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SMGA, SVGC tee-off; Woods playing NorCal; benefit tourneys

Golf notes

 

The Sonoma Men’s Golf Association crowned longtime member Pat Armitage its 2011 Club Champion last weekend at Windsor Golf Club.

Armitage’s road to the title was not an easy one, as he first took on Ian Tervet in the first round on Saturday morning, winning 2-up. In the other Saturday match, 2010 Club Champion Nate Reynes took down short-game wizard Pat Connolley, who chipped in three times in the first four holes, 1-up to set up a match-up with Armitage on Sunday morning. 

It looked like it was going to be Reynes’ match early on Sunday, but Armitage squared it at the 10th hole and then got hot, eventually winning the match on the 15th hole.

In addition to the Championship Flight, there were the Cabernet, Chardonnay and Zinfandel flights to crown champions. 

Roger Rannikar took on his good friend Franc Dusak on Saturday, with Rannikar winning 1-up, setting up an appearance in the final against Tony Enz, who received a bye.

Enz used his rest to come out firing on all cylinders on Sunday, edging Rannikar by a score of 3-and-1 to claim the Cabernet Flight. 

In the Chardonnay Flight, Don Roesh edged Martin Bajuk 1-up in the first-round match, while Kay Groft defeated Steve Lanning by the same 1-up margin. 

In the finals, it took Roesh 19-holes to outlast Groft in a hard fought match. Perennial contender John Dennis rolled over Mike Lucas in the first-round 6-and-5, while Bob Jennings had a bye into the finals. Jennings proved to be too much for Dennis in those finals, with the final score being 2-and-1 in Jennings’ favor, giving him the Zinfandel Flight title. 

Along with Sunday’s Club Championship matches, an additional “tag-along” event was played, with Nick Blonder taking home low-gross with his round of 80.

Tom Martin went home with first-place in the net division with his round of 75, while Connolley and Myron Donesky both fired 76, before Donesky grabbed second with a scorecard playoff. Mike Lucas shot a 78 to walk away with fourth-place. 

In closest-to-the-pin action, Donesky’s shot to 16-feet, 5-inches on the fifth-hole was the best of the day, while Woody Von Lackum conquered the difficult uphill seventh with his shot to 15-feet. 

On the back-9, Blonder edged out everyone else on the 11th, despite the fact that his shot finished 41-feet from the pin. Dusak wasn’t intimidated by the water-guarded 13th with his shot finishing 10-5 from the hole.

The SMGA returns to action Sunday, Sept. 11, at Boundary Oaks Golf Club in Walnut Creek.

 

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The Sonoma Valley Golf Club has also been in action recently. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 9, Jack Powers and Russ Hurley both fired rounds of 68 to take the top-two spots in the First Flight, respectively. Meanwhile, a score of 70 was good enough for John Radican to claim third-place. 

In the Second Flight, Benny Lee’s round of 68 was good enough to give him a one-shot victory over Pete LaVault’s 69 and 3-shots over third-place Floyd Stephenson. Scores were incredibly low in the Third-flight, with Ralph Giancaspro almost breaking into that magical 50s round, with a round of 60. Second-place went to John Fanucchi with a 62, while Kit Wood rounded out the top-three with a 63. 

In the closest-to-the-pin contests, Leo McMillian walked away a happy man on the sixth, with a shot that stopped 7-feet, 5-inches from the hole.

Pete LaVault’s shot to 11-10” was good enough on the eighth hole, while players really heated up on the par-3s down the back-nine, with Marc Sylvester claiming the 12th hole with a shot to 3-2, and Wayne Coronel really knocking it close with a shot to 2-6 on the 15th.

        

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It wasn’t too long ago that if you wanted to see Tiger Woods play golf, you had to make it to one of the four major championships or one of eight or so other big events through the year.

Woods stopped playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am a long time ago, when he was unhappy with a host of reasons, from bumpy greens, generally bad weather and long rounds.

Northern California golf fans will now have the chance to see Woods in the flesh as he tries to get his game back in shape at the Frys.com Open at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin Oct. 6 through 9.

This will be Woods first trip to CordeValle and his first-ever appearance in a Fall Series event, a group of four tournaments that take place after the regular FedEx Cup Season and Playoffs have ended. 

Generally you see players coming to this event who have struggled throughout the year and have not made enough money to keep their card for the following year. 

Woods doesn’t have to worry about keeping his card, or money, but he does need to get back into tournament shape.

Since November 2009, Woods has failed to win anywhere in the world, and with injuries to his knee and Achilles sidelining him for most of 2011, he needs to get out and play in a few events before representing the United States at the President’s Cup in Australia in mid-November.

A controversial pick by Captain Fred Couples, Woods needs to show that both his health is fine, and his retooling of his swing for the third-time is taking hold and he can get back to the top of the World Golf Rankings, a spot he held for much of the past decade.

After missing the cut at the PGA Championship, where he played some of the worst golf of his career, and falling to 20th in the world, Woods indicated that he needed to get “more reps” – that’s Tiger-speak for playing more events. 

However, actions were louder than words when Woods didn’t add the Wyndam Championship to his schedule and attempt to qualify for the PGA Tour Playoffs, which would have given him at least a chance to play another event or so. 

It was surprising when Woods announced earlier this week he would be playing at the Frys.com event, since he had ties to two other events on the Fall Series calendar – Las Vegas, where he got his first win as a professional; and Children’s Miracle Classic at Walt Disney World, an event that he lives close to and has won in the past. 

Perhaps it was the fact that San Martin is close to Stanford, where Woods spent two years as a student. Or perhaps it was a chance to get back to his native California.

Whatever the reason, if you’d like to see Woods and the rest of the PGA Tour in action, tickets are available from $35 for a for a Wednesday-through-Friday single-day pass, $45 for Saturday or, Sunday for $125 for a week long pass. For more information, go to frysopengolf.com.

                 

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The 19th annual Hanna Boys Center Golf and Tennis Classic will be held at the Sonoma Golf Club on Friday, Sept. 19, with a 9:30 a.m. check-in and brunch at the Hanna campus – a shuttle will be provided to and from the golf course – and the tourney’s shotgun start is at 11:30 a.m.

Following the tournaments are festivities beginning with a hosted cocktail hour at 5 p.m.

The entry fee of $275 includes green fees, cart, privileges on the driving range, refreshments on the golf course, tee-prizes and the awards ceremony.

Anyone interested can sign-up or get more information at the Hanna Boys Center site at hannacenter.org or by contacting Tamara Stanley at 933-2504.  

 

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The BR Cohn Celebrity Golf Classic returns to the Sonoma Golf Club on Monday, Sept. 26. This year’s event will be 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.