Golfweek Pacific Northwest Amateur returns to Wine Valley GC, where owner Jim Pliska will tee it up
Golfweek Pacific Northwest Amateur returns to Wine Valley GC, where owner Jim Pliska will tee it up
It's important to Jim Pliska that there are opportunities for the top seniors in the Pacific Northwest to showcase their talent locally, get World Amateur Golf Ranking points and play with the best talent in the world. Luckily Pliska, the owner of two top courses in Washington and Oregon, is in a position to do something about that.
Pliska runs Space Age Fuel, one of the largest independent fuel marketers in Oregon, and is also the owner of Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington, and Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Oregon. The courses, roughly 350 miles apart, frequently host championships – and that was one of Pliska's motivations for getting involved in the golf industry as a course owner. Tournaments range from Oregon Golf Association events to Pacific Northwest Golf Association events to college events, considering Emerald Valley is home to the University of Oregon Golf teams.
Perhaps most notably, Wine Valley served as a U.S. Open Final Qualifying site on June 2.
Next month, Wine Valley will host the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur for the fourth time. The 54-hole event draws top amateurs from around the country. Last year, former U.S. Senior Amateur champion Doug Hanzel took home the trophy.
'I like to give back in that respect because I feel supporting the competition and competitive golf helps overall golf in general,' Pliska said. 'I think it's such a great game I want to keep it in existence.'
Pliska, at 66, is an accomplished player himself. He competes six or seven times a year and is constantly working on his game. Lately, that means working out daily and also working through swing issues with instructor Mike Mitchell in La Quinta, California.
'My game, I can feel it's getting better but getting it consistently better,' Pliska said, 'it's still got work to be done.'
Pliska, who will tee it up at the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior, played on the University of Oregon roster for a year in the late 1970s after transferring in from Mt. Hood Community College. He continued to stay sharp in the game and has won the OGA Tournament of Champions a handful of times.
Pliska, a veteran of several USGA championships, is still pursuing a U.S. Senior Amateur berth. As he works to get his game to the level that he can meet that goal, the majority of his time continues to go to Space Age. Meanwhile, the day-to-day of golf course operation largely falls to the general manager at each facility.
'I've got some good people that have worked for us for a long time,' Pliska said of his golf course staffs. And despite being hands-off in most respects, he's still involved in major decisions.
Pliska's history with Emerald Valley goes back to his days at Oregon but Wine Valley, site of the Golfweek event, is a relatively new course. Wine Valley opened in 2009 and was designed by Dan Hixson. It is ranked No. 3 in the state of Washington on the Golfweek's Best Public Courses list and also appears on the Golfweek's Best Top 200 Modern Courses list.
Pliska thinks golfers love playing Wine Valley because it's a challenging-but-fair layout. He calls it a second-shot golf course. Because many holes have multiple sight lines, a player can be out of position and still have a chance to recover. That there's no standard way to play the course is one thing that Pliska thinks makes it great.
'It gives you a lot of different opportunities out there,' he said. 'There's not a tree on the golf course so it's kind of open, big features, big greens, lot of movement on the greens. It's a fun course to play because you can play different shots, it's not standard shots – it's not a traditional golf course. It's more of the newer links type of golf course. I think the beauty of it, too, is great.'
The Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur will be played July 1-3 at Wine Valley and registration remains open across all four divisions: Senior (age 55-64), Super Senior (Age 65-69), Legends (age 70-74) and Super Legends (age 75 and over).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
14 hours ago
- USA Today
At two-year anniversary of PGA Tour, LIV Golf 'framework,' two sides are further than ever
At two-year anniversary of PGA Tour, LIV Golf 'framework,' two sides are further than ever So much has happened since the PGA Tour and LIV Golf entered a historic "framework agreement" two years ago, June 6. One thing that has not happened: A deal uniting the two leagues. Not only have the sides failed to end the sport's longest-running civil war, they now appear further apart than ever. The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV Golf, have had no reported meetings since late February. The sides met twice in February at the White House with Donald Trump, the man who, after being elected president in November, boasted it would take him "the better part of 15 minutes" to bring the two sides together once he's in office. Five months since the inauguration and the wedge appears deeper. "If you want to figure out what's going to happen in the game of golf, go to the other tour and ask those guys," world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said in May about LIV. "I'm still here playing the PGA Tour. We had a tour where we all played together and the guys that left, it's their responsibility, I think, to bring the tours back together. Go see where they're playing this week and ask them." Scheffler's shot at LIV was clear. While the league certainly made an impact on the Tour early by poaching some of its top players along with forcing the Tour to make more money available to its players through signature events and the Player Impact Program, that has diminished. Lynch: Prepare for posturing on anniversary of Framework Agreement that already achieved its goal LIV's momentum stalled since signing Jon Rahm LIV had all the momentum after signing Jon Rahm 18 months ago. That is gone. Tyrrell Hatton followed Rahm, but, since then, the league has not attracted any marquee names. The latest addition, former Arizona State standout Josele Ballester, is No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Meanwhile, the top-ranked amateur, Luke Clanton from Florida State, is making his professional debut at the PGA Tour's Canadian Open. "I want to play the PGA Tour, pretty simple," Clanton said when asked whether he considered joining LIV. "I want to play against the best, I want to compete in majors, and that's it. Simple." The PGA Tour is now in a position of strength as LIV stands firm on its demands to remain under its current format, despite a flawed business model. While the PIF's investment in LIV Golf is in the billions, the return on investment is far less. LIV lost $394 million in 2023, excluding its U.S. events, according to Money In Sport, which published LIV's financials from LIV Golf's UK arm. Although PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in March he can see a future where the leagues are aligned with room to "integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform," he added that "hurdles" remain. "We will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners," said Monahan, who has headed the negotiations with the PIF's Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Monahan's comment came a few weeks after negotiations appeared to have broken down during the late February meeting. The biggest hint came from Rory McIlroy, who said following the meeting it takes "two to tango," before adding, "I don't think the PGA Tour needs a deal." Then Scott O'Neil, who replaced Greg Norman in January as LIV's CEO, told a group of media members in April at Trump National Doral, where LIV held its first U.S.-based event of the season, LIV, too, does not need a deal. "Have to do a deal? No," O'Neil said. "Nice to do a deal? So long as we're all focused on the same thing, which is growing the game of golf. I think we're all kind of up for that." The most recent known offer was in March when the British daily Guardian was the first to report that the PIF was willing to make a $1.5 billion investment into the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises in exchange for LIV Golf continuing its current format and schedule, and Al-Rumayyan becoming a co-chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises. That was quickly turned down by the Tour. LIV Golf still being crushed by PGA Tour in TV ratings The ratings boost LIV was counting on to help its cause after signing a multi-year deal with Fox Sports has not happened. According to the seven Sundays this year in which both tours have held an event, the PGA Tour is averaging 3.1 million viewers on CBS and NBC, while LIV is averaging 175,000 on FOX, FS1 and FS2. About 18 times more. LIV, though, held its first four events in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore; and has since played in South Korea. Those tournaments are being aired at all hours of the day in the U.S. The best comparison came in early April when LIV had one of its highest-profile events of the year, if not the highest, at Doral; and the PGA Tour stop was the Valero Open in San Antonio, a lower-tier event that lacked several stars. Valero drew 1.746 million viewers for its final round compared with 484,000 for LIV. LIV's best ratings were below the average for TGL, the indoor, tech-infused golf league created by Tiger Woods and McIlroy. TGL, in its inaugural season, averaged 500,000 viewers; 650,000 for the 10 prime-time matches on ESPN (nine were carried by ESPN2). LIV's initial attempt to lure PGA Tour players was impressive with Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson among those who made the jump. They were later joined by Cam Smith and Rahm. While Rahm and DeChambeau continue to play at a high level – as do others such as Joaquin Niemann and Patrick Reed – several have regressed since joining LIV. Koepka, Johnson and Smith, who have combined to win eight major championships and were signed to contracts worth at least $100 million to defect from the PGA Tour, according to reports, missed the cut at the year's first two majors – Masters and PGA Championship. LIV Golf not going away … deal or no deal Still, LIV Golf continues to operate as if it will be around … deal or no deal. While the league has not added a golfer of note in the past 18 months, it continues to secure sponsorship deals and attract high-level officials. And O'Neil has restarted discussions with the Official World Golf Ranking for LIV golfers to earn points. The PGA Tour clearly does not need LIV. And with PIF, valued at more than $900 billion, willing and able to support LIV despite it losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually, LIV doesn't need the PGA Tour. That leaves many to wonder whether a deal ever will be made that unites golf's rival leagues. Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
Golfweek Pacific Northwest Amateur returns to Wine Valley GC, where owner Jim Pliska will tee it up
Golfweek Pacific Northwest Amateur returns to Wine Valley GC, where owner Jim Pliska will tee it up It's important to Jim Pliska that there are opportunities for the top seniors in the Pacific Northwest to showcase their talent locally, get World Amateur Golf Ranking points and play with the best talent in the world. Luckily Pliska, the owner of two top courses in Washington and Oregon, is in a position to do something about that. Pliska runs Space Age Fuel, one of the largest independent fuel marketers in Oregon, and is also the owner of Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington, and Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Oregon. The courses, roughly 350 miles apart, frequently host championships – and that was one of Pliska's motivations for getting involved in the golf industry as a course owner. Tournaments range from Oregon Golf Association events to Pacific Northwest Golf Association events to college events, considering Emerald Valley is home to the University of Oregon Golf teams. Perhaps most notably, Wine Valley served as a U.S. Open Final Qualifying site on June 2. Next month, Wine Valley will host the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur for the fourth time. The 54-hole event draws top amateurs from around the country. Last year, former U.S. Senior Amateur champion Doug Hanzel took home the trophy. 'I like to give back in that respect because I feel supporting the competition and competitive golf helps overall golf in general,' Pliska said. 'I think it's such a great game I want to keep it in existence.' Pliska, at 66, is an accomplished player himself. He competes six or seven times a year and is constantly working on his game. Lately, that means working out daily and also working through swing issues with instructor Mike Mitchell in La Quinta, California. 'My game, I can feel it's getting better but getting it consistently better,' Pliska said, 'it's still got work to be done.' Pliska, who will tee it up at the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior, played on the University of Oregon roster for a year in the late 1970s after transferring in from Mt. Hood Community College. He continued to stay sharp in the game and has won the OGA Tournament of Champions a handful of times. Pliska, a veteran of several USGA championships, is still pursuing a U.S. Senior Amateur berth. As he works to get his game to the level that he can meet that goal, the majority of his time continues to go to Space Age. Meanwhile, the day-to-day of golf course operation largely falls to the general manager at each facility. 'I've got some good people that have worked for us for a long time,' Pliska said of his golf course staffs. And despite being hands-off in most respects, he's still involved in major decisions. Pliska's history with Emerald Valley goes back to his days at Oregon but Wine Valley, site of the Golfweek event, is a relatively new course. Wine Valley opened in 2009 and was designed by Dan Hixson. It is ranked No. 3 in the state of Washington on the Golfweek's Best Public Courses list and also appears on the Golfweek's Best Top 200 Modern Courses list. Pliska thinks golfers love playing Wine Valley because it's a challenging-but-fair layout. He calls it a second-shot golf course. Because many holes have multiple sight lines, a player can be out of position and still have a chance to recover. That there's no standard way to play the course is one thing that Pliska thinks makes it great. 'It gives you a lot of different opportunities out there,' he said. 'There's not a tree on the golf course so it's kind of open, big features, big greens, lot of movement on the greens. It's a fun course to play because you can play different shots, it's not standard shots – it's not a traditional golf course. It's more of the newer links type of golf course. I think the beauty of it, too, is great.' The Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur will be played July 1-3 at Wine Valley and registration remains open across all four divisions: Senior (age 55-64), Super Senior (Age 65-69), Legends (age 70-74) and Super Legends (age 75 and over).
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
These are the 10 amateurs who made it through final qualifying for the 2025 U.S. Open
Amateurs have always been a big part of the USGA events, and that includes the U.S. Open. This year, at the 2025 Open at Oakmont, the ams will be well represented. Of the 744 names on the tee sheets at the 10 final qualifying sites at the beginning of the day on Monday, June 2 – also known as Golf's Longest Day – there were 236 amateurs. Ben James watches his shot on the 10th hole during the third round of the 2025 Valero Texas Open. Monday night, seven of them got through and punched their tickets to the U.S. Open. Advertisement There was one qualifier in Florida that needed to conclude on Tuesday due to dangerous weather on Monday and an amateur was among the four qualifiers there. Also, there were two ams who got through final qualifying back on May 19. That brings the total to 10 the number of ams who navigated final qualifying to make it to Oakmont. Three amateurs really shined, finishing first in their respective final qualifiers on Monday. Amateurs who got through final qualifying for 2025 U.S. Open Canoe Brook Country Club (North & South Courses), Summit, New Jersey Benjamin James, 5 under Piedmont Driving Club, Atlanta, Georgia Mason Howell, 18 under Advertisement Tyler Weaver, 11 under Jackson Koivun, 11 under Valencia Country Club, Valencia, California Preston Summerhays, 10 under Zachery Pollo, 6 under Wine Valley Golf Club, Walla Walla, Washington Matt Vogt, 8 under Emerald Dunes Golf Club, West Palm Beach, Florida Frankie Harris, 11 under Bent Tree Country Club, Dallas Lance Simpson, 8 under Cameron Tankersley, 8 under This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Open final qualifying: 10 amateurs advance to Oakmont
