August

Mel Collins has the brackets for the Flights Tournament set and the first round match is to be completed by the end of August. It looks like there should be some very close and competitive rounds. Good luck to all in the event.

The Club Championship will be held on August 24th, 30th and 31st. There will be 3 flights this year: Championship (Gross), Senior 55 + (Gross) and the Net Flights. Entry fee is $140 for all three rounds plus tournament fees. The sign up sheet is in the hallway at the course and I will accept your sign up and MONEY until August 15th. The sooner I get your commitment and money, the sooner I’ll know how many Net flights there will be. Please do you best to sign up early.

For those who need a little reminder, our Club Champion receives his Membership dues paid for the next year, paid entry in our next years Championship as defending Champ, paid entry fee in the SCGA Tournament of Club Champions, and paid entry fee in the amateur qualifier for the 2009 L B Open. I can not forget the winner’s portion of script and trophy.

To qualify for any flight in the Club Championships you must have played in at least 3 Men’s Club tournaments/events in the last 12 months. Please give me a call if you have a question if you are eligible to participate.

On August 23rd, we will have our BBQ and Raffle. The tournament will be played from split tees and PACE OF PLAY IS CRITICAL in this tournament. We all want to finish as close together as possible so please keep pace of play in mind. I know Bret Holloway has some great raffle prizes but he is always looking for your donations. If you have a door prize to donate, please contact Bret or any board member.

I also would like to remind you of the Weekender October 3, 4, and 5th. Nick Zamora / Mike Montgomery have planned what looks to be a great time and I know early reservations would be appreciated. Additional information will be available at the meeting on August 12th. Get a partner and get you deposit in early.

The monthly meeting was held July 8, 2008 in the El Dorado Park Golf Course tent area. The restaurant provided beef brisket, boneless chicken breast, mashed potatoes, baked bean, rolls, salad bar with coffee or tea and a cookie for your nominal donation of $7.

President Jerry Leininger called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. and led the membership in allegiance to our flag.

Past Presidents in attendance: Tom Conlisk, Richard Scoville, Steve Shure, Don Marmion, Bob Livingstone and Richard Dennison.

Pres. Leininger noted that we are going to hold the drawing for the LB Pro-Am during the middle of the meeting. This will allow a member the chance to auction off their’ ticket while members are still at the meeting if they are not going to play.

Mel Collins – Director: In tonight’s Putting Contest there were scores of 18, 17, and 16. The two (2) 16’s were by Tim Braswell and Steve Giroux. Flights sign up sheet is posted. The cut-off for entering is July 27. Place your $10 in an envelope in the Men’s Club drawer with your name on it. Mel has Jason working with us to provide a couple of tee times in the 8:00 area on the weekends. Mel hopes to get 64 players. About 40 have signed up so far.

Terry Fulford – Director: A few 9-Hole scores were not turned in so Terry went with the GOM to give them a last chance. John Dymon won the Gross with a 70. Lloyd Lee took the Net with a 78 – 12 = 66.

Bob Livingstone – Rules and SCGA Representative; Bob discussed a sand bunker incident that caused Stewart Cink to be disqualified at a PGA event in New Orleans. Stewart hit out of one bunker and into another. His caddie raked the bunker from which he had just played. This act is subject to a 2-stroke penalty for testing the sand as he is still in a hazard of similar type. The USGA and Royal and Ancient Golf Club changed this Rule today to no longer be a penalty. This is an extreme exception as they normally do not make Rules changes outside of the standard 4-year revision. This change will be in the next version of The Rules of Golf.

Nick Zamora – Entertainment: Has posted the Little Brown Jug standings. There are still six (6) more away tournaments to participate to work on getting your best five (5).San Luis Rey is July 6, San Clemente is August 9, and the Weekender flyer is out with deposits required ASAP. Nick noted that all three (3) days scores will count towards the Little Brown Jug. Someone thought Nick had been drinking from a Little Brown Jug.

Bob Livingstone – Rules: Long Beach City Championship was just completed. The Club had good representation. In the F Flight we had Larry Bartley and Jerry Hodge. The D Flight was covered by George Manyak. Playing 3-days of good golf Robert Creighton won the C flight by 7 strokes. On Rules Bob expanded on practicing on the course during a stroke play round. Anything not directly behind the 1^st tee that is to the east of the cart path is prohibited and penalty will apply. Bob also discussed how to play a ball that comes into contact with a rake in a bunker. Bob feels the fairest place for a rake to be is in the bottom middle of the bunker where it can’t significantly alter where the ball would naturally come to rest.

Bob Livingstone read the names of the LB Open Pro-Am winners. Tom Herrin and Jim Olivier were the first two names drawn who gladly accepted the entry. Al Ostberg was drawn third but said he can’t play and wanted to auction the ticket. Once Al heard that beers were complimentary during the round he changed his mind and decided to play.

Dennis Tramer – Tournaments: White, Blue, Red is this month’s tourney, posting the round from the White. August Bar-B-Q / Raffle will be played from Split tees starting at 8:30. Format will be 3-Best Ball. Dennis called a group of names to sign up for the August tournament.

Pres. Leininger informed people signing up for the Club Championship to note if their entry was for Gross or Net. Do not assume anything. Seniors qualify as of being 55 and older.

New Business: President Leininger stated that the Board of Directors has increased the amounts for the membership and initiation fees beginning in 2009. In accordance with the Club By-laws a motion was made to approve the increase in the membership fee to $100 (an increase of $15). The motion was seconded and passed. Also in accordance with the Club By-laws, a motion was made to approve the new member initiation fee of $20 (an increase of $5). This motion was seconded and also passed. These newly approved rates will be in effect for 2009 membership in the Club.

Cash raffle tickets continued to be sold. Bob Livingstone called the winning numbers. We had six (6) prizes tonight with the Grand Prizes being $45.

The Membership drawing tonight was for $90. The number of Larry Bartley was drawn. Larry was at the meeting and collected the check from our Treasurer Al Ostberg. Next month the prize will again start at $50, progressing $10 each month until it is again won.

I would like to apologize for not submitting a newsletter article for the month of July. As some of you know and some don't, I broke my kneecap on June 24th, so I wasn't able to get it out. The July White-Blue-Red tournament went of very well and the course seemed to play fairly easy. I'd again like to commend everybody on the speed of play' although I think we can do better. In the gross, the young guns came through as B. Hass, J. Hass, M. Hass. B. Huntington, and C. Price shot a nice 203 Gross(-12) to win in going away. Every month we seem to have 1 team shoot lights out. This month the British Isle Invaders C. Plumridge, M. Suart, S. Sturdevant, N. Sherry, and T. Sweet shot 178, 5 shots better than the rest of field. These guys have been cashing every month. Letters coming from Tommy!!! I would also like to mention a fine round by Mr. D. Kirksey who made 7 birdies on his way to as fine round of 68. All results can be found on our website or the Men's Club board in the hallway.

The August 23rd tournament will be a 3 net format. The cost is $65.00. This includes 1 Raffle ticket , 1 Ticket for either Breakfast or Lunch, and 2 Drink Tickets per player. (Anybody drinking soft drinks see me and I'll buy your drink for a drink ticket). We will start teeing off at 5:54 until 8:30 from both the 1rst and 10th tees. It is imperative we stay as close as possible to the group in front of you so we have a smooth transition at the turn. Nobody wants to play 9 holes and then wait 30 minutes to continue. I will again have 1 gross and 4 net flights. Again we will have a separate BLIND DRAW flight for the teams with only 4 or less players. There are no sign ups at the August meeting as for the PARTNER-PARTNER TOURNAMENT you will fill out slips (they are in the pro shop on the window sill next to the computer) put them in an envelope and put in the drawer. Cost will be $110.00 per player. I will not take anything by hand for this tournament. The format will be Saturday FRONT 9 SCRAMBLE BACK 9 CROSSOVER. On Sunday FRONT 9 BEST BALL BACK 9 AGGREGATE. I will inform you on how the handicaps will be done at the August meeting.

Beginning Balance Checking Account			$ 22,223.00

DEPOSITS
JULY TOURN	$ 3,475.00
HOLE IN ONE	$ 24.00
50/50	$ 40.00
CKING INT	$ 0.70
DUES '08	$ 300.00
LB OPEN	$ 570.00
JUNE TOURN	$ 4,095.00
DIRS OUTING	$ 2,754.00



TOTAL CASH RECEIPTS	$ 11,258.70

SUBTOTAL			$ 33,481.70

DISBURSEMENTS
MEM DRAWING		$ 90.00
JUNE TOURN		$ 6,488.00
DSL		$ 5.00
DIRS MEET		$ 150.00
SCGA DUES '08		$ 30.00
DIRS OUTING		$ 9,626.00
GREEN RIVER		$ 1,598.00
QUAD CLUB		$ 1,200.00
SEASIDE		$ 1,202.32
LOS ALTOS TROPHY		$ 66.81
MEM/MEM		$ 110.00
SOBOBA		$ 2,530.00
RAFFLE		$ 636.90


TOTAL CASH DISBURSEMENTS		$ 23,733.03
CHECKING ACCOUNT BALANCE			$ 9,748.67
CD			$ 10,000.00

TOTAL FUNDS			$ 19,748.67

Well, I wanted to do a newsletter article on something that happened at the recent Long Beach Open, and the only real issues we had dealt with scorecard errors (three disqualifications!), an item that we are probably a little lax with in our club events.

Rule 6-6 states in part: “After completion of the round, the competitor should check his score for each hole…. He must ensure the marker has signed the card, sign it himself and return it to the Committee as soon as possible”.

About 3 times per year someone on one of the Tours or elsewhere will bogey this Rule and the pundits will lament the poor slob….that is CRAP! Needless to say, I am not one of those who thinks people like Michelle Wie should be given a pass for not signing a score card or signing a wrong card. Without this Rule, people could sign for whatever they want and if the error is not caught, they would be “home free”. Now I am not saying there are dishonorable people in golf, but so long as this Rule is there, there never will be. Come on, how tough is it to make sure your card is correct? Most players in tournament golf will sign the card as soon as they get it on the first tee, just too make sure they don’t forget…this is a fair rule, and should NEVER change. For our team events, we need two signatures, and for individual events like the upcoming Club Championship, we require the signature of the marker and the player…make sure you aren’t one of the notable DQs of 2008!

Finally, compliments and thanks to our members who volunteered for the LB Golf Festival or filling divots before the LB Open…your efforts are appreciated by many people! Also, congrats to Mel Collins and Jim Fuchs for qualifying for the SCGA Amateur at Saticoy CC (Jim made the cut) and to Larry Grant for qualifying for the State Seniors Championship at Poppy Hills.

This month starts the El Dorado Flights Championship. The field is large with 80 players and 5 flights. All 1st round matches must be completed by August 31, so get busy. I have tee times on the weekends 2 each day. You must call me to reserve these times, first come, first serve. Record results in the Flights book in the Pro Shop or at the web site. Contact phone numbers for all players are in the Flights book. No personal information on the web site BOD. Contact Mel Collins or any board member for assistance in obtaining opponent's phone #. Players that haven't paid the $ 10 entry fee please so.