia Hospitality, the management group that took over operation of the Bremerton city-owned course on Jan. 1. New director of golf Daryl Matheny said the transition has been smooth and things are going well. Matheny was the head pro under former director of golf Scott Alexander, who is leasing property at the course for his golf cart business. … Jeff Mehlert’s Northwest Junior Golf Tour is preparing for its second tournament of the year. It will be Feb. 16-18 and will be played on three Tacoma courses — Fircrest, Oakbrook and Tacoma Country and Golf Club. Go to www.jrgty.com for information. For questions, email Mehlert: jeff@jrgt.com. … Gold Mountain’s aligned itself with Chambers Bay, and The Home Course for a golf package that includes three rounds and two nights at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma. … Chambers Bay, which is hosting the 2015 U.S. Open, is hosting the Washington State Men’s Amateur on June 18-20.

Tour Players with Northwest ties, accoding to Inside Golf magazine:

PGA Tour: Fred Couples, Seattle; Ben Crane, Portland; Robert Garrigus, Gresham, Ore.; Andres Gonzales, Olympia; Jeff Gove, Seattle; Ryan Moore, Puyallup; Troy Kelly, Bremerton; Richard H. Lee, Bellevue; Kyle Stanley, Gig Harbor

Web.com Tour: Jason Allred, Ashland, Ore.; Alex Prugh, Spokane; Andrew Putnam, Tacoma; Michael Putnam, Tacoma.

Champions Tour: Fred Couples, Seattle; Bob Gilder, Corvallis, Ore.; Peter Jacobsen, Portland; Kirk Triplett, Pullman.

LPGA Tour: Jimin Kang, Seattle; Paige Mackenzie, Yakima; Wendy Ward, Edwall, WA., ; Kim Welch, Washington State University.

Troy Kelly shot even-par on Saturday and it was good enough to get to the fourth and final round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Kelly is 1-under par — which was the cut line — after rounds of 73 (at Pebble Beach), 68 (Monterey Peninsula) and 72 (Spyglass Hills). He was one of 15 players tied for 56th. The field’s pretty bunched so if he can go low on Sunday, he should be able to put himself in position to make some decent money.

The field plays Pebble Beach on Sunday. Kelly tees off at 8:45 a.m. TV coverage begins at 10 a.m. on the Golf Channel and moves to CBS at noon.

Another ex-Washington Husky, Richard H. Lee — the former Bremerton City Amateur champion — had four birdies and an eagle for a 6-under 30 on the front nine. He finished with a 66 at Pebble Beach on Saturday and is fifth, three strokes back of co-leaders Brandt Snedeker and rookie James Hahn, who busted out his ‘Ganghahn Style’ celebration after making a birdie putt at No. 16 in Phoenix the week before.

Bellevue’s Lee seems on the verge of breaking through in a big way. He had a tied for 6th at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children’s Hospital in October, tied for fourth at PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament to regain his tour card and already has a tie for 10th this season at the Humana Challenge.

And West Sounders who got a chance to check out Jordan Spieth during his victory in the U.S. Junior Am at Gold Mountain during July of 2011 might be interested to know that Spieth is tied for 17th. Spieth is playing his second tournament since turning pro. The Texan missed the cut at the Waste Management Open last week. Spieth and amateur partner Tony Romo, the Dallas quarterback, lead the pro-am division at Pebble Beach.

The PGA Tour’s western swing ends with next week’s Northern Trust Open at Riviera in Los Angeles.

It’s not the start Troy Kelly wanted, but the PGA Tour is a long season.

After missing the cut in last week’s Humana Challenge and carding a 5-over 77 in the first round of the Farmer’s Insurance Open on Thursday, the 34-year-old Central Kitsap grad withdrew from the tournament at Torrey Pines. He told tour officials he was sick, but his dad, Bob Kelly, said this will give him an extra day-and-a-half to work on his swing at his home in La Quinta, Calif., before heading to Phoenix for the Waste Management Open. Kelly Monday qualified into the Phoenix tournament in 2011 and tied for 57th. He missed the cut at Phoenix last season.

Jordan Spieth, who won the U.S. Junior at Gold Mountain in July of 2011, has turned pro and is using a sponsor’s exemption to play in this week’s Farmer’s Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

FYI: Central Kitsap grad Troy Kelly is struggling in the first round. He was 5  over through 13 holes and last in the field of 156.

UPDATE: Kelly wound up with a 5-over 77 (four bogeys, one double bogey, one birdie) and is tied for last, but at least he has good company. Ricky Fowler and Geoff Ogilvy also shot 77s. All three played the South Course at Torrey Pines. Spieth shot an even-par 72 on the North Course.

Kelly got his birdie on the par-3, No. 3 hole. He hit his  9-iron to within 2 1/2 feet from the cup. Kelly tees off at 10:10 a.m. today on the North Course.

Troy Kelly got his new year off to quite a start. He and his wife, Jen, celebrated the birth of a baby boy — Mason Michael Kelly — earlier this month.

That’s why Kelly, a Central Kitsap grad and former Washington Husky golfer, didn’t play in the season-opening Sony Open in Honolulu.

But armed with a new putter and physically fit after he and his brother and caddie, Ryan Kelly, put themselves through a grueling fitness program, are ready for the 2013 PGA Tour season.

It starts this week in Kelly’s adopted hometown of La Quinta, Calif. Twenty-eight months removed from hip replacement surgery, he’s entered in the Humana Challenge, which will be the first of four straight tournaments.  It used to be a five-day tournament, but it’s a 72-hole event now. Starts Thursday and winds up Sunday (noon-4 p.m. daily on the Golf Channel). The tournament is co-sponsored by the William J. Clinton Foundation. The Palmer Private course at PGA West is the host course, but the Nicklaus Private course and La Quinta Country Club are also used during the first three rounds. Kelly tees off at 10:20 a.m. on No. 10 at the Palmer course on Thursday.

From there, he goes to San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open, Phoenix for the Waste Management Open, and Pebble Beach for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. After a week off,  he finishes the west coast swing at the Northern Trust Open outside of Los Angeles.

Unless he plays himself into some of the big invitationals — the Masters, The Players Championship, U.S. Open etc. — the No. 251 player in the world is looking at playing in about 22  or 23 tournaments. Of course, that could all change if you have some major success early and lock up another tour exemption. As he found out a year ago, all it takes, sometimes, is one good finish.

Kelly, 34, made 12 of 23 cuts in 2012 an finished 119th on the money list with $786,832. The top 125 secured their cards. His only top-10 finish, a second at the Greenbrier Classic in early July, saved is season. That tournament paid $658,800 and got him a spot in the British Open. Here’s a column I wrote that memorable day from Kelly’s 19th Hole, and here’s Kelly’s reaction to his best finish.

His second biggest payday was the $18,000 he won at The Barclays, where he tied for 54th. Here’s a look at Troy’s 2012 season, tournament by tournament.

Kelly also tied for 54th in the Humana a year ago despite some atrocious putting.

So another year begins. A new baby boy to go with his stepdaughter, a new putter, a new clothes contract with Cutter & Buck. He’s also got deals with SofwareMedia.com and Cushman & Wakefield real estate.

He’s still represented by Gaylord Sports Management and is under contract with Cleveland Golf.

Here’s what’s in Kelly’s bag:

Driver: Classic 290, 10.5 degrees, Miyazaki Kusala Silver 61X

Irons: 588 TT irons

Wedges: 588 wedges Forged, 50, 56, and 60 degrees, Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: Taylor Made

Balls: Titleist Pro Vix (2009)

Also: Kelly’s dad, Bob Kelly, says Troy, one of the longest hitters on tour, also has a couple of Adams hybrids in his bag.

The Kelly brothers have been working with PGA pro Mike Shy, one of the founders of Vector Putting. It’s a scientific approach to reading greens and predicting the break on putts.

Did you know?: Russell Henley, the PGA Tour rookie who won the Sony Open on Sunday, is the guy Kelly finished second to in the Stadion Classic, a Nationwide Tour (now Web.com) event in 2o10 in Georgia. Kelly won the $99,000 first-place check, his biggest payday until the Greenbrier, because Henley was an amateur.

Central Kitsap grad Troy Kelly didn’t get off to such a hot start, but he finished strong — recording three birdies and an eagle over his final five holes to finish the first round of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals Children Open with a 3-under 68. He’s currently tied for 24th but there’s a lot of players still out on the TPC Summerlin Course, which has been known to be birdie-friendly over the years.

Puyallup’s Ryan Moore, who played his college golf at UNLV, is the leader in the clubhouse with a 10-under 61. Moore had nine birdies, an eagle and one bogey as he equaled his career-best round.

In other golf news, the University of Washington’s Chris Williams, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, shot 8-under 64 in the first round of the World Amateur Team Championship to take the first round lead and help Team USA to the top of the leaderboard in Antalya, Turkey.

Links, opinions and quick hits on sunny Monday while waiting for 13-year-old Babe Ruth baseball players to invade Kitsap County. Drove by the Kitsap Fairgrounds & Events Center and Silverdale Beach Hotel earlier and things are eerily quiet. Anyway, here ya go:

Don’t know about you, but I’ve seen enough to think that rookie QB Russell Wilson just might be the real deal.  I know that it’s early, but he could bring some serious excitement to CenturyLink. And Matt Flynn looked pretty good too. T-Jack, it was nice to know ya.

Bremerton Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian was part of the closing ceremonies and is now back in the area after exploring London and, no doubt, having the time of his life. If you’re into twitter,  check out his tweets here.

Bremerton’s other Olympian, bobsledder Bree Schaaf, is training in Colorado Springs, Colo., trying to regain strength following offseason hip surgery. This is a big year for Schaaf, who needs to secure the No. 2 ride in order to solidify endorsements. If she’s driving the No. 3 sled heading in to the World Cup season prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, she will probably have to dig into her own pockets again to pay for training, travel and equipment expenses. Yes, it’s a cruel world sometimes for  athletes involved in fairly obscure sports. Nate Murphy of Kitsap Public Relations has created an online fundraising campaign for Bree at www.indiegogo.com/breeschaaf.

If you want to be reminded how serious folks in the south take their football, check out this $60 million, 18,000-seat high school  stadium in Allen, Texas. It’s for a high school near Dallas with an enrollment of 3,000. A far cry from the muddy bog South Kitsap plays on in the fall, huh?

State high school football players hit the practice field on Wednesday. First games are Friday, Aug. 31. Kentridge at South Kitsap is an intriguing Week 1 matchup. Former Bremerton, OC and Central Washington QB Marty Osborn runs the show at Kentridge and is considered one of the top coaches in the state. Port Orchard native Eric Canton, a former SK QB who played at Washington, will be making his head coaching debut for the Wolves. Elsewhere that night, North Kitsap, considered by many as the team to beat in the Class 2A Olympic League, visits powerhouse Archbishop Murphy in Everett, and Central Kitsap heads to Bainbridge for an all-Kitsap County affair.

I’ve been told that Waite Park, Minn., the Midwest Plains Regional 13-year-old Babe Ruth champs, played in the Cal Ripken 12-year-old World Series a year ago. That could be an advantage during the Babe Ruth World Series at the Kitsap Fairgrounds & Events Center this week. Remember, tickets are just $5 a day and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate. It would be nice to see the stands packed during the 10-day tournament.

Ichiro’s not exactly ripping it up in New York, but he’s fitting in with the Yankees. He’s hitting .265 (he was hitting .262 this season with the Mariners). It will be interesting to see how the 38-year-old performs in the postseason. Think he raises his game? Or will he go 1-for-4 with a meaningless slap single to left field?

Congratulations to Silverdale’s Erynne Lee for another top finish at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She’s been a quarterfinalist three times and a semifinalist once. Here’s hoping the Silverdale golfer can break through in 2013 or 2014, which will be her last chance before turning pro. She’s going to attempt to qualify for the Canadian Women’s Open in British Columbia before returning to UCLA for her sophomore year.

Kitsap’s PGA Tour golfer Troy Kelly is back in action this week, playing in the Wyndham Championship, which starts Thursday at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. I was in Reno for the Reno-Tahoe Open two weekends ago. I watched Kelly bomb a couple 400-yard plus drives (consider the elevation, 5,800 feet with some steep climbs on both sides) on his way to a tie for 48th. It was a Stableford format and Kelly didn’t take advantage of his length on the par 5s, but it was a lot of fun watching from outside the ropes. And did I mention the elevation? And the heat? It was 100 every day.  I thought someone was going to have to give hefty Guy Boros, Kelly’s playing partner the last day, mouth to mouth. Kelly’s currently No. 102 on the money list ($747,984) and needs to stay above 125 to keep his card for 2013. This is also the final week for players to move inside the top 125 in FedExCup points. Kelly is 117th, but starting with the No. 126 player in points (Brendan Steele) going into this week, 44 of the next 55 players in points are playing at Sedgefield. The top 125 in FedExCup points will play at The Barclays Championship the following week at Bethpage State Park in Farmington, N.Y.

Todd Linden said guys might “rag” on him for spending so much time in Triple-A baseball, but he’s OK with it after setting another franchise record with the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League.

The Central Kitsap grad broke the triples record on Wednesday and now holds nine club records — including home runs, most hits and most games played. He’s hitting .282 for Fresno.

“Everything I’ve got is from the game of baseball,” he told the Fresno Bee, “and a lot of my best memories have come from playing in this uniform.”

Here’s the complete story.

Another Central Kitsap grad, Drew Vettleson, had a three-hit game, raising his average to .294 for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, the Tampa Bay Rays’ Class A team in the Midwest League. It’ll be interesting to see if the Rays promote him to the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the higher Class A Florida State League or Double-A Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League. Tampa Bay’s Triple-A team is the Durham (N.C.) Bulls.

Linden was the No. 41 overall pick in the 2002 MLB draft buy the San Francisco Giants, and was resigned by the Giants’ organization in the offseason. Vettleson was the No. 41 overall pick in 2010. The only local player drafted higher? Poulsbo’s Aaron Sele, who went to the Red Sox 23rd in the first round of the 1991 draft.

Aaron Cunningham, meanwhile, has designed for assignment by the Cleveland Indians and is waiting to see if anyone claims him. If the South Kitsap grad passes through waives he’ll be assigned to Triple-A Columbus.

Willie Bloomquist got his average up to .307 earlier this week, but the Diamondbacks infielder is at .299 going into the weekend. The South Kitsap grad is now back in more of utility role with the D’backs since shortstop Stephen Drew returned to the lineup and third baseman Ryan Roberts was traded. Willie’s seeing time at both spots, filling in for Drew and splitting time at third with Cody Ransom, who was just called up from Reno.

North Kitsap grad Jared Prince continues to struggle at Double-A Frisco of the Texas League. The right fielder is 4-for-36 in his last 10 games and is hitting .213 overall.

More Kitsapers

Chad Reed is making a run at signing Ryan Villopoto, the top supercoss rider in the world, to a new contract. Villopoto will be in the final year of his deal with Kawasaki and Reed wants the Poulsbo rider to be part of his Two Two Motorsports team. FYI: Villopoto recently threw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles Angels game.

Congrats to ex-Bainbridge/Chimacum star Steven Gray, who has been invited to the Washington Wizards training camp.

PGA golfer Troy Kelly has the week off, but will be teeing it up in next week’s Reno-Tahoe Open, which uses a Stableford format. Kelly is ranked 167th in the world.