Oilers Baseball
The city of Kenai is home to the collegiate baseball team the Peninsula Oilers. Throughout the summer, the Oilers play against fellow members of the Alaska Baseball League at Kenai’s Coral Seymour Memorial Park, at the end of Tinker Lane off the Kenai Spur Highway.
After winning the league in 2011, the Oilers finished the year as the runners up at the prestigious National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas. The following years, the Oilers tied for second in the Alaska League. Several former Oilers have gone on to major league careers in the team’s 40-year history.
For more information on the Peninsula Oilers and the Alaska Baseball League, call 283-7133, stop by the team office at the corner of Cook Avenue and Main Street in Kenai or check them out at oilersbaseball.com.
Golf
Golfing on the central Kenai Peninsula offers unique features and experiences: a backdrop of mountain ranges, the possibility of a moose or caribou sighting, and, at the peak of summer, the chance to finish a round after 11 p.m — and we’re talking about a round at the 18th, and not 19th, hole!
The Central Peninsula offers two nine-hole courses and an 18-hole course. Each course has tournaments and special events throughout the summer, so it is best to call ahead for a tee time.
The nine-hole Birch Ridge Golf Course and driving range, on the Sterling Highway east of Soldotna, offers a full range of amenities, including a pro shop, rental cottages, and cart and club rentals.
The course includes a number of tee and green variations for those wanting to get in a full 18 holes. For current fees and more information, call 907-262-5270 or check bit.ly/BirchRidge.
Adjacent to Coral Seymour Memorial Park, the Kenai Golf Course on Lawton Drive, features an 18-hole layout, driving range, pro shop, and cart and club rentals.
A short-game practice area also is available. For current fees and more information, call 907 283-7500 or visit the website at kenaigolfcourse.com.
The Bird Homestead Golf Course is located at Mile 11.8 of Funny River Road. The nine-hole course features a pro shop and a unique driving range where golfers hit buoyant balls into a pond. Contact the course at 260-4653 or visit bit.ly/BirdGolf.
Motor sports
After a long summer day of driving around the Kenai Peninsula, Twin Cities Raceway is the perfect place to sit back and watch someone else drive.
The three-eighths of a mile oval track has Sprint, Late Model, A-Stock, B-Stock and Quarter Midget races. Motocross races are also held on a separate track.
The raceway is located on Shotgun Drive, across from Beaver Loop, at Mile 6.5 of the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai.
For a schedule and more information, check kprl.net.
Junior Hockey
The Kenai River Brown Bears, a Junior A hockey team of young athletes with collegiate or professional aspirations, make their den at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Find more information at bit.ly/BrownBearsHockey
Running
Some of the bigger races are the Run for the River in Soldotna in early June, the Family Fun Run in the Midnight Sun in Nikiski in late June, the Rotary Unity Run in Soldotna in mid-July, the Everything but the Red Run at Tsalteshi Trails behind Skyview High School in late July, the Kenai Peninsula Run for Women in Kenai in early August and the Kenai River Marathon in Kenai in late September. The Tri The Kenai triathlon will hit the road — and pool, and trails — on June 15, 2015. The event is staged from Skyview School, just out side Soldotna on the Sterling Highway, and includes a 500-yard swim in the Skyview pool, a 10-mile road bicycle course and a 5-kilometer run on Tsalteshi Trails to challenge athletes of all experience levels and ages. There is also a kids race.
Disc Golf
For a different kind of golf, try the 18 par-3 holes of Kenai’s Eagle Disc Golf Course, located in East End Park on Tinker Lane, or its nine-hole disc golf course located on the Bernie Huss Trail, accessible from Main Street Loop Road. Both courses are free.
The public-use Tsalteshi Ski Trail in Soldotna also has a 20-hole disc golf course on its Squirrel Loop Trail, accessible behind Skyview High School’s football and soccer fields.
