A Ballard teaching pro has invented a device to help golfers achieve maximum swing velocity just before impact.

Casey McMullin, who teaches at Interbay Golf Center and coaches the Ballard High School boys and girls golf teams, has invented the Swing Whistle.

It is a plastic device that attaches to the neck of a club and makes a whistling noise. The goal is to have the maximum noise occur just before the club hits the ball.

McMullin said his device trains golfers to create maximum clubhead speed at impact while helping develop timing and tempo. It also can help cure "fat shots" and "casting," usually caused by early release of the wrists, he said.

The device, which is manufactured in Beaverton, Ore., sells for $19.99 and can be ordered on the website www.Swingwhistle.com.

Military Appreciation

at Boeing Classic

Military personnel with ID will be admitted free again this year on Sunday of the Boeing Classic, Aug. 26 at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.

This will be the eighth year of the Classic, and hometown favorite Fred Couples has committed to play in the event.

The Boeing Classic won the Champions Tour Players Award for last year's event, which was won by Mark Calcavecchia.

Par-3 course sold

Island Greens, the par-3 course on the south end of Whidbey Island outside Clinton, has been sold and will remain a golf course. David and Karen Anderson owned and operated the course for 22 years. The new owners are Lucy Vanderwende and Arul Menezesel of Sammamish. The new general manger is Mike Zuercher.

The course is considered among the best par-3 layouts in the state. The fifth hole is 214 yards. Golfers have the option of hitting their tee shot on No. 6 from an on-land boat and their tee shot on No. 9 from the back of a flatbed truck.

The facility also has a driving range.

Notes

• Golfweek's 2012 list of best public courses in Washington:

1. Chambers Bay, University Place

2. Wine Valley, Walla Walla

3. Palouse Ridge, Pullman

4. Salish Cliffs, Shelton

5. Loomis Trail, Blaine

6. Olympic course at Gold Mountain, Bremerton

7. Semiahmoo, Blaine

8. Trophy Lake Golf and Casting, Port Orchard

9. Prospector course, Suncadia Resort, Roslyn

10. Desert Canyon, Orondo, Douglas County

Chambers Bay is ranked No. 22 on the publication's national list of top 100 courses built since 1960. Wine Valley is No. 84.

Oregon courses on the top-100 list are: 2, Pacific Dunes, Bandon; 3, Old Macdonald, Bandon; 7, Bandon Dunes, Bandon; 26, Bandon Trails, Bandon; 43, Pronghorn, Bend; 67, Eugene Country Club; 93, Pumpkin Ridge (Witch Hollow), North Plains.

Idaho courses on the list are No. 30, Huntsman Springs, Driggs, and No. 79, The Golf Club at Black Rock, Coeur d'Alene.

• The driving range at Bellevue Municpal now has lights and extended hours. The popular course had a busy 2011 when it came to hole-in-one celebrations. There were a record 31 aces last year on the course, which averages between 14 and 17 a year. In the first three months of this year, there were four aces.

• Gateway Golf Course, known recently as Sedro-Woolley Golf Course, has been leased to PGA professional Paul Lavin. Improvements to the nine-hole course include improved drainage on the first hole and driving range.

• Eaglemont Golf Club in Mount Vernon has a new clubhouse with a view of Puget Sound. The starting hole is what used to be No. 13. The old No. 12 is now No. 9, the old No. 8 is No. 10 and the old No. 7 is now No. 18.

• In its latest rankings (2011), Palouse Ridge, the campus golf course at Washington State University, is ranked the nation's No. 4 college course by Golfweek. No. 1 is The Course at Yale.

• Two in a row? Don't count on it. The 64th Hudson Cup Matches will be Oct. 24-25 at Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore, where a team of Northwest amateurs will try to upset the team of Northwest club pros. Last year, the amateurs beat the pros 10 ½ to 9 ½ at Oswego Lake Country Club in Lake Oswego, Ore. It was the first victory by the amateur team since 1978.

In the senior division, the senior pros beat the senior amateurs 10 ½ to 9 ½.

The Hudson Cup Matches are modeled after the Ryder Cup.

• Former Seattle Times sportswriter Bob Sherwin has launched the website www.Golferswest.com. The site covers golf instruction, equipment, travel, competitions, opinion and predictions. Jim Street, a former Mariners beat writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, is a senior writer and editor for the site. Another former baseball writer, Everett Herald alum Kirby Arnold, is a Phoenix-based writer. The site has a section called Beyond Golf where the writers discuss other sports.