Roddy Ranch
7th Event of 2005 Season
Saturday, April 2, 2005

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Chad Carey on the 10th hole. Nice form, Chad. This was also good for Aaron, whose best shot is usually with a camera.

Course in great shape, but tall grass

The course was in excellent condition, but the rough was merciless. The greens had been aerated about a week prior to the tournament, but the greens at Roddy Ranch are normally so speedy and hard that the sand actually served to make the greens more playable. Rain had fallen the previous Tuesday and the rough was very high due to the inability to mow during soggy conditions. The course marshal implemented a local rule whereby players unable to locate a ball in the rough (which was nearly anytime a ball entered the rough) had the option dropping outside the rough and taking a stroke penalty. This rule was extremely helpful in maintaining pace of play. This is not to say that everyone took advantage of this local rule. Perhaps because of the tall rough, scores at Roddy Ranch were fairly high. We had three scores in the net 60's, but only six players managed to break net 72.

Near Perfect Weather

Temperatures of 55-degrees greeted members on the first tee, by the turn temperatures reached a high of around 67-degrees. Winds were relatively mild, ranging from 7-14 degrees from the southwest. Skies ranged from fair to cloudy. Rain fell on the following afternoon.

Ben Hidalgo Returns!

Ben Hidalgo has been a member since August 27, 1990. Back then his foursome consisted of guys like Chris Baker and Russ Greenwood. Ben's most recent tournament was on May 29, 1999, at Stevinson Ranch, nearly 6 years ago! Talk about lost sheep! Anyway, we're glad you found your way back to the fold, Ben. Ben's the polar opposite of Steve Sanguinetti. Ben's index currently includes scores from 1995, about 10 years ago. (An index is comprised of your 20 most recent rounds of golf). Ben's index still includes a score from the 1995 Club Championship at Diablo Creek in which he captured the third flight. (Incidentally that's also the tournament in which Paul Zingg scored a hole-in-one on the 17th hole to become Club Champion for  low gross!) Meanwhile the oldest score on Steve Sanguinetti's index is February 16, 2005, about 45 days ago. This is information that few besides a club's handicap chair can appreciate. Nevertheless, at this rate it would take Ben Hidalgo 80 years to play the amount of golf Steve Sanguinetti plays in a single year! So keep swinging, Ben!

The Most Difficult Hole on the Course and Some Strange Occurrences There

Without question the most difficult hole at Roddy Ranch is the monster 16th hole. It's long at 420 yards. The approach is uphill and well guarded by a series of bunkers. In our group there were only six pars at #16 and half of them came from the most unlikely foursome. If you guessed the Desimone/Lloyd/Atkinson/Moers group, you'd be wrong. On paper they look the best, with course handicaps of 2, 7, 1, and 9. However they took three bogies and a double bogie! By far the most dominant group at #16 was the Rollins/Upshaw/Walburg/Webb group which had three pars and a bogie. Their course handicaps make this feat seem nearly impossible: 30, 39, 15, and 5. What's more, Dave Webb (the 5) wasn't one of the three to par the hole! (For the record, the other three pars at #16 were made by Dave Lozow, Gene Eun, and Edward Kleinhans.)

Mike O'Neill and Ken Lloyd Dominate the Par 3 Holes

Another difficult hole is the par three 7th hole. It's 211 yards uphill and this day it also had a crosswind. Mike had the day's only birdie at #7. And there were only 8 members able to earn a par there. At the difficult par three 13th hole there were twelve pars and no birdies. Mike O'Neill and Ken Lloyd play par threes very well, each playing them at -1. (Ken recorded his birdie at the third hole.)

Birdie Brigade
Here is a list of this tournament's birdies:

Photography Gone Wild

While hitting balls on the range Walburg was testing out a new photography system which involved a remote control. He asked Peretti if he'd mind him taking a few shots. Peretti was delighted. No other member is so eager to have his photo taken.

Beer Bounty Backfires

The last thing Walburg wants to do is inspire Peretti to play better golf. However, the beer bounty he placed on Peretti's head was like fanning his golfing flames. While on the range at Roddy Ranch Walburg (like any good Club President should) tried to distract Peretti and get into his head. Walburg told him he'd offered Steve Obana a beer provided he take out Peretti in the opening round of the Eddie Reed Match Play Championship. Unfortunately, Peretti crushed Obana, forcing Walburg to dine on crow. To his credit Peretti had predicted this, proclaiming that he needn't worry about having to open his wallet. No regrets, but lesson learned.

Aerobic Prize - Most Swings Made at a Given Hole

Recently included in these tournament summaries is a mention of the highest score turned in for any given hole. This month the highest score on any hole was turned in by none other than the Club President. It occurred on the 211 yard par three 7th hole. Much thanks to Dave Webb for saintly patience and a good eye at spotting a ball in the rough. Disregarding the local rule and determined to pull off a miracle shot, Walburg located his tee shot in the tall grass. Advancing the ball by inches with each stroke, he eventually decided to utilize a series of unplayable lie declarations to get the ball out onto the fairway. You really couldn't play a hole with less skill and less intelligence. And the resulting tredecuple bogey (13 over par, or 16 strokes on a par three) wins this month's prize for golf aerobics on a single hole.

Unkempt Golf Bag Yields Snack

It was the 12th hole. Walburg had a headache. Digging though the bag for Advil -- low and behold -- a granola bar. With no idea how long it'd been there (at least a year) he tore into it with relish. What other sport permits you to discover delicious snacks in your equipment? This serves as yet one more example of why golf is the best sport in the world.

Next up: Paradise Valley; Our Augusta

Upcoming on our schedule is our "Masters" event. We first played Paradise Valley in 1995 where we'd held the Kooman Boycheff Memorial that year. At a board meeting in December of 1995, board members Tim Jackson and Van Hall made a series of motions promoting Paradise Valley as the permanent site for the Kooman Boycheff Memorial. The motions passed and ever since then Paradise Valley has been our Augusta. As with the Masters, it's the first major of each season. This year, at the Masters, Tiger Wood's nailed a terrific and crucial chip-in on the par three 16th hole. Last year at Paradise Valley Jim Peretti had a miraculous chip-in for birdie on the par three 15th hole. Due to a conflict of schedule, Jim won't be able to defend his trophy this year. So it's up for grabs!

In the News:

Tiger Wins First Major in Three Years

Tiger Woods recently ended his three year dry spell in major events. Woods had been winless in majors since the 2002 U.S. Open. The win permitted him to recapture from Vijay Singg the #1 world ranking. This year's Masters was very exciting, It went into a playoff. Tiger's chip-in at #16 will be on highlight reels for the rest of our lives, but that shot wasn't as much of a factor as were the missed putts by Chris DiMarco early in the round. He narrowly missed makeable birdie putts at holes 3, 4 and 5.

Bay Bridge Fiasco.

Repairing or rebuilding the seismically-challenged Bay Bridge has been on the table since the early 1990's. Setbacks have been numerous, from multi-year design selection processes, to 4-year environmental studies, to the Navy refusing to grant the land, to Willy Brown's insistence on developing Treasure Island. During this time the projected costs went from $1 billion to $5 billion. The latest fiasco is that the pilings, currently set in concrete, may contain bad welds. As a backdrop, fuel prices continue to soar to new records on a daily basis. (East Bay average of $2.68/gallon average in mid-April). If we wait long enough, having a new bridge won't matter because no one will be able to afford to drive over it anyhow.

Pope John Paul II Dies

The pope died in Vatican City on April 2, at 9:37pm, or 11:37am (PST). John Paul II was a strong Pope. For many of us he's been the Pope for our entire life. Some would say he was too traditional, but no one argues his great influence in the fall of communism. The Vatican will be selecting a new Pope soon. It won't be easy finding such a strong and popular Pope.

Britney Pregnant

Another big news item was Britney Spears' recent announcement about being pregnant. If you believe in reincarnation this might be an interesting century.

Photos

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Jim Peretti tied for most birdies (3) and placed second behind Ken Lloyd in the first flight.

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Ken Lloyd is having a strong season, the first in several years. He had three birdies and tied with Steve Desimone for lowest gross score while turning in the second lowest net score (behind Andrew Kang’s 67 in the second flight). Ken is now tied with Dennis Smith in the Golfer of the Year standings. Ken and Dennis have each played in six tournaments, placing 1st on three occasions. Ken also had the first flight's CTP with the day’s best shot, 11’-9”.

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Here's a great shot of Ken and Coach Dez.

Peter Werner and Craig Adelman on the range. Three years ago Roddy Ranch served as Peter’s debutante party. It was the very first event for he and buddy Edward Kleinhans. We’re all still waiting to be impressed…

Here Eddie smacks a few range balls. Eddie had one of only four pars on the difficult 16th hole.

It's not night, just a dark exposure. Left to right at the first tee are Steve Desimone, Jim Peretti, Ken Lloyd, Bob Tulk, and Ryan Atkinson.

Steve Desimone on the 9th tee. Steve birdied the hole.

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Ken at the 9th hole. He probably lost the drive and played from the rough. Ken still managed bogey.

Bob Tulk at the 1st hole. This was Bob's first appearance since Mare Island in October. Bob parred the opening three holes, then the wheels fell off.

Peter MacKenzie on the opening hole. Peter's 37 on the front nine was matched only by Steve Desimone who was playing in the first flight. Peter lost a little steam heading down the stretch, but he still placed 3rd in the second flight.

Horsing around at the practice green are Peter Werner, Steve Hong, and Ross Sakamoto.

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Steve and Ross gearing up.

Ross and Steve recall last year's Eddie Reed Match against one-another. Ross was the defending champion and #1 seed in the first flight. Steve (#8 seed) defeated Ross 1-up in the second round. Steve went on to finish runner-up, behind flight winner Barry Woods. If Steve and Ross win two matches this year they'll meet in the semifinals.

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Ross on the first tee. Ross birdied the third hole. Mercifully, we'll end our narrative there.

Dave Lozow and Chad Carey on the practice green.

Dave has fine form, but not on the golf course.

Dave's opening drive. Loze and Dez were the only members to play the final four holes at even par.

Chad plays power golf. Nobody in the club swings with more ferocity.

Gary Vollen on the 1st hole. Gary's game is feast or famine. Today it was mostly famine.

Filling in for Marty Connell was former member Ron Ablaza. Here's Ron's impressive opening drive.

Ron and Kevin Hillesland show true blue spirit. At was 9am and they were already pouring the Guinness stout. The strategy didn't pan out for Ron, but Kevin played well, only missing the money by three strokes.

At Roddy Ranch in April of 2002 Rob Simonds was almost unable to attend, as his wife was very pregnant. At the time we chided Rob for failing to break 100. Today he redeemed himself by posting an impressive 99.

Sternbach in the sky with diamonds? Unlike the Beatles song, there were no diamonds, yet Bob struck a small vein of gold. He was relaxed and in control and turned in an impressive net 71 which placed 2nd in the third flight.

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The 6th hole gave Bob the most trouble. He took a triple here, but quickly recovered.

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Kelly Alvarez at the 7th hole. Kelly earned par on the difficult hole.

New member Errol Thomas was playing in his very first event. Welcome to the club, Errol! It was quite a workout, but the Club President thanks Errol for taking more strokes than he. It would have been nice if other members would have so honored the Club President by shooting no better than 109.

Speaking of niceness, here's a cool shot of Errol's shoes. Not sure why this shot is here really, but it is.

New member Jeff Field was also playing in his first tournament. Jeff had remarkable results. He shot net 72 and placed 2nd in the second flight.

Just for a time-related perspective, the Pope died about 2 minutes after this photo was taken.

Jeff Field and Errol Thomas looking for a ball in the thick rough on the 7th hole. This was a common scene. The grass was really deep.

Second flight winner Andrew Kang at the third hole. Andrew was on fire. After a par here Andrew was -1 through three holes. He went on to shoot the day's best, a net 67.

Here's Andrew's approach at the 14th hole.

Jay Meaden at the 18th hole. Jay is one of Ben's buddies from Sacramento.

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Jay experienced sand trouble near the final green. He managed to free himself, then triumphantly threw his arms in the air. It was the first time Jay had ever successfully extracted a ball from a sand trap without having to use his "hand wedge."

Ben Hidalgo hasn't played a tournament in nearly six years. It was entertaining, to say the least. Here at #18 Ben hit an extreme lob shot.

Ben, peering skyward, follows the arching approach shot.

Dan Saeger, another of Ben's buds from Sacramento, chips on at #18.

Rounding out Ben's foursome is Jeff Stark.

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Al Rollins on the practice green.

Al shows intensity and buries this birdie putt at #3. Al was having a great day.

This will likely be the last time Al plays in the blind bogey flight. Having posted his fifth score he'll have an index. Al finished his blind bogey days with the taste of victory. He won the blind bogey flight today.

Al's drive at #5. It seems like I highlight one player each month. This must have been Al's month.

Here's Al's shot from the thick rough of the 6th hole. It's a nice photo, but the golf shot was even more impressive.

Al watching Charles Upshaw's drive at #7.

Al stares down his approach shot at the 8th hole.

Al with a short chip at #13.

Al at #14. The greens had been plugged and sanded about a week prior to the event. The funny thing about this photo is that the ball had just bounced off the green and a little spurt of sand was kicked up. The very next photo I took was of Dave Webb at #14 (see below) and that photo had the same exact sand spurt. The odds are staggering of obtaining two photos in succession with that same moment captured. But nobody cares about that...

Al Rollins celebrates his impressive par at the course's most difficult hole -- the long 16th hole. Al was one of only six players to par this hole.

Charles Upshaw also parred that difficult 16th hole. Back at the first hole Charles was contemplating the line in his putt.

Charles' drive at the 5th hole.

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Here's a nice photo of Charles hitting an approach at the 5th hole. The ball is in flight, at the center of the photo.

This photo was too good to resist. The cloud over Charles' head doesn't represent his day; It represents the photographer's day. (Nobody else scored 16 on a par three.)

Dave Webb's drive at the second hole. Dave smashed a driver, splitting the fairway and landing about 20 feet short of the green. Dave earned an easy par on the hole.

Dave is an excellent scrambler. He had trouble here at #6, but still earned par on the hole.

Dave wrestles with the thick grass at #6.

Dave annihilated his drive at #12. It was obscene. He was probably only 50 yards from the green. He went on to birdie the hole.

Dave's chip up to the green at #14. (and the sand spurt)

The last time Aaron Walburg played Roddy Ranch he shot even par over the front nine (A feat which, for him, has never happened before or since.). He'd followed up with a 50 on the back and still managed to win the flight. This year he had high hopes, but shot 60 on the front nine. Let this serve as a lesson about overconfidence.

Dennis Smith with a putt from the fringe at #18. Had he made the putt he'd have scored a net 67. He wound up shooting net 69, but still he won the third flight by two strokes. This was Dennis' third win of the season and he's in a tie with Ken Lloyd for Golfer of the Year.

At the clubhouse members enjoyed a beer while watching the NCAA Basketball semifinal match between Illinois and Louisville. The game was close at halftime, but Illinois pulled away and won in blowout fashion, 72-57. Several days later Illinois lost to North Carolina in the finals.

Kelly Alvarez shows the ropes to new member Jeff Field. If Jeff is smart he'll try and find a different member from whom to learn the ropes.

Loze does the heavy math to determine the day's unofficial money winners.

Complete Flight Results: