When I was a kid, the State Am was a big deal. It was the 80s and there were real newspapers covering the event with full-page pictures and multiple articles providing insight to the Anchorage spectacle. The winner each year got a lot of attention and was a bit of a hero to local golfers.

I don’t have official records in front of me, but there must have been nearly 400 golfers in the State Am back then. I do know the tournament filled up four golf courses, which is basically all of them in Alaska.

Well, it’s not the 80s anymore and these days the State Am is lucky to attract 100 golfers to play on one golf course. There are some things I like about this. It creates more of a real tournament atmosphere as opposed to a city-wide golf party. We all play the same course for four days, or at least we used to.

This year, the State Am will be played over three days in Fairbanks at Chena Bend Golf Course, a solid track that many locals say is our best. With the bulk of golfers living in the Anchorage area, the field will be smaller and this brings me to the biggest problem with all our tournaments.

The fields are lacking a full list of our best players. For example, last year, Sam Olson won a state match play tournament that didn’t include Rob Nelson, Greg Sanders or Dave Hamilton. Greg Sanders won the State Am over a field without Nelson or Hamilton. The rest of our smaller club tournaments are even less likely to attract the top talents all in one place.

This should be no surprise, as we are dealing with real people with real, busy lives, not tour pros with nothing else to do but golf. You can’t really expect everyone to be able to show up for the same events all the time. When it comes to determining the best golfers, however, it sure would be nice.

I guess we already know Nelson is the best in Alaska, followed by Sanders and Hamilton. So, do we even need tournaments? Of course we do, to make everyone step up and prove what we all hold as true.

I guess the problem for me is this: What if I somehow put in the hard work to get my game really sharp and was able to win a State Am, Anchorage Open or Arctic Valley Open? If the field was lacking Alaska’s top talents, the victory would somehow be hollow. I’d still relish the victory and tout myself to all who would listen, but deep down I would have to know I didn’t beat the best.

I’m rambling along here on a Tuesday evening, while it’s 30 degrees outside and we are waiting for ice and snow to melt and release the golf courses from their white prisons. I’m not trying to diminish anyone’s past or future victories. A victory is always special, no matter who you beat, but I’m keeping the wheels turning to see what I can come up with to help us define the best Alaskan golfers more distinctly.