Regional Golf Recap
South Sound golf: Chambers Bay next for Tacoma juniors
Chambers Bay hosts the Tacoma junior tour championship Oct. 31, while local college teams head to Walla Walla and Washington Golf names its top players.
Read article →THE CL2 LEARNING CENTER
Understand the game.
Enjoy the learning.
Explore the CL2 Learning Center, one subject at a time. Clear explanations and practical ideas for young golfers, adults, and anyone getting started.
FROM COACH LAWSON
Fresh ideas for your game.
Practical ideas for golf, preparation, and player development.
COACHING · COMPOSURE & COURSE DECISIONS
One bad hole does not need a sequel.
You cannot replay the last shot. You can give the next one a better decision. Try this simple reset when a round starts getting away from you.
Read article →COACHING · PUTTING PRACTICE
Thirty minutes. One clear job.
A short practice session can have a clear purpose. Here is a 30-minute putting plan for a busy week—without turning every miss into a swing diagnosis.
Read article →COACHING · PURPOSEFUL PRACTICE
Your practice needs a purpose.
Most golfers don’t need another bucket of balls without a plan. They need to know what they’re working on and why.
Read article →COACHING · ON-COURSE ROUTINES
Take your practice to the course.
On the course, you get one ball, one decision, and a new situation after every shot. Let part of your practice reflect that.
Read article →SOUTH PUGET SOUND · WASHINGTON · PACIFIC NORTHWEST
The regional golf pipeline.
High school and collegiate golf, local competition, and opportunities to keep playing. Original summaries with links to the official reporting.
High school golf ↓ Collegiate golf ↓ Around the region ↓
Sources checked Oct 26, 2026
High School Golf
Washington state championships set for May 18-19
Washington’s boys and girls state golf championships are scheduled for May 18-19, 2027, at courses across the state.
Source: WIAA ↗Three South Sound courses to host state golf
Hawks Prairie in Lacey will host the Class 3A boys championship. Eagles Pride in DuPont will host the 3A girls, with the Class 1B/2B championships at Tumwater Valley.
Source: WIAA ↗Collegiate Golf
Confluence Classic brings local college men to Walla Walla
Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound are scheduled for the Oct. 25-26 Confluence Classic in Walla Walla, with rounds at Veterans Memorial and Wine Valley.
Source: Puget Sound Athletics ↗PLU, Puget Sound women on the Confluence field
The Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound women are scheduled for the Oct. 25-26 Confluence Classic at Veterans Memorial and Wine Valley in Walla Walla.
Source: Puget Sound Athletics ↗Puget Sound women take third at Oakbrook
Puget Sound finished third with a two-round total of 666 at its home invitational Oct. 10-11 at Oakbrook Golf Club in Tacoma.
Source: Puget Sound Athletics ↗Around the Region
Chambers Bay next for Tacoma junior tour
The U.S. Kids Golf Tacoma tour moves from Gold Mountain and McCormick Woods to its Oct. 31 championship at Chambers Bay. Regular registration ends Oct. 26; late registration runs Oct. 27-28. Deadlines are Eastern time.
Source: U.S. Kids Golf ↗High Cedars to host WJGA Turkey Shoot
The Washington Junior Golf Association’s Turkey Shoot is scheduled for Nov. 11 at High Cedars Golf Course. The Winter Classic follows Dec. 21 at Riverbend Golf Course.
Source: WJGA ↗Larrabee, Lee earn Washington Golf’s top honors
Washington Golf named Baylor Larrabee its men’s player of the year and Grace Lee its women’s player of the year Oct. 21. Ethan Schwan and Amanda Peng earned the junior awards.
Source: Washington Golf ↗OFFICIAL RULES RESOURCE
USGA Rules of Golf
Look up the official Rules, definitions, and clarifications. Use our articles to learn the basics, then check the USGA resource for the full guidance.
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Find your next useful idea.
Choose a subject below. Coaching tips explain how to learn; rules articles link to the governing bodies. Each article has a practical takeaway.
OFFICIAL RESOURCE · USGA
The official Rules of Golf.
Read the complete Rules, definitions, and clarifications on the USGA website.
Open the Rules ↗FIRST ROUNDS
Golf belongs to you.
You do not need a perfect swing, expensive clubs, or a low score to start. You need a place to learn and a willingness to try.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Book your first tee time.
A tee time is the time your group starts playing—not the time to arrive in the parking lot.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Your first visit to the course.
The golf shop staff can help you get started. You do not need to walk in knowing every answer.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Choose tees that fit your game.
Tee colors do not decide who you are. They mark different course lengths.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Read a scorecard without the confusion.
A scorecard shows the holes, distances, and scores. Start with the row for the tees you are playing.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Handicaps: the numbers that make games fair.
A Handicap Index helps golfers of different abilities compete. It is not your average score or a grade on your worth.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Scramble, best ball, stroke play, or match play?
Before you play, know whether you are counting every stroke, winning holes, or combining efforts as a team.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Make golf more affordable.
A membership is useful when its benefits fit the golf you actually play.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Youth on Course: a practical guide for families.
Affordable rounds give young golfers more chances to learn, meet people, and enjoy the game.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Be the playing partner people welcome back.
Good etiquette is practical: stay safe, respect others, keep moving, and care for the course.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Safety comes before the shot.
A golf club and ball can hurt someone. Check the area before every swing.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Keep pace without rushing your swing.
Good pace mostly happens between shots. You can move efficiently and still take care over the ball.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Cart path only, 90 degrees, and other cart signs.
The course sets cart access each day. Ask at check-in rather than guessing from the weather.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Repair ball marks, divots, and bunkers.
Course care is part of playing golf. Small repairs make the next person’s shot better.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Feel comfortable on the putting green.
On the green, small habits protect both the surface and another player’s concentration.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Music, phones, and filming on the course.
Technology should help your round without taking over somebody else’s.
Read articleETIQUETTE & COURSE CARE
Letting another group play through.
Playing through is cooperation, not a judgment about who belongs on the course.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Every club has a job.
Think of your bag as a toolbox. You do not need every tool to begin.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Build a starter set without overspending.
Fourteen clubs is the maximum under the Rules. It is not a shopping list.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Club fitting should fit you.
Your height, movement, and swing matter more than the marketing label on the club.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
New, used, or hand-me-down clubs?
A sound club that suits you is more useful than a newer club that does not.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Keep your equipment ready to play.
Basic care is quick. It helps you notice damage before it becomes a problem.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Build a comfortable golf grip.
The grip connects you to the club. Secure and comfortable is a better starting point than tight and tense.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Get ready to move: posture and balance.
A golf setup should help you move. It should not feel like a rigid pose.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Aim the face, then build your setup.
A good aim is easier when you choose it before stepping over the ball.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Learn your distances, not someone else’s.
Carry distance is how far the ball flies before landing. Total distance includes roll.
Read articleEQUIPMENT & FUNDAMENTALS
Make your first range visit simple.
A small bucket and a clear goal can be more useful than hitting until you are tired.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Play the next useful shot.
A good decision gives your normal swing room to work. You do not need a perfect shot to make progress.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Preferred lies are a Local Rule—not a weather forecast.
Wet or muddy conditions do not automatically let you move the ball to a better spot.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Play the ball as it lies.
The basic starting point is simple: play your ball from where it stopped.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
The spirit of golf.
Honesty and consideration matter even when nobody is watching.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
The fourteen-club limit.
You may begin a round with fewer clubs, but not more than fourteen.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Identify your ball before you play it.
A personal mark helps you recognize your ball when brands and numbers match.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Where to tee your ball.
The starting area runs between the tee markers and extends two club-lengths back.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
When the ball stays in the teeing area.
A ball still in the teeing area can be lifted, moved, and re-teed under this Rule.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Playing the wrong ball.
Check your ball. A matching brand is not enough.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Ready golf and order of play.
In stroke play, being ready can keep the round moving.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
The three-minute search.
A ball is lost if not found within three minutes after you or your caddie begins searching.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Accidentally moving a ball during a search.
Fair searching can move a hidden ball. That alone does not bring a penalty.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Do not build yourself a better shot.
You may fairly take a stance, but you cannot manufacture easier conditions.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Leaves, stones, and twigs.
Natural objects that are unattached may usually be removed.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Rakes, bottles, and movable objects.
Movable artificial objects are handled differently from loose natural objects.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Free relief from paths and abnormal conditions.
Free relief is specific—not a general right to a nicer lie.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
When your ball plugs in the ground.
An embedded ball is in its own pitch-mark, with part of it below ground level.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
You can choose an unplayable ball.
You decide whether your ball is unplayable, except that this option is unavailable in a penalty area.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Penalty areas: start with the color.
Red and yellow edges identify penalty areas and affect your relief options.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Relief from a red penalty area.
Red areas offer lateral relief as well as stroke-and-distance and back-on-the-line options.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Relief from a yellow penalty area.
Yellow areas do not automatically offer the red area’s two-club-length lateral option.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Lost or out of bounds: stroke and distance.
A lost ball outside a penalty area and an out-of-bounds ball normally require stroke-and-distance relief.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
When to play a provisional ball.
A provisional saves a return trip when your ball might be lost outside a penalty area or out of bounds.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
The fairway-drop alternative: check E-5 first.
Model Local Rule E-5 is an optional lost-ball or out-of-bounds procedure. It is not in effect everywhere.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
An accidental double hit.
One stroke can occasionally contact the ball more than once by accident.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
When a moving ball hits something.
An accidental deflection normally brings no penalty and the ball is usually played where it stops.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
You moved a ball at rest. What now?
Away from special exceptions, causing your own ball at rest to move normally costs one penalty stroke.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Mark, lift, clean, and replace.
On the putting green, you may mark and lift your ball to clean it.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Flagstick in or out? Your choice.
You may putt with the flagstick left in the hole.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
What you may repair on the green.
Ball marks, shoe damage, old hole plugs, and animal tracks are examples of damage you may repair.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
How to drop from knee height.
Let the ball fall straight down from the height of your knee when standing.
Read articleRULES MADE SIMPLE
Before you hit from a bunker.
You can remove loose impediments and movable obstructions, but some contact with sand is restricted.
Read articleFIRST ROUNDS
Golf words in plain English.
A small vocabulary makes the course easier to understand. Ask when you hear a word you do not know.
Read articleCOACHING · PURPOSEFUL PRACTICE
Your practice needs a purpose.
Most golfers don’t need another bucket of balls without a plan. They need to know what they’re working on and why.
Read articleCOACHING · ON-COURSE ROUTINES
Take your practice to the course.
On the course, you get one ball, one decision, and a new situation after every shot. Let part of your practice reflect that.
Read articleGOLF NEWS · EXTERNAL SOURCE
Around our region.
Read Washington Golf’s reporting on our golf community, courses, and competitions.
Visit WA Golf news ↗No articles match that search. Try a shorter phrase or choose another subject.
KEEP LEARNING · KEEP PLAYING