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It was a perfect day at Tilden. For most of the summer the east bay
has been fogged in. Today was the fog was absent and temperatures
reached the mid-70's. There was also no wind. Conditions were ideal for
really low scores, but there weren't many of them. In fact, upon hearing
how high the scores were, Chris Aronson berated his annual partner Mike
Armstrong for not being able to make it. They always seem to break 60.
It seemed like the entire UCSF team arrived early. In fact, a
small, and supportive gallery of their players came and watched the
early groups tee off. Gathered on the practice green to discuss
strategy are two teams, Tony Hunter & Ron Brown, and John Taylor
& Chuck Marion.
While our folks generally arrived at the first tee stuffing their
shirts into their pants after a hurried drive to the course, the UCSF
squad arrived early and handed out new logo shirts to each
member. These were a very organized bunch.
Larry Watanabe (of UCSF) arrived about two hours before his tee time.
Although he didn't tee off until mid-way through the tournament, he came
early to hit balls and support his team. We
gotta hand it to them. UCSF has got spirit.
Dan Copenhagen warming up on the top story of the 3-teired range.
You can tell our players from theirs, because we're not all wearing blue
shirts. Dan shot a net 69. He was one of only six UCGC members to break
net par.
Dave Webb's wristy putting stroke. Dave has one of the most unusual
putting strokes in the club.
The two opposing generals greeting one-another prior to the
beginning of what is expected to be a long-standing rivalry. Clifford
was working Steve over with some head games (literally), by donning the
Stanford cap. This was probably a bad move. Like a raging bull whose
caught a glimpse of red, Steve and son Robert targeted the opposing team
and soundly defeated them 3-0.
Cliff is a colorful character, and a colorful character needs
colorful gear. Here Cliff shows off his purple and yellow driver.
Cliff and teammate Shaun Woo turned in an impressive 63. Steve and
Robert nevertheless earned a 3-0 win by shooting a 61, the smallest
possible margin for such a win.
Robert and Steve, turned in individual net scores which ranked 1st
and 5th among the 45 UCGC participants. They came up unlucky in the ham
& egg department however, finishing 4th in the 2-Ball Championship.
But don't feel sorry for them! They've each won twice this year.
Moreover, two years ago they won this event at Monarch Bay.
Only 5 of the 45 UCGC golfers managed to par the difficult opening
hole. The 5 players were Robert and Steve Desimone, Gary Vollen, Jeff Hazel, and Chad Carey.
It's possibly the toughest opening hole in the Bay Area.
Steve shot a 2-under par net 66. These represented both the lowest
gross score and the lowest net score among any UCGC player. Steve got
the team started off on the right foot, but throughout the rest of the
afternoon our teams struggled.
Ron Brown watches his opening drive. Ron is a Director of the UCSF
club.
Ron was paired with Tony Hunter, the club's webmaster (http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~ucsfgc/).
They combined to take down our #2 team of Ken Lloyd and Paul Zingg.
This is not an easy task, as Ken and Paul are one of our
most-experienced teams. In fact they are our 1992 champions. Ron and
Tony won the match 2 1/2 to 1/2. They shot an impressive 63, to our
guy's 65.
Paul turned in a 75 gross, 70 net. This was one of our better
scores.
Ken shot the day's second lowest gross score, an even par 70. His
net 67 was also second only to Steve's 66. Just as Steve and Robert,
they had a poor draw in the ham and eggs category.
Chuck Marion watch's UCSF's Treasurer Dennis Burke tee off. Dennis Burke
and Huy Nguyen combined for a net 66. They were defeated 2 and 1,
however by Gary Vollen and Rory McDonough. By the way, of the 17
matches, this was the only one in which we received strokes. The UCSF
team is comprised entirely of hacks (and quacks).
Rory McDonough hits his opening drive. Very few people pared the
opening hole. It's possibly the toughest opening hole in the Bay Area.
Gary Vollen and partner Rory both shot net 74 individually, but had
a pretty healthy dose of ham and eggs, and combined for a net 64.
Here we have group #4. For UCSF are John Taylor and Chuck Marion. For UCGC are Van Hall and Dave Webb. Van's birdie on #18 was impressive, but the Hall/Webb team had some ugly ham & egg action, with net bogies on holes #6, #10, and #15. Nevertheless, they won the front nine and earned a point for the good guys.
Mike Birnbach and Jeff Hazel had a blistering 30 on the front nine, but
got beat up on the back. That's where Patrick Taylor and Mike Braisted
assumed control. They ultimately turned in a net 63 which edged past the
Mike and Jeff by 2 strokes.
Patrick was wearing his lucky sweatshirt. He's had it for many
years.
Rick Guevara and Chad Carey turned in a 29 on the front nine. At that
point they were in a tie for low net with Peter Werner and Dave
Wherritt, who also shot a 29 on the front. The back nine was a different
story. They lost a bit of mojo, but still split their match vs. Mike
Connolly and Jun Soriano.
Part of the UCSF 1st tee booster's club - Bob Ignoffo, Larry
Watanabe, Bernie Lee, and Ron Louie are impressed with the caliber of
play exhibited by the members of UCGC. They would be hard-pressed to
admit it, but in general, UCGC was very much admired by UCSF. A common
UCSF thought was, "Those guys are so good." The other popular
thought was, "I wish I was in that club, those guys are so cool. I
wish I could be more like them."
This was one of the day's most competitive and closest matches. Drew
Pitts and Bob Ignoffo shot a net 61 and still lost to Dan Copenhagen and
Steve Obana, who turned in a net 60. The score was 2.5 to .5, which
seems a bitter pill to swallow for the medical team.
Steve Obana's opening drive. Steve and Dan recently competed in the CGA
Net Amateur Match Play Tournament.
Dan Copenhagen on #1. Steve and Dan were part of the 3-way tie
for the UCGC's 2-Ball Championship. They placed second in the tiebreaker
process, which came down to scores over the final six holes.
Dan Stites on #1. Dan is former Chairman of the Department of Laboratory Medicine.
Ron Louie and Dan Stites cleaned up with a 3-0 win over Dave Lozow and Ross
Sakamoto. Last year Lozow and Barry Woods won the 2-Ball with a net
55.
Ross Sakamoto with his opening drive.
Dave Lozow chips up to the 2nd green. He would sink the resulting putt
for par.
Martin Kitchener shot the best round of his life in last year's 2-Ball
at Tilden. Martin turned in a 77 (net 60) last year. This year he didn't
have his "A" game. He and partner Dave Moers turned in a net
69, and were beaten by Paul Schwartz and Larry Watanabe 2-1.
Dave Moers' drive on #8, a hole he would birdie.
Paul Schwartz with his non-conforming head cover.
Steve Hong and Eddie Kleinhans turned in a smokin' 30 on the front.
The wheel fell off a bit on the back with a 37, however it was just
enough to beat Ray Saavedra and Bernie Lee, 2 to1 in their match.
Eddie Kleinhans reacts to his approach at #8. He went on to par the
hole.
Dave Wherritt and Peter Werner cruised to a 3-0 win over Dean Joelson and Ron Jensen.
At the turn, Dave and Peter had shot a 6-under 29, and were tied for the
lead with Rick Guevara and Chad Carey.
Ed Louie and Eric Joe were shut out by Freeman Bradley and Ed Howes,
who turned in an impressive 63.
Eric and Ed working together on #4. Eric would par the hole.
With a net 55 in his future, Mark Young, donning his typical shade hat,
plays it cool. Mark and partner Andrew DeFranco were the second to the
last UCSF team to go out, but they returned with the top score. 55 was 6
strokes better than the next best UCSF score (61), and 5 strokes better
than any UCGC score (3 had net 60).
The UCSF squad was trying hard to psyche out the opposition. Here
several members break out into a spontaneous and very intimidating
club-holding exercise. Next year the UCGC will have to try and come up
with it's own form of intimidation. Hopefully we can come up with
something equally powerful.
Take a wild guess where Vickie Leow's ball went off the first tee.
Yes, you guessed it. The ball went left, directly where she was lined
up. Her ball came to rest beneath the trees. Hopefully she's learned a
valuable lesson about golf.
Al Laurin and Mark Bell beat Chris Brown and Edgar Johnson 2 to
1, thanks
in large to their 30 on the back.
Mark Bell follows his drive on #7.
Edgar Johnson earned a bogey on the difficult finishing hole.
Boyd McCaslin and Ralph Hill had the undesirable distinction of
facing Mark Young and Andrew DeFranco, who turned in a net 55, the day's
most impressive round by far. Even though Boyd and Ralph turned in a 65,
the match was never close. While standing on the second tee they had
little idea how long this day would be.
Ralph tends the flag for Andrew DeFranco on #9. Mark and Andrew were
from a different planet. They assembled the best front nine score (28)
and the best back nine score (27).
Jack King watches Yun Akinaga watch his drive on #9. Both men are
cool as cucumbers. Yun bogeyd the difficult uphill hole and Jack earned
a par. These men were part of the all-UCGC foursomes. They were paired
with Paul Higaki and Lloyd Crenna. The two teams scored 67 and 73,
respectively.
Kathy Lee efficiently reaches down for the tee while simultaneously
following her drive on #1. She and Playing partner Martha Taylor
combined for a net 61, which placed third among UCSF teams.
Kathy has amazing control and balance. She also makes great contact
with the ball. The fact that she's only been playing for 18 month is
disturbing to all of us lifelong hackers.
Kathy reacts to a putt which comes up short on the 5th green. It's by
far the most difficult green on the course.
After an amazing drive on #17,
Kathy pushed her approach shot to the right on. Over the last 2
holes things had tightened up in their match vs. Jeff Day and Aaron
Walburg. Going into #17 Kathy and Martha had won the front nine and were
leading the overall 18 by a stroke. They were tied on the back nine. A
net birdie by Aaron on #17 and one by Jeff on #18 turned the match
around.
Martha Taylor hit the most amazing pop-up on her opening drive. It
nearly went straight up, landed on the corrugated roof which covers the
red tees of the first hole, and bounced down to the red tees. She
quickly recomposed herself, however, and her team never fell behind until the final putt on the 18th hole.
Martha reacts to her delicate chip on #12.
Martha also has great control in her swing. She strikes the ball very
well and has a meticulous style of play which lends itself to consistent
scoring. Martha currently sits atop UCSF's 2003
Player of the Year Leaderboard.
The 9 points she earned by placing 3rd at Tilden catapulted her past
David Kan, who did not play. Drew Pitts and Andrew DeFranco also made up
massive ground, earning 20 points each for their Tilden win. 20 points
is the most points one can earn in a UCSF tournament. The only other tournament
which earns 20 points is the 2-day event. See also the UCSF
'Player of the Year' Point System.
UCSF Player of the Year Standings
(as of 7/6/03)
| 1st |
Taylor, Martha |
49 |
| 2nd |
Kan, David |
44 |
| 3rd |
Young, Mark |
41 |
| 4th |
Pitts, Drew |
38 |
| 5th |
Brown, Ron |
30 |
| 6th |
DeFranco, Andrew |
27 |
|
Ignoffo, Bob |
27 |
| 8th |
Hunter, Tony |
26 |
| 9th |
Leow, Vickie |
25 |
|
Lowell, Cliff |
25 |
|
Taylor, John |
25 |
| 12th |
Soriano, Jun |
24 |
| 13th |
Buick, Jim |
21 |
|
Connolly, Mike |
21 |
|
Fisher, Al |
21 |
|
Garner, Mike |
21 |
| 17th |
Shaver, John |
20 |
| 18th |
Burke, Dennis |
19 |
|
Kathirgamu, Shiva |
19 |
| 20th |
Lee, Kathy |
18 |
Jeff Day hit a great approach shot on #10. His par was clutch, as
his partner was basically out of the hole.
Jeff had another amazingly important score on #16. Once again he was
on his own and made par with a chip and an 8-foot putt following his
drive.
The celebration began early for UCSF. As drunken hecklers overlooked
the 18th hole, Martha Taylor and Tony Hunter scrutinize the latest
results.
The raucous crowd peered down upon the 18th green, cheering and
jeering perceived successes and failures by the lowly finishers. Jeff
Day showed mental toughness in the face of this difficult situation, and
sank a critical 6-footer to win the 18-hole score in their match. It was
also required for the 2-Ball score which won the championship.
Dan Stites is double-checking his scorecard.
Dan and partner Ron Louie swept their match 3-0 vs. Dave Lozow & Ross Sakamoto,
who, following the match were in need of medical attention.
Jun Soriano relaxes on the veranda. Jun is a proponent of the
amazingly expensive Honma Golf
Clubs. Honma golf clubs are hand-forged and "made as carefully as a classic samurai sword".
Clubs vary in price, but generally cost at least $1200 per set. However,
one may spend as much as $15,000 per set, if one desires.
Bob Ignoffo, Dan Stites, Ron Brown, and Chuck Marion hover over the
carcass of a freshly killed pitcher of beer.
While most UCSF members were relaxing and drinking beer, Tony Hunter
and Cliff Lowell were busy with scoring duties.
Beer was consumed that afternoon. Beer-drinking following a round of
golf is a tradition initiated by the U.C. Golf Club.
Mike Birnbach and Van Hall know how to relax after a difficult day
on the links.
After his round, it's time for Peter Werner to place his watch back
on his wrist. Dave Wherritt is amused. Dave gets extra points for trying
to distract the opponent with his wild attire. This strategy was
brilliant, as they contributed 3 points for the team effort.
Martha Taylor and Ed Howes look on as the scoring goes down to the
wire.
Tony and Cliff are happy with the results.
UCSF 26 1/2 UCGC 24 1/2.
The final tally was disturbing, to say the least. (Click for large blow-up
of results.)
The four women who played in the event were all from the UCSF club. Vickie
Leow, Janet Scott, Martha
Taylor, and Kathy Lee are a spirited and fun bunch.
While the UCSF men were distracted with beer, Aaron was quietly
stealing-away their women-folk. Left to right are Vickie Leow, Martha
Taylor, Casanova, Kathy Lee, and Janet Scott.
The temporary perpetual trophy went to the UCSF club. Next year the
"real" trophy will fine a proper home.
Steve shows true sportsmanship and congratulates Cliff, in spite of
his Stanford cap. Steve had won his match 3-0, but bravely accepted his
team's defeat.
Aaron Walburg and Jeff Day (net 60) were about the only UCGC members still
smiling at the day's end. With such low scores last year, they had no
ideas about winning the 2-ball. They were focused on their UCSF
opponents, Martha and Kathy, whom they edged out on the 18th
hole after having been down to them all day.
The effects of alcohol are greater at high altitude.
UCSF was very well-prepared for a team effort, having generated team shirts, team score sheets, and even a team banner!
We'll have to step it up a notch if we want to hold our own against this formidable
new opponent.
(Of the 75 pictures that reached this page [a record, over 200
were taken all-together], Steve contributed six and UCSF's John
Taylor contributed four.) |
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Today
our club will be hosting the inaugural Two-Ball Match-up vs. the ){kind=link}