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SVGA play 2; Bottomfeeder results; firefighters’ Mazza Memorial; Woods no Open

Golf notes

 

Despite the unseasonal weather over the last couple of weeks, the members of the Sonoma Valley Golf Club managed to get out onto the fairways and greens of two local courses. At Eagle Vines in Napa on May 24, the SVGC held a Stableford point event. 

Hugh McNeilly found the scoring system to his liking as he took home the top spot in the First Flight with his 22 points. Two-points behind McNeilly was a trio of players, including Ali Fotouhi, Bill Seim and Leon Valle, who finished second, third and fourth, respectively, after a score-card playoff. Rounding out the top-five was Jack Powers with his 19-point total.

In the Second Flight, Russ Hurley took home the No. 1 spot with a solid total of 24 points, which was two-shots clear of Tom Reynolds’ 22. Third-place went to Harry Tistle with 20 points, while Wayne Peterson’s 19 was good enough for fourth, and Lou Pignatti grabbed fifth with 17. 

In the Third Flight, Charles Harris garnered an impressive 29 points, easily the best of the day, followed by Bob Ford’s 26 for second-place and Chris Wood’s 25 for third. Fourth and fifth went to Pete LaVault and Dan Marioni, who had 24 and 19, respectively. 

In closest-to-the-pin action, Marc Sylvester hit the best shot of the day on No. 6, with his tee-shot stopping just 6 feet, 9 inches from the hole.

The tricky eighth was no problem for Bob Jaeger, whose iron shot came up just 12-2 from the hole.

The 12th hole saw all three divisions compete, with Powers taking home the First-Flight award with his shot to 12-5, while Hurley was the star of the Second Flight with his shot to 9-10. 

The shot of the day came from the Third Flight and George Green, who was laser-like with his approach to 3 feet.

The final par-3 of the day, the 15th, saw an impressive shot from John Muncy, as his ball finished just 5-5 from the hole.

A special “skins” game also took place with some impressive scores registered.

In the gross division, Mac Bautista’s 4 on the par-5 first hole was good enough, while the par-5 third saw another birdie, this time by Charles Harris, take home the prize. The very difficult par-4 fifth-hole saw Dan Stites card an almost impossible-to-beat 2, while Harris grabbed another with a deuce on the par-3 sixth. McNeilly got in on the act on the back-nine with a birdie on the long par-5 16th, while Valle’s birdie on the penultimate hole gave him the prize. 

The net division saw a fantastic 2 on the long and difficult dogleg left second-hole by Greg Warren, while Harris’ 2 on the par-5 third was easily a winner. Stites’ shot on the fifth gave him a net 1, while Harris’ shot on the sixth gave him the same number. A 2 on the uphill 10th gave Harris another and made him the big winner of the day, while Marioni got in on the act with his 3 at the par-5 10th.

The SVGC changed venues for its June 3 event, heading south to Marin’s Indian Valley Golf Club. 

The format for the event was four-man teams and the group of Dan Marioni, Matt Marioni, Dan Stites and Herb Seidell took home the hardware with their combined score of 119. One-shot behind was the group of Ernie Braun, Tom Braun, Ed Cebula and John Pettibone; while Hugh McNeilly, Ron Sharek, Greg Warren and Bud Schuerman took home third with a score of 123. 

Closest-to-the-pin saw Peter Charles master the downhill fourth hole, while Jim Schnabel hit the shot of the day on the uphill eighth hole. Mac Bautista made short work of the 13th, while the always treacherous 17th was conquered by Charles for his second victory of the day.

        

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A happy and rowdy bunch rolled out to Oakmont’s West golf course on May 27, for the 15th annual Murphy’s Bottomfeeder Open. Always one of the more entertaining events of the year, bragging rights at the bar for a year were on the line. 

The group of Kathy Barnett, Winnie Lanning, Julie Wilson and Cat Petru can all hold their heads a little higher as they came away the victors in the Women’s Flight after a hard-fought battle with the team of Pattie Hensley, Kathleen Kiernan, Hope Nisson and Beth Records, who had to settle for second. 

The Men’s Flight turned into a competitive face-off between Jeff Linden, John Parker, Bill Steward and Murphy’s proprietor Bob Smith; and the group of Tony Moll, Megan Moll, Chad Moll and Sam Morphy. Turns out that owning the place may have helped out as Smith’s group ended up taking first place in a scorecard playoff. 

In closest-to-the-pin action, Megan Moll took home the shot of the day, while doubling up to take home the women’s long drive, also.

On the men’s side, pub manager Hunt Bailie walked away with the long-drive title, while Eliot Carter grabbed the closest-to-the-pin.

Once again, proceeds from the event benefitted the Vintage House senior center.

 

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The Sonoma Valley Firefighters Association’s second annual Al Mazza Memorial Best Ball Golf Tournament is taking place at 1 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, June 11, at the Oakmont Golf Club in 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 a 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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Tiger Woods went to his Twitter account on Tuesday of this week to announce that he was not going to compete in the upcoming United States Open at Congressional Country Club outside Washington D.C.

It is not surprising that Woods is not going to compete in the second major of the year due to the reports that he has had his leg in a boot and has been maneuvering with the help of crutches of late.

After playing in the Masters, where he apparently re-injured his tender left knee and Achilles tendon, Woods withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship and then went home after just nine holes at The Players, carding a dismal round of 6-over-par 42. Although he continually indicated that he would play at the national Open, insiders said that if Woods were to tee-it-up, he would be a non-factor and risk injuring himself further. 

“Short term frustration for long term gain,” was what Woods said via his Twitter announcement. But in classic Woods style, he didn’t indicate if he would play further this year or, as he did in 2008, shut it down for the remainder of the year so he can heal. 

Rumors point to Woods returning in July for his own AT&T National event, but with the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges just a couple of weeks after that, does he risk doing something similar to what he did at The Players? 

It was once not a matter of “if” Woods would break Jack Nicklaus’ major record, but when. Now that he will have another major under his belt without a win, it might not be the certainty it once was.