BREMERTON, Wash. - Some meanderings from the West Coast Conference Golf Championship being staged at Gold Mountain Golf Course.
HOOPS ‘N GOLF: Susan Van Nort, an aunt of Gonzaga senior Victoria Fallgren, was on hand Tuesday to cheer on her niece. To you aficionados of Gonzaga hoops you might remember the last name. Jason Van Nort played for the Bulldogs from 1981-85, earning All-West Coast Conference honorable mention honors his senior season.
Among Van Nort's career highlights was a 49-48 win over national powerhouse DePaul at the Rosemont Horizon, home of the Blue Demons. Van Nort scored 13 second-half points to rally the Zags from a 42-30 halftime deficit, and the 6-8 junior forward's layin with 1:52 remaining gave the Zags their first lead since early in game. He finished with a then-career-high 19 points and hauled in eight rebounds.
CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME! The 2014 West Coast Conference Championship will head to Palm Springs, Calif., and LaQuinta Mountain April 14-16. The layout features five courses - LaQuinta Resort Mountain Course, LaQuinta Resort Dunes Course, TPC Stadium Course at PGA West, Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and Greg Norman Course at PGA West.
With the current rotation up and down the West Coast instituted by the WCC, the next time the WCC Championship could be staged in the Northwest is 2016.
GOOD AS GOLD: Gold Mountain Golf Course is no stranger to intercollegiate events. The University of Washington has hosted the Husky Invitational several times, and the course was the site of the 2008 and 2012 NCAA Men's West Regional.
IN CONTROL: Gonzaga University has had a lot of experience treating diabetics - former basketball players Adam Morrison and Tiffanie Shives two of the more famous Bulldogs who played with diabetes.
If you notice the device hanging on the belt of Gonzaga University men's senior golfer Travis Johnsen it's an insulin pump. But that's nothing new to Bulldog men's golf. Trevor Loe, who graduated in 2008, also played with diabetes but he chose to give himself insulin injections rather than carry the pump.
COOKIE MONSTER: Phuong Fallgren, mother of Gonzaga senior women's golfer Victoria Fallgren, is known for her cookies.
She takes them with her everywhere - to give to others.
For the current WCC Championship she baked 170 cookies to bring with her to Bremerton. That translates to 14 dozen. She puts them in plastic shoe-box size - or larger - containers and then packs them in a duffel bag for the trip.
Gonzaga women's coach Brad Rickel has been the most common recipient of the treats the last four years, and athletic department members are sure to swing by Rickel's office the day after the Zags return from any golf tournament.
ALOHA: Chaebong Kim, mother of Gonzaga women's golf sophomore Alice Kim, might get the award for longest distance traveled to this year's WCC Golf Championship, coming from Honolulu.
It's the second time Chaebong has seen her daughter play on the mainland, making the trek last season for her Gonzaga debut at the Circling Raven Invitational at Circling Raven Golf Course in nearby Worley, Idaho.
Alice's father, Jookyung, hasn't seen his daughter player on the mainland since she arrived at Gonzaga last year.
But the family did get to see her earlier this spring at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Kane'ohe, Hawaii.
FAMILIAR FACE: A couple of familiar faces joined Gonzaga at Gold Mountain Golf Course Tuesday.
Stephanie Corey, an All-WCC selection in 2012 after two seasons of being an honorable mention pick, was on hand to see her former women's team play. Bob Sibbitt, father of former Zag women's player Rachel (2008-11) was also in attendance.
WE ARE FAMILY: Gonzaga women's golfer Genavive 'Genna' Dodge might have had the biggest contingent of family cheering her on.
Her father Ken, sister Emily, husband Cameron Edman and father-and-mother in-law Scott and Kathy Edman are watching the Bulldog senior.
Dodge and Edman exchanged nuptials this past December, but she retained her maiden name for her final semester of eligibility.
INAUGURAL TOURNEY: Two Bulldog men and two Bulldog women are playing in their inaugural WCC Golf Championship.
Freshman Sean Walsh and sophomore Erik Krzyzanowski are the newbies on the men's side while freshman Raychelle Santos and senior Genavive 'Genna' Dodge are playing in their first WCC Championship on the women's side.
TEXAS CONNECTION: Gonzaga freshman Sean Walsh has his one-man rooting section this week. His father, Pat, made the sojourn from Keller, Texas, to watch his son and the Bulldog men.
GRAND SUPPORT: Not many golfers in the WCC Championship probably have their grandparents cheering them on, but Gonzaga men's junior Peter Gullickson can make that boast.
Jim and Maureen Bigelow are the proud grandparents of the product of Spokane's Lewis and Clark High.
TOP DOG: Gonzaga men's head coach Robert Gray and women's mentor Brad Rickel each have been honored by their peers as WCC Coach of the Year.
Gray won the award in 2003, while Rickel captured the award in 2011 and was co-Coach of the Year last season with Pepperdine's Laurie Gibbs.
