Men’s Golf Tournament

The Leisure World Men’s Golf Club Tournament was held Nov. 23. It was a sunny but a bit cool at the 7:30 a.m. tee time. It warmed up nicely and was a lovely morning to play golf. Both fairways and greens were extremely damp after overnight watering and what seemed like frost on surrounding lawns.

Two groups of three flights of variously skilled golfers play for best net scores (gross score minus handicap), plus two circle holes (shots within a 5-foot radius are rewarded) and two closest to the pin challenges. The Turtle Lake Golf Course is a 1,658-yard, 18 holepar 54 course, that challenges all who play.

Note to all golfers: Remember, you are responsible for your tee box divots and ball marks on the greens. Please repair yours and one more.

Due to maintenance and closure of the tee boxes, temporary tees were used which considerably shortened every hole. This had some golfers just using sand or lob wedges for the entire round. The greens are still not in great shape with the continued encroachment of weeds creates bumpy and uneven surfaces leading to erratic rolls of the ball.

The tee boxes are still in poor condition. Work that was done on them has not seemed to have made any change. There is some new grass, but the majority of the surfaces are still sandy and bare. Three wet areas were noted this week on the third and fourth fairways and behind the seventh tee area. Additionally, the temporary tee areas are now significantly chewed up from just a few weeks use.

A total of 48 golfers teed off and played 18 holes. With the shortened tees, golfers were prepared to attack the course. And attack they did with 66 birdies, 13 circle holes and a Hole-in-one on the sixth hole by Battlin’ Bill Zurn. Additionally, 36 of 48 golfers were net at or under par including five gross under par.

Closest to the pin on the seventh hole was Bob Johnston, and on the 16th hole was Pat Paternoster. The lowest gross score was Bob Turner at a very well-played 5 under 49 followed by Kyoo Choi at a super 2 under 52. Low net was Steve Kang at an amazing 11 under 43, with Bob Turner at net 44, and 17 others under at net 50 or below.

Winners: (All scores below are net=gross score minus handicap) “A” flight encompasses golfers with handicaps of 0-6: First place: Bob Turner, a well-played 10 under 44; second: three-way tie between Pat Paternoster, Young Lee, and Andrew Kim, a terrific 6 under 48; third: Seung Lee, a hard-earned 5 under 49; fourth: Dave LaCascia, a sweet 4 under 50; fifth: tie between Kyoo Choi and Gene Archambault, a nice 3 under 51.

“B” flight has handicaps of 7-10: First place: Dennis McMonigle, a terrific 9 under 45; second: tie between Bill Zurn and Yong J. Kim, an outstanding 6 under 48; third: tie between Jae H. Lee, Ken Notorleva, and Bill Smith, at 5 under 49; fourth: Bruce Bowles, an excellent 4 under 50; fifth: tie between Paul Alloway and Steve Walker, a very good 3 under 51.

“C” flight has handicaps of 11-18: First place: Steve Kang, a fantastic 11 under 43; second: Paul Shellenberger, an outstanding 5 under 47; third: tie between Joltin’ Joe DiDonato and Richard McPartland, a very good 5 under 49; fourth: tie between Hyon Shin and Joon Sup Yoon, a very nice 4 under 50; fifth: John Sorenson, a fine 3 under 51.

The next Men’s Tournament will be on Dec. 14 and 28 and then every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the following months. If you had planned to play in any tournament and cannot, contact Alan Sewell, 541-324-8558, or Dave LaCascia, 801-674-5975, as soon as possible. Arrive 10-15 minutes prior to your scheduled tee time and be ready to play.

—Dave LaCascia

Bill Zurn