Music echoed through Bear Valley on a breezy but overcast afternoon as golfers walked around the course between swings. It’s not just leisure though – they’re here for a three-club golf tournament. The July 20 competition was one of the first held on the island in years.
Jeff Keeler arrived in Kodiak just a few months ago and is the new manager of Bear Valley Golf Course, which is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard. He said bringing a tournament back this year just made sense to him.
“I’ve heard maybe historically they have had a three-club tournament, (but) I don’t think (they’ve had one) in the last few years,” Keeler said.
He said he hopes to have more tournaments about every six weeks moving forward.
There were over 20 competitors in the junior tournament in the morning. About three dozen adults competed in the afternoon, with Ryan Shaffer taking the top spot in the end.
But activities weren’t just for golfers – there was a free live music show after the adult tournament wrapped up.
“From what I’ve been told, they did it years ago – they had concerts out here but it hasn’t been done in several years,” Keeler said. “It’s just something that I have experienced in places I’ve worked and it seemed a good idea just because of the setting.”
The nine-hole golf course is on Anton Larsen Bay Road across from Kodiak’s state airport, is surrounded by mountains, and even has a large lake nearby. Keeler said he hopes to have more people come to enjoy the course’s amenities, even if they don’t golf.
“People sometimes don’t realize the beauty of Bear Valley,” he said. “Yes – it’s a golf course first, but it’s also a wonderful place to escape the city, come up here in an afternoon and enjoy a cold beverage and a hot dog or a hamburger on the deck and ‘leave the city’ per se.”
Ellamy Tiller and the Twang started to play as golfers turned in their scorecards.
Course staff are already planning their next tournament for the end of August and a bonfire this fall.
