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Golf notes: SMGA plays; Presentation, Bottomfeeders tourneys; Champ Tour

 

 

Heavy rains and soggy conditions didn’t scare the Sonoma Men’s Golf Association from playing its four-man-team, March 6, event at Rooster Run Golf Club in Petaluma.

Leading the way was the team of Ian Tervet, Tony Enz, Mike Lucas and Ted Carillo, who combined to shoot a fine score of 122. Second-place went to Al Rappoport, Myron Donesky, Tom Martin and Kay Groft, who carded a 123, while third-place went to Woody Frink, John Bogardus, Ron Sharek and Bob Jennings with a 125. 

In closest-to-the-pin action, Jack Harding avoided the water on the sixth hole, hitting his shot to just 7 feet, 3 inches, the best of the day. The long eighth proved to be no match for Mike Lucas,as his ball came to rest only 9-1 away from the hole. 

The back-nine saw Steve Lanning tame the tricky 11th, as his shot was rifled at the flag, stopping a mere 4-4 from the hole, while Jeff Boucher showed he liked islands, as the water-surrounded 15th suited his eye with a shot to just 4-6. 

The SMGA returns to action on Sunday, April 3, with a trip to Yocha De He Golf Club at Cache Creek.

        

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The Presentation School’s 11th annual Golf Tournament is right around the corner. This year’s event will be held on Monday, May 9, at the Sonoma Golf Club and will benefit the students of the Presentation School.

Cost for this year’s event is $195 a player, or $780 for a foursome which includes golf with cart, tee-prize, photograph of your foursome, box lunch and dinner, catered by the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, immediately following the tourney. For those that just want to attend the dinner and awards ceremony, tickets can be purchased for $65.

As always, there will be a longest drive competition, closest-to-the-pin competition and prizes for the winner of the scramble event. The tournament gets underway with a registration opening at 11 a.m., followed by a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start, with the reception beginning at 5, and the dinner and live auction starting at 6:15 p.m. For more information, or to inquire about potential sponsorship of the event, contact Nancy Bei at 935-0122, ext. 202, or visit presentationschool.com.

 

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Now that Murphy’s Irish Pub has completed its renovation, it’s time to focus on the 15th annual Bottomfeeders Open Golf Tournament, once again taking place at Oakmont’s West Course in Santa Rosa, with the event set for Friday, May 27, and it will once again benefit Vintage House in Sonoma.

Tournament entry fee is $160 a player, or if you sign up for a foursome, the cost is $600 for the group, and includes golf with cart, a sleeve of golf balls, a tee-prize, as well as a box lunch, beer and other refreshments on the course.

Someone could also walk away with a nice check, as a $10,000 hole-in-one prize will be offered for the lucky person who makes an ace during the event. A buffet dinner featuring prime rib and salmon follows at the Vintage House, along with a hosted beer and wine awards ceremony.

The event gets underway with check-in at 11:30 a.m., followed by a shot-gun start at 12:30 p.m. The hosted beer and wine bar starts at 6, and the awards dinner is at 7:30 p.m. Anyone interested in attending just the dinner portion can do so for a cost of $60. For more information, or to get a registration form, go to www.vintagehouse.org, or call the Vintage House at 996-0311, or Murphy’s at 935-0660.

 

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The Champions Tour made its first trip to California last weekend with a stop in Newport Beach for the Toshiba Classic at the Newport Country Club. 

It was the Nick Price show all tournament long, as the affable Zimbabwean, fresh off a PGA Tour start the week before at the Honda Classic, shot an opening-round 60 to take the title wire-to-wire.

It wasn’t a walk in the park for Price as one might think after a round of 60, as Mark Wiebe did his best to crash the party, eventually closing to within one shot in Sunday’s final round with rounds of 65, 65 and 67. Despite the fact that 60 has only been shot six times on the Champions Tour, it wasn’t the first time that score had been shot at the Toshiba event – Tom Purtzer did it during the first round in 2004.

Price made only two bogeys during the tournament and completed two eagles during his spectacular first round, on the 15th and 18th holes, chipping in the latter. Defending champion Fred Couples made a strong defense of his title, shooting 66, 67 and 67 to finish in a tie for fifth-place.

Despite shooting a score 10-shots higher than Price in the first round, Lee Trevino met a milestone with his round of 70, as it was the first time the former Champions Tour No. 1 had bettered his age in competition. The 71-year-old Trevino then matched his age in the final round to end up finishing in 56th place, beating out the “younger” group of Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and Ben Crenshaw.

Former Open Champion and CBS television golf analyst Ian Baker-Finch made his Champions Tour debut at the Toshiba, pairing up with his former caddy Pete Bender and finishing in a tie for 78th-place. Baker-Finch all but retired from tournament golf in the mid-90s after a terrible slump saw him struggle to break 80 and might be more remembered for hitting his tee-shot out of bounds at the first hole of the 1995 Open Championship at St. Andrews.