Acton Joins Field For Pro Classic

Rick Acton, the head professional at Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Wash., and a longtime competitor in the local Lilac Invitational and Rosauers Open tournaments, has been added to the list of Senior PGA Tour players who will take part over Labor Day weekend in the 1996 Pro Classic at Indian Canyon Golf Course.

Acton, who is ranked in the top 40 on the Senior PGA Tour money list, will join Gary Player and at least 15 other Senior Tour professionals for the third-annual charity event, to be held Sept. 2.

Among the other pros scheduled to compete in the pro-am scramble and $10,000 six-hole shootout are Orville Moody, Homero Blancas, Dave Eichelberger and former army sergeant Walter Morgan, who has won three Senior Tour events in the past 11 months.

The Pro Classic, which will also feature the Savin Amateur Championship Sept. 1, will be staged for the first time at the city-owned Indian Canyon course. It was held at MeadowWood, the newest of three county-owned courses, the first two years.

“We’re excited about the change of venue,” said Steward, who hopes to eventually bring a fullblown Senior PGA Tour event to Spokane. “Indian Canyon is a very picturesque course that is nationally renown, and the pros who are familiar with the course are all anxious to play it.”

As in past years, Monday’s schedule of events will include the five-person pro-am scramble (7:30 a.m.-noon) and a 1 p.m. clinic by trick-shot wizard Bob Brue. In addition, Player will conduct a short-game clinic at 12:15 p.m. and a group of competing pros will join with 20 of the area’s top junior golfers to host a clinic for kids at 12:40 p.m.

Admission to the event is $10 in advance and $12 at the gate. Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling G&B Select-A-Seat at 1-800-325-SEAT or through the mail, using order forms that are available at all area golf courses.

Steward added that three $1,000 sponsorship spots are still available for the pro-am scramble. Anyone interested in securing one of the remaining spots should call Pro Classic Charities at 448-2272.

‘Pops’ goes the eagle

Spokane native Al Mengert, who played successfully on the PGA Tour for several years before retiring in Arizona, recently returned to his hometown for a brief visit and squeezed in a round of golf at Spokane Country Club, where his family has been longtime members.

Several years ago, club members honored the Mengert family by dedicating a water fountain between the fifth and sixth holes in memory of Mengert’s late father, Otto ‘Pops’ Mengert.

Al, who had not played at the club since the fountain’s dedication, hit his drive on No. 5, a lengthy par-4, just below the crest of the hill in the middle of the fairway and then fired a blind approach shot to the green before heading toward the fountain to get a drink.

As he approached the fountain, he noticed the plaque bearing his father’s name and proudly read the inscribed dedication notice.

Then, after finishing his drink, he proceeded to the green, where he found his ball nestled in the bottom of the cup for an eagle-2.

After the round, Mengert described the unusual occurrence to several club members, including Gene Roberts.

“He told us that when he saw the ball in the hole, he figured ol’ ‘Pops’ had probably been up there on the green and pushed it in,” Roberts said.

First one in the family

As a simple line of small type in the scoreboard section of the local newspaper, the hole-in-one recorded Wednesday by Matthew McClenny didn’t seem all that impressive.

The agate type dutifully noted that McClenny had knocked his 3-iron tee shot into the hole on the 115-yard 14th hole at The Creek at Qualchan.

What was missing from the description, however, was the fact that McClenny, a fifth-grader-to-be at Pratt Elementary school is only 10 years old, and the first member of his golfing family to tap perfection.

McClenny made his ace while playing with his mother, Pam, and her friend and 10-year-old son, who were visiting from San Diego.

“Hey, I was glad to get to see it,” Pam McClenny said. “He beat me (to a hole-in-one); I’ve never had one. And he beat his dad (Larry). He beat everybody in the family.” , DataTimes