FROM THE ARCHIVES: Dahmen wins three-way clash of champions

FROM THE ARCHIVES: This story was originally published in the Tribune on Sept. 8, 2009. Joel Dahmen has since gone on to be a PGA Tour professional and is making an appearance in the valley this week on the occasion of this year's Whing Ding tournament.

It was a golf fan's fantasy, having three top amateur golfers in the conclusion Monday of the 57th annual Lewiston Golf and Country Club's Whing Ding sole survivor championship.

Clarkston's Joel Dahmen, a veteran amateur at 21 and a sole survivor qualifier since he was a 14-year-old freshman at Clarkston High School in 2002, won his second title with a par on the final hole.

He defeated the 2008 sole survivor champion, Moscow's Jason Huff, who had tree trouble and three-putted the final hole. Eliminated on the prior hole was Moscow's Chris Williams, the 2007 Sole Survivor champion who will be a freshman on the nationally ranked University of Washington golf team.

The 10 qualifying sole survivor golfers had a record low tournament handicap aggregate, a combined plus-10, surpassing the 2006 record of a total plus-four. The three finalists were a combined plus-13, with Dahmen a plus-four, Huff a plus-three and Williams a plus-six.

"Yes, No. 2," a smiling Dahmen said after the win. "There's so much pressure, so much adrenaline. It's an experience." Dahmen's first sole survivor title was in 2006 at age 18, following his Clarkston High graduation and weeks before heading to the University of Washington on a golf scholarship.

But the freshman year went awry for Dahmen, who failed academically and wasn't able to play UW golf. It was personally a difficult time after the 2005 death of his mother, Jolyn Riggs Dahmen, who died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46.

Dahmen moved back to Clarkston two weeks ago and will be a student at the Clarkston branch of Walla Walla Community College in the fall quarter. He has college credits, he said, to qualify him as a junior. After the academic quarter, "Then, I'm looking at any options. Possibly, it will be college in Arizona. Possibly anywhere. I definitely want to finish my degree and play golf after that, hopefully (professionally) for money."

Dahmen had orally committed this fall to enroll at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston and be a golf team member. "But it didn't work out the way I wanted," he said, having commitments to play golf tournaments elsewhere in the West. "I feel bad about it."

In the last year, "I've played a lot, including Arizona and Mexico." His best finish was tying for 13th in the Pacific Coast Amateur at The Gallery in Tucson, Ariz. His Labor Day title adds to Washington state high school championships and an abundance of western and national tournament play.

On the final hole, Lewiston's 512-yard par 5, Dahmen hit a drive an estimated 332 yards and Huff's was in excess of 300. Huff's ball, however, was in a second cut of grass just feet from the lake and he had a difficult deep lie. His 6-iron "caught the whole tree" in front of him, leaving a 100-yard wedge to the green. Dahmen, 180 yards from the green and 192 yards from the pin, also hit a 6-iron. His shot hit the green but eased off to the right, leaving him a lob wedge 10 yards uphill to the pin. Dahmen two-putted from 15 feet. Huff's 16-foot putt rolled 51/2 feet away down a slippery slope and his par putt lipped the left side of the hole.

On the second-to-last hole, par-4 No. 17, Williams was in a chip-off with Huff after pars, with Dahmen safe after his birdie. Williams' chip was just inches farther away than Huff's, causing elimination.

Huff, a business teacher at Moscow High School, has been golfing friends with Williams and Dahmen for years.

Afterwards, Dahmen kidded: "At least I beat that little punk," Williams. More seriously, he said, "he'll (Williams) do better than I did at the University of Washington."

Dahmen holds the Lewiston course's club record with a 9-under-par 63 and also the competitive record at Spokane's Indian Canyon Golf Course with a 61.

Although Dahmen's future college plans aren't tied down, he's hoping to return in 2010 to qualify for the sole survivor again. "Plan on it," he said.

In the sole survivor, the golfer with the highest score on each of nine holes is eliminated. In case of a tie, the player farthest from the hole after the chip shots is eliminated, as on four holes in 2009. The sole survivor's 10 low gross players from Saturday and Sunday qualify for the finals. The survivor was played on the front nine's first four holes and 14 through 18 on the back side. Williams was the 2009 Whing Ding gross champion with an 8-under-par 136, winning by five strokes.

The gallery was estimated at 350.

Earlier eliminations were: No. 16, Chris Meyer of Moscow, a University of Idaho professional golf management major from St. Regis, Mont., after two chip-offs; No. 15, Geno Bonnalie of Lewiston in his fourth sole survivor, in a chip-off; No. 14, Tyler Carlson, a Clarkston High School sophomore; No. 4, Tony Azzara of Lewiston, an LCSC golf team member from Anchorage; No. 3, Lewiston's Chad Laird; No. 2, Greg Tatham of Lewiston, and No. 1, Chris Jarrett of Lewiston, a senior on the LCSC golf team from Bend.

Carlson, 16, as a freshman was a Clarkston letterman and is winner of numerous junior events. He was the youngest in the field of 10. The oldest qualifier was Tatham, 56, who had the group's longest drive on No. 1 but fell to bad luck on the second hole. He drove his golf cart over his own ball, by mistake, embedding the ball and causing a one-stroke penalty, resulting in the only bogey on the hole. Second in years was Laird, 39 years old and playing in his third consecutive sole survivor.

The Diamond Shop of Lewiston and Lewiston Golf Shop provided $900 in "skins" for the sole survivor players with the lowest unduplicated scores hole by hole. Bonnalie won $300 on No. 3 for the first three holes. The remaining $600 was won by Dahmen.

WHING DING

Mixed Chapman Tournament

Low overall gross

Championship flight -1. Greg Tatham, Lewiston, and Monica Epler, Clarkston, 72. 2. David Jasper, Dallas, and Penny Jacks, Lewiston, 73. 3. Gary and Marcy Holt, Spokane, 75. 4. Tim Gleason and Krichell Reidel, Lewiston, and Doug Litchfield and Jamie Esh, Lewiston, 79.

First flight - 1. Jeff and Lori Wright, Orofino, 86. 2. Cliff Nanninga and Lindsey Reynolds, Lewiston, 87. 3. Lanne Seifert, Lewiston, and Rita Garland, Clarkston, 92. 4. Steve and Barb Cox, Clarkston, 93.

Low Net

Championship flight - 1. Jim and Shaleen Holstein, Spokane, 66. 2. Ron and Judith Wetmore, Lewiston, 67. 3. Ross Button and Stephanie Huff, Lewiston, 70. 4. Jim Haaland and Nicola Witty, Clarkston, 71.

First flight - 1. Tom and Anne Flowers, Lewiston, 67. 2. Bill and Brook Anne Beutler, Clarkston, John and Marilyn Black, Lewiston, and Dick and Janice Medley, Lewiston, 72.