Golf A player for all courses: Mike Ryan has 492 under his belt

By Craig Smith
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Mike Ryan of Everett "collects" golf courses for a hobby.

The retired golf coach and science teacher from Mariner High School in Mukilteo has played 492 courses since he started keeping track in the 1960s. They are proudly displayed in six large, well-organized scrapbooks.

For about the past 35 years, each entry has his scorecard, a photo of himself on the course and a photo of the folks he played with identified only by their first names: "Jake, Bill, Marty."

In 2002, he played a course outside Vancouver, B.C. and discovered his partners were Lisa Fernandez and Laura Berg, members of the gold medal U.S. Olympic softball team.

If Ryan breaks 80 on a course, he attaches a "smiley face" sticker on the page.

He started taking photos after hearing college football coach Lou Holtz on a TV talk show speak about making the most of any trip by taking photos and collecting souvenirs.

"That way, when you hear someone talk about a place or you hear about it on TV, you can go right back there in your mind," Ryan said.

Ryan's list of courses ranges from the world-renown — Carnoustie in Scotland — to the ordinary — Wayne in Bothell.

For every Pebble Beach (he played it for $25 in the 1970s), there are several Carnations. For every Spyglass Hill, there is a Wellington Hills in Woodinville. He has played golf in about 30 states, Europe and the Caribbean. He also played in Mexico if you want to count an outing at the Tijuana Country Club after which he had to pay off a crooked policeman to get out of a contrived traffic violation.

Ryan, 67, prefers to walk his courses. His handicap index has been as low as single digits but now hovers around 11 to 13. He has two career holes-in-one. One was with a white ball and one with a yellow ball. When he tees up on a par-3, he uses an orange ball, hoping to complete a trifecta of colors.

Ryan grew up in golf-blessed Spokane, where he attended Gonzaga Prep. He didn't start playing golf, though, until he was at Eastern Washington University, where he was a varsity baseball player. He hung onto his scorecards and eventually started his first scrapbook.

Ryan's patient partner on his travels is Jonette, who prefers art galleries and shopping to golf. They reunite with fresh stories after his round.

"I wish all men had a hobby that gets them on their feet," she said.

Ryan soon will be on the threshold of playing course No. 500. Obviously, he wants it to be special. His choice if it can somehow work out: Sahalee Country Club.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com