Summer is in full swing and of course that means several things:

 

• Northwesterners have made the quick transition from complaining about the rain to “, it’s too hot out.”
• Golf Carts are not rented to keep yourself and clubs dry from rain, but rather to keep yourself dry and clubs dry from sweat.
• With temperatures predicted in the 90s and 100s, most all now have a realistic chance of shooting below the outside temperature.

 

With that said, welcome to the (soon to be) July edition of the Willows Mens Club Newsletter:

 

In this Edition:

 

• July Major signup information
• Presidents Cup Update
• 2 Man Match Play Update
• Stableford Results
• Latest on Sundadia Road Trip
• Thursday Night Information and Standings
• Pro Shop Book Money
• Victor Manaos Hole-In-One
• News and Notes

 

July Major-2 Man Chapman/Pinehurst

The next tournament held July 24th at Willows is a partner event.  Grab a partner or sign-up as a single and we will likely be able to pair you.  We will playing a Chapman, also known as Pinehurst, and sometimes referred to as “screw your partner.”  This relaxing format has both players drive,  then cross-over and hit each other’s ball.  After two shots pick the best one and alternate shots in.  One score per hole.  Sign ups begin July 28th at 6pm.

 

Presidents Cup Update

We are approximately half-way to determining our 2021 Presidents Cup Champion.  All matches are at least to the Round of 16.  The latest update:

                        Chad Allen vs Doug McKinney (Allen advances  in 20 holes.)

                         Powell Wojnarowicz vs Jim Beaumont (awaiting result)

                         Rick Richards vs Chris Campbell (Richards advances 3 & 1)

                         Dave Jensen vs Rick Strellman (awaiting results.)

                         Nick Miller vs Chuck Arnold (Miller advances 3 & 1.)

                         Ryan Neuwman vs Don Nguyen (awaiting results)

                         Bryson Agnew vs Steve Morin (Agnew advances, 1 up)

                         Lew Brunhaver vs Jeremy Lee (awaiting results.)

Out of popular demand, a consolation bracket was created this year which is progressing slowly.  For updated results, check the Golf Genius website.

 

2 Man Match Play Update

These tough to schedule (What do you guys all have jobs or something?) matches are also mostly into the Round of 16. Two exceptions are Tek Yea and his partner Kao Chay having advanced further into the round of 8 by virtue of taking down Bryson Agnew and Nick Miller 4 &3 and Bryan Johnston and John Yovin defeating John Diaz and Doug McKinney 2 & 1.) Lets get those matches on the books!

 

June Stableford Results

56 Golfers turned our for the first Major of the Year, a Modified Stableford that emphasizes good holes and somewhat minimizes blow-up holes.  The top scores of 27 for the day both came from the hotly contested 2nd flight.  Chris Campbell and John Sell held that distinction.  Other flight winners were William Horosky (first flight, 24 points,) Bill Watters (third flight, 20 points) edging out 3 others with 19 and Rick Richards winning handily by 4 (fourth flight, 24 points.)

Overall 16 people were earned anywhere from $26 to $100 on the books.  Also Congratulations to KP winners Paul Goff, Justin Manao, John Sell and David Ruddock.

 

Suncadia 36 Hole Road Trip

Not much to report here other than once again, the trip is Sold Out!  There is, however, only 1 person on the wait-list, so if you’re still thinking about it, get on the list as historically, a few people have plans change between now and then.

 

Thursday Night Information and Standings

More than a third of the way through our Thursday league and the latest standings (as of June 24) features many of the usual suspects d a few new ones leading the way.  As has become customary, Mike Webb is on top followed closely by John Sell and Michael Alvey.  The rest of the top 10 are Jeff McGhee, Powell Wojnarowicz, Lew Brunhaver, Steve Morin, David Rudduck, Cody Dickens and Bryson Agnew.  Points are earned for both participation and finishing in the money.  The top points getters will compete in the Points Championship held October 9th and 10th.

Also, please note that Thursday becomes Wednesday July 21st(not 22nd) and August 11th(not 12th.)  Sign-ups for each Thursday begin at 6pm, 22 days in advance of the date.

 

Pro Shop Money

For those of you saying,”Where’s my Book Money?”  Well I’m happy to report that the money from April and May tournaments is scheduled to be on the books by month end.  Blame the new computer system(or whoever you want beside me.)  A total of $6885 has been rewarded to 81 different golfers.  Lew Brunhaver tops the earnings chart with $267 followed by Max Williams $250, Vic Lawson $243, Michael Alvey $241 and Mike Webb at $225.  It is no wonder those boys are always looking like sharp dressed men.

 

Victor Manao’s Hole-in-One

It’s not every day that a golfer gets a hole-in-one.  The Ace remains one of those statistical anomalies whereby many “good” golfers have played their whole life without and others who aren’t so good have multiple.  This month, while playing Trophy Lake with several buddies from Willows including his son Justin, Victor Manao got his first, who tells it this way:

Even though he is my dad, he is one of my best golf buddies and this thing has eluded him for 30 years. In all my time golfing with him I don’t think we have had a sniff of an ace. Anyway, we walk up to the 17th hole at trophy and he is playing okay. Not good, not great but just okay. As we all shoot the yardage we come to an agreement of 130 yards. He grabs an 8-iron and swings away. As soon as he makes contact he’s looking down the hole and says “that’s perfect.” We all kind of laugh and hear a “whack” and the ball disappears. Everyone pauses for a second looking for the ball and I scream “It’s in!” Victor simply does not believe it and tells us to wait, wait, wait and see, but we all knew it was in and start high-fiving and cheering! Chuck hears us all screaming, comes out of the woods and picks the ball up out of the hole, it’s an ACE. We proceed to have a nice Willows Mens Club drink celebration after! Pretty cool to do it in a tournament with a bunch of buddies and fellow men’s club members! 

 

Congratulations to Victor and how cool you got to experience that together.

 

Other News and Notes

 

Club Championship: Don’t miss out on the last Major of the year.  This is a 2-day event held August 21 and 22.

 

Check your Scorecards - We have had a quite a number of cases recently where there were discrepancies between the official, signed scorecard and the results in Live Scoring. We will always use the official scorecard, and update any results in live scoring.   Please check two things:  1) The official scorecard entries, and 2) What is in live scoring.  

• Step 1: Get your actual scorecard back and check the scorecard against your marker’s notes (Don’t let the marker check your card while you read off the marker’s notes – check your own card!)  Also, don’t just have someone read out the live scores while everyone verifies live scoring from their own marker’s notes – no one is checking the official card.  If markers notes and live scoring agree, but the marker didn’t catch an error on the official scorecard, the official scorecard is still what counts. 
• Step 2: Live Scorekeeper should read out the live scoring results and each player should check the scores on their actual scorecard against live scoring results so the Tournament Director doesn’t have to fix a bunch of typos in the live scoring results every week.

Remember that as long as Live Scoring is available, if you don’t score during your round, it has to be done prior to turning in your scorecard.  The “paper” card is a back-up and used to double check scores in case of confusion

 

Score Posting:  This is a friendly reminder that during posting season (Mid-March though Mid-November,) it is your responsibility to post the scores of all rounds played regardless of if they are in a tournament or  Regular rounds played in WMC events will be posted for you, but not Match Play.  Rules for how to post Match play scores were presented when the pairings were sent out and are already available on the Member portal.  Also,  If you play only 9 holes, post it as a 9 hole score.  If you play 13 or more, even if you do you do not complete the round, there is a process in place to post that as a 18 hole score.  If you play in an outside tournament, remember to post it as a "C" score.  Also, the USGA says rounds played under Winter Rules are still to be posted.  If you have questions, ask either Rich Klep or any other board member.

 

Member Benefit – 29% Discount on Range Balls!

Do you buy a bucket of balls every week before your game? Do you come out to the range to practice from time to time? Did you know you can get a 29% discount on buckets of range balls?  Just ask the Pro Shop front desk to buy a Range Key at member rates.  You’ll get a key with $70 worth of range balls (for use with small, medium or large buckets) for $50.  Once you have the key, just push the button for the size bucket you want and hold the key to the socket.  When it’s empty, refill for another $50.  Why haven’t you done this yet?  

  

Thursday League Signups - Don’t Give Up on the Waitlist – While still popular, our Thursday Events are not filling up quite as fast as prior years.  There is some discussion to moving back the tee times and also playing Coyote more, but for now, it is definitely easier to get in.  Also, if you sign-up and can’t play on Thursday and fail to give at least 24 hours notice, you will be waitlisted at the back of the field for the next event. 

 

 

As this edition goes to print, I am reminded just how lucky we are to spend our summers in the PNW.  The next 2 months are what we all live for.  I like to say there are 3 C’s in golf:  Course, Competition and Company.  Try and focus on the Company first, the Course second and the Competition third.  Hard to do sometimes, believe me I know.  As always, see you on the course (and in the lounge.)