OK, it is January, the middle of winter. The first groups started with plenty of frost on the ground. We almost lost new member Greg Peddie who did not pack his ice skates to get across the bridge on #8. There is Black Ice even at the Met.

14 new members came out as part of a 43 player field. In 7 of the 11 teams, the new member had the best score. Time for some lessons for the former members. Looks like the quality of play has been turned up a notch. As a side note, Metropolitan GL has a new Head Professional, Steve Janisch. Rich, Gene, Craig, Gregg and John are still with us so there are even more opportunities to improve. Game up for 2012! folks. Barney Chase found a trip to a club fitter delivered a magic driver that will be in the bag... for a couple months anyway. 

Par point scoring is a little hard to wrap the head around but Michael Keenan figured if he could get a natural eagle (on #17) he would help the team. Since it was a stroke hole he got the only Albatross (double eagle) on the score sheet. New member Chris Young led the winning team with the only individual total score over 50. 

The winning team included Ray Avalos, John Shaddle (riding the backs of his teammates), Van Nguyen and Chris Young. They figured out the scoring system.. or maybe just played better than the rest of us... and won by 14 strokes. 

6 of the 11 teams were packed in the middle but Avent, Norwood, Gomez and Keenan took 2nd place with 170 points, 1 better than Kahane, Ross, Dempsey and Park who claimed 3rd with 169.

The skins were pretty interesting with so many players. 26 players participated and 9 holes held up. Only one player got 2 of them. Winners were Greg Peddie #5, Van Nguyen #8, Hoon Park #9 & #14, Dudley Thompson # 13, Adam Neill #15, Chris Hansell #16, Michael Keenan #17, and Bob Schoenfield #18.

Greg Peddie (#5) and Chris Young (#12) earned closest to the pin prizes.

For complete results link to the next page or go to the tournament schedule.

The sign ups for the next couple tournaments will be open very soon... I'm still figuring out our software... one step at a time. Start thinking about the Metro Raider member guest in June. You can play with a MGC member or bring an outside guest. We will open the registration in March and I'm sure it will sell out very early. One note: your guest must have an established index or they will play to a 0 handicap, and that will handicap you. 

2012 Yearbook Available

This is the first year Metropolitan Golf Club has published a Yearbook. It is an attempt to communicate who we are, what we do, and how we do it. It is a work in progress and admittedly much of it is taken from other golf clubs. We thought they had good ideas so we wanted to use them for our club.

You will find information about the club, a description of all the tournaments, club rules and policies. It is an Acrobat .pdf file so you can download and keep on your home computer or print out a hard copy.

It is worthwhile reading if you play tournaments because some club rules are clarified, such as we are playing the area to the right side of #1 fairway and #9 fairway as a true ESA (Environmentally Sensitive Area) and there will be a penalty incurred, not a free drop. This is a specific club rule and not the course rule which has been unclear to many including course management. This is how the NCGA plays the hole in their tournaments at Metro.

Let us know how to improve it for next year. And since it is digital, we can tweak it some during this year.

You can find the Yearbook under the menu selection above Information/Reports... Yearbook.

Write it on your "to do" list. Write it with Dry Mark on your new calendars. Write it on the bathroom mirror. "Sign Up Early!"

On one hand it is great for the club to sell out tournaments early. But if you are someone who typically registers late 
(like I did before I became tournament chair), you may get left behind this year. Our last tournament of 2011 sold out. 
And the first tournament for 2012 is selling fast. Don't get put on the "wait list." 

The New Member tournament is Saturday, January 14th. It will be a four-person team par-point scoring format. Sort of 
like a Stableford, the goal is to score high. Play your own ball, keep score, and we will work out the goofy stuff and let 
you know who wins. All teams will be put together with a blind draw. Welcome the new members, make some new 
friends or get hooked up with an old aquaintance (or competitor...). Let's start the year with good fellowship. 

Sign up online or email (DudleyT@aol.com) or call me (510) 453-9962.

The stars must have been in alignment as a big field came out to end the 2011 season. 44 golfers signed up and we were able to get an extra tee time to accomodate everyone. It started off a little cold with some ice on the putter. But the weather soon warmed up and the players started to read the rules for the tournament. It took a few holes to realize a little strategy was going to be needed. 

It appears Kimon Antoniadis studied the rules a few weeks ahead of time and figured out the right group of guests to invite. Either that or the Greek financial crisis hit him hard and he needed some extra gift money for the holiday season. Kimon's friends were shooting at birdies on almost every hole. We had to check their bags to see if they took home a couple Canandian geese for the Christmas table. Kimon with his guests Bryan Vogel, Simon Tao and Shadd Williams shot a 60 with an 8 stroke handicap for a net 52.

James Elwood invited Todd Cole and Steven Cottrel and recruited Paul Knowlton from the MGC to win 2nd place. They shot a gross 62 and a net 55. The money came from the better back nine to win the scorecard playoff. 

Chris Kelly also invited some outsiders but one of them backed out at the last minute. So the Big Kahuna John Notch stepped in and helped the team take 3rd place. The team shot a gross 63 with a net 55. 

Roger Carnagey picked up some golf balls with closest to the pin on #5 and guest Bryan Vogel hit a good one on #15.

It was great to finish the year with a big turnout, a challenging scramble, and great weather. Have a great holiday season and get ready to tee it up in 2012.

The scores were unbelievable, even that 10 Sam Deleon took on #11.

Doug Del Prete shot a 72 gross and took top honors. But the gross scores following him were two 74s and three 76s. Who needs 14 clubs to shoot par? Not Doug. Maybe he has been watching his son's lessons closely on Saturday morning.

But everyone played at least respectably if not incredibly well. Chris Hansell pulled down net honors with a 76/net 68. He was followed by Chris Snyder 76/70 and Mike Leksan 80/70 with Chris winning the scorecard playoff. Then came four net 71s. Todd Poletiek 74/71 would not allow Mark Stock 74/71 to do a score card trick on him or get snookered by Scott Hendin 76/71 or handicapped by Gil Olachea 93/71. $10 means a lot these days. There were only two net scores over 80 and one was 80 and the other 81.

Mark Stock was unable to do the hat trick but pulled two skins out of his sleeve. Chris Hansell, Todd Poletiek and Barney Chase also claimed skins. Mike Branco and Gil Olachea are now playing with Pro V1s for being closest to the pin. 

It’s time to start looking for a different way to improve your game, maybe a golf ball fitting or lessons. The weather wasn't even that good. We now know a big bag of clubs is not the variable. Come see my collection some day for proof. Keep it simple.

The new Team Metro coach's career is in jeopardy. Rules, strategies, and a kick in the pants was not enough to overcome ear-biting, fistacuffs and cheating. We even tried some of Mark Stock's cards up the sleeve tricks but the Cup remains at Crystal Springs. Crystal Springs retained The Metro Cup with a winning score of 17.5 vs 8.5 for the guys in white hats. We learned later they had several practice sessions putting the recently plugged greens. I even learned the losing team has to pay for engraving the trophy. 

We have to suck it up and start planning for next year. Coach Thompson will talk with Gary about prepping Metro to the advantage of Team Metro's strengths, whatever they may be. That seems to be his only hope, since his tenure is on the agenda of the Board meeting Wednesday night.

It was a beautiful day and some played good golf and won, some played good golf and lost, and then there were issues. With 26 players who stepped up to the plate there will always be issues but you hope the breaks fall our way. The player who shot the round of his life was on the other team. Chris Hansell played well and took the hit from Brian Simi. Sal Gomez had no excuse except he either wanted to win or lose big so he could get to a wedding... he took the low road.

A spread of prime rib and all the fixings were in store for the players. They were too good winners. 

Thanks to all who played and I would pick all of you again if I am still around.

The USGA says "Tee It Up" and have more fun playing golf. Chris Kelly took full advantage of the white tees and had the game of his life. He came in the morning with a different attitude than we usually see him. No side bets. No trash talk. Just some practice and a plan to stay focused. It worked. He shot a 67 with seven birdies to defend his claim as the Metropolitan Golf Club Senior Club Champion. It's rumored when his father reviewed the round with him he wondered why he had two bogies. Chris is trying to get older, faster so he still has the juice when he reaches shootable age.

John Rampa was no slouch but it was not the right year. John's 75 would have beat Chris last year by a shot, but it was good enough to claim Low Net (65) and get his name forever displayed alongside Chris on the plaque in the club house lobby. Sal Gomez and Van Hall were nipping at John's heels, both shooting 76 net 66. Sal won the score card playoff. Barney Chase continued his consistent play with a 79 net 67 to take 4th place net.

Dan Boone and Pat Mahoney both shot remarkable golf with gross 76s.

Skins were won by Chris Kelly (of course), Pat Mahoney, John Rampa, Dan Boone and Wendell Smith.

Barney Chase was closest to the hole on #5 at 18 ft. 3 in. and Dudley Thompson claimed a couple golf balls on #15 at 4 ft. 3 in.

The Metropolitan Golf Club's annual renewal period has now begun. You save $10.00 by not procrastinating. We are not raising the dues this year, in fact we only do when the NCGA itself decides to do so. That means that 2012 dues for current members will be $85.00 if you renew by December 1, 2011 or $95.00 anytime after that.

If you know anyone who wants to join our club or switch from another NCGA club to ours this is the time for them to sign up. For anyone who isn't a 2011 Metropolitan Golf Club member the first year dues are $95.00 and they get the rest of 2011 at no additional charge. That's a 25% bonus. The NCGA doesn't charge our Club for new members during these months so we pass the savings along to anyone who wants to join for the first time. We do not pro-rate our dues so this is the best time of year to join. Junior member dues are $18.00 any time of year. They must have not yet reached their eighteenth birthday to be considered a junior player by the NCGA.

We are losing our esteemed Communications Director, Chris Ingenito, at the end of this year because his business is making too many demands on his time. Thank you, Chris, once again for setting up the Club's website, and making sure our members know what is going on by sending out the emails that tell us all when a tournament is coming up and how to sign up for them!  Chris's work has made our Club stronger and we want to keep that momentum going. He made it possible for us to renew online and most of us love the convenience and want to continue to have that option. In fact, why don't you renew right now before you forget?

Chris's departure opens up an opportunity for one of you to work on your webmaster skills. If you have ever created or maintained a website we would be happy to welcome you onto the Board of Directors as our new Communications Director. The prestige alone should make you jump at the chance but the chance to brush up on your skills can be a big plus, too-especially for those among us who looking to make a career move or get our careers back on track during these tough economic times. If you have had to dust off the resumé this is something that might catch a hiring manager's eye. Some previous experience in maintaining websites will be necessary but Chris assures us that you don't need any advanced degrees or decades of experience to handle our communications and website needs. Most of the work that needs to be done involves our monthly tournaments so if you are-or want to be-a regular competitor remember that the website and
email reminders have increased participation and you can help keep our tournaments fun and competitive. 

If you wish to sign up to be the new Communications director please email me, jkrause@playmetro.com. 

Thank you,

Jerry Krause
Membership Chairman

The welcome legacy of Marty Wiseman as Tournament Chair this year is the individual match play tournament. Tournament play started in June and was completed in August. It was deemed a complete success and given a name for the future. The Board of Directors named the tournament the Sal Gomez Cup to honor his 20 years of service as President of the club.

Tim Ogles started off beating Club Champion AJ Warren. He then worked his way through Metro General Manager Leon Gilmore, 3rd Place finisher Kevin Lincks and finally former Club Champion and slight of hand magician, Mark Stock. You always have to keep your eye on the ball when playing Mark.

Flight B was won by Mike Leksan. After taking down Paul Greenberg and rookie David Shafer, Mike grinded through restauranteur Christos Marras, and truck baron Tom Dempsey. 

Everyone thought the tournament was over when Tim and Mike claimed their victories. But when we went to make the payouts, the recently appointed Tournament Chair realized there was good money on the table for 3rd and 4th places. So he handed out pillows and Kevin Lincks and HP went out and started swinging away. Feathers flew and Kevin walked off the course with 3rd place in Flight A. After seeing that mess, John Notch and Christos Marras shook hands and declared a tie in Flight B.  

We learned a few things this year with the format and will try to tweak the tournament a bit next year. There is also a proposal for a team match play tournament.

Since we awarded Mike Branco the Player of the Year at the Zone Tournament Sunday, it is good to know my computer's arithmetic calculations actually support the results. The Player of the Year is based on a January through September tournament schedule with a point system for net scores in those tournaments... other than some token points for playing team events.

Bob Gorman took over the lead after the Club Championship in July. But he did not play in the final event, a major, leaving the door open to some hungry golfers who wanted to be recognized for eternity in the hall of the Metro Club House. Some of us brought about enough game to beat our cats, but Mike Branco came ready to play the game of golf. 

At the beginning of the final tournament, there were ten golfers with a chance to tie or pass Gorman. But it would require winning the tournament. There was no question at the end of the day who won and the 500 points awarded moved him to the top of the mountain.