Until last summer, we were deprived of the notion of each major golf facility in the Anchorage area holding its own club championship. The Anchorage Golf Course, Palmer Golf Course, Settlers Bay and Moose Run now all host course championships, marking a modern shift in the challenge presented to the area’s most competitive golfers.

To win all four titles in one summer, which will henceforth be dubbed the AGB Grand Slam, will be virtually impossible. As the challenge stands this summer, winning all four would require great golf for eight rounds over the course of five weeks, each event being a 36-hole tournament. It would require great golf on a variety of courses that offer unique challenges. In theory, it would require beating each course’s best local player, provided he or she plays. Marcus Dolejsi proved this to be a tough task in Palmer a couple of years ago.

The AGB will make every effort to cover and report on these four events, which starts with this weekend’s Arctic Valley Open. You can’t win them all if you don’t win the first one.

The Arctic Valley Open may wind up being the easiest to win this year, due to some of the state’s best players being occupied with the Palmer Invitational. However, there are plenty of other talented golfers out there who may take a shot at glory.

Word on the street says there about 30 players signed up for the Arctic Valley Open, including defending champion Brad Ross. That’s almost double the number of players who competed last summer. The last day to register is Thursday. As the weekend nears, the AGB will set the stage for the AVO.

Why focus on the AVO and not the longer-running Palmer Invitational? Because the AGB’s goal is to present each major course from the area in a competitive setting to anyone interested in what it’s like to play golf and compete in Alaska. The AGB can only be in one place at a time and will showcase Palmer Golf Course when it holds its club championship in a few weeks.