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SMGA, SVGC play; One-Club Tourney held; Champs Tour update; Cohn Classic on horizon

Golf notes

 

The Sonoma Men’s Golf Association traveled to Walnut Creek and the Boundary Oaks Golf Club last Sunday. 

Leading the way was the team of Nate Reynes, Myron Donesky and Ron Sharek, who combined to shoot a fine score of 133, with the group of John Bogardus, Don Roesch and Tom Martin grabbing second-place with their round of 138, while Pat Connolley, Martin Bajuk and John Leh took third with 139, and Bob Jennings, Kay Groft and Tom Mayer were fourth with 141. 

In closest-to-the-pin, Donesky fired the best shot on the tricky downhill second, his shot stopping 10 feet, 2 inches from the hole, while Bogardus conquered the difficult sixth, firing his shot to and impressive 2-7. The back-nine saw Connolley get in on the action with a shot of 7-11, while Leh closed the day out on the 17th with a shot to 27 feet.

The SMGA returns to action Sunday, Oct. 2, with a trip to the Bodega Harbour Golf Links on the Sonoma Coast.

 

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The Sonoma Valley Golf Club also got into team format recently, with its event on Aug. 23, at Eagle Vines Golf Club in Napa.

Leading the way in the First Flight was the group of Ron Sharek, Greg Warren, Hugh McNeilly and Bud Schuerman, as they combined to shoot a total of 115, followed two shots back by Mel McPherson, James Olson, Ali Fotohi and Doug Brown at 117. 

In the Second Flight, Wayne Coronel, Ralph Giancaspro, Pete Tarantino and Jun Jasereno joined together to shoot an impressive round of 108, followed by Kit Wood, Tom Reynolds, Don Ricahrds and Dennis Jackson finishing second with a 117. 

In the closest-to-the-pin portion of the round, Peter Gilligan conquered the sixth-hole with a shot to 5 feet, 1 inch, while the eighth was no match for Sharek, whose shot right at the flag resting just 2-5 from the hole.

El Delagnes got the back-nine started off right, with his shot to 3-7 on the 12th, while Barry Robertson’s shot to 10-2 on the 15th was good enough for the final win of the day.

 

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Cotati’s Washoe Creek Golf Course was the site last Saturday for Tour Card’s annual One-Club Tournament. The par-3 course at Washoe Creek was the perfect venue for the tourney, which challenged players to carry just one club in addition to a putter, with light breezes, along with plenty of water hazards, making for a challenging and fun day. 

The par of 27 for nine holes was not met by anyone, but Richard Davison fired back-to-back rounds of 28 to finish with a tournament-record score of 56, one-shot clear of Mike Piver, who carded a 57 that included a hole-in-one on the downhill fourth-hole. Steve Lanning played consistent golf and finished with 60 for third-place, while Tony Arreguin and Jason Sieger both fired 61s and took home fourth and fifth, respectively. 

In the blind-draw contest, Davison teamed with Larry Wallace to fire a score of 121. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, Aric Foster showed grit and determination firing a score of 91 to take home the “Better Luck Next Year” award, as well as the high-score blind-draw with Mike McEntee, as they combined for a score of 172.

In the closest-to-the-pin competitions, Sieger’s shot to 7 feet, 8 inches on the tricky second hole was good enough for the win, while Davison’s shot on the fifth hole was the same distance, 7-8, and also proved to be a winner. 

The ninth hole saw Jeff Keegan fire an impressive shot to 5-4 to better all other players. Bob Molesworth narrowly edged out Joe Larbre in the putting contest, rolling his put to just 1-1 from the hole, while Piver’s shot to 5-9 won the chip-off. Piver also got the honor of being the only birdie on the Tony Sanflippo memorial hole, which was the eighth. 

A special thanks goes out to Mike and Pete McEntee, and Sean Dunn, for putting such a fun tournament on.

 

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Eight weeks remain before the Champions Tour’s best players make the trip to San Francisco and Harding Park for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

The event, which was played at Sonoma Golf Club from 2003 through 2009, is in its final year of a two-year stint at the historic public facility. 

Last year John Cook took home the title for the second year in a row, after winning at Sonoma in 2009. Cook looks to be back to continue his winning ways, along with fan favorites Fred Couples, Tom Watson and Nick Price, and newcomers Mark Calcavecchia, Peter Senior and Olin Brown. 

On the bubble, around the 30th position on the Charles Schwab Cup points list as of presstime are Tom Pernice, who tries to split his time on the Champions Tour and PGA Tour, Hal Sutton and former Charles Schwab Cup Championship winner Mark McNulty. 

With four tournaments before the players come to San Francisco, there is still plenty of time for those outside the top-30 to play well and make their way inside that magic number. 

The players will tee it up in Korea for the second straight year this week, with Russ Cochran (currently sixth on the points list) attempting to defend his title and climb closer to currently points leader Tom Lehman.

Last year’s season-long Charles Schwab Cup champion, Bernhard Langer, currently sits at 21st on the points list after missing most of the middle of the season with an injured thumb that required surgery. He is looking to use the next four weeks to climb the standings and have a chance to repeat his feat from 2010.

                           

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The BR Cohn Celebrity Golf Classic returns to the Sonoma Golf Club on Monday, Sept. 26, with this year’s event will being held the Monday after the BR Cohn Music Festival and will once again be a scramble format.

Tournament entry is $400 a player and includes a gourmet boxed lunch, a BR Cohn logo golf shirt, limited edition putter, golf and cart, as well as a ticket to Friday’s Charity Auction Dinner. Registration begins at 9, with the tournament teeing off at 11 a.m.

For more information, or to sign up, go to www.brcohn.com or contact Alisha Whitfield at 938-4064 or alisha@brcohn.com.