Wente Vineyards
3rd Event of 2003 Season 
Saturday, January 11, 2003

As his putt on 18 neared the hole, Ross Sakamoto broke for his well-practiced Tiger Woods move. Unfortunately, the ball didn't go in the hole. Had he made the putt he would have placed second. Missing it, he placed fourth, edged out in a three person tie-breaker. Jimmy Ikeda, in the background, lines up a putt to complete his round, taking a 1-stroke victory in the blind bogey flight. Jimmy also won the CTP on #14 with his shot to 8'-7".

Barry Woods at the driving range. Barry missed the first tournament of the season, but wins at Las Positas and here at Wente have catapulted him to second place in the GOY race, behind Steve Desimone. His net 83 (net 69) earned him a 1st place finish in the third flight. Barry also won the CTP with a shot to 16'-5".

Steve Obana warming up. Steve had a tough front nine, but assaulted the course playing the final five holes at even par to finish two strokes out of third place. This was the first tournament this season in which Steve failed to place. Even so he's still tied for third place in the GOY race.

Chad Carey on the range. Chad has one of the club's most fluid swings. Chad didn't place, but looked good doing it. Other fine-looking swings are owned by Steve Obana, and Eddie Reed.

Mark Siegel's swing isn't all that attractive, but he wore a 49er's jacket so well cut him a little slack. Mark recently joined the club. We have lots of new members out there this year, so keep your palm pilots nearby.

This was the hottest foursome on the day. Steve Desimone played to even par 72 (net 69) and placed 2nd in the first flight. Stephen Sanguinetti, in a break with tradition, played like a regular person and failed to contribute to his group's godliness. Rollie Otto shot an 86 (net 71), won a three-way tie-breaker and placed 2nd in the third flight. Ken Lloyd, who's game had three months prior been in the tank, fired a 75 (net 69) and won the first flight. His 1-uder 35 on the back nine was most divine. Ken attributes recent success to a hiatus from the game. Sometimes it seems you just need to move away for a while. A week before the Wente tournament Ken shot a 72 at the Meadow Club and plucked several highly-cherished imaginary dollars from Steve's wallet. Steve was still bitter about the affair.

Steve hits his approach shot after a crushing opening drive. A bogey here on #1 followed by a bogey on #2 had him 2-over early, however a birdie on #3 and on #5 pulled him back to even par.

Stephen Sanguinetti on #17. Stephen had a human day, but did finish up with pars on the difficult final three holes.

Rollie on #17. Rollie's strong back nine, and par on #18 were crucial in garnering him his victory in the three-way tie-breaker.

Ken Lloyd during his incredible 35 on the back-nine. A birdie here on #17 and one on #15 were offset only slightly by the bogey on #18. 

Nathan Walker (guest) with his drive on #1. Nathan had a rough front nine, but things came together well on the back.

Steve Daetz (also guest) on #1 shot an impressive 85 and placed second in the Blind Bogey flight.

Edward Kleinhans and buddy Peter Werner put in a rare appearance, their fist event since Paradise Valley last May. We snapped this photo because it might be a while before we see them again. Peter had a great front nine (41) while Eddie here had the good back nine (44).

Peter Werner hits his approach at #18. He would par the difficult finishing hole.

Elliott Zeller's right arm wracked with painful tendonitis and dangled listlessly at his side as he approached the opening hole tee box. Despondent and discouraged he proceeded to fire an 89 (net 69) and place 1st in the fifth flight. 

New member David Moers fired a skillful 79 and placed 3rd in the blind bogey flight.

Ralph Hill brought his "A" game and his brother "A". (someone needs to provide the webmaster his full name). Ralph turned in an impressive 81 (net 70) and edged Ed Biglin by .5 strokes for 1st place in the second flight tie-breaker. Ralph's 38 on the back nine ranked third best on the day, behind Ken's 35 and Steve's 36.

Ralph's brother "A" (full name to come) had a roller-coaster round. His 42 on the front was one better than his brother, but he lost his mojo on the back nine. 

Scott Meredith placed 2nd in the fourth flight with a steady 90 (net 71). 

Andrew Kang had placed at Wente the previous two years, however this year it was not to be. He'd recently been crushing his driver, but his confidence was shattered on #1 when he hit two OB. Expect to see him back in form by next month.

Yoch Lin was also not up to his usual standard. He did, however regroup temporarily on hole #14 where he won the CTP with a shot to 12'-3".

Both Andrew and Yoch long for the days when, regardless of how poorly they were playing, they could at least count on beating Tom Furtado. Well those days are over as Tom appears to be for real. Tom soundly smoked his buddies and his 85 (net 66) was easily the lowest net score of the day. His progress over the past year has been phenomenal. One example is that last year at Wente Tom's game was at the state where he failed to break 100, yet still placed 2nd in his flight. Tom has shaved 15 strokes off his score in only one year.

Bill Marchant faired well, placing fourth among twelve in his flight. A couple very nasty holes kept him from placing.

Mark Steppan is the "iron man" of the club. No one, it seems, has so regularly played in spite of new and recurring injury. With a few more injuries in tow, Mark still mustered a very respectable 79 (net 75). He also recorded nothing on his scorecard except pars and bogies. Here Mark hit his drive on #2.

Guest Rob Gall hits a confident bunker shot on hole #2. 

Chris Maters hits his approach shot on #5. Chris shot a 90, but that doesn't cut it when you playing with the big guns in the first flight.

Ed Biglin had a great day. He won the CTP (9'-4") and placed 2nd in the second flight, narrowly losing in a tie-breaker to Ralph Hill. Ed's 38 on the back nine ranked third behind Ken's 35 and Steve's 36. Here Ed parred the 5th hole. 

Rick Guevara launches one past the cows on his way to a par on the 5th hole.

Mark Steppan and Jeff Day climb the switchback up to the 10th hole. In the back ground you can easily distinguish the vineyards from the fairways. Three years ago the real estate in Napa grew so valuable for grapes that that Chimney Rock golf course was put under the plow. Let's hope that never happens to Wente Vineyards. 

Jeff Day admires his well-placed drive on #6. Jeff took most of his strokes on only three holes, had he been able to muster par on any two of those three he'd have placed at least third in his flight. Such is the ugly nature of this beastly game.

Jeff was in "Total Recoil" (Schwarzenegger style) for his explosive drive on #10. Hole #10 is one of the best holes in the Bay Area. On hole 12 Jeff chilly-dipped an approach shot to the green. Making matters worse were the comments of his insensitive playing partners. Walburg's "Chunk-o-licious!" was reinforced by Steppan's "Chunk-errific!"

Stacey Mackey pushed his drive a bit to the right on #5. In the background the green of the 4th hole is surrounded by the dreaded (O.B.) vineyards.

Possibly the coolest photo of the day was Stacey's chip on #13. The interplay between the rows of grapes and the rows of cloud was exquisite. The photo came out great even though the shot failed to clear the bunker. 

Mike Birnbach hits his drive on #16. At the turn Mike was leading the third flight. His 41 was bettered only by 6 others in the lower flights.  

Walburg on #17. He too had a good front nine rolling before falling apart on the back. At least he can claim to be the only member to brave the chilly weather wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Can you say "Hot blooded?". Check it and see. (He almost scored one-hundred and three) 

Dave Lozow impressed the gallery with this delicate chip on #18. To be more precise the gallery consisted of only one person, and he wasn't particularly impressed. Dave didn't care. His shot to 15'-3" had earned him the CTP. Anyway, there was beer awaiting him at the next hole.

Steve pleases some alums by recounting a few hoop stories from his days as a player at Cal. Back in those days basketballs were constructed by chiseling stone in semi-round objects. Dribbling was near-impossible and hernias devastated entire playing squads.

Complete Flight Results:

Highlighted Results:

1st Flight

   1st tie-breaker(L9 holes-1/2 CH):

2nd Flight

   1st tie-breaker(L9 holes-1/2 CH):

   1st tie-breaker(L9 holes-1/2 CH):

3rd Flight

   1st tie-breaker(L9 holes-1/2 CH):

4th Flight

5th Flight

   1st tie-breaker(L9 holes-1/2 CH):

Blind Bogey

   BB tie-breaker goes to lowest gross score:

(Results tabulated by Steve Desimone. Photo of Peter Werner by Jim Peretti.)