Huff goes back-to-back at Sole Survivor

Jason Huff says he stopped stressing about golf a long time ago.

His zen-like approach to the game paid off once again on Monday, when he outlasted a foreboding field of competitors to defend his Whing Ding Sole Survivor championship at the Lewiston Golf and Country Club.

Huff, who reclaimed the Sole Survivor title in 2022 after having won the annual event in 1997 and 2008, defeated 2019 champion Kurt Simmons with a birdie on the 18th and final hole.

“I never thought that would happen,” Huff said of winning two straight Sole Survivors. “There’s some good players out here.”

His strategy was simple enough.

“I just try to have fun. No worries,” he said. “Just have fun every hole.”

And that he did, besting a field with a combined plus-28 handicap.

The Sole Survivor field is comprised of the 10 players with the lowest gross scores from Saturday and Sunday’s annual Whing Ding competition, sponsored by The Diamond Shop of Lewiston.

The qualifiers compete over nine holes, the 49-year-old LGCC’s first four and 14 through 18 on the back side. The golfer with the highest score on each of nine holes is eliminated until only the champion remains. In case of a tie, players compete in a chip-off, with one eliminated.

Huff survived a five-way chip-off to advance on No. 15, and after a par at 16, avoided a similar fate by knocking in a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to force a chip-off between Simmons and PGA Tour caddy Geno Bonnalie, who was closest to the pin after his second shot on 17 but failed to roll in his birdie putt.

After prevailing in the chip-off with Bonnalie, Simmons proceeded to push his tee shot on No. 18 down the right side of the fairway and into the water, giving Huff the leg up on the final hole.

But it may have been Huff’s putt on the penultimate No. 17 that made the difference. Huff’s caddy, Chad Laird, said Simmons’ narrow miss on his birdie attempt at 17 gave Huff the read he needed to sink his own.

“He got a great read on 17 and did what he needed to do,” Laird said.

Huff, who teaches business and “electives” at Moscow High School, said fate was on his side Monday.

“(Simmons) doesn’t usually hit it off line that far,” he said of the runner-up’s drive on No. 18. “You don’t have to just hit good shots to win (the Sole Survivor).

“You’ve got to get lucky, too.”

Simmons, who took low gross honors in the Saturday-Sunday Whing Ding with rounds of 65-67-162, said he tried to take advantage of his driving distance on No. 18, but got a little too aggressive.

“I knew I had a length advantage,” he said, standing on the 18th green. “I just squirted it a little right, and you can’t do that on this hole.

“This is a big one,” he added. “The Sole Survivor is like running from a bear: You’ve got to try to not be the slowest one.”

Huff’s birdie on 17 was worth $500 in skins, which are provided by The Diamond Shop. It also ousted Bonnalie, the 2020 Sole Survivor champion.

“I really thought I was going to make that birdie,” said Bonnalie, who caddies professionally for childhood friend and PGA Tour pro Joel Dahmen. “I just pulled it a little bit.”

Bonnalie survived the chip-off on 15 after being reminded of his prior year’s struggles on that same hole by his son and caddy, Hudson.

“He said, ‘Dad, this is the hole you went out on last year, and they put it in the news,’ ” Bonnalie said. “I said, ‘Hey, buddy, thanks for the reminder.’ ”

Hudson, 10, got the nod on Monday over his father’s good friend and fellow PGA Tour caddy Joel Stock, who packs the bag for PGA pro Will Zalatoris.

“We room together quite a bit,” Bonnalie said of Stock, who was in town for a visit.

Bonnalie said the Whing Ding and Sole Survivor are his personal equivalent of The Masters.

“The goal is always to win the tournament,” he said. “I was hoping (to win the Sole Survivor) with the way I played over the weekend. I actually played good today, too.”

Next up for Bonnalie and Dahmen is next week’s Fortinet Championship in Napa Valley, Calif.

“I haven’t talked to him much in the last few weeks,” Bonnalie said of Dahmen, who celebrated the birth of his first child, son Riggs, earlier this year. “I’m trying to give him some down time.

“I’m not sure what to expect next week. Hopefully all good things.”

Monday’s other contenders included Corey Brown (hit two OB on No. 1), Tucker Keyes (lost a five-way chip-off on No. 2), Lewis-Clark State College men’s golf coach Zach Anderson (bogey on No. 3), Lapwai High grad and former University of Idaho football player Justin Hernandez (double-bogey on No. 4), electrical engineer Jared Mraz of Clarkston (lost three-way chip-off on 14), Mitch Baldridge, who had the lowest handicap of Monday’s field at plus-6 (lost five-way chip-off on 15), and Tristen Prosser (bogey on 16).

Whing Ding Sole Survivor

Sole Survivor champion — Jason Huff

Runner up — Kurt Simmons

Third place — Geno Bonnalie

First gross overall — Kurt Simmons

First net overall — Bill Kite

Bauer is a former Tribune sportswriter and managing editor. He is the Chief Strategy Officer for TPC Holdings, Inc., and can be reached at (208) 848-2269 or dbauer@lmtribune.com.