Local Golf: BCC brings back golf programs

Bellevue Community College is reinstituting men's and women's golf as an intercollegiate sport and will field teams this fall.

The men's coach will be Kirk Johanson, an assistant pro at Glendale Golf and Country Club, which will be the BCC home course. He will be assisted by Glendale head pro Scott Williams.

Johanson played golf at BCC in the early 1990s before the program was dropped.

The Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) is switching to a split season in golf, with some tournaments in the fall and most in the spring.

Johanson said a particular recruiting priority is finding capable women players. Some scholarship aid is available.

A recent success story of local community-college golf is Joe Prince, the Liberty High School grad who played at Green River Community College. This spring, Prince won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) individual championship as a member of the Point Loma Nazarene team.

Notes

• Boeing employees will be admitted free all days to the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic Aug. 18-20 at the TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge.

• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made a $132,000 grant to the First Tee of Greater Seattle program. First Tee offers golf and life-skills instruction to hundreds of youngsters ages 6-18 at Jefferson Park, Jackson Park and the Crossboards Par-3 course in Bellevue.

• How tour pros with ties to Washington State stand on money lists this season: PGA Tour No. 70, Fred Couples (best finish tie for third at Masters); No. 73, Kirk Triplett (won Chrysler Classic of Tucson in February); No. 111 Jeff Gove (tied for sixth at Booz Allen Classic in June); No. 113 Ryan Moore (off injury list, tied for second at Buick Classic this month); Nationwide Tour No. 18, Michael Putnam (lost Rheem Classic in playoff in May); No. 27, Jess Daley (second at BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs in April); No. 143, Brock Mackenzie (has qualified and played in three events with best finish tie for 12th at Scholarship America Showdown this month); LPGA No. 33, Wendy Ward (tied for sixth at Wegmans in June); No. 76, Jimin Kang (tied for ninth at Takefugi Classic in April).

• Washington Junior Golf Association championships are under way at Meridian Valley Country Club, Fairwood Country Club and Maplewood Golf Course. They conclude Friday.