Windsor
6th Event of 2004 Season 
Saturday, April 3, 2004

Got silos? Scott Meredith on #3 at Windsor does. In spite of (or because of) the camera, Scott stiffed this shot, he missed the birdie putt however and had to settle for par.

The scoring conditions were nearly ideal. 75-degrees and winds were not a huge factor, certainly not for the first half of the day. Nevertheless we only had a three members break net par! After playing the first hole Martin Kitchener commented, "I don't know if I've got enough cigarettes to cope with these greens. Martin evidently did because he fired an 86 (net 72) and captured the second flight.

Jim Peretti is having a run away "Golfer of the Year" season. He's played in five events this season and has yet to fail to place. In fact, he's placed 1st three times and 2nd twice. Jim is on track to have one of our All-Time Most Dominant Seasons. The term 'sandbagger' comes to mind, but he's pulling all of this off while playing in the highly-competitive first flight. Perhaps the rest of the first flight is just not playing up to it's usual standard. Frankly we've got to come up with some sort of a logical and acceptable explanation, because prior to this season, Jim winning tournaments was extremely unusual and always unpopular with the membership. Even with such a dominant performance in the first half of the season, most of the points are still out there, particularly with regards to the five upcoming Major events: cig Boycheff, Eddie Reed, Faculty/Staff, 2-Ball, and Club Championship.

For years Todd Podoll played as a guest of the club. This season Todd joined the club and has come out of no where to place second in the current 'Golfer of the Year' standings. He's been one of our most-steady golfers, having played in every event this season, winning twice. There remain only seven members who have participated in every event this season and this year marks the beginning of a new, annual, recognition award for those members who are able to participate in every tournament over the course of a given season. It's called the 'Iron Bear Award.' Those still eligible this season are: Kelly Alvarez, Bruce Flushman, Russ Greenwood, John Haag, Scott Meredith, Todd Podoll, Hal Teasdale, and Aaron Walburg.

Rick Guevara is also having a Jim Peretti type of 2004 Season, for neither player has once failed to place. After a scoring error was resolved (read below) Rick placed 1st. It was his fourth event of the season and he's placed 2nd three times and 1st once. With all those high finishes Rick is getting good at spending gift certificates in the pro shop. While he was shopping at Windsor, he and Aaron Walburg helped Ken Lloyd select a cap. Having played abysmally for the past two months, Ken played respectably and placed 3rd in the first flight. Ken couldn't decide between two caps. Rick said he preferred the orange-ish one. Aaron, also observing, commented that it looked good from behind. The comment was entirely innocent, but Rick and Ken wouldn't leave it alone. Earlier in the day Walburg had already had his self confidence frazzled. While standing on the 7th tee he commented, "This seems reachable. Doesn't it?". Playing partner Bill Marchant delicately replied, "It's a par three...". Moreover, for the 4th consecutive tournament Walburg failed to break 100. This is one of the worst golfing stretches for him personally and for a Club President.

They say that misery loves company. Last month it was mentioned that Mike Birnbach was our Best-ever golfing Club Secretary. The statement proved burdensome to live up to because for the first time in many years Mike also failed to break 100.

Mark Siegel with his new 24k band. Congratulations, Mark!

The tournament began and ended with weddings. Mark Siegel, recently married, (to Julie) was showing the boys his ring on the driving range. Then following the tournament, at the clubhouse, there was a wedding ceremony. The bride was dabbing her tears with a tissue throughout the ceremony. This was what Rollie Otto and Vaughn Kezirian were also doing upon learning they'd missed placing 3rd, losing in close tiebreakers. Unlike the bride's, theirs were not tears of joy.

Scores were really high. As mentioned, we only had three members break net par! And we had other goofy things happen, like net 78 placing third in two separate flights. 78 is a really high net score and only rarely is it good enough to place. the two lucky members whose 78's backed them into the money were Scott Meredith and Hal Teasdale.

Winners were Jim Peretti, Martin Kitchener, Todd Podoll, Mike Hearn, and Ken Alton (in the blind bogey flight). Second place finishers were Dave Webb, Rick Guevara, Chris Brown, and Jerry Powell. Placing third were Ken Lloyd, Ross Sakamoto, Scott Meredith, and Hal Teasdale.

Be sure and sign up for Paradise Valley ASAP. It's our first Major of the season (The Kooman Boycheff Memorial) and it will be very popular. Paradise is a terrific course and this is a great tournament.

Scoring Error

A scoring error was made by the Scoring Committee at Windsor and it caused a change in the result of the second flight. Initially Martin Kitchener appeared to have won a very close tiebreaker (1/2 stroke) over Rick Guevara, but after the tournament the scoring error was discovered. Rick had shot an 85 (44 front, 41 back), but on the scoring sheet it was recorded as 44 and 44, and thus a 44 was used for the tiebreaker instead of the 41. The difference would have placed Rick 1st, for he would have correctly won the tiebreaker 34.5 to 37.0. (instead of losing it 37.0 to 37.5.). Because we had never addressed this issue before, Steve and Aaron decided to research proper procedure, by contacting USGA officials. They said that this decision fell under Rule 34-1b/6:

USGA RULE 34-1b/6: Winner's Score Not Posted Due to Committee Error

Question: In a stroke play event, the winner's prize is awarded to B. The next day A advises the Committee that he had returned a lower score than B. A check reveals that A is correct and that, in error, the Committee had failed to post A's score. What should be done?

Answer: Rule 34-1b does not apply to Committee errors of this kind. The prize should be retrieved from B and given to A, the rightful winner.

Rule 34-1b: "Claims and Penalties"

"Except as provided below, in stroke play, no penalty shall be rescinded, modified or imposed after the competition has closed. A competition is deemed to have closed when the result has been officially announced or, in stroke play qualifying followed by match play, when the player has teed off in his first match."

Scoring Error Resolved by USGA and UCGC Board

As per the USGA Rule above it is clear that the results had to be changed, thus Rick placed 1st and Martin placed 2nd. The UCGC Board then needed to resolve several issues not regulated by the UCGA, namely prizes and GOY points. The board decided thusly:

- Since it was the club's mistake and since the board didn't feel right about asking Martin to return a gift certificate which he'd likely already spent, the board decided it best that the club bear the financial burden and that Martin not return the additional prize money ($20) that was awarded.

- Rick earns 1st place GOY points and Martin earns 2nd place GOY points. This maintains the equity of others who also placed second, but who only received 3 points.
 

Impact of Decision

Ordinarily the impact of slight changes to the GOY standings don't have much impact, but earning 5 points at Windsor rather than 3, Rick Guevara overtook Steve Obana in the standings and earned the final opening on the NCGA Associate Club Championships team (Read more below). Indeed, a coin toss had already given Steve the final place, that is, until Rick was correctly awarded those two extra points for finishing first at Windsor.
 

NCGA Tournament Season

It's that time of year again. Several NCGA sanctioned events are open to those in our club who qualify based on performance. We will again use GOY standings at the time of the entry form submittal. Likely dates are:

• Associate Club Championships - 4-person team based on GOY standings after Windsor tournament on April 3. Anyone who didn't make this team still has an opportunity to compete in several other NCGA events this season. (During any given season no member may participate in both the Associate Club Championships and the Associate Club Net Amateur Championship.)
• Associate Club Four-Ball - 2-person team. Team comprised of winners of our 2-ball Championship, however both players must have indexes of 18.0 or better. Tournament is on June 18.
• Senior Four-Ball Net (participants must be age 55 or older by the date of the Qualifier) - 2-person team decided based on GOY standings after Tilden Park tournament on July 10.
• Associate Club Net Amateur Championship - Individual players selected based on GOY standings after Gold Country Weekend on August 1.(During any given season no member may participate in both the Associate Club Championships and the Associate Club Net Amateur Championship.)
   

Our 4-Person Associate Club Championships Team is Selected

Selections for our 4-person team at the 2004 Associate Club Championships were made based on the Current GOY standings. Our team is very strong. We've got three veterans on our team including Jim Peretti who was on the 2001 team, Jeff Day who was on the 2002 team, and Rick Guevara who played on the team last year. Our 2004 team:

(Mike Hearn was tied with Jeff Day for the fourth spot, but Mikes Index was not below 18.1 and so Jeff was selected.)

Handicaps of 18.1 or greater are not recognized in this event so representatives must have handicap indexes of 18.0 or better. We worked down the GOY standings until we had our four players, each of whom committed to all potential weekday events:

• Qualifier on May 13, 2004
• Sectional Qualifier at Poppy Ridge on June 28 or 29, 2004
• Championship at Poppy Hills on July 26-27, 2004

The green fees and entry fees are covered by the UC Golf Club. Substitutions are not allowed so it was important that participant only accept if they could play on all those potential dates.

Recent Performances by our Squads:

Please Review Score-Adjusting Procedure

We had several people fail to post properly at Windsor and will once again be issuing Penalty scores. Please review the score-adjusting procedure. Also, perhaps some members are supporting vanity indexes, because we had many members post scores which were better than they needed to post. One player posted a score 8-strokes better than the properly-adjusted score. Please make sure you're not posting too high or too low. The posting procedure is actually quite simple once you learn it.
 

Record Heat over past Few weeks Brings Out Large Field

With 58 players at Windsor, we had an exceptional turnout. The very summery weather has been almost eerie. Over the past month daily heat records have been falling on a regular basis.

On March  9, with the official end of winter still two weeks away, the Bay Area was enjoying calendar-defying heat that also happened to be breaking records: Richmond's high of 81 degrees March 9 replaced a 1997 record of 77. In downtown Oakland it was 83 degrees and had not been so warm since 1979.

On March 8 many records fell. In Monterey, Salinas and Santa Cruz, highs edged past records set eight years ago. In downtown San Francisco a high of 82 toppled a 112-year-old record high of 78 degrees.  Records broken at Moffett Field, where it was 79, had been on the books for nearly 60 years. In downtown Oakland, at 79-degrees, it was warmer than it had been since 1981. And the mercury only had to reach 76 in order to be a record-breaker in Monterey, surpassing the 73-degree mark hit in 1997.

By March 16 Northern California had sweated under the tenth consecutive day of record-high heat. Sacramento reached a high of 86 degrees, tying the record set in 1972, while other cities throughout the area, continued to experience much higher than normal temperatures.

Until March 15, at least one temperature record per day had been shattered in Northern California since the warm weather system first locked in over the state on March 7. Thirteen records were broken in the Bay Area and Monterey County on Monday alone. The persistent heat has been caused by an unusually strong high-pressure system and by air flowing over the state from the east, rather than the normal western flow that brings cooler temperatures from the Pacific Ocean’s marine breezes.

A gradual cooling trend began on March 17, with the high-pressure system weakening and more seasonal temperatures returning. Temperatures were still above normal, but record highs were not so prevalent.

For those of you wondering...the last few paragraphs were added to remind you of the terrific weather we've been having... because the fog and wind will surely be returning soon.
 

350 Photos

Aaron took 350 photos at Windsor. The 47 best were selected and displayed here. This was the first tournament where Aaron used his new camera (Canon Digital Rebel). It was a juggling act however for h was also using the Canon G3 for its telephoto lens.

The most distinctive feature at Windsor are the two defunct silos which grace the 3rd hole. Over the years the faces of these silos have taken lots of shots from stray balls, for they are well within driving range.

Speaking of the driving range, There was lots of chaos as players scrambled to get all their bets organized. Here' Chad Carey and Ed Louie get in on some action with Rick Guevara. They play several games, one of which is called "Vegas".

How "Vegas" Works:

This game is played between four players, two on each team. On each hole a team's score is a two digit number where the ten's digit is the low score of the two golfers, and the one's digit is the high score. The points earned on a hole is the difference between the two team's scores. For example if team A scored a 4 and 5 and team B scored a 5 and 6, team A wins 11 points (56 - 45). A running total of the points is kept and the winners are paid one unit bet for each point won. Warning, the points in this game can add up fast! If both teammates have a blow up hole at the same time, then lots of money can exchange hands.

Steve Obana pounds a few balls at the range.

Todd Podoll has been sneaking up in the GOY race with steady performances. He's currently in a tie for second with Rick Guevara, behind Jim Peretti. Todd placed first in the third flight. His 87 (net 71) was one of only three rounds below net-par in the field.

Todd missed this putt on #2 and settled for a triple. It was his worst hole of the day. Todd played the rest of the holes at 11 over par and won his flight with a net 71. Todd's best hole was the difficult 12th hole, which he birdied. Todd was the only player all day to birdie #12.

Jim Peretti warming up on the practice green. Jim hasn't placed lower than 2nd all year and is leading our golfer of the year contest

Jim earned a par here at #3.

Ken Alton was back again. He's all for our treks up North, where he lives.

Ryan Atkinson watches his approach shot at #3, where he earned a par.

Rollie Otto hits his approach shot at #4. Rollie earned a par.

Ken Lloyd also earned a par on the difficult 4th hole.

Here Ken chipped up to within 15 feet, narrowly missing the birdie putt.

Steve Desimone also took a par on the 4th hole. Steve's troubles began on the 5th hole, where he suffered a rare "quint". Things deteriorate to the point where he took an "x" on the 9th hole. Don't worry though (few are). Steve will be true to form in future outings.

Vaughn Kezirian tightens over a putt the 4th hole. Although he was the only member in his foursome not to par the 4th hole, Vaughn nevertheless outperformed the other in terms of style and grace.

Jeff Hazel chips up to the elevated green on #2. Jeff later birdied the difficult 5th hole.

Dave Webb took the aggressive route here on #3. It paid off with a par.

Chris Brown on the 3rd hole, wearing the rally cap early in his round. It worked. He placed 2nd.

Randy Ballew doing things backwards. He nerveless stiffed this shot to about three feet and made the birdie. This valiant performance was sandwiched between triple-bogies and was therefore all the more important.

Sam Scalise was doubtless a favorite coming in, for these north bay courses are very much his own backyard. Sam looked in good shape on the range, but those range experience generally reverse themselves by the first tee.

Jerry Powell chose to walk the flat course. Frankly it was the best choice, for it was a terrific day and there are only a few hole which gain elevation. Jerry was taunting the webmaster/president with a comment about the "archives" (pronounced "r-chives"). Watch out for Jerry. Given an opportunity he'll pull the rug out from under you.

Jerry hit a magnificent approach shot on #3 and earned par.

Still smiling after the first hole. Dave Wherritt par, others had little to smile about other than the nice weather.

Martin was all business, no smiles...Except for the 8 (quint) he took on the 13th hole (water) martin played exceptionally. Losing only in a close tiebreaker

Jeff Thomas misses a par putt on #1. Jeff played very consistent golf, with nothing higher than a 6 on his scorecard, granted there were 10 of them, but no 7's.

Mei-Mei Hong on #1. She had a rough time out there and just as did Steve Desimone, Mei-Mei took an "x" on #9, which disqualified her. You gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em. Mei-Mei knew when to fold.

Ted Good and Dexter Hong on the 5th tee. Dexter bogeyd the difficult par three. We won't discuss Ted's performance.

Ted on hole #13. We won't discuss his performance here either.

Dexter preps for his approach at #8., a dramatic shot.

Glenda Goode at #12. Like Mei-Mei, Glenda knew when to fold 'em.

Ed Biglin hit a fine approach here at #8 and went on to par the testy little hole.

Kevin Walsh (guest) hits a bunker shot at #8.

Chad Carey earned a par here at #14.

Rick Guevara was thinking about his favorite dish, macaroni and cheese, when he hit this delicate chip shot at #3. Rick went on to par the hole. Rick edged past Martin in a close tiebreaker. The correct result wasn't made official until a ruling by the board. Rick played the final six holes at even par, which included a birdie on the very watery13th hole.

Dave Lozow scrubbing something with a towel.

Stacey Mackey got into allsorts of interesting predicaments.

Here on #10 Stacey hit a great shot in spite of a very odd lie.

On #17 Stacey was tight alongside the hazard.

Bill Marchant prepares for his drive at #2, the most difficult driving hole at Windsor. It's a very narrow and slightly s-shaped hole. Most players end up in the trees to the right or worst, in the hazard to the left. Bill opted for the latter.

Bill showing his pearly whites on #17,

Bill ranks at the very top in terms of keeping his emotions in check despite adversity.

Aaron Walburg poses with Gene the Starter. Gene was a friendly guy. Gene was telling us about how the houses right of the first hole were selling for $400k! He was stunned. Aaron was at even par until he took to the first tee.

By the 4th hole Aaron turned to Arnold Palmer beverage in desperation. The magical elixir proved useless as his next shot went OB.

Hal Teasdale removes himself from a small beach on #1.

The best net round of the day was Mike Hearn's net 70. Here on #1 Mike permitted the cameraman to get all up in his face with the camera. Such generosity was rewarded, not just with this great picture, but also with his victory. Indeed the photographer deserves most of the credit for his miraculous performance.

Mike opened the back nine with 5 consecutive 5's. Here he earned par on #10. This was Mike's first ever win. Congratulations, Mike. You're finally a winner! You know what the say about blind squirrels...

Complete Flight Results: