DIGs tournament returns

RITZVILLE – After a year absence, the Ritzville Golf Course was once again the site of the annual Danekas Invitational Golf Tournament on Sunday Aug. 22.

More than 50 golfers competed in "DIGs," divided into three flights by handicap.

Flight 1 included golfers with handicaps of 1-11.

Flight 2 was a group of relatively evenly matched golfers, with handicaps bunched from 12-16.

Flight 3 was the largest and included golfers with handicaps from 17-30.

The Flight 1 gross winner was Darin Danekas with score of 68. The first-net winner was John Kragt with 66. Second net was Dan Duff with 67. Third net was Paul Shapiro with a score of 70.

In Flight 2, the gross winner was Joe Kinch with a score of 85. First net was Kristian Boness with 71. Second net was Neil Gallion with 72. Third was Paul Hersey with 74.

In Flight 3, the gross winner was Mike Lynch with 88. Bob Wiitala was first net with 68. Brian Kramer was second net also with 68, buts lands in second with a higher handicap.

Third net was Scott Miller with 70.

The weather was good for the event, sunny with temperatures in the mid-70s and a fresh breeze blowing at about 15 mph, gusting to 20-25 mph much, of the day.

The DIGs tournament was started at Priest Lake, Idaho, in 1965, founded by the late Ralph Danekas.

In 1972 the tournament was moved to Ritzville, where it has been since, with the exception of 2020, when coronavirus shutdown orders prompted its cancelation.

The tournament is hosted annually by the Dankeas family, including Ralph's son Kirk, and grandson, Darin.