This summer retired Bellingham Firefighter Don Smith will spearhead the Starr Invitational Golf Tournament to its 50th Anniversary. The ‘Golden’ event is scheduled for July 12-13 at the Home Course in Dupont.

‘The Starr’ was the brainchild of Smith and three friends (Sid Starr, Gary Weber and Ed Heckard) who grew up on the Long Beach Peninsula. The four graduated Ilwaco High School in the early 1960s. In 1973 the foursome met for a round of golf. That evening over dinner and drinks at Falls Terrace Restaurant in Tumwater, the friends hatched a plan to gather in fellowship at least once a year. It was then ‘The Starr’ was born. The tourney’s name comes from one of the group’s co-founders, Sid Starr, now a retired Kirkland CPA.

In May 1973 the initial ‘Starr’ began with eight invitees teeing off for 18 holes at Raymond’s 9-hole Willapa Harbor Golf Course. From that humble beginning, ‘The Starr’ grew, at one point, to a 3-day, 24-man competition. Many of the Northwest’s finest courses have played host to ‘The Starr.’ Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course and Oregon’s Pumpkin Ridge Country Club are two. Others include Astoria Golf and Country Club, Central Oregon’s Eagle Crest Resort Courses and Bellingham’s Sudden Valley Golf Course. To date, the tourney’s farthest destination is The Palms Golf Club in Mesquite, Nevada.

In 1999 the Invitational changed formats. From an individual stroke play competition, ‘The Starr’ became a 2-Man Scramble. For the past 23 years this format has proved popular.

The handsome traveling trophy has a life of its own. Smith’s father, Max, was a watchmaker by trade. Max also had a small trophy business on the side. In his dad’s trophy workshop Don designed and built the stately Starr Trophy. Little did Smith know that this spring his 1973 masterpiece would need to be enlarged to make room for added engraving plates.

Today ‘The Starr’ owes its existence to the persistence and dedication of Smith. While his three friends no longer participate, Smith annually works through a myriad of details to assure this golden golfing tradition goes off without a hitch.