The Masters is over and while it was nice to see the ultra-green grounds at Augusta National again, the tournament was a bit uninspiring. The factory-made golfers appeared a bit wooden on their march around the course and nobody really seemed to be exerting themselves to catch the eventual winner, Hideki Matsuyama. There’s definitely a little more fire in Alaskan golfers, so let’s talk about one of them, shall we.

At No. 10 in the rankings, which you can always find listed at the top menu on the home page, is Zach Perry. He earned his spot by winning some challenge matches and helped it along by winning the One-man Scramble last summer at Moose Run, where he works as an assistant golf professional.

Perry is a talented, young player who learned the game primarily in spurts outside Alaska. He has all the basic shots in his arsenal, including the effortless flop shot when needed, but is otherwise an unremarkable golfer. He hits the ball far enough, but not out of sight. He putts well, but doesn’t make everything, like a Benji Sumulong seems to. Perry’s greatest strength is a mental one and it comes in the form of a visible confidence.

Perry always carries himself as though he thinks he will win, and as a result, he often does. He is a walking, talking reminder to all of us to believe in one’s game and stick to your style of play no matter what. If you want to test your style against his in a match, you better plan on shooting no worse than five or six over par to have a chance.

Perry hits the occasional bad shots, like anyone is bound to, but he doesn’t let it bother him. He also is impervious to a hot streak from a playing opponent. He plays his game, believes in his game, win or lose. It’s a great trait to emulate as Alaska’s golf season starts in roughly 10-15 days.

Temperatures are supposed to hover around 40 degrees all this week, which should melt the lingering snow blanketing our golf courses. The first full 18-hole golf course to open each summer in Alaska is the Palmer course, and there is no foreseeable reason for that to change this spring.

The ninth-ranked golfer in Alaska is Jung Han, a technically savvy golfer whose greatest weapon does lean more to the physical side of things. I’ll reveal what it is in my next post.