President’s Posting

Welcome to the first issue of the reinstituted Jackson Park Men’s Golf Club newsletter. Longtime members may recall when the club produced regular newsletters, printed and mailed. Our purpose here is to offer an online summary of notable developments and other info about JPMGC and Jackson Park, to complement the many communications about our club competitions and special events/projects/news, which you will continue to receive.

We envision this newsletter coming out 2-4 times a year, and we welcome your input on it (and anything else club-related).

I’m honored to serve as president of JPMGC, following in the esteemed and large footprints of predecessors Walt Dickhoff, Jeff Schoening, Dan Puetz Sr. and many before them who led the club, along with so many others filling vital roles over the years. Please take a look at our current board roster and thank (or at least appreciate) them for their roles in making the club function, in close collaboration with the Jackson Park staff led by General Manager Bo Lewis.

To twist the old saying, it takes a village to operate a golf club.

It’s been like that at Jackson Park for nearly a century. Historical records collected by Dan Puetz Sr. and the late great Dick Rovig, longtime JPMGC secretary and member, indicate a men’s club at Jackson Park as early as 1932, two years after the course opening. These records also reveal other fascinating tidbits, such as the greens fees at Jackson in 1931 (50 cents for 18 holes, 25 cents for 9 holes) and the expected time to complete a full round in 1930 (3 to 3-1/2 hours). Our current pace-of-play expectations for Saturday events, with potential penalties starting after 4 hours and 30 minutes, look a wee bit slow by comparison.

Speaking of history, I invite you to check out the History section of our website, which includes listings of club award-winners over the years (club championship names date to 1955) and several intriguing stories by Dick Rovig. We plan to provide more information on Jackson Park and men’s club history as the course approaches its 100th anniversary in 2030.

My association with Jackson Park dates to early 1992, when, new to Seattle, I went to the pro shop one day and filled out a men’s club membership application (this was pre-Internet, for you youngsters) to establish a handicap to play in local amateur tournaments. I knew virtually nothing about the club, but have since discovered it offers much more than a handicap service.

I see three main defining characteristics of JPMGC:

1) Playing Golf. The club offers a bountiful array of opportunities at Jackson Park, for golfers of all skill levels and ages: gross and net flights; Saturdays once a month; Tuesday mornings; Wednesday evenings; and a half-dozen match-play competitions. Kudos to tournament leaders Jeff Schoening, Karl Meier, Ryan Coghill and Dan Fabela for their extensive behind-the-scenes work to make these events happen. The club also organizes Friday outings to other courses (led by John McDermott) and special events such as winter outings to Chambers Bay and the Seattle Cup annual Ryder Cup-style competition between municipal-course men’s clubs teams (the Jackson team is captained by Brian Asplund, assisted by Dave Foreman and yours truly). There is a playing option within our club for just about everyone.

Kevin McFarlane, Dave Foreman and Brian Asplund (from left to right) check out Dave’s broken pull-cart cable, looking for a solution–an example of JPMGC camaraderie.

2) Camaraderie. All of us in JPMGC enjoy golf (well, most of the time, LOL), which fosters connections on and off the course. This camaraderie is evident at our club events, Seattle Cup, board meetings, post-round socializing and countless informal interactions. The game bonds us with one another, regardless of age, handicap index, occupation, political affiliation, life experience or any other demographic.

3) Service. Our club’s service ethos is especially visible in three annual tournaments we sponsor or co-sponsor at Jackson Park: the 1st Annual Family and Friends Charity Classic on June 8 benefitting First Tee–Greater Seattle; the Jackson Park Men’s Golf Club & Seattle Northeast Rotary’s 7th Annual Charity Golf Classic benefitting Harvest Against Hunger on July 23; and the 15th annual Jackson Park Junior Golf Classic on Aug. 12, which provides a low-key competitive outlet for local youngsters. Kudos to Lee Jones and Jeff Schoening (on the first two) and Dan Puetz Sr. (on the latter) for their tremendous efforts and leadership organizing these special events.

Acts of service also happen in many other ways within our club: periodic work parties and projects to improve conditions at Jackson Park; fixing ball marks on greens and replacing divots on tees and fairways; following the rules of golf; playing at a reasonable pace; looking for playing partners’ errant shots; courteous behavior on and off the course; and generally upholding the best traditions and values of golf, which, in my opinion, help make it the greatest game of all.

As we enter the heart of the 2024 golf season, our club is in solid condition, with healthy membership and finances; a robust slate of golf competitions and benefit events, with high participation levels; an engaged board; and supportive partners in the Jackson Park staff. You can read more about many of these elsewhere in this newsletter. Special thanks to the JPMGC and JP folks who contributed content for this newsletter, and to Reid Swick for production.

Our club exists to serve our members, so please let us know how we can do so. Please feel free to contact me or other board members with your thoughts, ideas, etc. I can be reached at 206-351-3717 or by this contact form.

Here’s to fairways, greens and one-putts galore, and memorable golf adventures ahead.