2023 Newsletters

Happy New Year to all! It’s hard to believe 2023 is here already. As your President, elected unopposed, you should have no expectations of me. On the other hand, I will have very high expectations of the Board of Directors and our Membership to maintain El Dorado Men’s Golf Club as one of the best public clubs in Southern California!

We have a full slate of tournaments for 2023 with Brad Wilcox running our Monthly Home Tournaments and Mike Petersen running our Away Tournaments including a Weekender at Singing Hills in September. These Tournaments plus Thursday and Saturday Team Play, Club Championships, Senior Club Championships, Flights, and the return of Quad Club in April, we have a full schedule to satisfy your competitive golfing appetite!

A note to new Members as well as old: Each player must Sign-Up thru the Member Portal on our website to enter Tournaments. Seems simple, but you’d be surprised of the amount of “cat herding” the Tournament Chairman must do. Help Brad and Mike out by Signing up for events early!

The Christmas Shotgun Tournament went off well! After a cool morning we ended up having a great day for golf. There was some good golf played and some not so good. My group wasn’t the worst, but we contended! Unfortunately, we had three teams disqualified. Two teams turned scorecards without 2 signatures. One team failed to turn in their scorecard in a timely manner. Lessons learned?

A Flight Gross winners at 140 (-4) Mike Petersen, Steve Sterry and Scott Sterry
A Flight Net winners at 135 (-9): Omar Diaz, Noah Busch and Justin Vanderbroek
B Flight Gross winners at 154: Dave Hasselman, John Hasselman and Drew Kroner
B Flight Net winners at 135 (-6): Jesse Duncan, Conner Burke and Michael Burke
C Flight Gross winners at 161: Emmet Hargrave, Josh Hendrix and Brian Lineberger
C Flight Net winners at 135 (-9): Bryan Knigge, Eric Kent and Josh Dubón
D Flight Gross winners at 172: Garret Marks, Greg Marks and Ryan Strong
D Flight Net winners at 138 (-6): Danny Martin, Jim McDavid and Jeff Allman

Complete results are posted on the website.

Fairways and greens,
Don Didier

On Tuesday, December 13, 2022, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. The pre-meeting was not meat loaf but instead a fine Holiday Feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, cornbread and cookies for dessert. For $7 this is the best deal in town. Have you been grocery shopping lately?

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Terry Fulford who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were approximately 130 members in attendance including Past Presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Nick Zamora, Tom Retterath, Don Marmion, Cliff Aichele, Richard Scoville and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. New Member Lat Syprasert introduced himself and was given the New Member Spiel by Nick Zamora. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Bob Livingstone gave a shout out to four members who recently competed in various SCGA events as representatives of ElDo: Jeff Thomas, Jim Fuchs, Patrick Soldana and Alex Resurreccion. Bob noted that none of the three suffered any serious injuries. As Thursday Team Play Captain, Bob explained Team Play for the benefit of our many new members. Contact Bob if you’re interested in trying out for a spot on the team. Bob also noted that past member John Tamney had recently passed away.

Director Mike Montgomery reminded everyone that he’d be selling tickets for the Big Raffle for 10 minutes after the meeting before starting the drawing.

Director Omar Diaz briefly discussed Saturday Team Play. He noted that there were no new rules to discuss this month.

Special Events Director Brad Wilcox discussed results of the November Superintendent’s Revenge Tournament and announced that Special Events for the December Christmas Tournament would include Skins, Net Par or better North of Willow, and Net Par or Better on all the even holes. Brad didn’t say much about the sin of Slow Play but you know he was thinking it.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon thanked 98% of the membership for doing a good job posting ALL your scores in a timely manner. You other 2% better watch out ‘cause Wally’s gonna getcha.

Director Mike Vaughn announced the winners and gave out rewards for the Flights Competition. Mike noted that we had 80 players and 5 flights this year – another excellent turnout.

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced the Golfers of the Month for November. Net GOM was Andrew Pulido with a 66, while Gross GOM honors went to Beau Wesson with a 69. The Golfer of the Year Tournament, a competition among all of the GOM winners during the year, will be held in March. Ziggy also discussed the Derbies to be held immediately after the Christmas Tournament.

Director Nick Zamora “just wanted to thank and say goodbye to the Board and all Club members for their help and support" as Nick won’t be serving on the Board next year.

Course Superintendent/Head Greenskeeper Marc Lilliberg thanked everyone for the support that the Club gives the course. In actuality we should be thanking Marc for the great job that he and his staff do in maintaining the best kept course in Long Beach.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Don Didier briefly discussed the results of the November Superintendent’s Revenge Tournament, noting that the aforementioned Mr. Lilliberg did indeed get his revenge as only six groups were under par Net. There are 192 players signed up for the December Tournament. Don noted that this was his last meeting as Tournament Chairman so if you don’t like your starting times next year, talk to Brad.

New Business: President Fulford announced the slate of officers for 2023. They include the following: President – Don Didier; Vice President/Tournament Chairmen – Brad Wilcox; Secretary – Rob Kuehn; Treasurer – Bob Livingstone; Returning Directors: Mark Ziegenhagen and Omar Diaz; and new directors Rich Koskela (Special Events), Mike Petersen (Entertainment), and Doug Balfour (Special Assignments).

Old Business: There was no old business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Steven Canales.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:40, after which Director Mike Montgomery ran the drawing and gave away $12.6 Million worth of prizes. Or maybe it just seemed like that much.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

December membership is 504.

Due to work changes among some of our stalwart Thursday Team members, we are looking for some able-bodied Eldo members to join our SCGA Thursday Team. Our match schedule is as follows:

Wed. Jan. 11 at Lakewood
Thr. Jan. 19 at Eldo vs Lakewood
Thr. Jan. 26 at Eldo vs Industry Hills
Thr. Feb. 2 at Industry Hills
Wed. Feb 8 at Los Verdes
Thr. Feb. 16 at Eldo vs Los Verdes

Matches generally start at 9AM and the cost is $65 which includes, range balls, golf, lunch and adult (or soft) beverages. If you have any questions or are interested in playing, please contact me at boblivy@gmail.com .

Thanks, Bob Livingstone
Thursday Team Play Captain

Happy New Year everyone. The Christmas Tournament 2022 is in the books and was a huge success with over 60% of the field cashing. What a great tournament to end your term as VP, great job Don, you are leaving some big shoes to fill.

All Christmas Tournament Results Posted on Website.

Part 8 of the seven sins of slow play: Bad Golf Etiquette

I am creating my own rant here as it became clear to me at our last tournament that not all our members are considerate of other golfers. To me, Golf is to be enjoyed with friends, fun & nature, leaving the golf course in the same (if not better) condition than you left it is part of that formula. During our last tournament our group encountered at least 6 bunkers that players ahead of us (maybe not directly) had obviously been in because they FORGOT to rake the bunker behind them, this is completely unacceptable within our club. If you see groups in front of you doing this, please don’t hesitate to call them out on it, (or report the incident to a Director) everyone deserves to play with the same conditions and we need to do everything we can to make that happen! I hope I am not alone on this!

Some notable winners from Christmas Tournament:

Well, what’s Christmas without Santa, Santa’s Reindeer herder Andrew Pulido earned a nice $962 for tending to par or better on all the even numbered holes, 6 other players missed out by 1 hole!! Well done Andrew.

North of Willow had 30 players who had net par or better with only 29 cashing, maybe next time Sheldon!

Gross Skins:
A flight with 5 winners J. Vanderbroek birdie #1, R. Carroll eagle #4, Scott Sterry birdie #6, V. Followell eagle #7 & J. Hasselman birdie #9.

B flight with 10 winners E. Kent birdie #1, K. Hall birdie #2, T. Cox birdie #3, D. Garcia birdie #4, G. Ramsey birdies #9 & #16, L. Lipman birdie #12, R. Strong birdie #13, J Benedetti birdie #14 & K. Sharp birdie #18 (because B Knigge forgot to enter skins)

C fight with 3 winners T. Braswell birdie #2 (because Felsinger didn’t get in), D. Martin birdie #5 & B. Ball birdie #14

I would like to thank all Directors & Members for making my job (SE) a bit easier, it means a lot to me when people chip in and help when the need is there no hesitation. We have a great core of Directors & Members with a lot of new younger members starting to join this great Club, don’t hesitate to find out how you can do more for our Club and golf course.

It gives me great pleasure to hand over the Blue Box to Rich Koskela, welcome Rich to the Board when you stop by to pick up your winnings!!

SE for 2023 January Scramble:
C.T.P. holes #9 & 17 for $5 ea.
In the Circle/On the Green holes #3 & 12 for $5 ea.
$20 to get in everything!

Brad
VP & Tournament Chairman

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday season! Looking forward to representing the best club in SoCal as your new Entertainment Director! We’ve got several away events scheduled for 2023 at some great golf courses.

Our first away event of the new year will take place this month on Sunday, January 29th at Recreation Park 18. Sign-ups are already open on the El Dorado Men’s Club website and are going fast! Please sign up as soon as possible.

The format for this away trip tournament will be a 1,2,3 Waltz. Entries include Green Fee, Closest to the pin & Prize Fund. The Closest to the pin holes are 5, 12, 16 and 2nd shot on 15. Carts are optional but need to be paid for at the course. We’ll also have two optional side pot games, $5 gross skins and $5 net skins, sign up for these pot games when you register. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at - entertain@eldoradogolfclub.org

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! We are now starting 2023...I am again Handicap Chairman for 2023 and I have elected to change our Handicap Committee. Our Handicap Committee for 2023 will consist of:

Wally Gordon - Chairman
Kerry Bryan
Vern Followell
Doug Jones
Bob Livingstone

Let's welcome them all to the team and let's have a great year!

I would also like to thank Al Ostberg for being on the Handicap Committee in 2022 and his time and effort for all the prior years he has supported the Handicap Committee. Thanks Al!!!

We have Most Improved Golfer for the Quarter
1st - Jim Jamison with improved from 3.9 to 2.3 a factor of 1.11.........wins $50.00
2nd - Bryan McMahon - improved from 14.6 to 12.2 a factor of 1.10
3rd - Ron Searcy - improved from 19.6 to 17.3 a factor of 1.08

Most Improved Golfer of the Year
1st - Sasha Bozic - improved from 1.9 to +1.3 a factor of 1.299........Wins $100.00
2nd - Darrin Jusi- improved from 3.2 to 0.4 a factor of 1.23...............wins $75.00
3rd - Dan Cormack - improved from 14.8 to 10.0 a factor of 1.22.....wins $50.00

All our ANNUAL winners and Jim Jamison can pick up their winnings at the General Meeting, January 10, 2023.

Hit 'em straight and hit 'em flush!!

Hello, El Dorado Men’s Golf Club membership. I will be posing as you Rules Chairman for 2023 following in Omar Diaz’s footsteps. I will be here to assist with rules issues as best I can and then defer to our very own USGA Rules Official Bob Livingstone as needed. I do know that there is a total of 24 Rules broken into 9 categories, so how hard can it be? Well, the answer to that question is that the Rules are not too hard in themselves. However, they can be very nuanced, and it can be to your advantage to know all your options when faced with a Rule’s situation. The USGA website has tons of Rules information in various forms that can be extremely helpful. I suggest taking the time now and then to use those tools for freshening up your Rule’s knowledge.

Happy New Year, see you at the course.

Cliff Aichele
Rules Chairman

Treasurer's Report - December 31, 2022

Balance on November 30, 2022		38,341.33
Income
Memberships		7,890.00
Christmas Tourney CC Entries		19,355.00
Christmas Tourney Cash/Check Entries		3,062.00
Super's Revenge Entry		80.00
Rec Away CC Entries		493.00
Hole in One Insurance		35.00
Sale of Men's Club Shirts		600.00
Interest		0.60
Total December Income		31,515.60
Expenses
Membership Dues - SCGA	2,556.00
Christmas Refunds	434.00
Scorecrds	49.50
Website Hosting Fee	371.76
BOD Meeting	408.00
Member Drawing - S. Canales	50.00
Christmas Green Fees	9,000.00
Christmas Cart Fees	2,500.00
Christmas Range Balls	500.00
Christmas Tee Prize Bags	4,410.00
Christmas Scrip	10,040.00
Christmas Special Events	3,380.00
Sat & Thrs 2023 Team Play Entries	550.00
Sat & Thrs 2023 Team Play Subsidies	2,000.00
Maint Crew Thank You Party	798.78
Net T of CC Entry (Fuchs)	155.00
Flights Trophies	637.71
GOM Trophies	75.79
Sycuan 2023 Weekender Deposit	2,260.32
Gifts/Cards to Sung, Marc and Bing	499.50
Q4 and Yearlong Most Improved	275.00
Credit Card Fees	320.54
Total December Expenses	41,271.90
Balance on December 31, 2022		28,585.03

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone, Treasurer


NOTES: The Club added $7,847 to the Christmas Tournament; $4,410 for tee prize and $3,437 for scrip.

We have prepaid $2,560.32 as deposits for 2022 Away Trips and $2,550 for Team Play entries and subsidies.

The Hole-in-One Insurance is currently $2,080 (of which $300 is in Scrip in the Blue Box).

We have $493 already paid for entries for the Rec Park away trip.

We assign membership fees received in the last 4 months of 2022 toward the 2023 budget, so we will be carrying forward to 2023, approximately $13,500 in funds that were unused in 2022.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Well, we needed some rain, but got more than we could handle causing cancellation/postponement of our Scramble Tournament and a couple of Team Play events. The good news is that the golf course is going to be in great shape for February. We will play the Scramble Tournament on February 19th. Our next General Meeting is February 14th and I expect a light attendance on Valentine’s Day. Hope to see you at the meeting but understand if your better half has other plans!

I would like to thank our Tournament Chairman, Brad Wilcox, and Webmaster, Mark Miller, in their handling of the canceled January Scramble Tournament, rescheduling it for February. Well done guys!

Mike Petersen, Entertainment Chairman, did a great job with the Rec Park Away Tournament. He had to deal with a shutdown of Golf Genius the day before the tournament but pushed through it all. His 1st event as chairman turned out to be one of the biggest Away Tournaments in recent history with 90 players. Well done, Mike!

Fairways and greens,

Don Didier

On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. The pre-meeting dinner was the well-documented meat loaf so nothing more needs to be said about that.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by newly elected President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were exactly 87.5 members (one half -wit) in attendance including Past Presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Nick Zamora, Don Marmion, Cliff Aichele, and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. There were no new members present. And not that many old members either – maybe the cold and rain kept a few of you away. There was one returning member who introduced himself – the good Aichele, Mark. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Cliff Aichele (the other Aichele) briefly discussed the rule regarding “drops” and urged everyone to go to the USGA Website to fully understand the options regarding legal drops.

Director Bob Livingstone discussed the El Dorado “Hard Card” and various local rules the Club has adopted. Director Aichele extensively discussed “taking relief from the bush.” Whatever that means.

Director and Saturday Team Play Captain Omar Diaz discussed results of the Saturday Team versus the Thursday Team in the El Do Civil War (since Omar brought it up you can guess who won) and noted that the first Saturday Team event will be against Mile Square. Omar also discussed the upcoming Quad Club Tournament against Rec Park, Skylinks and Lakewood.

New Special Events Director Rich Koskela announced the events for the January Scramble – In the Circle/On the Green on Holes 3 and 12, and CTP on Holes 9 and 17. Rich urged everyone to contact him with different ideas for Special Events for future tournaments.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon discussed the new five member Handicap Committee. Wally also announced the Most Improved Golfer of the Quarter – Jim Jamison – and Most Improved Golfer of the Year – Sasha Bozic. Congratulations to these gentlemen for doing what we all aspire to do in golf – get better!

New Entertainment Director Mike Petersen noted that our first Away Tournament of the year is January 29 at Recreation Park. Only a few spots were still available so contact Mike if interested.

President Didier (filling in for Director Mark Ziegenhagen) announced the winners of the December Golfer the Month competition. Gross Golfer of the Month was Erick Simmons. There were no cards turned in for Net GOM. Someone could have had a nice plaque to mount over the fireplace. Or in the garage where my wife allowed me to put mine. Don noted that the Golfer of the Year Tournament for all of the Golfers of the Month would be held in March. Green fees for this event are paid by the Club.

New Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox noted that the demand for the January Tournament is larger than ever, emphasizing the need to sign up early for Tournaments. Brad vehemently reminded everyone that a key aspect of good sportsmanship and fair play is to RAKE THE BUNKERS! Brad discussed the format for the January Scramble.

New Business: There was no new business.

Old Business: Retiring Director Mike Vaughn had previously-won trophies to award to several members.

The $50 Drawing winner was Jim Zehmer.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

December membership is 495.

Greetings New and Old Members!

Well the Atmospheric River has hit So. Cal and what a wet month it was for sure! It’s showed with score cards turned in this first month of the year. So my job was very easy this month with only one Gross GOM and one Net GOM cards turned in for January. Congrats to Taylor Cameron with a gross 73 and Neal Janssen with a Net 72. Good job in the wet weather. Also my newsletter did not post last month (Operator error) so I needed to mention our December winner. We only had one card turned in for month of December gross and that was Erick Simmons with a gross 69. No Net cards turned in. Congrats to our GOMs.

So look out for announcements for our Golfer of the Year tournament coming end of March or beginning of April. Emails will be sent out to 2022 Gross and Net winners. Here is our winners for 2022:

Gross Net
January 70-Doug Jones 68-Walter Gordon
February 69-Jack Deangelis 68-Tony Glorioso
March No Winner 67-Paul Standish
April No Winner 68-Terry Fulford
May 70-David Rubin 65-Sheldon Drantch
June 70-Vern Followell 65-Kevin Boylan
July 71-Chris McMonigle 66-Ronald Maden
August 67-Connor Fehmel 64-Henry DeGraaff
Sept. 70-Bret Holloway 64-Eric Lishka
October 68-Sonny Nimkhum 62-Ron Searcy
Nov. 69-Beau Wesson 66-Andrew Pulido
Dec. 69-Erick Simmons No Winner

Good Luck to our Team Play members and see you at the Course!
Ziggy

I hope the first month of the new year was a good one for all of you, and the low handicaps that Santa promised you have come true. I just wanted to say hello as your new Special Assignments Director. I look forward to representing you the membership and the best Club in Southern California.

I do not currently have any assignments to report on at the moment, but Don assures me that’s going to change. It’s a bummer mother nature didn’t allow the Scramble to be played in January, but look forward to it on the 19th. Also thanks to Brad for all the work put forth in trying to make the Scramble a go.

The Big Rec. away tournament was a fun day of golf, it was a little challenging being breezy and a bit chilly. Congrats, Mike Petersen on your first away Tournament, you and supporting staff did great.

Lastly I would like to piggy back on what Cliff was saying last month on staying fresh on the knowledge of the rules. I went to the USGA.org web site (link is on the Home page) to do a bit of freshening up and I found a great tool on the website. If you go to the LEARN drop down on the home page you can take ruling quizzes. They have a range in difficulty depending on your knowledge level, but it was a bit of a humbling experience on a couple of quizzes. If you have a minute check it out and test your rules knowledge.

Hit ‘em Long and Straight,
Doug
Special Assignments

Well, this is not what I had envisioned with my first tournament but here we are, after reviewing our options with the Directors it has been decided to reschedule the Scramble to our February tournament day of the 19th. Everyone will keep their same tee time you had Sunday!

Select Drive will be canceled, priority tee times for the Select drive will be used for the Pat Harris St. Patrick's Day waltz. Believe me this was not an easy decision and we know it might not be what meets your calendar, if that is the case, we hope to see you in April for our 1 gross, 2 net event.

We Directors appreciate your understanding with this change, we hope to see you February 14th at our next general meeting!

Regards

Brad

First away trip in the books! The rain held off until everyone finished and we had a very large turn out. All the results for the Rec Park away event are posted. A lot of good playing in some very windy and tough conditions, congrats to all the winners!

Next away trip is at the end of March at Lakewood CC, sign ups will open for this event on the next meeting night.

See you all on the links!

Wow, already into February! We’ve had a few questions on when to post rounds that are not completed.

If you play 14 or more holes and stop playing, for valid reasons, you must post an 18 hole score. Your score for posting is your total score through the holes you played (less any adjustments for net double bogey) and net par for any hole you did not play. If you play 7-13 holes then you must post a 9 hole score. This would be your total score through the holes you played between 7 and 9 (less any adjustments for net double bogey) and net par for any hole you did not finish (can only be hole 8 and/or 9) through the first 9 holes.

Maximum Score for Handicap Posting Purposes (Net Double Bogey)

Example- A player with a Course Handicap of 11 receives one stroke on the first 11 allocated stroke holes. On our par-5 with a handicap of 6, the player’s net double bogey score (for posting purposes) is calculated as follows:

Par plus 2 strokes ( net double bogey) plus handicap strokes received equals total score for posting
5 + 2 + 1 = 8

I’m sure that’s clear as mud!

If you have difficulty understanding net double bogey, you can enter your hole-by-hole score in GHIN and it will automatically adjust for Net Double Bogey.

If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll be happen to explain.

Hit ‘‘em straight and hit ‘‘em Flush

Hello fellow golfers,

Things to know. There are 5 key Rules changes for 2023 and the following is just one example of those changes.

“Rule 9.3 Ball Moved by Natural Forces”

Generally, when a ball is at rest and then moves as a result of natural forces like wind or gravity, the ball is in play where it subsequently comes to rest. However, check out the NEW Exception 2, which deals with a ball that has been placed (say an outside influence like a dog or beverage cart moves it and you correctly replace it) or has been dropped (like from a Penalty Area or away from Ground Under Repair) and it comes to rest. If natural forces subsequently move that ball to another area of the course or out of bounds, the ball must be replaced. If it just moves to another part of the general area it is still in play, BUT if it rolls into a bunker or a penalty area or even out of bounds, it is your lucky day, as you are required to put it back where it was - FOR FREE! You don't get a tough bunker shot or any penalty, which was the the case before this year.

This is another great reason to use the recourses the USGA.ORG website has to offer concerning the Rules of Golf.

See you at El Dorado

Cliff Aichele

Former member and popular El Dorado bartender John Tamney passed away in his sleep on December 12th of last year. A memorial for John will be held on February 17th at 1:00 PM at All Souls Cemetery, 4400 Cherry Avenue in Long Beach. RIP, John. We also just learned on February 1st that long-time member Ruben Gonzales passed away after several recent health setbacks. Ruben was a class act (I worked for him in my 20s) and may have had the most recognizable laugh of any member in the history of our club! He will be laid to rest next to his wife Nancy and we will let you know if any service is to occur.

Treasurer's Report - January 31, 2023

Balance December 31, 2022		28,585.03
Income
Memberships		14,870.00
Rec Cash & Check Entries		630.00
Scramble & Rec CC Entries		20,699.00
Interest		0.55
Total January Income		36,279.55
Expenses
SCGA Dues	5,220.00
Member Drawing - Jim Zehmer	50.00
TP Scoreboards & Misc. Printing	34.77
BOD Meeting	55.00
USGA Membership	150.00
Rec Away Green & Cart Fees	4,462.00
Rec Away Prize Fund	2,040.00
Rec Away Skins and CTP	990.00
BOD Pictures and Nameplates	160.65
Calif Sec of State Fees	20.00
Credit Card Fees	617.54
Total Expenses	13,799.96
Balance on January 31, 2023		50,984.62

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

NOTES: The Club added $282 to the Rec Away Trip Prize Fund

With the rain-out of the January Scramble, we did not expend roughly $8,200 in green fees and $7,500 in scrip and special events winnings, so our ending balance is artificially high!

We made it thru a wet February and had our 1st Home Tournament of the year, February 5-man Scramble. Thursday Team Play finished their season 2-4 and Saturday Team 3-2.

March is here and we’re hoping for sun and fun as we tee it up! Mark “Ziggy” Ziegenhagen has organized the Golfer of the Year Tournament on March 11th. Daylight Saving Time starts March 12th. With that in mind, Ziggy will also run a 9-Hole Tournament and Omar Diaz will run a Putting Contest prior to the General Meeting on March 14th. Our Home Tournament is the Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz March 19th (see Brad Wilcox). Mike Peterson is running the Away Tournament at Lakewood GC on March 26th.

Webmaster Mark Miller will have a proposal to enhance Website protection. Mark will inform and have Q&A for the Membership. This expenditure must be approved by our General Membership in attendance.

If you attend the General Meeting, make sure you check-in with Brad Wilcox prior to the start of the meeting to be included the Priority Tee Times for April’s 1-Gross/2-Net Tournament!

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. The pre-meeting dinner included chicken fajitas, rice, refried beans, tortillas, salad, and cookies for dessert. At $7 quite a bargain.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. While there were some significant audio system issues with the microphone, swift action (a stiff kick) by the Board resolved the issue. There were 49 members in attendance including Past Presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Nick Zamora, Dick Scoville, Cliff Aichele, and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. The extremely low turnout was due to various factors: cold weather, Valentine’s Day, and the fact that tee times for the March Tournament were already assigned. New member Francisco Diaz introduced himself and was given the New Member spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Bob Livingstone had no report. This was the first time since 1987 that Livy did not grace us with a report.

Director Mike Montgomery sadly noted the death of former member John Tamney and longtime member Ruben Gonzales. A memorial service for Ruben will be held March 4 at All Souls Cemetery.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon discussed “net double bogey” and how it applies to your posted score. If you don’t understand how this works, contact Wally. He can’t wait to discuss it with you.

New Entertainment Director Mike Petersen noted that our next Away Tournament is March 26 at Lakewood. Limited starting times are available so sign up early. Mike also noted that awards for Away Tournaments are always paid in “points” and not American Golf scrip. These “points” are redeemable for anything any place in the world.

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced the winners of the Golfer of the Month competition for January. Gross Golfer of the Month was Taylor Cameron with a 73, while Net GOM honors went to Neal Janssen with a 72. Ziggy noted that the Golfer of the Year Tournament for all of the Golfers of the Month would be held on March 11. Green fees for this event are paid by the Club. The Quad Club Tournament (EL Do, Skylinks, Rec Park and Lakewood) will be held on April 29. Contact Omar if you’re interested in playing in this “bragging rights” event.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox discussed the format for February’s Scramble Tournament, the rescheduled rained out January event. Brad noted that the starting times originally determined for February would automatically be transferred to the March Tournament.

New Business: There was no new business.

Old Business: There was no old business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Michael Miller.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:25. Almost the shortest meeting on record. Thanks Livy.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

February membership is 499.

I am going to try to replace the irreplaceable Mike Vaughn, as I am taking over some of his duties like the Putting Contest before the General Meeting nights starting with this upcoming March meeting, starting at 5:30ish and going to 6:30. We will start with a count them all for March and $5 gets you 2 turns and remember the Club supplements the pot by $50 each month.

I am also doing the Quad Club tournament in April on the 29th. Quad Club is a tournament of the 4 local clubs: Lakewood, Skylinks, Recreation Park and El Dorado. This year Rec Park is the host as it was in line to host before the pandemic cancelled the event for the last couple of years. Each club has a member in the group, all will play to their handicaps and points are awarded on a 3-2-1-0 scale. 25 guys will represent each club and Mike has giving me his list of all those 3 points getters so I will be calling on you. We are still finalizing some details but I will be reaching out soon to get the El Do team ready to bring back the Cup.

I will also be doing the Flights Championship starting in August. For you new members that is a match play format where you play 1 round a month. The number of brackets will be determined by how many entries we get. 16 players per bracket. We had 5 brackets last year so I anticipate the same for this year as well, more details to follow in coming months.

As for Saturday Team Play we had a great year 'til we ran into that buzzsaw Los Verdes team. I was proud of our guys as we represented El Do very well. Got a lot of compliments for our hospitality and course conditions.

Speaking of course conditions a big shout out to Marc Lilleberg and his staff for doing a great job of keeping El Do is great shape, especially with all the rain we got in January, Thank You Marc. I want to say thanks to my team for playing there harts out for me this year, and looking forward to next year.

Good luck to everyone in March.
Omar Diaz

Hello Members!

Well, it has been an interesting couple of months of weather. Hopefully, the “Atmospheric River” of rain has passed and is ready for some Spring/Summer Golf. Our participation of GOM cards has been down but hopefully, that will change in the upcoming months. This past month we only had three cards turned in for GOM. We had one Gross card turned in and that winner is Beau Wesson with a 1 under par 71. He must have caught one of the sunny days last month! We had two NET cards turned in and the winner for February is Terry Fulford with a net 70. Now that he is not president anymore, his golf game is about to HEAT UP! Nice job guys!!

Our 2022 Golfer of the Year tournament is scheduled for March 11th with the first time starting at 8 am. All that have qualified have been sent an email. If you have not responded yet, please do so no later than Tuesday, March 7th as I will set tee times and groups the next day. Remember golf is paid for by the club, you pay for carts.

Daylight Saving starts early this year so we will start our 9-hole and putting tournaments before meeting on Tuesday, March 14th. Sign up sheet and $5 entry fee envelope will be with the starter. You are responsible for getting a tee time for the nine holes. You are only posting a front-nine score for the tournament. Please indicate your 6-month LI as well.

Lastly, we have the Quad Club Tournament against Lakewood, Rec Park, Skylinks, and El Dorado on April 29. Each squad consists of 25 golfers. Sign-ups will be on the website soon if you are interested in participating. I will have more information at this month's meeting.

Hit'em Straight and Long!
Ziggy

Well gents, February is in the books and the weather cooperated so Brad could do his first tournament. It was a great scramble tournament, Brad did a good job and I hope all the members who played in it enjoyed it as well.

We had awesome effort from our team play who made a good run at it, we came up a bit short but had a blast going for it. A thanks to our team captains (Bob Livingstone-Thursday & Omar Diaz-Saturday) you guys did a great job keeping it organized.

Now going into March I look forward to our St. Paddy’s Day Waltz tournament, as well as an away tournament at Lakewood GC. I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting on the 14th.

Hit ’em long and straight.

Doug
Special Assignments

What a great day it turned out to be, a little on the cold side but I think most of the full field of 180 members were prepared. Playing from the Combo tees helped along some low scores but the one that stands out to me was our low gross team of A Flight: Andrew Carmichael, Ian McCutcheon, Robert Lopez, Michael Petersen & Jeff Thomas, shooting 55 (-17). Wow!
A Flight Net Reed Wilson, Mike Berka, Jeff Eastwood, Clark Izu, Ryan Pettys 55
B Flight Gross Jim Cox, Eric Taylor, Aaron Woodard, Jim McDavid, William Behr 61
B Flight Net David Hunter, Jason Gonzales, Andrew Pulido, Pedro Garcia, Robert Jojola 51½
C Flight Gross Rodney Dickerson, Patrick Serge, Josh Hendrix, Stanton Faris, Tim Braswell 61
C Flight Net Scott Chamberlain, David Ahmadi, Mike Chamberlain, Jeff Allman, Mark Aichele 49

Next Home Tournament is the March 19th Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz. This is a Flighted Foursome Format with the same twist as last year to the Waltz. Normally the Waltz format is Best Ball on the 1st Hole, 2-Best Balls on the 2nd Hole and 3-Best Balls on the 3rd Hole, repeating this thru the round. This makes the Waltz into the Irish Jig by changing the format to Best Ball on the six hardest holes, 2-Best Balls on Hole Handicaps 7-12 and 3-Best Balls on the six easiest holes. The Scorecards will be clearly marked showing how many balls to count on each hole. Gross and Net will count as the team score. We will be playing the Combo Tees at your full handicap or assigned handicap, whichever is lower. Format and rules will be on the back of the Official Scorecard.

Sign Ups for the April 16th 1-Gross/2-Net will open during the General Meeting March 14th. As always, check-in with me prior to the start of the meeting to make sure you are included in the ”Priority Times”. Names will be called from the random drawing that’s closed once the meeting starts, if you're late to the meeting you are out of luck so come early and check in with me!

Just a note on Pace of Play:
We want you to always be aware of groups ahead of you as well as behind no matter what hole you're on. If you are waiting to hit your tee shot because of the group ahead, you are Keeping Up. If you are playing a par 4 and the group ahead of you is on the green, you are Behind. Pick up your Pace.

Regards,
Brad Wilcox

First home tournament is in the books! Fortunately, the weather cooperated and the course has benefited greatly from the recent rain.

We had a tremendous number of Special Event winners this go-around. Maybe a historical high? 28 people cashed in A flight, 20 in B flight and 17 in C flight. Lesson learned - make sure that the par 3 circles are much smaller from now on.

The winners are listed on our website so I won’t bother to list them here. Instead I will recognize a couple of noteworthy players:

Hole #9 – Closest to the Pin
A. First place goes to DJ Dortch with an amazing shot – 4’ 10”.
B. There was tie for first place in B flight between Vern Cannon and Joseph Grubic – 22’ 2”.
C. Anthony Coyne took first place – 31’ 11”.

Hole #17 – Closest to the Pin
A. First place goes to Justin McCullough at 5’ 6”.
B. Timothy Hodge hit a great shot – 4' 6”. That’s close to hole in one territory.
C. Brian Ball took first place – 16’ 9”.

I also want to recognize Pablo Rubio and Jeff Thomas who cashed on 3 of the 4 events. Nicely done guys.

A couple of final notes:
1. Make sure you know what Flight you are in. Brad sends out the list to all tournament attendees the night before the tournament and there is also a list at the First Tee on tournament day.
2. Write legibly on the popsicles.
3. Starting on April 1, anything left in the box from January 2023 or earlier will get donated to the Christmas prize fund.
4. The Special Events for April will be Gross Skins, Up Livy’s Creek and CTP for Hole No. 3.

See you at the blue box,
Rich

The shortest month is in the books, the Super Bowl didn't disappoint and Daylight Saving begins in just over a week! Welcome to March and let the madness begin. Away trip this month is on Sunday March 26th at Los Verdes. Please sign up if you haven't already, as of the last day of February we had 69 signed up for 60 spots, so it goes without saying I'll be contacting Los Verdes to add more times. My goal is to always try to accommodate as many golfers as possible and we're on track for the second away tournament in row going over the scheduled spots! Just goes to show how great this Men's Club is and the participation is second to none! If anyone has any questions please feel free to reach out to me anytime.

Remember if your Full Swing sucks go with the Half Swing!
Michael Petersen

Here we are in March and the sun is shining bright …..NOT! Well, at least the rain has slowed down a bit. Handicaps…..well, nothing has changed in the handicap arena. Most guys post their scores…some guys don’t. Quite a few members don’t understand net double bogey. Members think they should shoot their handicap every time they play…WRONG. Only 1 time in 5 rounds should your shoot your handicap. On AVERAGE, when you play golf, you should shoot about 3 strokes above your handicap. So if you have a 10 handicap index, when you play a golf course with a par 72, you will most likely shoot an 85.

That’s all folks!!!

Hit ‘em straight and hit ‘em flush!!!

Greetings fellow golfers. The USGA is going to be having two online Rules of Golf seminars that are open to anyone with an interest and that belong to an SCGA (or other Regional Golf Association) Club. One covers "Free Relief" like cart paths, temporary water and ground under repair, and will take place on Wednesday, March 15, at 2:30 PM Pacific Time. The other covers "Penalty Relief" such as penalty areas, and unplayable balls and that will be on Wednesday, March 22 at Noon, Pacific Time. There is no fee to sign up, and they are limited to the first 1,000 people who register. A great way - and a small commitment of time - to get better at the Rules of Golf.

The links to register are displayed at the top of the Home page.

Thanks,
Cliff

Treasurer's Report - February 28, 2023

Balance January 31, 2023		50,984.62
Income
Member Dues		7,150.00
Scramble Cash & Check Entries		1,566.00
Scramble Credit Card Entries		1,169.00
Hole In One Insurance		40.00
Interest		0.78
Total February Income		9,925.78
Expenses
Scramble Green Fees	8,274.75
Scramble Special Events	3,160.00
Scramble Scrip	4,300.00
Scramble Refunds	1,594.00
BOD Meeting	75.00
GOM Trophies	118.85
Tax Prep Fee	110.00
SCGA Dues	2,196.00
Printing Hard Card and Schedule	505.44
Printing Copies and TP Scoreboards	15.93
Member Drawing - Michael Miller	50.00
Credit Card Fees	620.73
Stamps	12.60
Total February Expenses	21,033.30
Balance on February 28, 2023		39,877.10

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

NOTES: The Club added $115 to the Scramble Prize Fund

Look for a proposal at the March General Meeting to
upgrade our website to enhance fraud protections on credit
card transactions.

I am writing this newsletter from Baja Sur Mexico while having some ice cold Pacificos with intermittent shots of tequila!

March is in the books and spring is in the air or is that rain?! The Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz was played thru the Lakes at Eldo. I was looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but no such luck. Much credit to Marc Lilleberg for getting the course into playable condition for the tournament. Without his efforts and his crew, it would have been a miserable day. Best news is my group did not finish DFL, but we were close! The Away Tournament at Los Verdes was a mostly sunny day with dry course conditions, albeit cold and breezy.

Coming up on April 16th is 1-Gross/2-Net Tournament. If you haven’t signed up you are late to the game! April 29th is the Quad Club Tournament. You can Sign-Up online. Mark Ziggy and Omar will be getting our Team ready to bring home Da Cup! May 7th we have an Away Tournament at Knollwood. It’s our first trip there and I’m told it is a fun course. Sign-Up and enjoy the day!

Hope to see you all at the General Meeting on Tuesday April 11th in the Big White Tent.

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday March 14, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Mens Golf Club was held in the big white tent. The pre-meeting dinner included chicken enchiladas, rice, beans, chips and salsa, which is basic comfort food in Southern California. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 90 members in attendance including Past Presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. There were five new members present: Tom Gutierrez, Joe Giacone, Marc Marini, Patrick Johnson, and Jeff Little. The five introduced themselves and were given the New Member Spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Bob Livingstone noted the performance of three of our more competitive members in a recent SCGA Qualifying Event – Kevin Melbrech (who qualified and will play in early April at Terra Lago), Steve Giroux and Livy himself. Fortunately Steve and Livy avoided injury while representing our Club. Bob also discussed security fraud issues and made a motion that the membership approve budgeting up to $2,000 per year to upgrade our website hosting which will enhance our sign-up and payment processes to ensure safety. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously by vote.

Special Events Director Rich Koskela noted that 2/3 of all participants cashed in the February Scramble Tournament. Awesome! Rich reminded everyone to write their name on the proper green side placard for your flight for Special Events such as Closest to the Pin, etc. There’s a list at the first tee identifying Flight assignments.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon discussed how Tournament performance may now affect your handicap not just at ELDo Tournaments but your overall SCGA handicap.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen noted that our next Away Tournament will be on March 26 as scheduled but will be moved from Lakewood to Los Verdes. It’s a much more scenic course.

Director Omar Diaz noted that since the pre-meeting Putting Tournament was rained out today, the purse will be added to next month’s Putting Tournament. Omar summarized the Saturday Team Play season.

Director Ziegenhagen announced the Golfer of the Month winners for February. Gross GOM honors went to Beau Wesson with a 71, while Net GOM was Terry Fulford with a nice 70. Good job guys. Ziggy announced that since the Golfer of the Year Tournament was rained out, it was rescheduled for April 1. He also explained basics of the 9 Hole Pre-Meeting Tournament (which was also rained out today but will resume next month). Ziggy is also in charge of our team for the Quad Club Tournament on April 29 at Rec Park. If you’re interested sign up on the Website.

President Didier discussed pace of play concerns and announced that a committee would be formed to look at all aspects of the issue and come up with recommendations to improve the tournament experience for all members. Stay tuned. Don also gave a shout out to Steve Cook, attending his first meeting in quite a while as he continues his recovery from Covid.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox described the format for the upcoming Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz. Brad reminded everyone to pay your entry fee as soon as you get your priority tee time and get all your team members to do the same. Brad noted that we will now be paying 1st and 2nd place Gross and Net in all Home and Away Tournaments.

New Business: A show of hands indicated that the Board should look into the possibility of utilizing Zelle (the cash app that is used by our bank) for making cash payments for entry fees as an alternative to using credit cards.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Dave Rubin, the 22nd name called.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:40

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

March membership is 504.

Well it looks like we have some decent weather in our forecast finally. The weather should be good for the supercharged putting contest on April 11th as we are double funding the putting contest since last month's rain out. Still will be count them all $5 gets you 2 turns. See you at the meeting and practice your putting.
Good Luck to everyone in April.

Omar Diaz

Hello Members!

Welcome to another month of wet and sloppy golf. But this didn’t stop some of our members this month from posting some good scores. We basically had a month of “pick and lick” on the golf course but that’s what the golf gods allowed us to do at The DO! This month we had 4 Gross cards and 1 Net card turned in for GOM. For the Gross Flight, we had a tie breaker between Omar Diaz and John Hasselman. Both players shot 69. So we had to go to the “card off” starting with their back nine score. Omar shot 36 on the back nine with John shooting 33 on his back nine. Congrats to John for being March Gross GOM. Honorable mention to Sasha Bozic with a Gross 70. In our Net category, Sheldon Drantch was only card turned in this month with a Net 68. Congrats to both members!

We also had our 2022 Golfer of the Year tournament held on April 1st. We had to postpone this event earlier in March due to rain. On this day, the sun was out but course was still wet. We had 10 Gross and 9 Net Golfers for this year's competition. The Gross flight came down to a 3 man race in the Lead group. Dave Rubin, Sonny Nimkhum and Connor Fehmel were all within one stroke of each other after the front nine. But it was Dave Rubin who prevailed at the end carding a 1-under par 71 in some wet and sloppy conditions. Sonny and Connor finished at even par 72. Congrats to Dave for winning his 3rd GOY in a row and his 5th title since 2001. Our Net side had some excitement as well. Andrew Pulido set the pace early carding a Net 73 edging out Walter Gordon (net 74) in their lead group. But Andrew had to wait for the final two groups to finish. The second group came in and Andrew still had his lead. But he realized there were some crafty veterans in the last group and sure enough, Past President Terry Fulford came in like a freight train and edged out Andrew with a Net 72. This is Terry’s first title and is looking to repeat in 2023! Congrats to all of our participants and look forward to seeing you all play for the coveted GOY trophy next year.

Don’t forget to turn cards in with all the necessary info, to be eligible. Don’t forget that I provide a sheet next to the computer in pro shop. 9 hole tournament this month on Meeting Day. Last months club stipend rolled over to this month as well because of rain out. Quad Club entry has closed and our 25 man roster will be chosen soon. Look for announcements at meeting.
Thanks to all!
Ziggy

Well another month that seems to have just flew by, or maybe that’s because St. Patrick's day was involved and I don't remember the entire month. Either way we had two tournaments that went well, thanks to mother nature taking a break for us to get them in. Looking forward to the tournament on APRIL 16TH (1GROSS/2NET) and hopefully the course has a chance to dry out a bit before then.

As announced at last meeting we have formed a committee of four board members to address issues with slow play. I am happy to say that I am on that committee and am very passionate in trying to come up with solutions to eliminate the struggles of having to rush/run at the end of the round to make into 18th hole in time. I would also like to invite anyone with ideas/solutions that they may have, to feel free to tell me what they are, we are open to hear any and all ideas that may assist us in solving this problem.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the next General meeting!

Hit 'em Long & Straight

Special Assignments
Doug

I feel like we swam through March lets hope for a dryer April!! I would like to thank superintendent Marc Lilleberg and his crew for having the course in playing condition under very adverse weather, well done. The Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz is in the books. We had 186 players, 48 groups, and everyone finished before dark. The last group finished in 4 hours 50 minutes! I think our modified Local rules, provided by Rules Committee, helped everyone with the pace of play under very wet/high grass conditions. Several good rounds were posted highlighted by John Torpey with Net 64! Congrats John!

Flight Winners:
A Flight Gross (141) Dan Cormack, Terry Cormack, David Rubin, Conner Whitcomb. Well played gentlemen!
A Flight Net (131) Bret Holloway, Randall Kervin, Timothy Mincarelli, John Suttie.
B Flight Gross (151) Dennis Cartwright, Michael Dugan, John Jameson, Bryan McMahon.
B Flight Net (128) Jeff Eastwood, Michael Christiansen, Dennis Smith, Reed Wilson
C Flight Gross (154) Tim Braswell, Jesse Duncan, Alex Gonzales, Blind Draw
C Flight Net (127) Sheldon Drantch, Dave Garcia, Richard Koskela, Michael Pircher
Complete results are posted on the website.

Next up is April 10th 1-Gross/2-Net Tournament. Room for 220 members register if you haven’t yet, Sign Ups close on 4/5.

May 14-15 is our Member-Member Tournament. Sign Ups will open April 11th so find a partner and register for this 2 day event! The Club subsidizes the Prize Fund for this Tournament so please remember there is a 3 Event Qualifier. This means you must have played in 3 Events in the previous 12 months. Events include monthly tournaments (home and away), Team Play and Flights. If you don’t qualify you will not be able to register for this Event.

See you at the Meeting!
Brad

Another fun tournament is in the books. Although the weather wasn’t perfect, at least we didn’t get hit with one of those new-fangled atmospheric rivers. Maybe the meteorologists in the Club can explain that term to me.

The overcast and misty weather certainly didn’t stop a few members from playing well. Hats off to John Hasselman and Omar Diaz for winning the newly instituted low gross prizes. Similarly John Torpey and Sheldon Drantch won the new low net prizes. A special thanks to Sheldon for carrying our foursome all day long.

Omar was the big Special Events winner this month, but Robbie Carroll wasn’t far behind. Good job guys. See the website for a complete listing of the winners.

Next month is the 1 Gross/2 Net tournament. Special Events include Gross Skins, Up Livy’s Creek and CTP on Hole No. 3.

See you at the blue box,
Rich

What an amazing away tournament at Lakewood we just completed last weekend! Did I say Lakewood, Oops I meant Los Verdes. What an amazing away tournament at Los Verdes! The weather was halfway decent, I mean it didn’t even rain so that’s unusual. All the winners are posted on the website. I also found out they punched the greens at Los Verdes the day after we played, so amazing timing on that!

Next Away Tournament is at Knollwood Country Club in Granada Hills on Sunday May 7th. Cost is $90 and includes cart. The event will be up on the site and open for registration in the next couple of days, sign up early to reserve your spot. First tee time is 10am and we have reserved 15 tee times (60 Golfers) for the event but if the demand is over that amount, we can add more tee times to accommodate the Club’s needs. Let’s keep the string of away tournaments going over the scheduled spots!

Remember if your Full Swing sucks go with the Half Swing!
Michael Petersen

With all this weather there is still a lot of golf being played by our members. Nice to have a very active club.

I’ll start this month off with the Most Improved Golfer of the quarter:

Congratulations to Trevine Felsinger who improved from 16.8 to 14.6… factor of 1.083. Wins $50.00!!!!!
Honorable mention:
John Yeakel 16.5-14.7. Factor of 1.067
Jerry Gibbs. 13,8-12.4. Factor of 1.057

I was a little disappointed with our last tournament. We had 5 guys post their own score when they were not supposed to. So either we aren’t doing a good job in informing everyone of the posting guidelines or we have guys that just don’t know how to follow the rules. Another issue with these individuals that posted their own score, was all but 1 posted a higher score than they should have. If we extend that out to all members, that means 400 of our 500 members do not understand posting rules. Net double bogey is a little difficult to understand, so we are looking at having EVERYONE post their own score in future tournaments until everyone can learn how to correctly post scores. This will make a lot of work for the Handicap Committee, but if we don’t, that would mean that most non-tournament scores will be posted too high and our members handicaps will be inflated to what they should be, until our members understand net double bogey. As always, you will be informed of posting guidelines for future tournaments.

Reminder, posting incorrect scores is subject to penalty rounds being posted to your account.

Note: If you don’t understand net double bogey posting rules, you can enter your hole-by-hole score through GHIN and it will auto-correct for you and you can learn as your scores get posted correctly.

Hit ‘em straight, and hit ‘em flush!

And post the right score!!!

The USGA held 2 rules webinars in April. The first was on “FREE RELIEF” and the second was on “PENALTY RELIEF.” Hopefully some of you had the opportunity to attend. These webinars were very well done and super informative. It’s always to your advantage to know the available options when seeking relief. I also found out during the webinars that there is a USGA RULES OF GOLF App you can download to your smartphone. This App is very intuitive and can be utilized during play.

Follow the rules and will see you on the course.

Cliff Aichele
Rules Chairman

On the front page of the Club Website is a link to an invitation to hear about some of the plans that the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation, USGA and the Los Angeles Country Club have for leaving a community-wide philanthropic legacy of junior golf programs after the US Open is completed. The informational event will take place from 11AM to 1PM on April 21st at Lakewood GC with light appetizers and a chance to take your picture with the US Open Trophy. This is strictly an informational event, with no financial commitment, but the Club wanted our members to know that it is happening in our area.

Treasurer's Report - March 31, 2023

Balance February 28, 2023		39,877.10
Income
Waltz Cash & Check Entries		1,893.00
Los Verdes Away Cash & Check Entries		540.00
Waltz & LV Credit Card Entries		23,244.00
Interest		0.93
Hole In One Entries		5.00
Memberships		4,150.00
Total April Income		29,832.93
Expenses
Waltz Green Fees	8,695.50
Waltz Special Events	3,330.00
Waltz Scrip	4,425.00
Waltz Refunds	303.25
Los Verdes Green Fees	6,436.00
Los Verdes Team/Indy Winnings	1,295.00
Los Verdes Special Events	632.00
Los Verdes Refunds	234.00
SCGA Dues	1,296.00
9-hole and Putting Subsidies	50.00
BOD Meeting	69.00
Director Shirts	740.77
Copies	6.00
PO Box One Year Rental	294.00
Member Drawing - D. Rubin	50.00
Credit Card Fees	57.22
GOM Trophies	80.96
Memorial Trees - Ruben Gonzales	95.99
Webhosting Upgrade - 3 years	3,762.79
Total April Expenses	31,853.48
Balance on March 31, 2023		37,856.55

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

Notes:
- Because of rain, $50 Putting and 9-Hole will carry over to April
- The Club added $250 for low gross and low net payouts in the Waltz
and Los Verdes as well as $77 to the Waltz
- The Club voted to spend up to $2,000 per year for an enhanced web
hosting service for better credit card protections. We got a great
deal by paying for 3 years in advance

April has passed and 1-Gross/2-Net Tournament and Quad Club Tournament are in the books. Next up is an Away Tournament at Knollwood on May 7th followed by our Member-Member Tournament May 20-21. If you have not signed up, please find a partner and do so ASAP! Remember you must have played in at least 3 Events in the past 12 months to enter the Member-Member Tournament.

Just around the corner we have the Blind Draw Tournament on June 17th. The Blind Draw also serves as the 1st Round of our Club Championship. Rounds 2 & 3 will be June 24-25. If you are playing in the Club Championship you must Sign-Up and pay for these Events separately. Brad Wilcox will be running the Blind Draw and Doug Balfour is running the Club Championship. Let’s make this year’s Club Championship our biggest and best ever! Signups will open at the General Meeting on Tuesday, May 9th in the Big White Tent. See you there!

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. The Saint Patrick’s Day themed pre-meeting dinner included corned beef, carrots and cabbage. Must be a supply chain issue with potatoes. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier (recently returned from one of his many Mexican vacations) who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 85 members in attendance including Past Presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Tom Retterath, Cliff Aichele, Nick Zamora and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. There were three new members present: Justin Tisdale, Patrick Tom and Pericles Pappas. The three introduced themselves and were given the New Member Spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Bob Livingstone discussed the performance of three of our more competitive members in a recent SCGA Senior Event – Kevin Melbrech, Mel Collins and Ryan Boyker. Bob noted that none of the three suffered serious injury during the event.

Director Cliff Aichele reported that the USGA Rules App is a very good source of information if you have any questions regarding the rules of golf. Cliff noted that the Board has adopted a new Local Rule : if your scorecard is not signed by two people, the penalty now is two strokes. Previously the penalty had been disqualification.

Special Events Director Rich Koskela reported that 93 out of 188 participants cashed in the March Tournament. Rich announced the Low Gross and Low Net winners from the March Tournament and noted the Special Events for the April Tournament.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon announced that the Most Improved Golfer for the 1st Quarter is Trevine Felsinger. Wally reminded everyone to post your score after every round, including Tournament rounds. Adjust for Net Double Bogey and post the same day that you play.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen noted that our next Away Tournament is May 7 at Knollwood. Sign up soon as we only have 60 spots available.

Director Omar Diaz noted that due to the rain-out last month and the Board’s decision to augment the pot, there were 295 “points” available for the Putting Contest this month. First place was a tie between Corey Smith (who it seems is always in the top 3 in this event) and Andrew Pulido.

Director Ziegenhagen announced the Golfer of the Month winners for March. Gross GOM honors went to John Hasselman while Net honors went to Sheldon Drantch. Golfer of the Year awards were taken by Dave Rubin (Gross) and Terry Fulford (Net). The pre-meeting 9 Hole Tournament had 20 players entered, with Sasha Bozic coming in first and Rich Koskela finishing second. Ziggy reminded us that the Quad Club is scheduled for April 29 at Rec Park.

Director Doug Balfour discussed the “Speed of Play” committee that has been established to, among other things, eliminate “the Run” and the end of a round to avoid slow play penalty strokes. See Doug’s article below. If you have any suggestions please feel free to contact Doug or any Board member.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox gave a huge “atta boy” to Marc Lilleberg and his crew for getting the course in good enough shape after our torrential rains that the March Tournament was held as planned. We’re really lucky to have Marc here. Brad briefly discussed the format for the April Tournament and reminded everyone to post your own score – properly. Sign-ups for the May Member-Member Tournament are now open. Brad also emphasized the need to keep up with the group ahead of you – on every hole.

New Business: There was no New Business.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Jack Witherspoon.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

April Membership is 506.

Upcoming putting contest will be aces only before the next general meeting. So get your putting stroke together guys. And in the next month or two I will start taking entries for Flights Championship which starts in September. See you at the meeting.

Omar Diaz

Hello Members!

Welcome to May! Hopefully the rain is behind us and we get many days of golf and sun. Our GOM was another slow month of cards turned in, with a total of three. Our Gross GOM is Tim Heffern. Tim shot a nice 33-36=69 during the Men’s Club Tournament and parlayed it into GOM for April. Good shooting Tim. Our Net GOM entered both Gross and Net ( yes you have that option). Daniel Kletke shot a nice 33-38=71 for a Net 69 also played during April Men’s Club Tournament. Congrats to both golfers!

The Quad Club was played at Rec Park on April 29. We entered the day having the least amount of Gross strokes. We had a total of 144 strokes, Rec Park 177, Skylinks 246 and Lakewood 252. Our guys shot well and came down to the last groups to see who the winner would be this year. Our last two players got 3 points each but ultimately was not enough as we lost by one point. Rec Park came out on top edging us out. Rec Park 45, El Do 44, Lakewood 31 and Skylinks 30. Some highlights for the day. Sasha Bozic shot Gross 69 and Alex Resurreccion (our pro for the day) shot 70. Marc Lilliberg shot Net 71, Stan Faris and Aaron Woodard Net 73 and Greg Marks Net 74. We had seven 3 point winners. Sasha Bozic, Marc Lilliberg, Stan Faris, Aaron Woodard, Greg Marks, Nick Zamora and yours truly Mark Ziegenhagen. Side Pot winners listed on Website. Quad Club will be played at Lakewood next year and Eldorado in 2025. Thanks to all that participated!

Remember 9 hole tournament on day of meeting. Must play with member. Must post 9 or 18 hole score. All scorecards must be turned in at the end to be eligible. Pay your 5 duckets to enter with current month handicap. Please indicate tees played.
Putting Tournament as well with Omar Diaz. Look forward to the Member-Member this month on May 20-21. Have a great month!

Go Long and Straight!
Ziggy

I talked about it at last meeting, The Board of Directors have formed a slow play committee and it consists of four Directors. Brad Wilcox, Mike Montgomery, Walter “Wally” Gordon and myself. We have met several times prior to the last tournament to identify the reasons for Slow Play and how to avoid the “RUN” toward the end of a tournament. These are some of the things we came up with/did different for the last tournament.

The first way towards keeping pace is being on the First Tee Box on Time, if you have a 10am Tee Time that does not mean to get to the first tee at 10. You need to be at the first Tee 10 minutes prior to your Tee Time. That allows you the time to get your score card, pick-up any winnings you may have and get ready to tee off on your Tee Time.

Second: with #1 being Cart Path Only we have and continue to have a spotter on the first hole to help find tee shots and maintain pace.

Third: there were several Directors that drove around periodically to check on slow play and give groups a reminder if they might be out of position.

Fourth: with the assistance of Eldorado GC there is an effort to improve the the amount of time it takes to get refreshments at the turn (Be sure to call in an order a head of time if its not off the outside grill). As well as the Beverage Cart will be getting updated technology witch will improve the amount of time it takes per transaction when paying with a credit card.

Lastly, we identified the Major reasons groups get out of position or have Slow Play. The biggest cause of Slow Play is Team Efficiency. This consist of many things that may only seem like it waist a few seconds here and there per hole, but if you multiply it by 4 players and 18 holes it adds up fast. Just to list a few, not being ready to hit when its your turn (have your yardage and club selection ready when it’s time for you to hit), if sharing a cart drop one player off to hit while the other goes to there ball, play ready golf, keep aware of your groups position early on (don’t wait until 13 or 14), tell stories after you hit the ball, pay attention to were your partners shot goes.

If your playing with your normal group, playing with new members to you or new to the club it is everyone's responsibility to help each other keep pace. These are just some of many things that attribute to Team Efficiency Slow Play.

The feed back from the last tournament about the pace of play was very positive. We want everyone to enjoy the tournaments and have a great time, we are out here to have fun while playing a round of golf in a reasonable time frame. If anyone has any suggestions they would like to share please feel free to do so. You can email me or find me after the meeting.

Swing Free and Easy,
Doug Balfour

Well what a nice change to finally play in some dryer conditions, again superintendent Lilleberg and his staff did a great job getting the rough down to size. Our 1 Gross/ 2 Net can be one of our more challenging formats of the year in more ways than one, first off counting three out of four balls can bring some big numbers and this year was no different. Pace of play was again pretty good, last group was just under 4:50 for 52 groups and only 1 group was penalized 2 strokes for slow play. We also used a NEW rule for not having 2 signatures on the scorecard, used to be DQ, now changed to 2 stroke penalty by the Board as of last month. Then to validate scores cards by hand, validating winners took awhile so big thank you to our President for helping me get that all in order. My eyes are still crossed.


Want to also take a moment to talk about scoring, score card vs. posting your score. It's clear to me that there are still some of us that do not understand how to do both!! Let's start with score card, this one is pretty straight forward if you get 9 on the first hole at Eldo write 9 on the scorecard. Score Posting (In GHIN) is where we get confused, if that 9 is made by someone of index stroke allocation of 0-4 most they can take is 6x (net double bogey), if index 5-22 most they can take is 7x (net double bogey), finally 23-40 most they can take is 8x (net double bogey). This is really a Com’on Man, get it right!!!

Flight Winners:
A flight - 1st Jake Amado, Tony Castaneda, Tim Heffern, Jim Jamison 203
B flight - 1st Mark Baldwin, Aaron Debreceni, Daniel Kletke, Ryan Silbaugh 207
C flight - 1st Garrett Marks, Greg Marks, Ryan Strong, Blind Draw 214
This Blind Draw guy always cashes!!!

Next up May 20-21 is our Member-Member Tournament. Sign Ups will open April 11th so find a partner and register for this 2 day event! The Club subsidizes the Prize Fund for this Tournament so please remember there is a 3 Event Qualifier. This means you must have played in 3 Events in the previous 12 months. Events include monthly tournaments (home and away), Team Play and Flights. If you don’t qualify you will not be able to register for this Event. There will be 4 Flights for the Member-Member Tournament. A Flight, B Flight, C Flight and Gap 8 Flight for partners with a handicap differential of 8 or more.

We will be having a Pairing Party in the El Dorado bar and restaurant Friday evening May 19th from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Mike Petersen will running the Horse Race at the Pairings Party. If you would like to place a wager on you and your partner or any other Team, this is your only opportunity to do so. Mike will have wagering slips to fill out your bet(s). We will have a board showing each Member-Member Team and each team will have a number assigned. Simply indicate the Team Number and your wager amount on the slip provided. Turn in your slip and cash to Mike. Please be sure to initial or sign the slip before you turn it in!


Sign ups for Sat-Jun 17 Blind Draw Partners start meeting night May 9th make sure to come to get your Priority Tee Time. If you are planning on playing in our 2023 Club Championship you must participate in Blind Draw Partners as this will be your first round score and set pairings for round two. I will be taking attendance starting at 6:15. Once the meeting starts at 7:00 sharp attendance closes so please respect the meeting, don’t come up and ask to be added if the meeting has started!!

See you at the Meeting, come find me!
Brad

Another April 1 Gross/2 Net tournament is in the books. Plenty of golfers won special event cash despite the difficulty of the format. A few people turned in exceptional performances and are recognized below.

A Flight: The big winner of the tournament was Chris Mcmonigle with the only payable gross skin in A flight. Notice I said payable. There was another gross skin in A flight but the golfer in question didn’t enter that special event. So instead of splitting the purse, there will be $540 in the Blue Box waiting for Chris. Good work Chris! Tim Heffern also had a great tournament. He won low tournament gross with a 69 and cashed on Livy’s Creek. Good work Tim.

B Flight: The big winners in B flight were Sheldon Drantch, Stan Faris, Tony Glorioso and Jeff Miller. $140 each is waiting for you in the blue box so be sure to attend the next meeting. A special congrats to Stan for getting an eagle on Hole No. 6.

C Flight: The second biggest winner of the tournament was Wayne Brown with the only gross skin in C flight. $510 is waiting for you Wayne. Nice shooting!

Next month is the two-day Member-Member tournament. Gross Skins and Closest to the Pin events will be held on both days. North of Willow on Saturday and Down the Stretch on Sunday will also be included. There will be plenty of cashing opportunities between the Special Events and the club-funded Low Gross and Low Net prizes. I'm looking forward to a fun two days of golf.

See you at the Blue Box.
Rich

Sunday is the away event at Knollwood Country Club in Granada Hills, first tee time is 10am, see you all there.

The Lakewood away event for July is now open for signups on the website.

The weekender at Sycuan Resort & Casino with Golf at Singing Hills is now open for sign ups. This is going to be a great trip! Your $475 Entry fee includes 2 Rounds of golf with Cart, 2 Night Hotel (Friday & Saturday Night) stay in a Deluxe Room at the now, no longer dry, Sycuan Resort & Casino, plus prize pool fund for both rounds. Again, I want to reiterate NOT DRY, they serve Alcohol on the Casino Floor, Bars and Restaurants at Sycuan Resort & Casino. Can I get a Hallelujah, Amen! This event is taking place Saturday September 23rd & Sunday September 24th. Sign up as early as possible, I know this is going to be a great outing and is a terrific deal for a weekend golf get-away of fun with the boys!

Lastly, I’ll be running a horse race for the Member/Member event later this month. There will be a cocktail pairings party Friday, May 19th, starts at 6pm! This is where you can place your bets on your favorite teams. Bring your spouse if you want. Great time to mingle with Club Members before the event and bet on your favorite horses!

Remember if your Full Swing sucks go with the Half Swing!
Michael Petersen

We’ll, from the results of our last tournament, it seems that a large percent of our members don’t understand:
- How to write down their scores on a SCORECARD
- When they are required to post scores to GHIN
- Net double bogey and how to adjust when posting to GHIN

We had almost 50 players post incorrectly. So far, we've given out 37 penalty rounds and there could be more since we still have 10 guys that have not posted their tournament score yet, even after we've sent them multiple notices.

If you have any questions on how to complete a scorecard or questions on posting to GHIN, please ask any Director!
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Now I have some ** FREE ** Information for you!

I have used range finders, GPS's, and Golf Buddy devices for sale to El Dorado Men's Club Members. Everything under $50.00. You can catch me anytime or at the General Meeting on May 2.

Hit 'em Straight and hit 'em Flush!!

I thought you might like to know, what is a “Loose Impediment” as related to:

Rule 15 - Relief from Loose Impediments and Movable Obstructions (Including Ball or Ball-Marker Helping or Interfering with Play) and 15.1 Loose Impediments.

I pulled the below definition right off the USGA website. I suggest you read Rule 15 in its entirety to have a complete understanding of the Rule and relief options.

Loose Impediment
Any unattached natural object such as:
• Stones, loose grass, leaves, branches, and sticks,
• Dead animals and animal waste,
• Worms, insects and similar animals that can be removed easily, and the mounds or webs they build (such as worm casts and ant hills), and
• Clumps of compacted soil (including aeration plugs).
Such natural objects are not loose if they are:
• Attached or growing,
• Solidly embedded in the ground (that is, cannot be picked out easily), or
• Sticking to the ball.
Special cases:
• Sand and Loose Soil are not loose impediments (this does not include a mound built by a worm, insect or similar animal).
• Dew, Frost and Water are not loose impediments.
• Snow and Natural Ice (other than frost) are either loose impediments or, when on the ground, temporary water, at the player’s option.
• Spider Webs are loose impediments even though they are attached to another object.
• Live Insect on a Ball is a loose impediment.

Keep your eye on the ball and see ya at the Do.

Cliff Aichele
Rules Chairman

Treasurer's Report - April 30, 2023

Balance March 31, 2023		37,856.55
Income
Member Dues		3,040.00
April 1Gr/2Net and Quad Cash Entries		2,339.00
Director Outing Entries		7,795.00
April 1Gr/2Net and Quad CC Entries		19,315.00
Interest		0.98
Total March Income		32,489.98
Expenses
March BOD Mtg.	85.00
Director Stipends - 3 non-Outing attendees	1,200.00
Director Trip Costs
	12,191.26
Q1 Most Improved - Felsinger	50.00
Member Dues to SCGA	936.00
Envelopes	12.12
Stamps	12.60
Meeting Member Drawing - J. Witherspoon	50.00
Credit Card Fees	702.09
Check Printing	156.31
9-hole Subsidy	100.00
Putting Subsidy	50.00
April 1Gr/2Net Green Fees	9,490.25
April 1Gr/2Net Scrip	4,565.00
April 1Gr/2Net Special Events	3,265.00
April 1Gr/2Net Refunds	310.00
Quad Green Fees	1,122.00
Quad Side Pots	480.00
Quad Refunds	130.00
GOY Green Fees	888.25
GOY Trophies	206.81
GOM Trophies	80.96
Total March Expenses	36,083.65
Balance on April 30, 2023		34,262.88

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

NOTES:

The Club gives a $400 stipend to each Director and the Webmaster.
The Directors go on a weekender with other members they are
recruiting for Board service.

With rain outs on March meeting day, we carried over subsidies
for $100 each for April 9-hole and putting; $50 for March putting
had already been noted.

The Club pays green fees for all Golfer of the Month (GOM)
winners who are available in an annual Golfer of the Year (GOY)
tournament and awards trophies to the winners.

The Club added 2 Individual Gross and Individual Net payouts to April Special Events

May is in the books, and it was a Grey May indeed! Knollwood and Member-Member results have been posted. Knollwood was a lightly attended tournament but proved to be a refreshing challenge. The Member-Member Tournament was a fun 2-day event. I thought having the scoring table right off the 18th green proved to be beneficial to all.

June will be a busy month with the Blind Draw Tournament, Club Championship and the US Open! The Blind Draw Tournament is on June 17th and serves as the 1st Round of our Club Championship. Rounds 2 & 3 will be June 24-25. If you are playing in the Club Championship you must Sign-Up and pay for these Events separately. Brad Wilcox is running the Blind Draw and Doug Balfour is running the Club Championship.

Sign-Ups for the July 15th Red-White-Blue Tournament will open at the General Meeting on Tuesday, June 13th in the Big White Tent. We also have Lakewood on July 29th. Sign-Ups are currently open.

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. The pre-meeting dinner included thick slabs of real oven-roasted turkey breast (unlike Rec Park and Skylinks, which only offer thin sliced deli turkey “lunchmeat”), stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, cranberry sauce and cookies for desert. My favorite pre-meeting meal .

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 125 members in attendance including Past Presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Tom Retterath, Cliff Aichele, Rich Dennison and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. New member Tom Perry introduced himself. Tom is currently considered a professional and has applied to SCGA to be reinstated as an amateur. Per Tom, he currently plays to a +3. He was given the New Member Spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Bob Livingstone noted the performance of several of our current and past members in the SCGA Senior Amateur Qualifying Tournament at El Do, including Jeff Thomas, Mel Collins, Erwin Ripoll, Beau Wesson, Jim Fuchs, Kevin Melbrech, Steve Friend, Mike Marmer and Livy himself. Several of these gentlemen moved on in the qualifying process, but to avoid embarrassing anyone no names will be mentioned.

Director Cliff Aichele urged everyone to read the article in the Newsletter regarding various rules. It’s everyone’s responsibility to know and follow the rules.

Special Events Director Rich Koskela summarized the results of the April Tournament and announced the Special Events for the May Member-Member Tournament.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon emphasized the fact that 75 members incorrectly posted their score, many of whom received a Penalty Round assessment. If you have any scorekeeping/posting questions, just ask Wally or anyone on the Board. If we don’t know the answer (highly unlikely) we’ll get the answer for you.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen noted that our next Away Tournament will be in July at Lakewood. Mike reminded us that the very popular Weekender will be held September 23-24 at Singing Hills.

Director Omar Diaz noted that we had 19 guys enter the pre-meeting Putting Contest. Tying with 4 Aces apiece were Todd Thiele, Eric Simmons, Mike Wilson and Mike Petersen. Omar reminded us that the Flights Championship Match Play Tournament will begin in August.

Director Doug Balfour discussed preliminary findings of the Slow Play Committee. Read the article in the Newsletter regarding slow play issues. Doug noted that sign-ups for the June Tournament and the Club Championship are now open.

Director Ziegenhagen announced the Golfer of the Month winners for April. Low Net honors went to Dan Kletke with a 69, while Low Gross winner was Tim Heffern also with a 69. Ziggy noted that we came in second (by 1 point!) to Rec Park in the recently completed Quad Club Tournament. Next year the event will be held at Lakewood. The pre-meeting 9 Hole Tournament had 24 participants, with Tom Nasuti finishing second and long-time member Cary Thomason finishing first.

President Didier noted (rather harshly, and deservedly so) the disaster created when membership posted their own scores after the last tournament. More than 75 scores were incorrectly posted. Great job, guys. Don discussed Net Double Bogey, “X” on holes were you pick up, and several other scoring issues. Don also sadly noted the passing of Paul Standish, a long-time and well-liked member.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox reiterated how we don’t like having to penalize players /groups for slow play. Pay attention and work as a team to keep up with the group ahead of you. Contrary to some members’ claims, it doesn’t matter if the group behind you never had to wait. It matters that you stay no more than one shot behind the group ahead of you. Brad discussed the results of the April Tournament, and reminded everyone about the Pairing Party on Friday night prior to the Member-Member Tournament.

New Business: There was no New Business.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Cary Thomason. Quite a day for Cary.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

May membership is 508.

Putting contest for next meeting will be count them all for 9 holes. $5 entry gets you 2 tries at the 9 hole course. Will start around 5:15-ish ending at 6:45-ish.

Look for the Flights sign up on the website in the next couple of weeks. We will be doing all signups on the website moving forward. The Flights championship is our Match Play tournament that will start in August; you play 1 match a month, and if you win, you advance to the next round. Depending on how many sign ups we get will determine how many 16 player flights we will have. I will arrange for some tee times on Saturday and Sunday for matches. You and your opponent can arrange to play during the week if that works for your schedule. More details when we open sign ups.

I will also be selling some hats that I had left over from Team Play at the meeting $20 a hat.

Good luck to everyone playing the upcoming Club Championship and Blind Draw Partners.

Omar

Welcome to June Gloom! But it doesn’t mean our golf scores need to be this way! The month of May was no exception as we had some excellent scores in the Member- Member Tournament. We had 11 cards turned in this month and a few could of won any of the previous months. The sleeping giants had awoken in the tournament. In the Gross GOM, 4 players shot under par. But the player who is smiling at the end is Erick Simmons. Erick shot 35 on the front and got it going on the back with a nice 33. He is our Gross GOM with a 4 under 68. Congrats Erick! Honorable mention to Bret Holloway (69), Colin Boylan (70), Mickey Miller (70), Vern Followell (72). Our Net GOM was very close as well. We had 9 players shoot Net 71 or better. Because you have the option of entering both (if you indicate on scorecard), Bret Holloway and Colin Boylan tied with Net 66’s. The card off comes down to Net back nine score. Bret shot Net 34.5 and Colin shot net 35. Congrats to Bret for being our NET GOM winner. I should mention Colin had a hell of a round going as he was 5 under gross going down 18. He had some unfortunate luck by posting a snowman on 18. Regardless it was a great round. Honorable mention to Justin Vanderbroek (68), Rich Koskela (69) Vern Followell (70), Walter Lee (70), Andrew Pulido (71), Tyler Marmion (71) and yours truly Mark Ziegenhagen (71). Great month of golf fellas!

Remember our 9 hole tournament before meeting on Tues June 13th. Please turn in scorecards when finished. Write down current handicap (half) and signatures of members played. Put $5 in envelope and name on list. Remember to post your score…even 9 holes can be posted! Last months results: Cary Thomason (31) 70 points, Tom Natsuti (34.5) 50 points, Cory Kronebusch (35) 35 points, Beau Wesson (35.5) 15 points.

Lots of members working the US Open as Marshals this month at LA Country Club. I’ll be on Hole 10 so look for me on TV!

Have a great month of Golf!
Ziggy

Hi Gentlemen,

If you haven't heard we had a hole in one on Saturday at the Member/Member on the 12th hole by Scott Paul. It's been almost 4 years since the last hole in one, so the Past President hasn't had much to do. I wasn't there but I heard Scott was more than generous buying drinks.

With that being said, we well begin collecting $5 for the next lucky person to get a hole in one. Things have changed a little: to enter in the HIO fund you well have to sign up online when sign up for the next Monthly tournament you enter. I was there Sunday and collected from many players in Member/Member just in case someone was lucky enough to get a HIO. So if you played in the M/M you probable paid. There was only a few that didn't pay.

You can check on the web site HIO Club page to see if you paid at the M/M. If not, you will be prompted to join the HIO Club the next time you signup for a Monthly tournament.

See you at the course,
Terry

We had a great Member-Member tournament, from Friday evening through Sunday evening. Congrats to all the winners, especially Scott for the Hole in One and he was very generous with the drinks.

The Club Championship registration is open until June 9th. if you want to play in it please sign up. The first round of the CC is in conjunction with the Blind Draw Tournament (separate signup), but the next two rounds (on 6-24 & 25) the groupings will be based on your score from the Blind Draw Tournament. See everyone at the next meeting.

Hit’em Long and Straight,
Doug

Member-Member 2023 is in the books and was a good time. Great time had at our Pairing Party with special thanks to Mike Petersen for running our activities. Our first two day event of the year with dry/mild weather, great golf & fun to be had by all.

The team of Wally Gordon and Marc Lilleberg took 1st place over the field with a nice Sunday finish, 2nd Clark + Castaneda & 3rd Smith + Holloway. All three teams did very well over the weekend congrats. Another nice note about the weekend (Saturday) was Scott Paul’s Ace on SE hole #12 ended a long drought of any Hole In One at our home events. Nice job Scott! Make sure to sign yourself (Hole-in-One fund) up & pay electronically while signing up for our next home tournament.

Pace of play was not as bad Saturday as it was Sunday. We did have a few teams who were accessed penalty strokes for slow play finishing more than 14 minutes behind the group in front of them. Guys, I see a lot of you just not paying attention & when it's your turn to do whatever (putt, hit, etc) you're sitting talking about your latest story & taking advantage of their captive audience. Lets play golf first do other stuff later!!

The Scoring Tent by 18 green was a big hit and will become a permanent way (weather permitting) for our members/Groups to turn in their score cards. It will be interesting to hear what our % of correct posting is going to be???

My email about paying for your electric carts at the golf shop for all home events (except Xmas) was warranted. Sorry if I offended anyone as that was not my intent. I just wanted to remind all members to please take care of your business, no one needs any bad Karma!!

Also did anyone find a Titleist Wedge on Hole#1? I would think one of our members would want to get it in the rightful owners hands??

All winners posted on website

Flight Winners:
A flight 1st gross Mickey Miller, Steven Sterry 217
A flight 1st net Steve Clark, Tony Castaneda 213
B flight 1st Walter Gordon, Marc Lilleberg 212
C flight 1st Mike Filbey, Mark Schmillen 221
G9 flight 1st Colin Boylan, Kevin Boylan 215

Sign-ups for Sat, Jun 17 Blind Draw Partners closes June 9th. Make sure to enter if you’re planning on playing in our 2023 Club Championship as you must participate in Blind Draw Partners as it also serves as the first-round score. You still have time to enter so hurry up and get your online entry in!

Our next general meeting in the big white tent is June 13th. Make sure to check in (attendance) with me to put your name in the random selection for priority tee times.

Next up Red, White & Blue tournament on July 15th.

See you at the Meeting, come find me!
Brad

The Member-Member tournament was a fantastic weekend of golf! Pro tip – if you want to shoot well on Sunday then don’t spend hours upon hours at the 19th hole on Saturday.

I use my portion of the newsletter to highlight the players who performed well in the previous tournament’s special events. Of course I have to start with Scott Paul. One swing with his 6-iron on Hole 12 resulted in a Gross Skin, a Closest to the Pin cash out and large payout from the Hole-in-One fund. Fantastic swing Scott. I only wish I could have been in the Clubhouse to benefit from Scott’s hospitality.

Scott wasn’t the only big winner last month. Jeff Tanner won the only C flight Gross Skin on Saturday for a payout of $430. Aaron Debreceni and Wally Gordon won two gross skins each in B flight on Sunday. When all was said and done over half the field cashed and numerous players earned triple digit prizes. Great shooting and congrats to everybody who won.

Next month is the Blind Draw tournament. Special Events will include Low Gross and Low Net (both Club funded), Gross skins, Closest to the Pin on your second shot on Hole 6 and Net Par or Better on the easiest 3/hardest 3 holes.

See you at the blue box.
Rich

The Member / Member was a big success, and we had a pretty good turnout for the cocktail/pairing party. Thanks to everyone who participated. Quick shoutout to the winning teams….
1st Place, Team # 21 Wally Gordon and Marc Lilliberg
2nd Place, Team # 16 Tony Castaneda and Steve Clark
3rd Place, Team # 15 Bret Holloway and Corey Smith.

Well done to all that won. The winners have envelopes in the Blue Box so please check to see if yours is in there.

The Lakewood away event for July is still open for signups on the website but filling up fast. Please sign up right away, if we go over the number of allotted spots I’ll add more, so don’t be worried if it shows you on the waiting list.

Also, the Weekender at Singing Hills at Sycuan Resort & Casino is currently off the website for signups.
We’ll be adding an option for golf on Friday and an option for bringing a guest/non-golfer. So, if you want to bring your wife please do. We’ll have it up with all options in the very short term. A mass email will go out once it’s open so please keep an eye out for it.

Remember if your Full Swing sucks go with the Half Swing!
Michael Petersen

Well, we’ve now had 2 tournaments where we had players post their own score. Ugh!!!! We had 25 players in the Member/Member Tournament who did not post their scores, and we had about another 25 that posted the incorrect information. Seems interesting how we have so many issues posting scores for tournaments. Makes ya wonder what’s happening the rest of the year.

So….we will continue having members post their scores in the next tournament.

Maybe we need to bring in a rocket scientist if it’s that difficult? Let me know.

Signing off…

Oh…as a side note- I still have numerous GPS devices for sale if anyone needs one ($30-$40).

Below is a sad story and yet another example that I came across on the internet of why it’s good to know the Rules.

Tommy Kuhl is a fifth-year senior at Illinois, one of the finest collegiate players in the country. He averages just over 70 per round and is coming off a third-place finish at the Big Ten championships. Tommy played in a U.S. Open qualifier at Illini Country Club. He played the round of his life to shoot a course-record 62. His stellar play in the qualifier moved him one step closer to the U.S. Open; only one more qualifying tournament remained.
There was just one problem. After his round, Kuhl was walking with teammates when one bemoaned the aerated putting. Kuhl realized that he'd made a terrible mistake out on the course by repairing not only the marks his ball made landing on the greens, but also aeration marks around his ball.

The Rules of Golf, Rule 13.1c(2) allows repair of almost any damage on the green.
“Damage on the putting green ” means any damage caused by any person (including the player) or outside influence, such as:
• Ball marks, shoe damage (such as spike marks) and scrapes or indentations caused by equipment or a flagstick,
• Old hole plugs, turf plugs, seams of cut turf and scrapes or indentations from maintenance tools or vehicles,
• Animal tracks or hoof indentations, and
• Embedded objects (such as a stone, acorn, hail or tee) and indentations caused by them.
But “damage on the putting green” does NOT include any damage or conditions that result from:
• Normal practices for maintaining the overall condition of the putting green (such as aeration holes and grooves from vertical mowing),
• Irrigation or rain or other natural forces,
• Natural surface imperfections (such as weeds or areas of bare, diseased, or uneven growth), or
• Natural wear of the hole

For Kuhl, the reality was this: He'd broken the Rules of Golf, (Rule 8 Course Played as It Is Found) and he'd thus signed an incorrect scorecard. Once that happens, there's only one resolution: disqualification. “I felt sick to my stomach,” Kuhl told Monday Q's Ryan French. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t tell the rules official. “He did and was disqualified soon afterward.

There’s more to Rule 13.1c so take a look on the USGA.org website for complete details.

Keep your eye on the ball and see ya at the Do.
Cliff Aichele
Rules Chairman

Treasurer's Report - May 31, 2023

Balance April 30, 2023		34,262.88
Income
Member-Member Cash Entries		2,692.00
Knollwood and Mem-Mem CCard entries (incl Special Events)		25,777.00
Knollwood Cash Entry		100.00
Membership Dues		2,890.00
Hole In One Insurance *		660.00
Uncashed Tournament Refunds		145.00
Late Quad Club Entries		201.00
Interest		0.69
Total May Income		32,465.69
Expenses
SCGA Dues	900.00
Board Meeting	65.00
Hole In One Insurance *	1,825.00
New Hole In One Scrip Card *	300.00
April 1st & 2nd Gross and Net Payouts	250.00
Member-Member Parings Party Food	200.00
Member-Member Green Fees	12,809.50
Member-Member Golf Ball Tee Prizes	2,016.93
Member-Member Scrip	5,330.00
Member-Member Special Events	7,585.00
Member-Member Entry and SE Refunds	250.00
Mem-Mem Scoreboards and Copies	36.27
Credit Card Fees/Charges/Refunds	618.77
Meeting Member Drawing - C. Thomasson	50.00
Putting Subsidy	50.00
GOM Trophies	89.58
Knollwood Prize Green & Cart Fees	2,428.00
Knollwood Prize Fund	300.00
Knollwood Special Events **	516.00
Total May Expenses	35,620.05
Balance on May 31, 2022		31,108.52

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

* We had a payout from the Hole In One Insurance of $1,825 (plus
a $300 gift card to cover day-of beverages). We started a new HIO
Insurance Fund and placed a new $300 gift card in the "Blue Box".
Insurance is currently $660.

** Knollwood Special Events payouts includes $250 added by the
Club to cover 1st and 2nd individual low gross and low net.

June’s Blind Draw Partner Tournament was a great time, except for my Blind Draw, John Kilgore! Oh well, we had great weather and course conditions were very good. There were a couple or players that didn’t understand what “Hole All Putts” meant. Don’t be that guy!

Congratulations to our 2023 Club Champion Eugene Milner as well as A Flight Champion Kevin Mehlbrech and B Flight Champion Garrett Marks. Well played gents!

Next up is the Red-White-Blue Tournament July 15th. I’m told this Event is near a sell-out! Contact Brad Wilcox, Tournament Chairman, with any questions. The Lakewood Away Tournament is July 29th. Although Sign-Up will indicate “Standby” Mike Petersen assures we can accommodate a bigger field.

Our Weekender is September 23 & 24 at Singing Hills with an optional Friday round at Eagle Crest Sept. 22nd. Sign-Ups are open. The optional round at Eagle Crest is a separate Sign-Up and Payment. This is a Partners Event and a fun-filled weekend of golf and comradery. Get yourself a partner and Sign-Up! Contact Mike Petersen with any questions.

Sign-Ups for the August 12th 3-Best Ball Tournament will open at the General Meeting on Tuesday July 11th in the Big White Tent. We also have Senior Club Championship August 26 & 27. Sign-Up will open soon.

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday, June 13, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. The pre-meeting dinner included meat loaf (no comment), mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, and cookies for desert.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe next meeting the flag will not be AWOL. There were 95 members in attendance including Past Presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Tom Retterath, Cliff Aichele, and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. New member David Hunter introduced himself and was given the New Member Spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Bob Livingstone presented a check to Scott Paul for his Hole in One at last month’s tournament, cleaning out the HIO Fund for the first time in several years. Scott not only bought drinks after his HIO round but also graciously paid for a keg at the meeting. Bob noted that you can sign up for the HIO pot on-line when you register for tournaments. Bob also commended Mel Collins for his showing in the recent SCGA Senior Event.

Director Mike Montgomery sadly noted that long time member Lector Orrick recently passed away, and that longtime member Toby Kovaleff was in the hospital and not doing well.

Special Events Director Rich Koskela summarized the results of the May Tournament and announced the Special Events for the June Blind Draw Partner Tournament. Actually Rich had pressing family business and couldn't make it to the meeting, but that's the report he would have made had he been here.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon gave a detailed explanation of how “posting penalties” were assessed, and reminded us that we will be posting our own scores for the upcoming tournament.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen noted that our next Away Tournament will be on July 29 at Lakewood, not Los Verdes. A much shorter commute. Sign up asap as spots will be filled quickly. Mike again reminded us about the Weekender to be held September 23-24 at Singing Hills. Golf, hotel and casino all in one place. Don’t miss it. Mike (like many of us) was disappointed at the turn-out for the Friday night Pairing Party prior to the Member-Member Tournament. Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year.

Director Omar Diaz announced the winners of the pre-meeting Putting Contest. Coming in first was Colin Boylan, followed closely by Webmaster Mark Miller and Jim Fairchild. Omar reminded us that the Flights Championship Match Play Tournament will begin in August. On-line registration is open now and the entry fee is $30.

Director Doug Balfour reminded all those interested to sign up for the Club Championship – 1st round at the Partner Blind Draw Tournament and 2nd and 3rd rounds June 24 and 25.

Past President Terry Fulford, filling in for Longshoreman Director Ziegenhagen, announced the Golfer of the Month winners for May. Low Net honors went to Bret Holloway with a 66, while Low Gross winner was Erick Simmons with a 68. The pre-meeting 9 Hole Tournament was won (on a card-off) by Mike Miller, with Tom Turner a close second.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox discussed the results of the May Tournament, noting that the pace of play was not bad. Brad reminded everyone to hole all your puts this month, both for the Blind Draw and the Club Championship. And don’t forget to pay for your cart! American golf needs the money.

New Business: There was an extensive discussion regarding slow play, penalties, sprinting, etc. The bottom line is Keep Up On Every Hole and you’ll never need to sprint or get penalized for slow play.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Geoff Larson.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

June membership is 511.

Upcoming putting contest for July will be aces only starting around 5:15ish.

Also the Flights Championship signups are up and running and are over 1/2 full so get signed up as entries close at 80 players. There will be a waiting list if anyone withdraws before the 1st round begins in August. Good luck all in the Red White & Blue.
Omar

What’s up El Do!!!

Well it was a very quiet month in the GOM scorecards being turned in for June. There were no Gross GOM cards turned in and only one Net GOM card deposited into the box. I saw a lot of good scores in the Club Championship both Gross and Net. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda… If wishes were horses, we all would ride! (Haha). Anyways our lone Net Winner for June in Tom Retterath. Tommy boy shot a nice 75 gross for a Net 67. Congrats to Tom! Hope to see more cards turned in for July.

Don't forget about 9 hole and putting tournament on the day of meeting. Sign up sheet will be in Pro Shop Tuesday morning. I don’t have results from last month as I was at the US Open as a Marshall. It was a great experience and realized I have no shot making the tour!

See everyone at the course!
Ziggy

There was some great golf for the month of June, the Blind Draw/1st round of Club Championship, as well as the 2nd & 3rd round of the CC. The course was is in great shape (thank you Marc and Staff) but definitely played a bit tough in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

Unfortunately there were a couple DQ’s in the CC that were for some of the basic things as competitors we need to do. Playing from the right tee box for your flight, and make sure the proper score for each hole is on your scorecard before it’s turned into the scoring box. The information on what tees you should play from was in the email sent out the week of the tournament, its on your tournament scorecard, and the guys on the first tee remind you. Please. Pay attention to the details, it is not fun to have to DQ someone for such mistakes.

Now on to more positive things. The Club Championship was a tight race through all 3 rounds for Gross-Flight and A-Flight. B-Flight on the other hand was not as close.

Congratulations to Garrett Marks for taking first place In B-Flight with a Net 205, 20 shots ahead of 2nd (WOW).

Things were a bit tighter in A-Flight. Congratulations to Kevin Mehlbrech for taking first Place with a Net 222. There was only 4 strokes between 1st place and 4th place. Great playing Kevin, way to pull out the win.

On to Gross, this was another fun, tight race to watch throughout the tournament that ended with a playoff between Michael Peterson and Eugene Milner as both finished with Gross 224. The playoff was held on hole #1 immediately after their round was complete. It was nice to see a fair amount of spectators still around to be able to watch the playoff. Congratulations to Eugene Milner for pulling out the win for Gross Club Championship.

The Senior CC is August 26th & 27th. I will be announcing when it will be open for signups at the General Meeting on the 11th.

Hit ’em long and straight

Doug Balfour
Special Assignments Director

Blind Draw 2023 is in the books with a little smaller field than past years but we saw some very good scores. Tom Retterath with a nice net 67, Lloyd Lee not far behind with net 68. Wally’s list is growing!! On the gross side BG with a nice 69, Alex Gonzales & Mike Petersen fought hard for nice 72 each, all setting up a nice Club Championship. Check Doug’s newsletter for Club Championship results! After all scores were entered, the Blind Draw was conducted using our Golf Genius software. Field is then flighted into 4 flights with results tabulated. Here are a couple of the highlights:

Flight 1: Brian Gonzales, Shaun Steenwyk shot a nice 67 to take gross, with Eugene Milner, Tom Retterath shooting 63 for net.
Flight 2: Andrew Cochrane, Brian Ball shot 71to take gross & Steven Sterry, Steven Canales shot net 63 and won on a card off!
Flight 3: Kevin Mehlbrech, Lance Breedlove shot 74 to take gross & Scott Dietschak, Robert Griggs shot 65 to take net.
Flight 4: Byron Brno, John Lynch shot 73 to take gross & Ron Searcy, Garrett Marks shot 63 to take net.

Next up is July 15th Red-White-Blue Tournament. Sign Ups are currently open thru the website. Sign Up closes July 6th. Online Payment will be activated July 8th and you will receive a reminder email. Payments due July 11th.

August 12th 3-Best Ball Tournament will open for Sign Ups at the General Meeting on July 11th. Join us at the meeting and be sure to check in with me before the meeting starts to be included in Priority Tee Time Assignment.

All winners posted on website.

See you at the Meeting, come find me!
Brad

Another great time was had at the Blind Draw tournament. A big thank you to Mother Nature for providing a few rays of sunshine. On the Special Event front, 79 players earned cash this month with prize amounts varying between $12 and $177.

The big winner of the month was Alex Gonzales who won $75 with a low gross score of 72 and $102 thanks to a Gross Skin on Hole 11. In addition to Alex, 15 other players earned Gross Skins.

There were 10 winners of the Easy 3/Hard 3 event. Nice to see C flight players winning their fair share thanks to Brian Ball, Steve Canales and Lloyd Lee.

The 2nd shot Closest to the Pin on Hole 6 event was led by Pablo Rubio, David Pearl and Darryl Lee in A, B and C flights, respectively. Nice shooting on a tough hole.

Next month we have our annual Red, White and Blue tournament. Special Events will include:
Gross Skins - $10 entry.
Closest to the Pin 2nd shot on Hole 16 - $5 entry.
White Tee Party - $5 entry.

See you at the Blue Box,
Rich

This month we have the results for the Most Improved Golfer of the 2nd quarter:

Congratulations to Mel Collins who improved from 3.1 to a .1… factor of 1.248. Wins $50.00!!!!!

Honorable mention:
Lat Syprasert from 10.4 to 7.6 a Factor of 1.143
Mike Petersen from 4.2 to 2.4 a Factor of 1.125

Posting Scores
In the last tournament, Blind Draw, we had 15 members who did not post their scores. They were each given a penalty round for not posting. We also had 44 posted scores with wrong information (wrong tee, wrong date, or Home rather than Competition score) that we needed to correct.

Those aren't great numbers, but much better than when we started having everyone post tournament scores. For the Red, White, and Blue tournament, WE WILL be posting scores so please DO NOT post your score for this tournament. We will remind you at the General Membership Meeting, on the first tee, on your scorecard and at the scoring table.

Sadly, we once again had several DQs in each flight of this year's Club Championship. As a Board ("The Committee in charge of the Competition") we try very hard to provide all competitors in our events with Rules - General Rules that apply to every Club event and that can be found on our "Hard Card" which is listed on the Eldo website under "The Club" and "Club Policies and Procedures" or in paper form if you ask for it - as well as with info printed on the back of the scorecard that is provided for each event and/or with info given out at the first tee.

But we can just do so much, while the rest falls on you, The Player. Under the Rules of Golf you have certain responsibilities found in Rule 3, which include knowing formats, knowing which tees are to be played and of course returning accurate (and hopefully legible!) scorecards immediately upon completing your round. We realize that we aren't the US Open, but we do have to follow all of the Rules in order to maintain our integrity as a recognized Golf Club. If you have any questions about an event, about our Local Rules or about the Rules of Golf, PLEASE ask a member of the Board...if we don't have the answer we will try to get it for you, and by making that ask, you may be protected as a player.

Cliff

We like to offer our members info about various playing opportunities. The Club has been contacted by our former Head Pro and current SCGA Board member Jorge Badel about a tournament with which he is involved. The National Links Trust is dedicated to promoting the game and courses that impact their communities in a positive manner and they will be conducting a championship at East Potomac Golf Links, in Washington DC, on September 30th and October 1st, with Dick's Sporting Goods as a sponsor. The Championship will be a celebration of players from the public golf community; men and women may enter, minimum age is 25 and one cannot belong to or have a dual membership that includes a private club.

The local qualifying will take place on July 18th at Chester Washington GC with a $75 entry fee, and qualifiers will receive a small travel stipend. Maximum Handicap Index for men will be 8.0. Information on the event and how to enter can be found at:

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/9587872792087393032

If you have any interest, please look up this event!

Mike

Treasurer's Report - June 30, 2023

Balance May 31, 2023		31,108.52
Income
Memberships		2,960.00
Club Champ Cash Entries		156.00
Bind Draw Cash Entries		1,651.00
Hole-in-One Insurance		240.00
Credit Card Entries - incl Special Events & HIO		21,928.00
Previous Cash Entries - Knollwood & Mem-Mem		390.00
Interest		0.57
Total June Income		27,325.57
Expenses
SCGA Dues	936.00
Board Meeting	70.00
June Refunds	324.75
Club Champ Refunds	530.50
June Blind Draw Green Fees	8,041.00
June Blind Draw Special Events	2,795.00
June Blind Draw Scrip	3,990.00
June Low Gross and Low Net Subsidy	250.00
Club Champ Green Fees	3,786.75
Club Champ Prize Fund	1,365.00
Club Championship Prize Subsidies	450.00
May 9-Hole Subsidy	50.00
June Putting and 9-hole Subsidies	100.00
Member Meeting Drawing - G. Larson	50.00
Stamps	12.60
Copies	12.57
GOM Trophies	89.58
SCGA Four Ball Net Q - 2 Entries	560.00
Previously Cancelled Refunds Subsequently Cashed	145.00
Quad Club Refund	2.00
Credit Card Fees for May Entries	680.19
Total June Expenses	24,240.94
Balance on June 30, 2023		34,193.15

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

Notes

* The Club addedd $250 Gross and Net awards to June Blind Draw individual awards
* The Club added $150 to the Prize Fund in each Flight of the Club Championship
* The Club pays the entry for the top 2 Member-Member teams to play in the SCGA FourBall Qualifier
* Hole In One Insurance is now $1,055

Red-White-Blue and Lakewood Tournaments are in the books as July has come to an end. August is full of activity. August 12th is our 3-Best Ball Tournament, 26th & 27th is Senior Club Championship and 1st round of Flights gets underway! September Partner-Partner will open at the General Meeting on August 8th. The Weekender is September 22-24. We’ve got a couple of busy months ahead.

This is also the time of year we begin the process of electing your 2024 Board of Directors. Terry Fulford, Past President, will be running the election. There are 6 elected positions, President, Vice President//Tournament Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Director #1 and Director #2 and 6 appointed positions, Handicap Chairman, Communications Director, Rules Chairman, Entertainment Director (Away Tournaments), Special Events Chairman and Special Assignments Director. Long time member and Club Secretary, Rob Kuehn, will be leaving the Board at the end of the year. Rob’s presence on the Board will be truly missed. Members that would like to be on the Board of Directors of the finest Men’s Club in SoCal, can contact any of our current BOD and throw your hat into the ring!

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. The summertime-lite pre-meeting dinner consisted of enchiladas, beans, rice, chips and salsa. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

There were 105 members in attendance including Past Presidents Richard Scoville, Terry Fulford, Tom Retterath, Cliff Aichele, Don Marmion, Nick Zamora and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. New member Chris Tonner introduced himself and was given the New Member Spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Bob Livingstone commended Alex Resurreccion and Sasha Bozic for their excellent showing in recent Long Beach City events. Well done, gentlemen. Livy announced the winners of the pre-meeting 9 Hole competition. First place went to Pingo Zamarripa, while Jeff DeGraaff and Cary Thomason tied for second.

President Didier briefly discussed upcoming tournaments and results of past tournaments. He also awarded GOM honors to Tom Retterath with a nice net 67. There were no Gross GOM cards turned in. Shame on you good golfers.

Special Events Director Rich Koskela noted that three members won more than $170 each in last month’s tournament. Special Events for the Red White and Blue July Tournament include Skins, 2nd shot CTP on #16, and Net Par or Better on all of the white flag holes.

Director Cliff Aichele briefly discussed scorecard requirements, signatures and relevant info on the back of the cards. [Everyone in your group should read the card before teeing off. Directors are available on the first tee for members who can’t read.]

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon presented the Most Improved Golfer Award to Mel Collins, whose handicap is rapidly approaching the + range. Nice job, Mel. Wally noted the after the Blind Draw Tournament 15 members did not post their scores {see note in previous paragraph}. Therefore, based on the extraordinary track record and a vote taken at the meeting, the Board will post scores for the next tournament.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen noted that our Away Tournament July 29 at Lakewood has 76 members signed up with a few spots still available. Mike again reminded us about the Weekender to be held September 23-24 at Singing Hills: Golf, hotel and casino all in one place.

Director Omar Diaz announced the winners of the pre-meeting Putting Contest. Coming in first was Andrew Cochrane, with a 9 way tie for 2nd. Omar reminded us that the Flights Championship Match Play Tournament will begin the first week in August. Online registration is open now and the entry fee is $30.

Director Doug Balfour announced the winners of the Club Championship: Gross – Gene Milner; A Flight – Kevin Melbrech; and B Flight – Garrett Marks. Congratulations definitely in order. The Senior Club Championship is August 26 & 27 and will have three flights. Sign up on line asap.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox discussed results of the June Tournament and gave a well- deserved atta boy to Doug Balfour for the smooth running of the Club Championship. Brad discussed the format for the RWB Tournament, noting that the Board will post scores. Brad noted that green fees will increase July 1st, so tournament entry fees will increase to $75.

New Business: Director Livingstone responded to questions regarding the Long Beach Open. President Didier gave a shout out to all the members who worked the course at the U S Open.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Philip Friess.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

July membership is 516

For our next putting contest before the meeting Tuesday 8/8 we are going to keep the Aces only going. That format goes quicker and we do not want to be out in the heat any longer then we need too be. $5 entry for 1 9-hole round and the club will be adding $50 to help build the pot.

The Flights Championship starts in August. We have a full field of 5 Brackets with 80 total players. Once you know who your opponent is you will schedule when to play your match. The winner of the match will go online to report who won and will see there name advance to the next round, Any question please reach out to me. I will be out of the country in mid August, so will have some help with Scheduling the Matches with the Pro Shop. I have 4 times on Saturday & Sunday every weekend we do not have a Club event. I will need to know by Wednesday 5pm of each week if you want to scheduled your match, as I will give back any unused tee time back to the Pro Shop.

Good Luck
Omar Diaz

Hello Members!

Welcome to a hot month of golf and a hot month of scorecards! We had a pretty good month of score cards turned in and some good scores. In the Gross category, only one card turned in this month. The GROSS GOM goes to Vern Followell who shot a pair of 35’s for a gross 70. Vern is no stranger to this award and claimed another this month!

We had 6 cards turned in for NET GOM but in came down to two gentlemen (and I use that loosely) to claim the spot. Brad Wilcox and Randall Kervin both shot net 67. So we had to go to the back nine score. They both shot 38 on the back but Randy (only his wife calls him Randall) shot a net 31.5 to Brad’s net 33.5. Sorry Brad…..keep grinding my friend! Congrats to Vern and Randy for being July’s GOM winners!

Remember the 9 hole tournament on day of meeting Aug 8th. Must play with a member, fill out form in Pro shop, give your $5 donation. We are using current LI and divide in half for front nine score. See everyone at the meeting and stay cool!

Good Luck to everyone in Flights Championships. Scores from this tournament are not eligible due to putts given and it’s match play. See you at the meeting!

Ziggy

We are nearing the time for our annual election of officers to lead the Club in 2024. In November we will have elections for President, VP-Tournament Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and 2 At-Large Directors. If you have any questions about serving on the Board or about the duties of a particular job, please contact me or any Board member, as we are always looking for hard-working people to help us run this great Club.

If you are interested in running for one of the above positions, please let me know, as we will present the names of everyone interested in running as a slate at the September General Meeting. In October, we will seek nominations from the floor of the meeting and we will vote for any contested offices in November.

We all know we have a great Club and one of the reasons for that is the guys who donate time to do the jobs that make the Club what it is. I know in particular that Rob Kuehn (our esteemed and long-time Secretary) will be retiring from the Board after this year so there is at least one open spot if you are interested!

Thanks,
Terry Fulford
Nominating Committee Chairman

Red, White & Blue was a lot of fun and things got exciting on the back nine with tough pin & flag placements. Great job done by the Lilleberg crew!! Pace of play was fantastic for the first half of the field at around 4hr 5min, then we had a group 17 minutes behind followed by a group 30 minutes behind. This is why we penalize groups (1 stroke). This is just not fair to the field when we have groups fall that far behind. If we have groups that are late frequently, they may find themselves at the back of the field no matter if you have a priority tee time or not, BEWARE!

Since I am on my soap box ANOTHER issue that can cause delays is showing up to the golf course 5 to 10 minutes (or less) before your tee time. This is just not acceptable to the rest of your group or groups teeing off behind you, arriving to the golf course no less than 30 minutes prior to your tee time should give you plenty of time to check in and warm up. Be a good team mate show up on time! Showing up to a 7:00 tee time at 7:01 (or later) will cause you a 2 stroke penalty. Enough said.

A Flight: Andrew Cochrane, Drew Kroner, Erick Simmons, Jason Simmons shot a nice 149 to take Gross, with Roger Marmion, Tyler Marmion, Chris McMonigle, Shaun Steenwyk shooting 134 for Net.

B Flight: Cliff Aichele, Rich Gilmore, Steve Giroux, Dwight Summers shot 158 to take Gross & Dennis Cartwright, Michael Dugan, John Jameson, Bryan McMahon shot net 131 for Net.

C Flight: Donny Dubry, Rick Evans, Alex Gonzales, Robert Griggs shot 166 to take Gross & Darryl Lee, Lloyd Lee, David Pearl, Jack Witherspoon shot 133 to take Net.

Nice job to those that cashed!

Next up is August 12th 3 Best Ball Tournament. Sign Up is currently open thru the website. Sign Up closes August 3rd. Online Payment will be activated August 5th and you will receive a reminder email. Payments due August 8th.

September 16th & 17th Partner-Partner Tournament (Sat: 2 man scramble front 9, cross-over BB back 9, Sun: 2 man BB front 9, count ’em all back 9) will open for Sign-Ups at the General Meeting August 8th. Join us at the meeting, I will not be taking attendance as we assign tee times for our two-day tournaments.

If you have any special needs for tee times I will do my best to accommodate your request (add in notes of your entry) but there are no guarantees.

All winners posted on website.

See you at the Meeting!
Brad

Special Events for the July Red White and Blue tournament were distributed between 32 players. Vern Followell and (VP Extraordinaire) Brad Wilcox led the pack at $280 each. A shout out also goes to Dennis Cartwright with 2 Gross Skins and a total payout of $212. Nice shooting guys.

The most interesting special event (SE) this month was the Closest to the Pin on the second shot on Hole 16. Five players in A flight came within 5 feet of the pin. The closest of the five was Steve Giroux who came within 11 inches of holing out. C flight was interesting for a different reason. Two players (Jack Witherspoon and Danny Martin) didn’t cash because they decided to win the no-balls award instead.

The no-balls disease was also prevalent in the B flight Gross Skins SE. Jim Zehmer and Kevin Bolden didn’t enter the event and left a fair chunk of change on the table. That means that Jeff Benedetti, Mark Bernardini, Scott Creed, Stan Faris and Roger Marmion were able to take home some extra money. Congrats guys.

I was surprised that eleven players successfully navigated the White Tea Party SE. Good shooting!

Next month is the 3 Best Ball tournament. Special events will include:
Gross Skins - $10 entry.
Almost the Middle Holes (Net par or better on 6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12) - $5 entry
In the Circle/On the Green Hole 9 - $5 entry

See you at the blue box.
Rich

The Lakewood away event is in the books! There was some good golf in some really good conditions. Shout out to Alex Gonzales with a solid 68! All the results are posted on the website, and I’ll have the envelopes ready for the next meeting on Tuesday, August 8th. We’ll see you there.

Last reminder on the Weekender at Singing Hills at Sycuan Resort & Casino. We’ve made a commitment to 32 players, but we can and should go over this. Please if you haven’t signed up, do it, right away.

When you sign up, don’t forget the Friday golf option for only $60 at Eagle Crest. If you have any questions on either event don’t hesitate to call me.

Remember if your Full Swing sucks go with the Half Swing!
Michael Petersen

Hello fellow golfers. Here’s a little Rules of Golf information regarding a ball that you decide is unplayable. This rule is designed to help get you out of tough situations. First off, you as the player are the only one that can decide your ball is unplayable. You can use Rule 19 “Unplayable Ball” anywhere on the golf course EXCEPT in a Penalty Area. It’s completely up to you. If you decide to use Rule 19 you have 3 options, most with a 1 stroke penalty. Go to USGA.org for a complete explanation of the rule.
A. Stroke-and Distance Relief, (19.2a)
B. Back-on-the Line Relief, (14.3)
C. Lateral Relief (14.3)

I strongly recommend reading up on taking relief when an Unplayable Ball situation comes up. With the Flights Matches kicking off this month, leaning on the Rules of Golf could mean the difference between advancing or an early departure from your bracket. Read up - its to your advantage!

Keep your eye on the ball and see ya at the Do.
Cliff Aichele
Rules Chairman

Treasurer's Report - July 31, 2023

Balance June 30, 2023		34,193.15
Income
Interest		0.48
Memberships		4,120.00
Red-White-Blue Cash Entries		2,620.00
Flight Cash Entries		180.00
Hole in One Cash & Cr Card		265.00
RWB, Lkwood, & Flight CC Entries - Incl Sp Events		26,277.00
Total July Income		33,462.48
Expenses
SCGA Dues	1,296.00
BOD Meeting	80.00
Scorecards	55.45
Putting and 9-Hole Subsidy	100.00
Member Drawing - P. Friess	50.00
Q2 Most Improved - M. Collins	50.00
R-W-B Green Fees	9,116.25
R-W-B Special Events	3,385.00
R-W-B Scrip	4,555.00
R-W-B Low Gross and Low Net	250.00
Pre-paid Lakewood Green & Cart Fees	6,132.00
June Credit Card Transaction Fees	679.23
Logoed Orange Golf Balls	247.82
Club Champ and BOD Copies	16.77
Total July Expenses	26,013.52
Balance on July 31, 2023		41,642.11

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

August is in the books and results for 3-Best Ball and Sr. Club Championship are posted. Congratulations to Jeff Thomas, Sr. Club Champion, Rick Boyker, A Flight and Steve Bland, B Flight. Well played gents! The playoffs in Championship Flight and A Flight made this year special. Special thanks to Doug Balfour, Tournament Director, with help from Brad Wilcox and Bob Livingstone.

Sadly, a good friend and long-time member Jimmy Ridenour passed away on August 13th. Sense of humor and warm heart describe “Jimbo” best. He nicknamed me Double D and referred to Dave Garcia as a sawed-off runt! As Dave says, he said it with affection. You’ll be missed my friend.

Partner-Partner Tournament is September 16-17. This is a fun 2-Day Event with format changing every 9 holes. There’s room for more players so get yourself a partner and Sign Up thru the Member Portal. If you are looking for a partner, reach out to Brad Wilcox, Tournament Chairman.

Our Weekender at Singing Hills is September 22-24. Reach out to Mike Petersen, Entertainment Chairman, with any questions.

October 14th is the Dreaded Orange Ball Tournament. Sign ups will open at the General Meeting on September 12th in the big white tent. Don’t forget to check in with Brad Wilcox before the meeting starts to be included in Priority Tee Times.

This is also the time of year we begin the process of electing your 2024 Board of Directors. Terry Fulford, Past President, will be running the election. There are 6 elected positions, President, Vice President//Tournament Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Director #1 and Director #2 and 6 appointed positions: Handicap Chairman, Communications Director, Rules Chairman, Entertainment Director (Away Tournaments), Special Events Chairman and Special Assignments Director. Long-time member and Club Secretary, Rob Kuehn, will be leaving the Board at the end of the year. Rob’s presence on the Board will be truly missed. Members that would like to be on the Board of Directors of the finest Men’s Club in SoCal, can contact any of our current BOD and throw your hat into the ring!

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday, August 8, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. Chef Bing graciously prepared my favorite pre-meeting dinner of real turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and cookies for dessert. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 75 members in attendance including Past Presidents Terry Fulford, Tom Retterath, Cliff Aichele, Don Marmion, Nick Zamora and Mike Montgomery. There were no new members present. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

President Didier briefly discussed upcoming tournaments and awarded serious “Attaboys” to Alex Resurreccion for his outstanding performance in recent SCGA events. Alex is doing a fine job in representing ElDo in various highly competitive tournaments.

Director Cliff Aichele noted that the USGA prohibits any waiving of rules in the Match Play Flights Championship that begins this month.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon had nothing to report. Sandbaggers in the audience breathed a sigh of relief.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen stated that payouts from the Lakewood Tournament would be in the blue box at the first tee in the upcoming August Three Best Ball Tournament. Mike again reminded us about the Weekender to be held September 23-24 at Singing Hills: Golf, hotel and casino all in one place.

Director Omar Diaz announced the winners of the pre-meeting Putting Contest. The Aces only format resulted in a four way tie for first with Corey Smith, Brian Dauk, Mike Wilson and Tim Mincarelli taking top honors. Omar reminded us that the Flights Championship Match Play Tournament brackets are set and matches will begin the first week in August.

Director Doug Balfour awarded trophies to the winners of the Club Championship: Gross – Gene Milner; A Flight – Kevin Melbrech; and B Flight – Garrett Marks. The Senior Club Championship is August 26 & 27 and will have three flights. Sign up online.

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced the July Golfer of the Month Awards. Vern Followell was Gross GOM with a 70, and Randy Kervin was Net GOM with a 67. Ziggy noted that results of Flights matches are NOT eligible for GOM consideration. Winner of the pre-meeting 9 Hole Tournament was Nick Zamora, with Tom Turner finishing second, Brad Wilcox third and Mel Collins fourth.

Director Terry Fulford reminded us that elections for the Board are coming up soon. Please contact anyone on the Board if you are interested in running. The slate of nominees will be announced in October with voting held at the November meeting.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox summarized results of the July Red, White & Blue Tournament, noting that the course was in great shape and everyone did a pretty good job of keeping up with the group ahead during the entire round. Brad also discussed the 3 Best Ball Tournament this coming weekend and the Partner-Partner Tournament in September.

New Business: There was no New Busines.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Vern Cannon

The meeting was adjourned at 7:24, the earliest adjournment during my tenure as Secretary. Amazing how quickly the meeting moves with no SCGA Representative report and no Handicap Chairman report.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

August membership is 511.

I am back from vacation, had a great time and want to thank Brad for filling in for me on getting the tee times out to the players for their matches. Thanks Brad.

Well the 1st Round Matches for the Flights Championships are almost in the books. We have had some nice tight matches and some blowouts. Just a reminder moving forward since we had a question or two, the day of your match you will be playing to your current 6 month LI. You will need to check the El Do website for your 6 month LI since it is not on the GHIN app. If you have any question please reach out to me. Also we would like a scorecard of the match to be dropped off in the Men's Club slot for scorecards in the right corner of the Pro Shop. You must post your score by midnight of match day to avoid getting a penalty round. Any question at all please reach out to me.

The Putting contest for September will be a count them all!!! Again $5 per 9-hole round and you can go as many times as time will allow. We have had some nice payouts this year so let's keep that up.

Good Luck for Partner/Partner.
Omar Diaz

Welcome to September where the weather changes and hopefully some of our golf swings and scores change also!

We had 9 cards turned in this month- 2 Gross and 7 Net. Our Gross GOM is Scott Paul who shot a nice 36-33=69. Honorable mention goes to Connor Whitcomb who shot even par 72.

Our Net GOM goes to Richard Koskela. He shot a gross 79 minus his 14 handicap for a net 65. Honorable mention goes to Rich Boyker, Andrew Noss, and Lance Breedlove who all shot net 69.

I had to DQ two cards because one card took an “X” on a hole and the other card was a match play card in the Flights competition. Remember match play cards can’t be used with putts given at times and can’t use a card if a hole is not completed in stroke play and you take a net double bogey with an “X” on the hole.

Congrats to our GOM winners Scott Paul and Richard Koskela.

Last month of 9 hole and Putting Contests. Sheet will be posted in Pro Shop and please turn in cards at the end. See you at meeting!

Ziggy

ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP!

As a reminder, at the September meeting, I will be announcing the members who have expressed interest in running for one of the elected positions on our Board of Directors (President, VP-Tournament Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and two At-Large Director positions). If you have interest in this (at least one person who has never been on the Board has expressed interest in running for a position) please reach out to me, or any Director you know personally, with any questions about expectations or time commitment or simply to express your interest. At the October meeting, we will have an opportunity for anyone who decides they are interested between now and then, to be nominated for the election. There are also up to 6 appointed positions that may interest you, and we are always looking for people to help run the Club.

Thanks for your interest!

Terry Fulford
Nominating Committee Chairman

It was another great month of Golf for our Men's Club. The three best ball tournament was lots of fun and there were some good prices for some(I was not one of them).

We also had the Senior CC which turned out to be very eventful on Sunday with a 3 way tie for 1st Place in A Flight as well as a 2 way tie for 1st Place in the Gross Flight. We were able to put all 5 players in the same group off of the first tee, which made for some great play and spectating.

For A Flight there was Mark Lilleberg, Greg Marks, and Rich Boyker. Congratulations to Rich for pulling out the win after only a one hole playoff.

In Gross Flight there was Scott Paul and Jeff Thomas and this playoff had a bit more excitement to it. After Jeff hit his second shot in tight on the first hole, Scott makes a roughly 30’ birdie put to force a must make put for Jeff which he did. They both parred the 2nd hole, but on the 3rd hole it was a battle of the flat sticks. Jeff was above the hole with Scott on the front of the green. Congratulations to Jeff for pulling out the victory with a par.

The tournament was a lot of fun. I want to say thank you to all the competitors that played as well as to the people that helped me put it together. I am looking forward to the Partner Partner tournament in a couple of weeks, and hope to see all of you at the next meeting.

Doug Balfour
Special Assignments

3-Best Ball is in the books with some great play to be had. Using 3 out of 4 balls can be challenging at times but you guys did a great job with 35 out of 45 groups finished in less than 4hrs 10min, 8 groups finished in 4hrs 15min or less leaving two groups finishing in 4hrs 18min or longer (only one group penalized). This is by far the best finishing times I can ever remember keep up the great work!!

A Flight Gross 1st, Brian Gonzales leads a group for the second year this time with Andrew Noss, Mike Petersen & Patrick Tom with (-3) 213.
A Fight Net 1st, Andrew Batcheller, William Behr, Tyler Sternagle & Tom Nasuti (-16) 200

B Flight Gross 1st, Bret Holloway, Randy Kervin, Tim Mincarelli & John Suttie (+17) 233
B Flight Net 1st, Jeff Eastwood, Mike Graham, Mark Aichele & Reed Wilson (-15) 201

C Flight Gross 1st, Steve Cook, Darrin Mora, David Pearl & Jack Witherspoon (+34) 250
C Flight Net 1st, Shaun Ferguson, Darryl Lee, Lloyd Lee & Ron Searcy (-18) 198

Complete results posted on website.

The September 16-17 Partner-Partner Tournament has been open for Sign-Ups and will close September 6th. This is a really fun tournament with different formats for each 9 holes with Sweeps and Special Events both days. Saturday starts off with you and your partner playing Blue Tees in a 2 Man Scramble on the front nine and Cross-Over Best Ball on the back nine. The Tramer Handicap System will be utilized. Sunday is Combo Tees, 90% of current handicap playing Better Ball on the front nine and Count ‘em All (Aggregate) on the back nine.

Tramer Handicap System for Saturday’s Play:
Handicaps for front nine are 1/2 the lowest handicap and add strokes based on the following partner handicap differential:
0-3 add 0
4-6 add 0.5
7-9 add 1.0
10-12 add 1.5
13-15 add 2.0
16-18 add 2.5
19-22 add 3.0
23-25 add 3.5
26 & Up add 4.0
Back nine is total handicaps divided by 4

Don’t miss out on team Sweeps both partners must be entered to win this Special Event

Sign-Ups for October’s Dreaded Orange Ball will open at the General Meeting September 12th. Format is Foursomes Flighted. Team Score is Orange Ball plus 2-Best Balls. Each Group is issued 3 Orange Balls and must finish with at least 1. Penalty for losing all 3 is DQ. Batting order can be important! It’s also fun to watch you partner sweat when he has the Dreaded Orange Ball!
Player A plays the Orange Ball on Holes 1,5,9.13.17.
Player B plays the Orange Ball on Holes 2,6,10,14,18
Player C plays the Orange Ball on Holes 3,7,11,15
Player D plays the Orange Ball on Holes 4,8,12,16

Be sure to check in with me at the General Meeting for Priority Tee Times!

See you at the Meeting!
Brad

Special Events for the August 3 Best Ball tournament were distributed between 40 players. El Presidente Don Didier outpaced the field with a total Special Event payout of $260. Nice shooting Don!

All the action this month occurred in the Gross Skins SE. In A Flight Keith Pacheco decided not to enter the Gross Skins SE which gave John Hasselman a skin worth $77 on Hole No. 12. John also won a skin on Hole No. 15 for a total payout of $154. Not to be outdone, Conner Whitcomb won skins on Hole Nos. 7 and 13 for a payout of $154.

In B flight, Steve Clark and Ketan Dhawan decided not to enter the Gross Skins SE. That action (inaction??) increased the value of each skin to $180. Congrats to Mr. Prez (DD), Gregory Sanossian and Scott Creed for pocketing $180 each.

In C flight, congratulations go to Jack Witherspoon for winning 2 skins. The value of each skin was enhanced because Robert Jojola decided not to enter.

Fifteen players successfully navigated the Middle 6 SE and 13 players won money in the Hole No. 9 In the Circle/On the Green SE. Nice shooting guys.

Next month is the Dreaded Orange Ball tournament. Special events will include:
• The two lowest gross and the two lowest net scores. These SEs are funded by the club to encourage and reward good golf. No chance of me ever winning.
• Gross Skins - $10 entry.
• Orange Ball Birdies (Holes 1-16 only) - $5 entry
• Orange Ball Skins (Holes 1-16 only) - $5 entry

See you at the Blue Box.
Rich

Hello Flights Competitors! Here are a few things that have come up. As Omar stated in his article, you are to play to your 6 Month Low Index, which is found only on the Club App or Webpage. If you do not check this, the match will stand as played, using whatever handicaps you played to, UNLESS you announced a higher handicap AND that would affect the number of strokes given or received. If this happens and you find out during the match, you may make a claim before anyone in the match plays another shot, and the person with the wrongly declared handicap is Disqualified, whether the impacted stroke hole has been played or not. This means if you both play to a one stroke higher handicap so the number of strokes given or received isn't impacted, the match stands. But if one of you is a 5 and claims to be a 6 and the opponent is a 9 and plays to a 9, the guy who misstated his handicap would lose the match if the opponent makes a claim as soon as the difference is discovered and before the result of the match is submitted to the website or to Omar. Check those handicaps!

The other thing to address is "protecting your rights" or what used to be called "making a valid claim". If you believe your opponent has violated a Rule and it impacts the result of a hole or the match, and the two of you cannot agree on what to do, the opponent should play the way he feels is correct, and you should state that you want to apply the Rules. You must do this immediately upon learning of the possible breach (defined as before another hole is begun or in the case of the last hole of the match, before submitting the result), by stating that you want a ruling. You can then reach out to Omar or Livy or the USGA Rules Hotline. Now, if you are killing the poor guy, you could also just ignore the possible breach (unless you both know it was a violation and you both agree to ignore it, in which case you are both DQed).

Hit 'em straight and go low!

Cliff Aichele

Treasurer's Report - August 31, 2023

Balance July 31, 2023		41,642.11
Income
Memberships		4,220.00
Credit Card Hole-In-One Insurance		30.00
Cash Hole-In-One Insurance		30.00
3 Best Ball Cash/Check Entries		2,125.00
Sr Club Champ Cash/Check Entries		750.00
Lakewood Cash Entries		685.00
3BB, Sr Champ, & Sycuan Credit Card Entries		32,069.50
Interest		0.43
Total August Income		39,909.93
Expenses
SCGA Dues	1,332.00
Lakewood Prize Fund	1,360.00
Lakewood Special Events	968.00
Lakewood Gross/Net added by Club	250.00
3BB Green Fees	8,766.50
3BB Scrip	4,540.00
3BB Special Events	2,990.00
3BB Gross/Net added by Club	250.00
Sr Club Champ Green Fees	3,743.00
Sr Club Champ Prize Fund	2,057.00
Sr Club Champ Supplement added by Club	298.00
July Credit Card Transaction Fees	765.07
RWB Refunds	160.00
3BB Refunds	225.00
Lakewood Refunds	655.00
Sr Club Champ Refunds	300.00
Sr Club Champ Scoreboards/Printing	53.36
9-hole & Putting Subsidy	100.00
Meeting Drawing - V. Cannon	50.00
Board Meeting	75.00
Stamps	13.20
Quad Club Refund (check recording error)	2.00
Sycuan Weekender Deposit #2	2,129.56
Total August Expenses	31,082.69
Balance on August 31, 2023		50,469.35

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

Notes: The Club added $250 to both Lakewood and 3BB for Gross
and Net awards and added $298 to the three Sr Club Championship flights.

We had a busy September with our Partner-Partner Tournament and our Weekender at Singing Hills Golf Resort. Lots of golf, loads of fun! We do have a really great Men’s Club!

A quick word on Pace of Play. I’ve had several players comment on how good our Pace of Play is in our home tournaments. I think we’ve all learned that as a Club we can play a decent pace and still have our last groups finish in under 4-1/2 hrs. Thanks to all and keep it up!

Dreaded Orange Ball is next up on October 14th. This Tournament has a limited field due to daylight. Brad is doing his best to get as many players as possible, but there will be some disappointments.

Next General Meeting is Tuesday, October 10th at 7:00pm. We will be discussing Board Nominations with our Elections coming up in November. Be sure to Check-In with Brad for November Super’s Revenge Priority Tee Times prior to start of the meeting.

Fairways and greens,

Don Didier

On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. Chef Bing’s excellent presentation included Tri Tip, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and cookies for dessert, all for only $8. Quite a deal.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 95 members in attendance including Past Presidents Terry Fulford, Tom Retterath, Cliff Aichele, Don Marmion, Richard Scoville, Nick Zamora, Mike Montgomery and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. There were four new members present: Tyler Cohn, Donnie Dawson, Bill Kearns and Raul Guerrero. They gave a brief Bio and then proceeded to tell us stories about what their handicaps might be. Wally will of course have the last word. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

President Didier noted sadly that longtime member Jim Ridenour had recently passed on to the Final 19th Hole. Jim was always a lot of fun to be around and will be missed. Don gave serious attaboys to Jeff Thomas, our new Senior Club Champion. Don also noted that elections are coming up and urged anyone interested in running to contact any Board member.

SCGA Director Bob Livingstone commended Alex Resurreccion, Beau Wesson, and the teams of Wally Gordon/Marc Lilliberg and Steve Clark/Anthony Castaneda for representing El Do in recent SCGA Tournaments. Bob then led an extensive discussion on whether or not to contribute to the Maui Fire Relief Fund. A motion to send the entire Hole in One Fund (if it was not won at the September Tournament) was overwhelmingly passed.

Director Cliff Aichele discussed the rules regarding “abnormal course conditions” and several other tricky situations.

Director Mike Montgomery reminded everyone to arrive at the course at least ½ hour before your tee time.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon reminded all those competing in the Flights Championship to post their scores on the day of their match.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen reminded us about the Weekender to be held September 23-24 at Singing Hills: Golf, hotel and casino all in one place. If anyone has ideas regarding Away Tournaments for next year, contact Mike.

Director Omar Diaz announced the winners of the pre-meeting Putting Contest. The Count 'Em All format had 31 contestants, with Leo Uribe edging out Todd Thiele and Scott Chamberlain. Omar noted the the Flights Championship was moving along, and that tryouts for Team Play would be held soon.

Director Doug Balfour discussed results of the Senior Club Championship, noting how playoffs figured prominently in all three flights.

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced the August Golfer of the Month Awards. Scott Paul was Gross GOM, and Rich Koskela was Net GOM. Winner of the pre-meeting 9 Hole Tournament was Tom Turner, with Andrew Noss finishing second and Mel Collins third.

Director Rich Koskela announced the Special Events for the Partner/Partner Tournament. Saturday’s events included CTP on Holes 3,9 and 12, and Sunday’s events included Gross Skins, Bookends (net par or better on 1,9,10 and 18) and Net 69 or better.

Director Terry Fulford reminded us that elections for the Board are coming up soon. Please contact anyone on the Board if you are interested in running. The slate of nominees was announced and nominations from the floor will be allowed in October with voting held at the November meeting.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox summarized results of the August Three Best Ball Tournament, noting that almost everyone finished in very good time. Brad then explained the format for each day of the Partner/Partner Tournament. He also reminded everyone that order of play is important in the October Orange Ball Tournament so pay attention when you sign up online. And don’t forget to check in with Brad at the meeting for the priority tee time list.

New Business: There was no New Business.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Jim Cox.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40.

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

September membership is 513

The Flights are almost into the Semi-finals with just a couple of matches remaining due to the Men's City Challenge this last weekend. Again some nice close matches and some European blowouts. I have spots for Saturday & Sunday to get in your matches in just let me know what day you want to play besides October 14th Men's Club tournament.

We have one last Putting Contest before our General meeting on October 10th. We will be doing Aces only aggregate.
$5 for 2 rounds of 9-holes and you will add your total number of Aces for an 18 hole total score. Again the Club will adding $50 to the pot. This will be the last one of the year so let make it a big pot. I plan to get this going hopefully by 5pm to give everyone ample time to get their chance in.

Saturday Team Play is just a couple of months away and will be having a couple of tryouts coming up. Working on getting some tee times for October & November tryouts. Saturday is in a group with Los Verdes (the defending champs) Rec Park & Costa Mesa, so a good fun group. If you are interested in trying out just email me and I will get you on the tryout list.

Good Luck in the Orange Ball
Omar Diaz

Hello Members!

Another month in the books! The Fall season is upon us and the hunt for “Red October” is on! How many players can we get to get in the RED! Decent month of cards with 7 turned in for September. Only one GROSS card turned in and it was a very beatable score but if you don’t turn them in…. You can’t win! Congrats to Dave Rubin who shot a Ho-Hum 71 (35-36). Like stealing candy from a baby! Our NET GOM was a close one but only one to prevail. Congrats to Jeff De Graaff for shooting a net 66. Yes its another De Graaff taking money from our pockets. I think Henry is finally rubbing off on his soul brother. Honorable mention to Tyler Cross (67), Trevine Felsinger (68), Scott Dietschak (68) and Andrew Noss (70). Congrats to both winners as they will be entered into Golfer of the Year tournament.

This will be the last month for 9 hole tournament and putting contest before Daylight Saving kicks in later this month. Sign up in Pro Shop on day of meeting. Play with a member, sign the card, pay your 5 bucks and turn in at meeting or envelope at desk.

Have a great month and see you at the course!

Ziggy

It was another month of good weather and great golf for the club. Partner Partner was a fun weekend of golf and it sounds like the Weekender was a blast as well. I can't wait to hear the stories from that weekend.

We also had a stroke play play off between the first place Flight winners from the Club Championship: Kevin Mehlbrech & Garret Marks and the Senior Club Championship: Rich Boyker & Steve Brand. The top two players will advance to the SCGA Club Championship Tournament in the Palm Springs Area to represent the El Dorado Men's Club (the Club will be reimbursing the tournament fees). The two players that will represent us is Kevin Mehlbrech and Steve Brand who earned the second spot after winning a two hole playoff against Rich Boyker. Also the two gross winners from the CC and SCC , Eugene Milner & Jeff Thomas will be moving on the the SCGA Gross Tournament to represent the El Dorado Men's Club. Congratulations and play well gentlemen.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the Dreaded Orange Ball.


Doug Balfour
Special Assignments

September’s Partner-Partner Tournament is in the books a bit lighter attendance than past years but still fun! There was some very good golf played including Sunday’s Count ‘em All round. Matt Nunley shot a Net 64, Jeff DeGraaff & Trevine Felsinger both shot Net 68, Erick Miller Net 69, Good Shooting!! Pace of play was great with final groups finishing in under 4:10 both days. Pretty good for 33 groups!

A Flight Gross was won by Connor Fehmel & Grady Zieglowsky shooting 198.
A Flight Net was won by Andrew Noss, Patrick Tomwith with 164
B Flight Gross saw Mike Graham, Reed Wilson shot a 184
B Flight Net had Richard Gray, Brent Shears to a 167½
C Flight Gross at 198 were Matt Nunley, Eric Kent.
C Flight Net had Craig Gantz, Larry Maness 165 winning by a ½ point!

Complete results are posted on the website.

The Orange Ball Tournament is Sold Out.

October’s Dreaded Orange Ball is next up. Sign-Ups are open thru the Member Portal on our website. Sign-Up closes on October 3. Online payments will be activated when Tee Times are posted. A payment reminder email will be sent. Please do not pay until you have a tee time!!!

Format is Foursomes Flighted. Team Score is Orange Ball plus 2-Best Balls. Each Group is issued 3 Orange Balls and must finish with at least 1. Penalty for losing all 3 is DQ. Batting order can be important! No changes to your batting order after October 10th. If no order is submitted, order of play will be determined by Handicap Index.
Player A plays the Orange Ball on Holes 1,5,9.13.17.
Player B plays the Orange Ball on Holes 2,6,10,14,18
Player C plays the Orange Ball on Holes 3,7,11,15
Player D plays the Orange Ball on Holes 4,8,12,16
October 10th at the general meeting will be your last chance to give me your group batting order for Orange Ball

Sign-Ups for November’s Superintendent’s Revenge will open at the General Meeting on October 10th. This is a fun event were Superintendent Marc Lilleberg sets up the course to his liking. Format is Foursomes Flighted 3-Best Ball.

Be sure to check in with me at the General Meeting for Priority Tee Times! Please get to the meeting early as I will close the Priority Tee Times at 7:00pm when meeting comes to order.

Thanks
Brad Wilcox

Special Event prizes for the September Partner-Partner tournament were distributed between 67 players. Not bad considering there were 132 players in the field. Each Special Event had some noteworthy action as detailed below.

Gross Skins SE – Congratulations to William Behr and Andrew Cochrane for winning the only two skins in A flight ($195 each). There were five skins winners in B flight. There would have been six but Brett Pagett’s eagle on 18 didn’t count since he chose not to enter the event. Similarly, there would have been five winners in C flight but Richard Gray decided to not enter the event. So congratulations to the four C flight winners including Joseph Stagnaro with two skins.

Net 69 or Better – A huge shout out to Eric Miller and Jeff Degraaff for pocketing $258 each as the only two winners of this event. Great shooting guys and I’m sure Wally has you in his sights.

Closest to the Pin – Bret Holloway deserves a mention here because he came in 3rd in all 3 CTP events. Way to go Bret.

Net month is the much-anticipated “Dreaded Orange Ball” tournament. Special Events will include:
• The two lowest Gross and the two lowest Net scores. These SEs are funded by the club to encourage and reward good golf. No chance of me ever winning.
• Gross Skins - $10 entry.
• Orange Ball Birdies (Holes 1-16 only) - $5 entry
• Orange Ball Skins (Holes 1-16 only) - $5 entry

See you at the Blue Box.
Rich

September completed our Most Improved Golfer of the 3rd quarter. Honorable mention to

3rd place - Wally Gordon improved from 7.4 to 4.3
2nd place - Jim Fuchs improved from 5.6 to 2.3

Congratulations to
1st place and winner of $50 - Patrick Tom who improved from 2.8 to a plus 1

Thanks all!!

Hit ‘em flush and hit ‘em straight!

Hello fellow golfers. Before I get to my Rules Instruction for the month, Livy asked me to note an incorrect ruling he gave to Nick Zamora at the last meeting. If a player plays a ball from the putting green and it hits another ball that was at rest on the putting green, that player gets the General Penalty (2 stroke in stroke play or loss of hole in match play). Livy had incorrectly said that it looked to him like that Rule had changed, but he subsequently found an Exception to Rule 11-1a, which no longer has a penalty for any ball in motion that hits a player or outside influence (including another ball) anywhere but on the putting green. So get those balls marked on the green if they could come into your play after your questionable left-handed putting stroke!

Fall is in the air, and this means it’s the time of year when golf courses perform aeration of greens and fairways. If the course you’re playing has Model Local Rule E-4 (which we adopt at El Dorado, then you are allowed relief if your ball lies in or touches an aeration hole. You are however excluded relief for stance, swing or line of play. In the general area you take relief the same as you would from ground under repair. You are allowed nearest point of relief (no closer to the hole) plus 1 club length and then drop the ball from knee height. You may have to take this relief multiple times if your ball keeps ending up in an aeration hole. On the putting green you are allowed to place the ball at the nearest point of relief no closer to the hole and this plausibly could be off the green. If you’re unlucky enough to be playing a course that has not enacted Model Local Rule E-4, well, sorry; play it as you find it!
Keep your eye on the ball and see ya at the Do.

Cliff Aichele,
Rules Chairman

Treasurer's Report - September 30, 2023

Balance August 31, 2023		50,469.35
Income
Memberships		2,620.00
Partner-Partner Cash/Check Entries		3,010.00
Sycuan Cash/Check Entries		1,765.00
Sep Cr Card Entries (P-P, Sycuan)		23,010.50
Hole In One Insurance		50.00
Interest		0.87
Total September Income		30,456.37
Expenses
SCGA Dues	792.00
Partner-Partner Green Fees	12,608.00
Partner-Partner Scrip	4,920.00
Partner-Partner Special Events/Sweeps	6,355.00
Partner-Partner Scoreboards	29.77
Partner-Partner Refunds	355.00
BOD Copies	5.74
BOD Meeting	72.00
LB Jr Golf Quad Club Donation	250.00
Club Champ Trophies	448.78
Sr Club Champ Trophies	494.75
GOM Trophies	223.77
Sycuan Prize Fund	3,420.00
Sycuan Final Deposit	8,803.88
Putting & 9-hole Subsidy	100.00
Member Drawing - J. Cox	50.00
Credit Card Fees	871.30
Total September Expenses	39,799.99
Balance on September 30, 2023		41,125.73

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

Notes:
* Final accounting for Sycuan will be in the October 31 Treasurer's Report

I have informed our Board of Directors that my wife and I have decided to move to Murrieta, CA in the not-too-distant future. With that in mind, I cannot run for the board in 2024. The distance is just too far to remain an active member in the El Dorado Men’s Club. I’ve enjoyed being a member and serving on the Board of Directors, but it’s time for me to move on. I will finish the year as President. I wanted to let everyone know this prior to the November BOD Election. The Nominating Committee has been discussing options. As you know, we will have the Election of BODs at the General Meeting on Tuesday November 14th in the Big White Tent. See you there!

Other than that, October’s Dreaded Orange Ball Tournament was a great time highlighted by a Hole-In-One on #9 by Mike Tatalovich! Congratulations Mike!

Next up is November 18th Super’s Revenge Tournament. Due to less daylight, the Field is limited and full. I’m sure Marc Lilliberg has some ideas on extracting his Revenge!

Our annual December Christmas Shotgun Tournament is right around the corner. We have a 3-Event Qualifier for this Event. We play 3-somes, 2 3-somes per group. Get your 3-somes together and Sign-Up! Sign-Ups are activated at November’s General Meeting.

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. Chef Bing did it again: lasagna with plenty of meat sauce and cheese, peppers & onions, rolls, salad and cookies for dessert, all for only $8.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were approximately 125 members in attendance including Past Presidents Terry Fulford, Cliff Aichele, Don Marmion, Richard Scoville, Nick Zamora, Mike Montgomery and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. There were also two new members present: Aaron Rezendes and Mitch Caban. They gave a brief Bio and then were given the New Member spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

President Didier reminded us that since we voted to donate the $1,400+ that was in the Hole-in-One Fund to relief efforts on Maui everyone needed to rejoin the fund, either on-line or at the first tee during the tournament. Filling in for Rich Koskela, Don briefly discussed the Special Events for the upcoming tournament.

Director Cliff Aichele informed us that relief from aeration holes on the greens will be allowed at the upcoming tournament.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon announced that the Most Improved Golfer Award for the third quarter went to Patrick Tom. Nice job Patrick. Wally also again reminded us to post scores the day that you play the round.

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen awarded the Little Brown Jug prize to Greg Marks. This is the prize for best overall performance in all of the Away Tournaments. Congratulations Greg. Mike then discussed results of the two previous Away Tournaments and noted that consideration is being given to combining the Weekender with the Director’s Outing next year.

Director Omar Diaz announced the winners of the pre-meeting Putting Contest. The Aces Only 18 Hole format was won by long-time member Dick Reagan with Andrew Cochrane finishing second. Omar noted that the Flights Championship matches were moving into the semi-final rounds this month, and that tryouts for Saturday Team Play would be held soon. Other clubs in our Saturday Team group include Rec Park, Costa Mesa and Los Verdes.

Director Doug Balfour noted that Kevin Mehlbrech and Steve Brand will represent El Do at the SCGA Net Tournament of Club Champions, and Jeff Thomas and Eugene Milner will do so at the SCGA Senior and Gross Championships. Best of luck gentlemen.

Director Bob Livingstone, filling in for Mark Ziegenhagen, announced the September Golfer of the Month Awards. Dave Rubin was Gross GOM with a 71, and Jeff De Graaff was Net GOM Winner with a nice 66. Winner of the pre-meeting 9 Hole Tournament was Mike Filbey. Bob noted that Lakewood, Los Verdes and Costa Mesa would be in El Do's group for Thursday Team Play.

Director Terry Fulford announced the approved slate for elections at the meeting in November: President – Don Didier; Vice President – Brad Wilcox; Secretary – Cary Thomason; Treasurer – Bob Livingstone; Directors – Mark Ziegenhagen and Omar Diaz.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox noted that the September Partner-Partner Tournament went well and that the October Orange Ball Tournament was sold out with tee times running from 6:50 to 2:00. Brad once again explained how and when to sign up for tournaments, get preferred starting times, and pay. November is the Superintendent’s Revenge Tournament, an event that truly merits its name. Sign up asap. Brad discussed the format for the Christmas Tournament – sixsomes, shotgun start, and Derbies afterward. We’ve got the course for the entire day so plan accordingly.

New Business: There was no New Business.

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was me. Honest. First time. Actually first time I ever made the top 40 list.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

October membership is 516

The Finals are set: President's Flight - Favian Cheong vs. Patrick Tom, Secretary's Flight - Andrew Batcheller vs. Michael Wilson, Treasurer's Flight - Drew Kroner vs. John Wong, Vice President's Flight - Pablo Rubio vs. Scott Dietschak, Director's Flight - Thomas Nasuti vs. Ron Royster. Good Luck to the Finalists.

Our Saturday Team Play group has been set with Los Verdes, Costa Mesa, & Recreation Park.

Our home matches are January 13th v Costa Mesa, January 27th v Los Verdes, February 10th v Recreation Park.
I will have a tryout for Saturday Team Play on Sunday, November 19th starting at 8:30am and have 6 times. I will be sending out emails to former team members, and if any new members would like to tryout just email me by click my photo. I will also have a December tryout TBD.

Good Luck in the Super's Revenge,
Omar

Another month in the books and another good month of scorecards turned in for October. We only had two GROSS cards and but had seven NET cards. Our GROSS GOM is a first time winner and shot a really good score. Patrick Tom put together a 35-32 with a nice eagle on 18 to give him a Gross 67. Bridesmaid goes to Bret Holloway who tried to sneak his Gross 70 in the box. A valiant effort but just came up short. Our NET GOM cards were all in the 60’s but Steven Brand walks away with the goods this month shooting a nice 78 minus his 13 handicap gives him a NET 65 from the Combo Tees. Honorable mention to Mike Pircher (66), Tony Glorioso (66), Terry Fletcher (66), RJ Silbaugh (67), Doug Balfour (68) and Lance Breedlove (69). Good shooting guys…try again next month!

Daylight saving has happened this month so no more 9 hole or Putting Tournaments until Spring time. Good luck to the Flights Championship players, remember you can’t use these scores for GOM. See everyone at the November meeting and tournament!

Hit it Straight!
Ziggy

Hopefully the Goblins didn’t get anyone and everyone had a great Halloween. The Dreaded Orange Ball was a good time and Super's Revenge is on the horizon, we will see what Mark is going to throw at us ( I’m sure we won’t be disappointed ). I’m looking forward to Team Play to get started, hopefully we can get some revenge on Los Verdes. See everyone on the 14th and a Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Doug Balfour
Special Assignments

We dealt with darkness in the morning, darkness in the evening as we do every year, still we managed to have everyone finish the Dreaded Orange Ball Tournament. There was one DQ for not finishing with a Dreaded Orange Ball, every year seems to haunt one team with losing all their Orange Balls!!

Congrats to Mike Tatalovich for Hole in One on #9.

A Flight Gross at 224 Jake Amado, Andrew Carmichael, Jason Gonzales, Andrew Pulido
A Flight Net won by Bob Livingstone, Justin Vanderbroek, Kevin Mehlbrech, Matt Huntington - 205!
B Flight Gross at 231 were Mike Graham, Reed Wilson, Jeff Eastwood, Jack Witherspoon.
B Flight Net won by Bryan McMahon, Michael Dugan, Dennis Cartwright, John Jameson - 206.
C Flight Gross won by Arthur Zamarripa, Stanton Faris, Jeff DeGraaff, Henry DeGraaff - 244.
C Flight Net won by Philip Friess, Matt Palma, Ken Rademacher, Mike Tatalovich - 204.
Complete results posted on our website.

This time of year brings limited sunlight which means smaller fields, less Players with many Members asking why they didn’t make it in the field. So for those and our newer Members here is how getting a Priority tee time works:

#1 Become a Director: one of the few perks of being a Director is you get guaranteed tee times for all our events. Talk with any director they will fill you in!

#2 Come to our monthly meetings 2nd Tuesday of the month under the big white tent 7:00PM: we take attendance (before the meeting starts), once the meeting is concluded names, are picked at random from attendance list for Priority tee times for next month’s tournament (players pick open time slot with how many players in their group) until the tee times are all filled or no more names to be called.

#3 If your schedule doesn’t allow any of your group to be at our General Meeting you still have a chance certainly as a single/twosome and in some cases in the summer a foursome. How this option works is those who did not attend our general meeting get a priority number and I pick the lowest number from those who have signed up online, I fill any open spots from that list!

I hope this helps clear any questions.

November’s Superintendent’s Revenge Tournament filled up quickly as we have a limited field due to daylight. Marc Lilleberg will set the course to his liking and should challenge the field. I am sure Marc won’t let us down with the course set up its always fun when he gets creative!!

Sign-Ups for our Christmas Shotgun Tournament will open during the General Meeting on November 14th. We have a 3-Event Minimum Qualification for this tournament since the Club adds substantially to the Prize Fund and Tee Prizes as well as renting the course for the day.

Format is Threesomes Flighted, 2-Threesomes per Group, 2-Better Balls with a 7:30am Shotgun Start. Tournament cost is $90 to walk/$107 with cart per player. Since this is a Shotgun Start, we will pre-pay for carts. Please remember to choose a cart during Sign-Up if you choose to ride, deciding to ride when you show up is not a option. After completing your round, you are welcome to play until dark or enter a Derby.

Play Well!

Brad Wilcox

I was unable to attend the Orange Ball tournament so nothing to report this month. A huge thank you to Brad Wilcox (VP extraordinaire) for determining the Orange Ball winners and updating the website.

In November we have the Superintendent's Revenge tournament. Special events include:

Low Gross Scores - Club funded with two winners.
Low Net Scores - Club funded with two winners.
Gross Skins - $10 entry
Triple Turkey (Net Par or Better on Holes 3,6,9,12,15,18) - $5 entry
Closest to the Pin 2nd Shot Hole 13 - $5 entry

See you at the Blue Box.
Rich

Hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!

Our first away event of the new year will take place on Sunday, January 28th at Recreation Park 18. Sign-ups will be open by November’s meeting night on the El Dorado Men’s Club website. Please sign up as soon as possible. We’ve reserved tee times from 9am until noon, remember away events count for the Little Brown Jug and towards the requirements to play in the Christmas tournament.

The format for this away trip tournament will be a 1,2,3 Waltz. Entries include Green Fee, Closest to the pin & Prize Fund. The Closest to the pin holes are 5, 12, 16 and 2nd shot on 15. Carts are optional but need to be paid for at the course. We’ll also have two optional side pot games, $5 gross skins and $5 net skins, sign up for these pot games when you register. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me by clicking my photo.

Remember if your Full Swing sucks go with the Half Swing!
Michael Petersen

Just wanted to let our new Members know and to remind our existing Members to:
- Post your score to GHIN the same day you play and no later than 12:00 midnight the same day you play
- Ensure you post the correct tees (Blue, Combos, or White).
- Also, when you are required to post your score for a tournament, make sure you post a Competition round, not Home or Away.

If you have any questions regarding handicaps, handicap indexes, how to post, etc., please contact anyone on the Handicap Committee.

Treasurer's Report - October 31, 2023

Balance September 30, 2023		41,125.73
Income
Hole In One Insurance - Orange Ball		520.00
Memberships		1,510.00
Orange Ball Cash & Check Entries		2,259.00
CCard Orange Ball Entries and Sp. Events		14,374.00
Additional Hawaii Strong Donations		65.00
Old Bank Reversal Refund - Paul Standish		50.00
Unknown Revenue for Bank Reconciliation		90.00
Interest		0.89
Total October Income		18,868.89
Expenses
Knollwood Refund	100.00
Sycuan Refunds	302.00
Orange Ball Refunds	190.00
Orange Ball Green Fees	8,520.25
Orange Ball Scrip	4,465.00
Orange Ball Special Events	3,255.00
Credit Card Fees	651.69
Little Brown Jug	225.00
Q3 Most Improved - Patrick Tom	50.00
SCGA Member Dues	468.00
9-Hole & Putting Subsidy	100.00
Board Meeting	76.00
Two Tourn of Club Champ Entries	350.00
Meeting Member Drawing - Rob Kuehn	50.00
Hawaii - Maui Strong HIO Donation	1,495.00
Hole In One - Mike Tatalovich	520.00
Christmas Tee Prizes	5,172.00
Copies	5.29
Total October Expenses	25,995.23
Balance October 31, 2023		33,999.39

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

Notes:
* The Club added $250 to Special Events for 1st & 2nd Low Gross and Low Net in Orange Ball

** The Club pays the entry into the SCGA Tournament of Club Champions for our Regular and Senior Club Champs and 2 of our Net Club Champs

*** The Little Brown Jug pays $100, $75 and $50 for the top 3 cumulative best scores in all away events

I attended a Memorial Tournament for Jimmy Ridenhour on November 15th in Palm Springs along with several other El Dorado Men’s Club Members. Jimmy was a good friend and long-time member of our Club. It was a wonderful day in Jimmy’s honor. Joy Ridenhour, Jimmy’s wife, asked me to share the following.
“Thank you to the Men’s club for their attendance at the Celebration of Life for Jim Ridenhour and their participation in the ‘USS Enterprise golf tournament’ held at Big Rock in Indio, CA., and for the beautiful spray of flowers! I’m sure there are many more memories to share and stories yet to be told of Jim’s time there. You were all so special to him! Thank you for your love and support ~ ~ Joy”
You'll be missed but not forgotten my friend!!

We got very lucky with the weather during the November Superintendent’s Revenge Tournament. Marc Lilleberg had the course in great condition, and we saw some pin placements that were a bit sinister. Well done, Marc!

The Christmas Shotgun Tournament is next up, and we expect a full field of 192 players! It’s always a great tournament followed by Derbies. Since we rent the course for the entire day, participants can continue to play after the Tournament has ended.

In closing I would like to thank the entire Membership for having me on the Board for the past 5 years. We have gone through many changes over this time that have improved how the Club operates. I think our continued growth in Membership indicates we are on a good path. Although I won’t be on the Board moving forward, I will continue to be an active Member.

Your Lame Duck President,

Don Didier

On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held in the Big White Tent. In honor of that first Thanksgiving Chef Bing presented us with the traditional feast of turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and pumpkin pie for desert.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Don Didier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were approximately 85 members in attendance including Past Presidents Terry Fulford, Cliff Aichele, Don Marmion, Tom Retterath, Nick Zamora, Mike Montgomery and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. New member Mike Smith gave a brief Bio and then was given the New Member spiel by Past President Fulford. The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

President Didier reminded everyone to sign up for the Hole in One Fund either online or at the first tee at the November Tournament. Don also noted that our December Meeting, with thousands of dollars worth of raffle prizes, and our day-long Christmas Tournament are right around the corner.

SCGA Director Bob Livingstone noted that Mel Collins had qualified for the California Senior Amateur Championship, and that Marc Lilleberg has been presented a special award by the California Golf Course Owners Association. Serious kudos to these fine gentlemen for representing El Do in a truly professional manner. Bob also noted that the Club sent a bouquet to the Celebration of Life recently held for long-time member Jim Ridenour who recently passed away.

Director Cliff Aichele informed us that the combination Weekender/Director’s Outing would be held March 1-3 next year. Contact Cliff or Mike Petersen for more info.

Director Rich Koskela announced that Special Events for the November Tournament will be Skins, Triple Turkey (net par or better on holes 3-6-9-12-15-18) and Second Shot Closest to the Pin/On the Green on Hole # 13.

Handicap Chairman Wally Gordon noted that posting is going well. [Note: this was the briefest presentation ever by Wally. Let’s hope he’s practicing for running meetings next year.]

Entertainment Director Mike Petersen announced that all Away Tournaments next year would award both A and B Flight “points.” The first Away Tournament will be January 28 at Rec Park. Next year will include Los Verdes, Lakewood and the Navy Couse, with additional courses being investigated. Mike urged everyone to sign up for all the Away Tournaments and he would make sure we had all the starting times we need.

Director Omar Diaz announced the finalists in the Flights/Match Play Championship. He noted that tryouts for Team Play will be held December 9.

President Didier, filling in for Director Mark Ziegenhagen, announced the October Golfer of the Month Awards. Patrick Tom was Gross GOM with a 67, and Steve Brand was Net GOM Winner with a nice 65.

Director Terry Fulford announced the candidates of Officers for next year. They include: President – Don Didier; Vice President – Brad Wilcox; Secretary – Cary Thomason; Treasurer – Bob Livingstone; Directors – Mark Ziegenhagen and Omar Diaz. As all candidates were running unopposed, the slate was approved by unanimous voice vote.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Brad Wilcox discussed results of the October Orange Ball Tournament. Brad once again explained how to sign up for tournaments and the “priority” tee time system. He urged us all to play quickly at the November Tournament. We have a full field and daylight is limited. The Christmas Tournament is open for sign-ups. Act quickly as only 192 spots are available.

New Business: Tom Retterath introduced a motion from the floor to increase the Director’s stipend by $100 annually. The motion was unanimously approved. Fine – just when I’m leaving the Board. If only I’d known…..

Old Business: There was no Old Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was John Kilgore.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:29

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

November membership is 525

Want to say congratulations to our 2023 Flight Championships winners:
President's Flight - Favian Cheong
Vice President's Flight - Pablo Rubio
Secretary's Flight - Michael Wilson
Treasurer's Flight - John Wong
Director's Flight - Thomas Nasuti

Thanks to all the participants for playing this year; it was a fun tourney with a lot of close matches and some blowouts. Thanks for your patience with me on learning how to put this all together. I will be better next year for sure.

Saturday Team Play is getting closer with our last tryout coming up soon. If you have any interest in playing please reach out to me ASAP as we start in January. Wishing everyone a great Holiday Season and a great New Year.

Omar Diaz

Hello Members!

Last month of the year is here. It has been a great year of golf ( well for some that is). We only had 6 cards turned in for November GOM. We had only one GROSS GOM turned in and that was Patrick Tom. Although he shot a nice 68 gross, he was already our October winner so he can’t win it again. But we are fair here at El Dorado, so we will just give him an “Atta-Boy”.

There were 5 NET GOM cards turned in for November. But there was only one card that blew away the competition and that was Michael Miller. Michael carded a gross 96 minus his 31 handicap for a Net 65. He is definitely a “Chip off the ol’ block”. Honorable mention goes to Geno DeAngelis Net 68, Andrew Pulido Net 71, Vern Cannon Net 71and Michael Wilson net 71.

December tournament coming up on December 16th. This is an all day affair, if you want it to be, so I will be running one of the Horse Derbies after tournament starting on Hole #1. This will be an additional $20 entry fee. Partners will be matched lowest to highest handicaps working our way to middle handicaps. Brian Gonzalez is running a derby as well for the lower handicap players. I will take signups at meeting, email/text or before tournament. Try to sign up early if you can so it’s not so crazy on the first tee box. Please contact me with info below. Last month to turn in cards for GOM and to qualify for Golfer of Year Tournament later in March 2024. Good Luck to all!

Happy Holidays!
Ziggy

Hard to believe that we are heading into December, this year has gone by quick. We had a great tournament for Super's Revenge, Marc did a great job with the course set up. Brad also ran a nearly flawless tournament and the players did a great job with keeping pace.

There's two things I would like to mention about tournament is that it was a bit disappointing to see the amount of fresh ball marks on the green that weren’t repaired. We had no public in front of the tournament on the front 9, so no excuses for not repairing ball marks. Please take care of our greens, there is a lot of work put in to keeping them in good condition for our club. The other thing that needs to be addressed is there were multiple bunkers that were not raked after someone hit out of them. Besides the edict of the game, be respectful to your fellow members and rake the bunkers after you play out of them please.

Now we are on to our Super Bowl for the year, there are a ton of great prizes for the General Meeting on the 12th as well as the inflated purse for the tournament. I look forward to seeing all of you at the Meeting and those of you that are playing in the tournament. Have a happy and safe Holidays.

Doug Balfour
Special Assignments

Wow I can’t believe how lucky we were, it was a little tough for the first group due to the morning cloud cover but Greg and his crew did a great job and set a good pace for the day finishing in 3hrs 45min. The weather cooperated & it certainly didn’t hurt with everyone bringing their rain gear to wart off any chances of rain as well we changed from 3 Best Ball to 2 Best Ball.

Marc Lilleberg did not disappoint with his course set-up for November’s Super’s Revenge. I think the weather threw Marc a curve so the course wasn’t too tough. There was only 1 group in the field to shoot over par Net. We had a field of 144 players, everyone played in daylight start to finish. There was 1 group penalized for slow play but amazingly did not affect payoffs, the Directors will talk about this for future penalties for slow play.

A Flight Gross at 136 (-8) Andrew Noss, Mike Petersen, Andrew Pulido and Patrick Tom.
A Flight Net won by Andrew Batcheller, William Behr, Lester Cruz and Kenny Cheong at 121 (-23).
B Flight Gross at 149 (+5) were Aaron Debreceni, Kyle Eggleston, Darren Vial and Matt Mendenhall.
B Flight Net won by Dennis Cartwright, Michael Dugan, John Jameson and Bryan McMahon at 129 (-15).
C Flight Gross won by Vern Cannon, Shaun Ferguson, Ron Searcy and Michael Wilson at 153 (+9).
C Flight Net won by Tom Hardesty, Bill Kearns, Tim Braswell and Daniel Shugarts at 126 (-18).
Complete results posted on our website.

I have hit the half way point of my 2 year sentence and what better way to celebrate than to have our Christmas Tournament!!

Sign-Ups (standby only) for our Christmas Shotgun Tournament currently full as of 12/3. We have a 3-Event Minimum Qualification for this tournament since the Club adds substantially to the Prize Fund and Tee Prizes as well as renting the course for the day.

Format is Threesomes Flighted, 2-Best Balls, 2-Threesomes per Group, with a 7:30am Shotgun Start. Tournament cost is $90 to walk/$107 with cart per player. Since this is a Shotgun start, we will pre-pay for carts. Please remember to choose a cart during Sign-Up if you choose to ride. After completing your round, you are welcome to play until dark or enter a Derby.

Sign-Ups for January’s Scramble will open at the General Meeting on December 12th. Format will be Fivesomes Flighted for this event. Priority Tee Times will be given out for attendees at the General Meeting. Please check-in with me prior to the meeting. Attendance will close at the start of the meeting.

Best Regards,
Brad

Another Superintendent’s Revenge tourney is in the books. Thankfully the weather cooperated and Marc wasn’t too hard on us. SE prizes were distributed among 42 players this month. Congratulations to John Hasselman for being the big winner. John - $185 is waiting for you in the Blue Box.

There wasn’t any SE drama worth mentioning this month so I’ll skip my usual summary. The SE winners are listed on the website if you care to look.

Net month is the Christmas Shotgun tournament. Special events will include:

• The two lowest gross and the two lowest net scores. These SEs are funded by the club to encourage and reward good golf. Payouts are $75 and $50 each.
• Gross Skins - $10 entry.
• Net Skins - $5 entry. Merry Christmas to all the double poppers out there.
• Rudolph the Red Flagged Reindeer – Net par on each hole with a red flag. $5 entry.

See you at the Blue Box.
Rich

Happy Holiday Season fellow members,

Last weekend while playing golf, a rules question came up and it reminded me of the movie Caddyshack. Perhaps one of the greatest comedy golf movies ever made that created a star out of greenskeeper Carl Spackler’s nemesis, a pain in the ass dancing gopher. Well just like Bushwood Country Club, El Dorado GC has its fair share of pesky gophers. The good news is that Rule 16.1 can help you out with the damage these types of pest cause to golf courses all over. The question that came up was, do we get relief from gopher holes and the cast or dirt mounds they create? The answer is Yes! This is considered an “Abnormal Course Condition” and is covered under Rule 16.1. You get free relief when the condition interferes with your lie, stance, or area of intended swing. However, when the “Abnormal Course Condition” only interferes with your line of play, free relief is not allowed.

*The basics of the rule are that you are allowed nearest point of relief, plus one club length. Please note this is just a rough outline of Rule 16. It’s a good idea to go on the USGA.org website and look under the “Rules and Clarifications” for a complete understanding of how to apply this rule to your situation.

Keep your eye on the ball and see ya at the Do.
Cliff Aichele
Rules Chairman

Treasurer's Report - November 30, 2023

Balance October 31, 2023		33,999.39
Income
Super's Revenge Cash & Check Entries		2,051.00
Super's/Rec CCard Entries & Sp Evnts		12,777.00
Interest		0.73
Hole In One Entries		625.00
Memberships		2,460.00
Total November Income		17,913.73
Expenses
BOD Meeting	75.00
Flights Finalists Green Fees **	187.00
Rec Park Away Deposit	252.00
Member Drawing - J. Kilgore	50.00
Ridenour Memorial Flowers/Banner	189.06
SCGA T of Club Champs Entry - Milner	175.00
SCGA Member Dues	720.00
Super's Revenge Refunds	455.00
Super's Revenge Greens Fees	7,289.00
Super's Revenge Special Events	2,435.00
Super's Low Gross & Net Subsidy	250.00
Super's Revenge Scrip	3,735.00
Eagle Crest (Weekender) Fees	758.00
Weekender F&B	318.33
Copies	34.62
Check Printing Charge	175.04
Credit Card Fees	438.07
Total November Expenses	17,536.12
Balance on November 30, 2023		34,377.00

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer

NOTES:
* The club will pay the green fees for all Flights Championship finalists
** The Club added $250 to Special Events for 1st & 2nd Low Gross and Low Net in Super's Revenge