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Golf notes: SVGC plays 2; Valley seniors back; Hanna wrap; must for PGA big-names

Golf notes

The Sonoma Valley Golf Club has been busy the last few weeks, with its Invitational Tournament, hosted at Eagle Vines Golf Club in Napa, as well as a trip north to the Windsor Golf Club.

On Sept. 13, SVGC members invited good friends to pair up and compete in its invitational at Eagle Vines, with the format being best ball and there were both gross and net events. 

Leading the way in the First Flight was the twosome of Conny Gustafson and Magnus Carlsson, who combined to shoot a very impressive score of 58. Three-shots back was the team of Harry Tistle and Dick Prezio, which carded a 61, while the quartet of Dan Stites and Phil Otto, and Dales Charles and Gene Hess, matched scores with 62s, before a scorecard playoff gave Stites and Otto the edge and third place, as fifth-place went to Hugh McNeilly and Jerry Ellis, who fired a 63. 

In the Second Flight, Ralph Giancaspro and Pete Tarantino combined to shoot a very impressive score of 55 and took first-place. Finishing in second-place were Bill Rosa and Jeff Ferrero with their 57, while Wayne Coronel and Lou Pignati grabbed third with a 59. Rounding out the top-five were Al Marty and Eloi Delagnes with a 61, and John Long and Dave Voepel with a 62. 

In the gross division John Radican and Mie Katsumata combined to fire a very strong round of 72.

Only the sixth-hole was used for a closest-to-the-pin competition, and Fred Martin had no trouble with the island green, hitting his shot to 12 feet from the hole.

On Sept. 22, warm weather greeted the SVGC Thursday members at the Windsor Golf Club, where they were placed in foursomes and played a team-low net-better ball.

When all was said and done, Ernie Braum, Tom Braum, Russ Hurley and Bob Leal combined to shoot 51 and take first-place in the First Flight. Two-shots behind in second-place were Bill Cogbill, Gary Routt, Bill Wesch and Mike Lipson, while Jerry VanWallinga, Ron Sharek, Jim Schnabel and Hugh McNeilly took home third with a score of 56, followed by Dan Stites, Mickey Zimmer, Fred Martin and Harry Tistle combined 57 for fourth, and Mac Bautista, Leon Valle, David Alinas and Jun Jasareno rounding out the top-five with a 60.

As it turned out, the really low scores came out in the Second Flight, with Wayne Coronel, Lou Pignati, Al Marty and Eloi Delagnes combining to break the 50-mark with an eye-opening score of 49. Pete LaVault, Dan Radke, Ed Cebula and Benny Lee fired their own impressive score of 51 to walk away with second-place, while Jeff Ferrero, Bill Rosa and Dan Weber took third with a 53, and two teams shot 54, with a scorecard playoff giving John Fanucchi, Wayne Petersen, Leo McMillan and Charlie Avery fourth, and Kit Wood, Tom Reynolds, Don Richards and Dale Charles settled for fifth. 

In closest-to-the-pin action, Bill Seim avoided the water on the fifth-hole and hit his shot to 6 feet, 3 inches, while VanWallinga conquered the very difficult uphill seventh with a shot to just 3-11.

The 11th-hole was mastered by Bob Leal, as his shot to 13-6 was good enough to better everyone else, while the intimidating 13th, which has a forced carry over water, was no issue for Lou Pignati, as he hit his shot to a mere 3-3 from the hole.

        

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The Sonoma Valley Seniors are back on the links. After losing their home course of Los Arroyos, the club has moved over the hill to the recently re-opened Adobe Creek Golf Course in Petaluma.

In their first event back on Aug. 25, Dick Moore took home first-place in the high-handicap flight with a score of net 62, which was followed by George Greene’s net-66, and Bob Flores’ net-67. 

The low-handicap flight had Harry Tistle and Bill Anderson matching cards with net 69s for first- and second-place, respectively, and Walt Smith and Dan Stites both carded 71s for third and fourth, respectively. 

Closest-to-the-pin had John Petioni claiming the top-spot on the fifth-hole with a shot to 46 feet.

The eighth-hole was good to Greene, as he fired his shot to 11-1, with Jim Lee conquering the 12th with a shot to 10 feet. 

The 16th was the final opportunity of the day and Jim Reese took advantage of it, hitting his shot to 5-10.

        

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Hanna Boy’s Center held its annual fundraising tournament on Monday, Sept. 19, at Sonoma Golf Club. 

Leading the way in this year’s event was the team of Pat Hemingway, Cole Hemingway, Grant Hemingway and John Snyder of Stevens Hemingway Stevens, Inc.

The Noel Mertens award went to the San Francisco Police Officers Association group of Ed Anzore, Steve Morimoto, Roland Tolosa and Robert Vernengo. 

Closest-to-the-pin went to John Snyder with a shot to 6 feet, 5 inches, while Women’s Long Drive went to Jenah Smith.

John Dowling won the Men’s Long Drive, with Don Goodman taking the men’s straightest drive, and Laura Shaules the women’s straightest drive.

        

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Despite its place in the Fall Series, after the FedEx Cup season has been completed, the Frys.com Open is quickly becoming a must-play for some of the bigger names in the game. 

Two weeks ago Tiger Woods committed to playing and now another multiple major champion has thrown his hat in the ring.

Two-time United States Open Champion and 2002 Open Championship winner Ernie Els is the latest big name to be teeing it up at CordeValle Golf Course in San Martin Oct. 3 through 9.

Els and Woods will be joined by U.S. Open and Masters champion Angel Cabrera; European Ryder Cup star Paul Casey; former World No. 1 and former Open champion David Duval; and 1997 Open Championship winner Justin Leonard. 

Defending champion Rocco Mediate will also be back. Mediate captured last year’s title in an exciting final round that saw him hole a shot for eagle on the 16th hole, the fourth-straight day that he holed a shot from the fairway for eagle. 

Tickets are still available for practice rounds and tournament rounds, with prices starting at $35 a day (Wednesday through Friday), $45 a day (Saturday and Sunday), or $125 for a weeklong pass. For more information, visit www.frysopengolf.com.