Palmer Golf Course to host inaugural Palmer Golf Invitational

PALMER — George Collum is hoping to start a new tradition at Palmer Golf Course.

To help fill the void left by the King Crab Classic, an annual event formerly hosted by PGC, Collum is bringing the Palmer Golf Invitational to the Valley course that borders the Matanuska River.

The inaugural tournament, an event that Collum is tabbing the “largest pro-am in the state,” is slated for Saturday and Sunday at Palmer Golf Course.

The first players will tee off at 9 a.m. each morning.

Collum said 19 professional players will participate in the event, which will crown champions in three classes — professional, amateur and team.

Each professional will be teamed with three amateurs, giving the tournament a field of nearly 80 players.

“I’m pretty happy (with the field) this year,” Collum said on Thursday.

Collum said PGC officials had initially planned to host this event in August, but after it was determined that the King Crab Classic had run its course the inaugural Palmer Invite was moved up to July. Players had already committed to play in the King Crab Classic this summer, before the event was officially canceled.

“People had already bought plane tickets,” Collum said. “We moved it forward a month to take care of them.”

Collum said the end of the King Crab Classic, an event that dates back to the late 1990s, is partly due to the departure of Jeff Barnhart, Palmer’s former director of golf.

“When Jeff left, it kind of went with him,” Collum said.

But the end of one era urged Collum to drive into another. And now Palmer will host a tournament that will features some of the top names in Alaska golf. Among those slated to play in the tourney, Collum said, are Barnhart, Billy Bomar, Brian Anderson, Hunter Blake, Rob Nelson, Tom Mulka and Aaron Dexheimer, the defending champion of both the Alaska state-am and the 2007 King Crab Classic.

The 19 pros in the event will drive, pitch and putt their way toward a share of the event’s $8,500 purse. There will be a team championship, and the top player in the amateur division will be recognized. Collum said there are prizes for the amateur with the best gross and net scores.

Collum said the invitational’s schedule of events will also feature a four-part skills challenge, slated to start at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The challenge will test players’ ability to drive, pitch, chip and putt. Every shot in each of the four parts are given a point value. The putting portion of the event will challenge players to sink putts from three distances — 5, 10 and 15 feet.

The top two overall scores from the professional and amateur players will be recognized. There will also be individual winners in each skills competition.

Collum said this type of challenge has never been done at PGC.

“This is something new,” Collum said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Collum said there will be a $2,000 purse for the professionals competing in the skills competition. The purse is courtesy of Superior Group of Anchorage, Collum said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.