Troy Kelly is playing in the Chile Classic, a Web.com Tour event that starts Thursday in Santiago, Chile.
The CK grad is playing in his first PGA event in almost a year. Kelly’s last event was the Valero Texas Open last April. He left the tour with a knee injury that required surgery and now has five rehab starts on the Web.com Tour before heading back to the PGA Tour. He’ll play four straight Web.com events before the PGA’s Houston Open.
Kelly, a Central Kitsap grad, and his family moved from LaQuinta, Calif., to Tacoma, in the last year. His brother, Ryan, remains his caddy.
Tacoma’s Andrew Putnam, who was second in the season-opening Web.com tournament in Columbia, is entered. So is Nick Taylor, the former Husky great.
Update: Kelly shot a 1-under 71 and is tied for 54th after the first round.
Remember Russell Henley?
Former University of Georgia star Russell Henley won the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic last week. Henley, then an amateur, won the Nationwide Tour’s Stadion Classic at Athens, Ga., in 2011, beating Kelly by two strokes. Henley wasn’t eligible for the $99,000, which went to Kelly. The money helped Kelly secure his PGA Tour card for the 2012 season.
News from the NWGMA
The Northwest Golf Media Association held its first meeting of 2014 in conjunction with last weekend’s Seattle Golf Show.
I wasn’t able to make it, but here’s a bit of news that came out of the meeting, courtesy Craig Smith, the NWGMA secretary.
Gig Harbor’s Larry Gilhuly, director of the Western Region of the USGA Green Section, reviewed the “firsts” for the 2015 U.S. Open that will be held at Chambers Bay at University Point.
It will be the first time the Open will be played in the Northwest.
It will be the first time the tournament will be played on fescue grass.
It will be the first time the Open will be held on a links course.
It’ll be the first time the FOX network covers the Open.
Par will be 70 and Gilhuly repotted that the tee box on the par-4, 16th has been moved closer to Puget Sound.
More notes from the NWGMA meeting:
TheWeb.com Tour will play the WinCo Foods Portland Open on the Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club on Aug. 21-24. The final three days overlap with the Champion Tour’s Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie. … The state’s newest course, Gamble Sands, in Brewster, will open to the public on Aug. 2. Green fees for non-residents will be $130 ($150 with cart). Gamble Sands is designed by David McLay Kidd, who designed the original Bandon Dunes course. … The USGA’s 2014 Women’s Amateur Public Links Championships will be played July 14-19 at The Home Course in Dupont. This is the final year of the championship. The USGA is replacing the men’s and women’s APL with four-ball (best ball) events. … Eric Steiner of the USGA reported that it took only 36 hours to fill the U.S. Open’s 4,500 volunteer positions. The assistant manager of the 2015 Open called it “unprecedented enthusiasm,” for the event.
Also
John Hurley’s St. Patty’s Day Shindig is Saturday, March 15, at 2:30 p.m. at Rolling Hills Golf Club. It features corned beef dinner and music by Seattle’s Phil Randoy combo. Doors open at 2:30 p.m.,dinner at 3:30 p.m. The St. Patty’s Day Shootout, a two-person scramble, tees off at Rolling Hills at 9:30 a.m. Cost is $32.50 per team. It’s $20 for non-golfers to attend the Shindig.
