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PrintSMGA, SVGC; Presentation wrap; firefighters’ Mazza Memorial; Tiger still struggling
Golf notes
By Richard Davison (Special to the Index-Tribune)
May 26, 2011 - 01:21 PM
The members of the Sonoma Men’s Golf Association headed south last Friday to the Del Monte Forrest and Poppy Hills Golf Course for its annual Monterey outing.
Leading the way was Myron Donesky and Ron Sharek, whose precision play gave them a net score of 72, before a scorecard playoff gave first-place to Donesky. The remainder of the top-five all shot 76 and once again, a scorecard playoff was used, with Tom Martin taking third-place, while Nate Reynes grabbed fourth and John Bogardus was fifth.
With five par-3s, there was plenty of opportunity for closest-to-the-pin. The second hole, which plays over a deep ravine, didn’t intimidate Jerry Borchelt, who hit his tee-shot to 16 feet, 3 inches, the best of the day. Sharek showed why he was near the top of the leader board, with his shot to 18-4 on the tricky sixth, while Bogardus managed to conquer the very large green on the 11th hole, hitting his tee-shot to 17-7. At 172 yards, the redan-style 15th was the longest par-3 of the day, but “Pipeline” John Dennis showed his skills, hitting his tee-shot to 22-9 to grab the top-spot. The downhill 17th was sweet redemption for Reynes, as he claimed the final award of the day with a shot to 17-0.
The SMGA returns to action on Sunday, June 5, at nearby Vintners Golf Club in Yountville for a foursomes and best-ball tournament.
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The Sonoma Valley Golf Club teed it up at its home course of Eagle Vines Golf Club in Napa on May 10.
The A-Flight saw Jack Powers and Jeff Ferrero tie with rounds of 66, before Powers took home the top-spot in a scorecard playoff. Ali Fotouhi’s 68 was good enough for third, while Bob Leal and Ray Acio battled it out for fourth- and fifth-place with their rounds of 70 before another scorecard playoff gave the nod to Leal.
Russ Hurley took the B-Flight with his round of 65, two-shots clear of Bob Koida’s 67, which gave him second. Third-place went to Harry Tistle with a 69, while Joe Runion and Wayne Peterson both carded 72s and finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The C-Flight saw Gerry Orme fire an impressive round of 64, good enough for a two-shot win over both Jack Kearney and Leo McMillan. Pete LaVault’s 67 gave him fourth-place, while Tom Reynolds grabbed fifth with a 68.
Acio had no problem with the sixth-hole when it came to the closest-to-the-pin competition, with his tee-shot finishing just 4 feet, 3 inches from the hole.
All three divisions were awarded on the eighth-hole, with Matt Marioni’s shot to 26-2 from the hole taking home the A-Flight; Lou Pignatti hitting the shot of the day on the B-Flight, his ball stopping just 1-5 from the hole; and Kearney’s shot to 6-0 besting the rest of the C-Flight. Marioni double-dipped with another fine shot to 8-7 on the 12th, while Bob Ford took home the 15th with a shot to 17-5.
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Sonoma Golf Club was the site for the 11th annual Presentation School Golf Tournament, with first-place in the A-Flight going to the stacked team of August Sebastiani, Sean Riebli, Keith Casale and Dominic Isetta. Second-place went to Pete Loomis, Mike Kemp, Joel Backman and David Bahem.
The team of JD Dierking, Scott DeMartini, Rich Little and Jeff Bundshcu took home first-place in the B-Flight, edging out the team of Ray Richardson, Dino Rossini, Jason Clark and Zach Schoeningh.
The women’s long-drive award went to Kathleen Grieve, while Matt Marioni showed his strength by winning the men’s long-drive.
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The Sonoma Valley Firefighters Association is hosting the second annual Al Mazza Memorial Best Ball Golf Tournament, with this year’s event, starting at 1 p.m., taking place on Saturday, June 11, at the Oakmont Golf Club in nearby Santa Rosa. Proceeds from the tourney will go to Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue for safety and training equipment.
Cost for the event is $160 for each golfer, or $600 for a foursome, and includes green fee, cart, golfer gift bag including a polo shirt, lunch (barbecue bratwurst, sauerkraut, keg of domestic beer), catered dinner (chicken piccata, marinated tri-tip, caesar salad, mixed greens, garlic mashed potatoes, dessert) and a raffle ticket for the after-dinner raffle (additional tickets can be purchased at the event).
There will also be a hole-in-one contest with the prize being a 2012 Chevy Camaro. For those interested in the dinner only, tickets are $40. For more details, call 495-4207, or visit tomdeely@comcast.net, or waterboy3392@att.net (Scott Maxwell).
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With three weeks remaining until the United States Open, this year being played at Congressional Country Club outside Washington D.C., Tiger Woods indicated this week that he will be ready, despite the fact that he is currently on crutches.
Woods injured his tender left knee during the third-round of the Masters in April when he attempted to play his second-shot from under a tree on the 17th hole. The injury flared up again at the Player’s Championship, when he played just nine holes in a dismal score of 42, 6-over-par. Now Woods has taken the past three weeks off to recover and plans on being in top-form for golf’s second major.
At a press conference earlier this week, Woods announced that he would donate $1 million to his charity if the media did not ask about his knee. However, the first question asked was in relation to the strength and health of his knee. Woods indicated later that he would donate the $1 million anyway.
Still, as the year goes on, Woods continues to struggle on the course. He has now not won an event since December of 2009, and his life on and off the course has become a soap opera. The latest change is with his management group, IMG, which announced this week that his manager, Mark Steinberg, is no longer on their payroll. IMG has represented Woods since he turned professional in 1996 and, famously, had his father, Earl, on the payroll prior to that.
With Steinberg’s departure, is Woods that far behind him?
It looks as though Steinberg could start his own management company without too much trouble – he also represents Annika Sorenstam – but Woods is obviously the pot of gold, even with his on-and-off course struggles of late.
With everything that is going on, it’s a good bet that Woods will not contend at Congressional. He didn’t factor there in 1997 when the U.S. Open was last played there, and when he arrived fresh off his record-breaking first Masters title. With his knee, struggling game and business world changes, he’ll arrive with plenty on his mind.
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