Traditions take time to build. This week is the 147th playing of The Open championship in Scotland. Think about that a minute and then think about this: it’s also the week of the third playing of the Arctic Valley Open at Moose Run Golf Course.

The Arctic Valley Open has a pretty catchy name for a club championship and it’s the only club championship in Alaska that uses two golf courses. The first round is played on the older Hill Course and the second round on the newer Creek Course. Will the AVO ever reach the level of The Open? Of course not, but it is one of several opportunities for Alaskans to build on a tradition.

The Open was once just a small event between drunkards with thick beards, mashies and niblicks. The AVO players carry oversized drivers and hybrids and shave regularly.

I’ve played in the first two AVO’s primarily because it is played where I grew up playing golf and the idea presents the opportunity for sentimental value. I will play in the third installment this weekend, almost for no other reason than to be able to say I’ve played in them all. Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods enter tournaments to try and win them, but this idea is foreign to me.

Here is how the first AVO went for me: I believe I made the final group on Sunday, because there were only four of us in the tournament. I played a solid front nine Sunday at the Creek and put a little pressure on eventual champion Brad Ross, until I made a double-digit score at the par-5 ninth I’ve since blocked out of my mind with the help of counseling. Ross held off Herschel Deaton’s charge down the stretch and won comfortably.

Here is how the second one went: I played well enough the first day to be tied with the eventual winner, a young man named Tyler McKinley, going into the second round. I put a little pressure on him with my first tee shot  Sunday and that was it. He cruised to a nice win over runner-up Paul Blanche. It was McKinley’s first tournament victory and a special moment for the lad.

This year’s tournament has added a preliminary event on Friday night, a blind-draw partnership I will write more about later. The serious shots start Saturday morning at the Hill and progress to the Creek on Sunday. I will do my best to keep people informed of what happens from my own perspective. Maybe I can keep my tradition in tact of playing with the eventual winner on the last day.