The St. Anne’s Club in Middletown is hosting the inaugural Delaware High School Girls’ Golf Invitational Sunday, Oct. 5.
The event seeks to encourage and gauge interest in scholastic girls’ golf and to see how a fall schedule might work if the state approves girls’ golf as a separate sport. One advantage of girls’ golf during autumn is that fall sports options are fewer than the spring sports.
Current high school golf in Delaware is coed, with DIAA girls’, boys’ and team championships held each spring. Girls make up about 15% of Delaware golf team rosters in total, with the gender mix varying significantly from school to school. That rough percentage also persists among the top 96 golfers who qualify for the state championships.
The First Tee Delaware and the Delaware Women’s Golf Association agreed to sponsor the new event, a requirement under recently adopted DIAA regulations.
The new rules emphasize the event’s unofficial status by prohibiting schools from paying for it or providing transportation. They also prohibit school athletic uniforms, but principals can permit access to school equipment under limited circumstances.
The 18-hole event is open to girl golfers who played on or tried out for any Delaware coed high school golf team last spring, or who are considering playing on or trying out for any Delaware coed golf team for the 2026 spring season, or are members of any Delaware school-sponsored girls’ golf club, or are interested in potentially being part of a possible new Delaware school sport.
Current plans include a short opening session on course management presented by St. Anne’s Club and First Tee coaches. First Tee and DWGA volunteers will create foursomes and otherwise help the players.
The course setup will use the holes and tees used in the 2025 DIAA Girls’ Division Championship – approximately 5,400 yards.
Participants will be charged a $10 greens fee. The sponsors and other contributors will provide the additional funds to cover the rest of the greens fees.
Donations to cover these costs will be cheerfully accepted at https://donorcrm.givesmart.com/donate/7afm7GA.
Please give what you can.
For more information, go to firstteedelaware.org or www.dwga.org.
Sea level is my excuse
This summer, my wife Sue and I travelled through Washington, Idaho and Oregon. One part of the trip took us to Moscow, Idaho, and nearby Pullman, Wash.
Moscow is home to the University of Idaho. Washington State University’s main campus is in Pullman. Both universities also feature their own golf courses, hosting men’s and women’s teams and providing great public-access amenities for the communities.
UI’s Vandal Course is the older of the two, with four sets of tees that range from 4,734 to 6,701 yards. The slope ratings vary from 120 up to 136. Greens fees are reasonably priced at $33 to $55, with discounts for seniors, juniors, staff and faculty, and alumni and military service members.
Palouse Ridge, the WSU course, opened in 2008 and regularly hosts significant tournaments, including the NCAA’s West Regional for both men’s and women’s teams. Its five tees range from 5,104 to 7,302 yards, and the slope ratings go from 120 up to a startling 145. Greens fees are higher, but there are discounts for locals, students, faculty and seniors, among others.
For a Delaware flatlander like me, however, the most impressive thing about both courses was the topography. Pullman and Moscow are both about 2,650 feet above sea level, built on rolling hills that are sometimes far more steep than gentle.
By comparison, the 12th fairway at the Rookery Golf Club near Prime Hook is 6.9 feet above sea level, according to the elevation app on my phone.
In addition, the elevation changes on each course are not duplicated anywhere in Delaware, and especially in the Cape Region. The low spot for the Vandal course, near the 12th green, is 170 feet below the clubhouse. Palouse Ridge is only slightly less variable, with 150 feet of elevation difference between the second hole and the 17th.
In building terms, those levels translate to 17 stories at Vandal and 15 stories at Palouse.
The other big difference between these two layouts and the Cape Region is the distance advantage – golf balls travel farther at higher elevations. Michael Bednar, the Palouse course superintendent, said balls fly about 4% farther than what you can expect around here.
Playing at sea level is now my official excuse.
Local club competition results
The Kings Creek Country Club Ladies 9- and 18-Hole leagues combined Sept. 4 for a Beat the Pro Scramble tournament.
Lisa Dillon, Gail Letts, Rosemarie Schmidt and Joanne Yurik won first place in the first flight. Terry Barrera, Leslie Ledogar, Kathleen Nilles and Linda Van De Wiele took second. Mena Colucci, Marianne Delorenzo, Nancy Derrickson and Susan Griesemer finished third.
For the second flight, Janet Hartman, Nathalie McGregor, Kim Parks and Sherry Schaffer won first place. Deborah Chase, Carolyn Horn, Diane Knizer and Francie Young took second. Jean Chlastawa, Pamela Cranston, Judy Rayner and Dorrie Spillman came in third.
Lesley Corydon, Ana Dittel and Polly Donaldson distinguished themselves by being the only team to beat two of the three pros.
