Email  Print

SMGA holds Club Championship; SVGC plays; Hanna golf/tennis event; benefit tourneys

Golf notes

The Sonoma Men’s Golf Association conducted the premier event on its schedule, the annual Club Championship, last Saturday and Sunday at the Windsor Golf Club, and this year had four players in four distinctive flights. 

Making up the Championship Flight was Steve Lanning, Nick Blonder, Nate Reynes and defending champion Pat Armitage.

In the first round, Blonder disposed of Reynes 3 and 1, while Lanning played some very solid golf in sending Armitage packing and killing his dream of defending his title.

The final saw a tight match between Blonder and Lanning, with the veteran Blonder coming through in the clutch and claiming the crown 2 and 1. 

Vying for the title in the Cabernet Flight were Woody Von Lackum, Mike Lucas, Ron Sharek and Larry Wallace.

The opening round matches had Von Lackum narrowly taking down Sharek 1-up, while Lucas rolled over Wallace, 5 and 4. 

Both Von Lackum and Lucas matched shot-for-shot in the final, requiring an additional hole of play, with Von Lackum coming away with the 1-up victory in 19 holes.

Eric Biggs, Tony Enz, Jim Braun and Don Roesch all competed in the Chardonnay Flight, with Biggs narrowly outlasting Braun 1-up and setting up a final with Enz, who coasted against Roesh 5 and 4.

In the end, Biggs’ steady play was too much for Enz, who went down 2 and 1. 

The fourth and final flight of the event, the Zinfandel Flight, had Bob Jennings edging out Paul Groft 1-up, while Kay Groft defeated Rolf Olness 5 and 4, and in the final, Jennings walked away the victor with a 2-up win over Kay Groft.

In addition to the finals of the Club Championship, multiple other members of the club joined Sunday’s festivities for a “tag along” event of their own. Quick greens posed some problems for the players, but Woody Frink managed to edge out Al Rappoport in a card-off for low-gross, with both players firing 86.

The net division saw tournament director extraordinaire Karl Mayer fire a 74, which was good enough for the win, with Sharek’s 77 taking second-place, Olness’ 77 giving him third, and both Reynes and Tate Pardue matched cards with 78 before a card-off gave Reynes fourth and Pardue fifth. 

Rappoport grabbed a closest-to-the-pin award with his shot to 5 feet, 4 inches on the fifth hole, while Pardue’s shot to 5-3 on the tricky water-guarded 13th was the shot of the day. The long uphill seventh and tough 11th proved to be too much for the players in the field, as no one managed to hit the green. 

The SMGA returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 9, with a Ryder Cup-style format event at Bennett Valley Golf Club in Santa Rosa.

        

•••

The Sonoma Valley Golf Club has also been in action recently, at its home course of Eagle Vines Golf Club in Napa. 

In the First Flight, played from the white tees, Bill Seim fires the lowest score with a 70, followed by Dennis Jackson’s second-place 73, while John Pettibone’s 75 was good enough for third.

The Second Flight, playing from the gold tees, had Gerry Orme at the head of the class, with his round of 68, while one-shot back was Bob Leal, as Dave Voepel rounded out the top-three with his 71. 

Don Richards scorched the course with an impressive, and unbelievable, 57, to win the Third Flight from the red tees, as both Jim Olson and Tom Reynolds had their own fine rounds of 64, and settled for second- and third-place, respectively. 

In the closest-to-the-pin action, No. 5 saw Steve Griggs (w) hit his shot to 9 feet, 4 inches, while Jack Doss (g) had his ball finish 16-5 from the hole, and Mel McPherson (r) getting into the action with his shot to 15-8. No one managed to hit the green from the white tees on No. 8; but Bob Leal (g) took home the prize with his shot to 45-2, and Ron Macaluso (r) edged out everyone else with his shot to 28-9. 

The 12th hole posed no problem for the trio of Pettibone (w) 14-6, Bud Schuerman 14-7, and Richards 7-5. 

On the final par-3 of the day, No. 15, some impressive shots were made, with Seim (w) firing straight at the flag and his ball stopping 5-10 from the hole, as Jack Powers (g) joined the party with a shot to 11-4, while Al Marty (r) hit the shot of the day to just 3-8.

 

•••

With just four weeks remaining before the Ryder Cup, the European team captain Jose Maria Olazabal announced Monday that he was adding England’s Ian Poulter and Belgium’s Nicholas Colsaerts as his captain picks, rounding out the 12-man team that includes world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and world No. 2 Luke Donald.  United States captain Davis Love III has two week remaining before announcing his four picks for the bi-annual event, which this year will be played at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago.  Before Olazabal’s picks early on Monday morning, much of the interest focused around whether six-time Ryder Cup member Padraig Harrington would get the nod after his play has improved greatly over the summer months.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who only a year and a half ago was ranked No. 1 in the world, has been struggling so far this year and has fallen to 27th in the world and has missed two of his last four cuts. 

Colsaerts could have been an automatic pick had he finished first or second at last week’s European Tour event in Scotland, but struggled on the weekend and Kaymer hung on to clinch his spot on the team. 

That left Harrington the odd man out and he will sit on the sidelines, missing his first Ryder Cup since 1999. Europe looks to defend the cup, which it won in Wales in 2010.

 

•••

Hanna Boys Center will celebrate its 20th annual Golf and Tennis Classic on two different days, with the tennis tournament, costing $150 a player, taking place on Friday, Sept. 14, at the Silverado Country Club in Napa.

The popular golf tourney is being held on Monday, Sept. 24, at the Sonoma Golf Club, with the entry fee being $275 a player and includes green fees, cart, privileges on the driving range, refreshments on the golf course, tee-prizes and the awards ceremony.

Check-in starts at 9:30 a.m. and includes a brunch at the Hanna campus, with a shuttle provided to and from the golf course, and the tourney gets underway with an 11:30 a.m. shotgun start. The festivities afterward begin with a hosted cocktail hour at 5 p.m.

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.

 

•••

The Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance and the Kiwanis Club of Sonoma Plaza will co-host the second-annual Golf-A-Thon next Friday, Sept. 7, at the Oakmont Golf Club’s East Course in Santa Rosa, with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.

To participate as a golfer or a sponsor, for making a pledge in support of a golfer, for costs and for more details, visit www.sonomagolfathon.org.

        

•••

Murphy’s Irish Pub’s 16th annual Bottomfeeders Open will take place Friday, Oct. 12, at Oakmont Golf Club’s West Course. For more information, stop by the pub or go to www.vintagehouse.org.