Red Wolf stays in Tribune Cup penthouse

It was just past high noon, and the local temperature was listed at 97 degrees as the last players completed hole No. 9 under a cloudless sky at Clarkston’s Quail Ridge Golf Course on Tuesday to cap off the 56th Tribune Cup golf tournament.

The three-part women’s event, which utilizes an unconventional match-play scoring format, featured one round apiece over the past two months at Red Wolf Golf Club in Clarkston and at Lewiston Golf and Country Club, with teams of six representing each of the three participating clubhouses. In the end, the Red Wolf team successfully defended its title, finishing with 75 total points compared to 55 for Lewiston Golf and Country Club and 32 for Quail Ridge.

Last year’s event had seen Red Wolf make its way “from the basement to the penthouse,” in the words of captain Helen Henry, as it rallied to prevail on the strength of a final-round surge. This time, by contrast, the eventual winners led throughout, holding a 13 1/2-point two-round advantage over LGCC before expanding it further with a 25-point team showing on Tuesday.

“This year, we just stayed in the penthouse,” said Henry, who put up 5 1/2 points on Tuesday, just shy of the maximum possible half-dozen-per-competitor in a round of match play golf. “We had good players and solid players, and it was fun to have a repeat.”

The Tribune Cup is the only area golf event to utilize match scoring. Its players are separated into groups of three — one from each club’s team — who compete directly against one another, and assigns points on the basis of outperforming one’s opponents on a majority of holes through the front- and back-9s, as opposed to keeping a cumulative total of strokes that continues hole-to-hole. Thus, a player who wins two holes by one stroke apiece while losing another hole by three strokes will hold a one-hole advantage under match scoring, where she would have been one stroke behind under the standard system.

“I like it really well, because you can blow up a hole and still be in the game,” said LGCC’s Susan LaFay, who has been golfing for around 30 years and participating in the Tribune Cup for around four.

Mary Lauritsen of Red Wolf might be considered this year’s overall MVP — she had “perfect 6” showings each of the first two rounds and came close again on the final day with a 5 ½-point performance. Former Lewis-Clark State golfer Carlee Rhodes, now in her third year of Tribune Cup participation, had a perfect 6 of her own in a previous round and headed things up for Lewiston Golf and Country Club on Tuesday with a 5 1/2.

Wendy Rimmelspacher turned in her best performance of the Cup to lead host Quail Ridge with five points earned.

“You always expect to play better on your home course,” said Rimmelspacher, who has been golfing there for more than 20 years since moving nearby.

Exemplifying golf’s status as a lifetime sport, the Tribune Cup features many players who have been participating for decades. One of those is organizer Marcy Spilker of LGCC, who was instrumental in reviving the Cup from COVID lockdown-induced dormancy two years ago in what was then a shortened format, and who expressed her pride that the event is “back in full swing.”

Following the athletic portion of the day’s proceedings, the 18 players along with tournament scorekeepers proceeded to the Quail Ridge clubhouse for a jovial round of drinks and a luncheon as final tabulations were made and the trophy presented.

“It’s just a great, fun time for all the ladies to get together,” Rimmelspacher said.

Team scores — 1. Red Wolf Golf Club (Helen Henry, Kim Thiel, Sharon Vahlkamp, Mary Lauritsen, Teri Heilsburg, Debbie Stellyes), 75; 2. Lewiston Golf and Country Club (Carlee Rhodes, Marcy Spilker, Jody Servatius, Susan LaFay, Carrie Beloit, Kim Eimers), 55; 3. Quail Ridge (Stephanie Hough, Colleen Schilling, Wendy Rimmelspacher, Jessica Shawley, Sandy Hudson, Holly Munn), 32.