Letters on letters
Kitsap Golf & Country Club is world class
This letter is in response to Erick J. Goins’ comments about his “shameful” treatment at Kitsap Golf & Country Club (CK Reporter, Jan. 19).
This will be a single response, not a sparing match.
As the current president of the club, I would like to apologize to Mr. Goins for the alleged mistreatment his group received at our club. I feel this is the right thing to do. Also, I would have thought that any civil person, who feels he or she has been treated unfairly, would have gone to the manager or myself, with their complaints, instead of taking it to a public forum.
Kitsap golf club donates hundreds of rounds of golf and free power carts to numerous charities each year. We are happy to do our part regarding community service, even though it costs our club thousands of dollars. I guess it is true, “you can’t make everyone happy.”
Mr. Goins was told by our golf professional that during the winter months, Sundays are our busiest days. He chose to make a Sunday tee time anyway. With his purchase of our free, donated golf certificates, we considered him and his group as our guest. They were invited into our lounge for lunch and were asked by our long-employed waitress if they were members or guests of a current member. This waitress is one of the members’ favorite, both for her good attitude and service. The reasoning for this question is that most members, playing golf, charge food and drinks to their membership account.
Because Sundays are so busy we have ice water and coffee on the bar so we can unselfishly fill our own cups to help the staff during these peak times. Mr. Goins obviously did not know about this policy. Our mistake.
Yes, we are designated as a “country club.” Our membership is affordable and is currently 100 percent “common folk.” We are made of members who work at Bangor, Keyport, PSNS, builders, plumbers, electricians, doctors, nurses, lawyers and retirees from these same areas. We are first-, second- and third-generation members who have been an active, vital part of Kitsap county since 1926.
The reason we advertise on cable is to let new residents of Kitsap County know about our great club, which includes an outdoor pool, a new fully equipped exercise room, tremendous food and exceptional service. Kitsap Golf & Country Club also offers family and adult events that do not pertain to golf. We have friendly and courteous members and a long-employed staff. We feel Kitsap Golf & Country Club is a world class golf course that rivals any in our country.
I am not sure where Mr. Goins’ attitude and stereotyping originated, but it is obvious he had an agenda before we invited him to enjoy our club. Not once did anyone ask him or his friends to join nor did we twist his arm to bid on our free, donated golf package.
Our manager has sent Mr. Goins and his group the same certificates he had before this unfortunate incident and we welcome his foursome back to our club any time they wish to return.
These are my personal opinions, based on 20 years at Kitsap Golf & Country Club and 45 years as a resident of Kitsap County.
BEN MANCHION
President
Kitsap Golf & Country Club
High school sports
Ninth-graders should participate, too
Maybe a first big step in getting our high schools on par with the rest of the state would be to allow our ninth-graders to participate in all sports at the high school level like 95 percent of the rest of the high schools in the state do. Our high schools aren’t even on a level playing field with other high schools in their own leagues or even in our own district! Our school district prohibits ninth-graders from participating in high school sports at Central Kitsap and Olympic, yet allows Klahowya to include their ninth-graders in all sports at the high school. This inequity has been brought to the CKSD athletic directors’ attention numerous times over the past several years and has been ignored by our school district. It is a shame that talented student athletes like Larry Dixon, Jesse Borcherding and Branden Yeik have had to play down at the junior high level their freshmen year instead of being able to add their talents to their high school teams.
Not only are the high schools having to rely more and more on the club teams to produce talented athletes, the school district keeps making it increasingly difficult for these same club teams (who pay a participation/use fee to CKSD) to even get to use the gyms.
The success of a high school’s sports program is the one visible factor by which the community gauges the success of their high schools. No matter how academically advanced a high school is, the general public will identify with their sports teams. No one that I know of looks back on their high school memories and talks about that time they solved that really hard quadratic equation or the complex poetry they talked about in English literature. They do talk about the time “so and so” ran the punt back for a touchdown or the time their team won a state title. It is time that our student athletes be allowed to have their full four years of eligible competition not the three they currently get.
PAT YEIK
Bremerton
Afghanistan
Learn more about the country
What has happened to the beautiful people and country of Afghanistan? Is the U.S. part of the solution or part of the problem? Come to a free presentation and learn more about Afghanistan, it’s culture and diversity on Saturday, March 8, at 2 p.m. at North Kitsap Auditorium, 1881 NE Hostmark Street (across from NK High School). Presenter Walter Yeager will share slides illustrating his experiences gained as a member of a Teachers College, Columbia University Team that established Kabul University’s first Faculty of Education beginning in 1967. Viewers will gain increased appreciation of the many challenges confronting the U.S. forces today in Afghanistan. These challenges arise from the dramatically diverse ethnic, tribal and religious beliefs of a tenaciously independent people. For more information, call (360) 297-5727.
HELEN HOOVER
Kingston
