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SVGC ends with 2 events; SMGA finale Sunday; PGA awards

Golf notes

The Sonoma Valley Golf Club held its annual Chuck Thompson Scramble tournament at Eagle Vines on Nov. 13, with 72 players divided up into 18 foursomes. 

Leading the way with a score of 55.12 was the group of Matt Marioni, Don Richards, Tom Reynolds and Bob Ford. Finishing in second place were Mark Sanders, Harry Tistle, S.R. VanDeursen and Eloi Delagnes with a 61 total, while third place went to Ron Sharek, Marc Sylvester, John Long and John Fanucchi with a 61.19. Rounding out the top five were the teams of John Ridenour, Ned Druehl, Peter Charles and Dan Webber with a 62.12, and Jim Schnable, Jim Reece, Bob Recorder and Joe Walls with a 62.19.

The Chuck Thompson Scramble was not the final event of the season for the SVGC, as it headed back out onto the course on Nov. 27, when Mac Bautista had quite the day, leading the First Flight with a score of 69, while John Pettibone took second place at 71, and Mickey Zimmerman’s 72 was good enough for third.

The Second Flight saw an impressive score from Wayne Peterson, who scorched the course with a score of 62, while second and third place went to Harry Tistle and Benny Lee, respectively, who both carded 69s.

In the Third Flight, Don Richards matched Peterson’s phenomenal round, with a 62, while Pete Tarantino’s 70 gave him second and Lou Pignati was third with a 71. 

In the closest-to-the-pin competitions, it was a clean sweep for Bautista, who won all four from the white tees. His impressive feat saw him hit his ball to 10 feet 7 inches on the sixth hole, 6-6 on the eighth, 16-7 on No. 12, and 23-1 on the 15th. 

The gold and red tee closest-to-the-pins were still up for grabs, with Dave Voepel (g) hitting it to 4-4 on the sixth, while Charles Avery (r) grabbed one with his shot to 9-10, and No. 8 saw Dan Stites (g) hit his shot to 7-10 and Wayne Coronel (r) pick up a prize for his shot to 7-1. 

Stites (g) doubled-up with a shot to 14-9 on the 12th, while Jack Kearney (r) joined the winners with his shot to 10-5. 

Finally, on the 15th, Al Marty (g) hit his shot to 27-4, while Ron Macaluso’s (r) shot to 25-9 was good enough for a win. 

The SVGC will now take its winter break and is stepping up its recruiting efforts for 2013. 

Membership dues are $55 for full membership renewal, $60 for first time non-NCGA members or $30 for an associate member who has membership in another club. For more information contact Jack Powers at 996-0109 or via email at jpowers5@sbcglobal.net.

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The Sonoma Men’s Golf Association is also wrapping up its season and looking for new members for 2013, with its final event, which was postponed due to heavy rains, set to be played this Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Adobe Creek Golf Club in Petaluma.

Anyone interested in joining for 2013 can do so for $125, with the posted 2013 schedule including Paradise Valley Golf Club in Fairfield, Rooster Run in Petaluma, StoneTree Golf Club in Novato, member-favorite Yocha De He at Cache Creek, as well as an overnight event at Stevenson Ranch and Diablo Grande Golf Clubs in the Central Valley, among others. For more information, contact Tom Martin at tvmsonoma@att.net.

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The PGA Tour announced its year-end awards earlier this week and it was no surprise that Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy took home the Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour player of the year.  McIlroy, at 23, is the youngest to win the award since Tiger Woods in 1997, and does so on the heels of a season that saw him win four events on the PGA Tour, including a record-setting win at the PGA Championship and two of the four PGA Tour Playoff events. 

In addition, McIlroy also walked away with the Arnold Palmer award for leading money winner and the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average. Although not included in the count for this award, McIlroy won the Race to Dubai on the European Tour and also looks to be its player of the year.  

The race for rookie of the year was a hotly contested one, with four rookies winning on the PGA Tour this year – John Huh, Jonas Blixt, Ted Potter Jr. and Charlie Beljan. 

With his strong play throughout the year, it was Huh who took home the award, being the only rookie to make it to the season-ending Tour Championship. 

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The last few years have seen the Bay Area host all three men’s professional tours, but that is about to change, at least for a year, with the Web.com Tour announcing last week that its event at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward will not be on the schedule for 2013.

The event, which has been played at the TPC Stonebrae for the last four years, and before that at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, has been a popular stop among players, but often drew small crowds. 

According to the Tour, the reason the event will not return is because a permanent clubhouse is being constructed at the golf course and the logistics of trying to have an event while that is taking place would be too difficult. 

Indications are that when the clubhouse has been completed, the event will return in 2014.