Jim Grosjean
The new year is brimming with MPMGA (Mountainview-Preserve Men’s Golf Association) tournaments. First off, in January, was the three-day Member-Member Match Play event. The flight winners were John Cahill and Scott Lundgren in Flight 1, Mark Gingerich and Don Sanders in Flight 2, Dave Field and Carter Luther in Flight 3, Bill Messick and Doug Zink in Flight 4, Paul Caleb and Keith Flewelling in Flight 5, and Glenn Deutsch and Terry McCarthy were winners of the Red Flight. For the great number of losers from the main tournament, a Whiners Tournament was also held, which produced its own set of “winners.” The names of these whiner winners are withheld to avoid embarrassment.
February brought us the Tournament of Champions: bringing together the elite players who have accumulated at least four points during the previous season. The field breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard that I would be out of town and unable to compete. The flight winners were Bill Bender, John Anderson, Peter Valen, Rick Cole, Dan Schroeder, and Tony Blunt. Since I was away, I’m not sure who was named Overall Champion, but Bill Bender had the low gross score of 73, and Dan Schroeder and Tony Blunt tied for a low net score of 68.
Finally, we get to the Stampede. Four-man teams battled it out over two grueling days in oppressive conditions: “mild temperatures in the 70s to 80, no wind, blazing sun.” The first flight was dominated by Dan Nordhill, Tom Winch, Ron Siniscalchi, and Roger Gann with a score of –27. Rick Fernandez, Dick Helms, Ted Olsen, and Peter Valen took the second flight with a score of –25. Harry Clausen, George Kaplan, Joe Oczak, and Dave Quesnell won the third flight with a mere -21 score.
I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention that, once again, the MPMGA took apart the SaddleBrooke One golfers in the annual Javelina Cup. Could it be time to retire the trophy and the championship in favor of a beer blast?