The Sonoma Men’s Golf Association traveled down to the Marin Country Club on Aug. 21, for a special chance to play the private club.
With the rolling hills and tight fairways proving to be a challenge for many of the members that made the trip, Steve Lanning found it no problem at all, carding a net 70 on the par-72 layout. One shot back was Mick Burrows at 71, while Tom Martin garnered third place with 74, and Mike Lucas took fourth with a 75.
In closest-to-the-pins competition, Tom Martin had a hot day, first claiming the honors on the sixth hole with a shot to 17 feet, 4 inches, and then doing the same on the 11th ending just 11-1 from the cup. The 16th was no problem for Woody Von Lackum with his shot to 18 feet.
Along with the tournament, many members played their continuing club championship matches.
In the championship flight, Richard Davison outlasted George Bevan 4 and 2, with Davison now meeting defending champion Nick Blonder in the finals.
The Net Flight saw Ron Sharek knock off Karl Mayer 4 and 3, while Martin defeated Von Lackum 5 and 4.
Then on Sept. 7, the SMGA headed to the Chardonnay Golf Club in Napa and the golfers were greeted with a nice early fall day and a stableford format.
Sharek did the best job of keeping his ball on the fairways and out of the vineyards with a 53 point total. Myron Donesky earned second place with a 44; while Tony Enz took home third with 41; and Tom Martin and Mike Gauthier tied at 40 each, with Martin finishing fourth after a scorecard playoff, and Gauthier settling for fifth.
With a unique routing, the course has six par-3s, giving club members plenty of chances to garner a closest-to-the-pin award. On the third hole, Enz took home the honors with a shot to 38-10, while Donesky earned the tricky fifth with a shot to 9-3. Pat Connolley mastered No. 8 with a shot to 8-10, while Sharek had no problem with the 12th, hitting his shot to 7-2.
Donesky was the talk of the day, however, as he added to his winnings by claiming the 14th with a shot to 12-8, and the 16th as his shot finished 20-8 away.
In the continuing club championship matches, Sharek defeated Ian Tervet 6 and 5, and Don Roesch took down Martin Bajuk 3 and 2. The SMGA returns to action Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Links at Bodega Harbor.
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The Sonoma Valley Golf Club has also been busy of late, playing its home course of Eagle Vines in Napa on Aug. 28, where Hugh McNeilly walked away a winner in the first flight with a round of 71, followed by Gary Routt's second place with a 72, and Kevin Austin's third with a 76.
In the second flight, Wayne Coronel’s 64 was good enough for first place, while Roger Sloss took home second with a 66, and Bob Leal finished third with a 67.
Scores were also low in the third flight, as Kit Wood grabbed the top spot with a 64; Pete Tarantino was second with a 65; and El Delagnes ended up third at 67.
In the closest-to-the-pin contests, from the white tees, Steve Stimel claimed the second hole with a shot to 23 feet, 3 inches; Jack Powers continued his strong play of late with a shot to 10-4 on the fifth; McNeilly showed why he was at the top of the leaderboard with a shot to 5-2 on the 14th; and no one could find the green on the difficult 16th.
The gold tees saw Jim Schnabel conquer the second with a shot to 11-3; while Dennis Jackson liked the look of the fifth landing his shot at 23-8; Thom Culligan got things going on the back-nine with a shot to 8-7 at the 14th; and Sloss hit the shot of the day on the 16th, his ball coming to rest just 4-6 from the hole.
From the red tees, Delagnes grabbed the second with his shot stopping just 5-9 from the hole. Tom Reynolds won the 14th at 21-9. Bob Clair closed out the 16th with a shot to 13-4.
The SVGC returned to Eagle Vines on Sept. 9, with the format being a team event, and leading the way in the first flight was the team of McNeilly, Jerry Van Wallinga, Bud Schuerman and Ron Sharek, who combined to shoot a total of 22-under-par.
Snaring the second flight were Reynolds, Woods, Ned Druehl and Dick Moore teaming up for an impressive 31-under-par total.
As always, the par-3s were a challenge, but playing from the white tees, Van Wallinga grabbed top billing on the second hole with a shot to 10 feet. Pavel Janosko enjoyed his shot on No. 5, his ball coming to rest 15-3 from the hole. No one found the 14th green, but Van Wallinga showed up again on the 16th, with a shot to 22-7.
The gold tees saw Pete Saibene knock it to 7-6 on the second. John Riley hit the shot of the day on the fifth, stopping it just 4-9 from the cup. Schnabel walked away a winner for the second week in a row, this time hitting it to 18-19 on the 14th, while Bob Leal’s shot to 29-6 was good enough on the 16th.
John Murphy had no problem on No. 2 from the red tees, having his ball come to rest 16-10 from the hole. The fifth suited Bill Rosa’s eye, as he hit it to 92. Pete Charles conquered the 14th with a shot to 15-9, while Mel McPherson landed on the 16th green and finished 25-9 away.
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Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance and the Kiwanis Club of Sonoma Plaza have again teamed up for the fourth annual Golf-A-Thon, which takes place on Friday, Oct. 3, at Oakmont’s East Golf Course.
There’s no cost to play, however, competitors are asked to raise sponsorship money, with only room for 16 more golfers. For more details, contact the Mentoring Alliance at 938-1990 or sonomagolfathon.org.
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