One would not think that cooking and golf are synonymous with each other.

Cooking requires lots of practice, some innovation, a dab of this and a dash of that.... golf, well it does require practice, certainly some innovation when your ball is stuck behind a tree and the touch required around the greens could easily be the considered the spice of the game.

On second thought, they are quite a bit alike.

Bart Turchin, head golf professional at Glen Acres in North Highline for the past 20 years, has combined his love of cooking with his love for golf. Certainly his Italian heritage helped him develop his culinary skills at home for family and friends.
Many advised that his particular marinade or dipping sauce was sooo...good that he should market it. Turchin knew it had been in his family forever, but only a few close friends had ever tasted it.

Turchin heard it enough to do something about it starting with a meeting a few years ago at Wolfpack Canning in Goldbar. Wolfpack is a family owned business that caters to their clients needs for producing and packaging quality products. They did the large batch work required for bottling.

"I love my job and I love to cook," Turchin explained. His passion for excellence required more than 60 tries to get the right flavor in a large batch of his kitchen recipe. The recipe is noted for its ability to compliment meat, poultry and seafood.
"It just wouldn't work with butter so we substituted Butter Buds (a butter alternative) and canola oil and some other ingredients to make it exactly like my original stove top blend," he said.
Several trips to Goldbar were needed to fine tune the taste just right. It worked.

The two years in development also meant spending some cash. Any business start-up needs funding.
Turchin had a little dough. He called Food Concepts, Inc. in Wisconsin to advise him how to get his bottles on the market.
"Learning the grocery business was an eye opener," Turchin said.

Product placement means sales. Fighting for space on the shelves is secondary to getting a grocer to agree to carry your product in the first place. It is a battle.

Turchin appears to be winning. At $5.95 a bottle, the sauce is very popular with kids and adults. Three varieties are currently available with a fourth Salmon Sauce coming soon.

For more information visit www.bartolossauce.com or head on over to Glen Acres most days. You'll find Turchin behind the counter helping members get out for a round of golf, giving a lesson or dreaming up his next special product.