2020 Newsletters

Welcome to the new year and I am looking forward to the new BOD and serving as President for the best Men’s Club in Southern California. I am looking forward to a great year.

Make sure you come to the January meeting to sign up for the February Select Drive. Once again we have limited times so be patient with Don. Make sure you guys take it easy on Don the first couple of months as it is tough to get everyone in.

You should know by now the new World Handicap System is now in affect so make sure you post your scores the day you play.

Your new Entertainment Chairman Steve Cook has our first trip coming up at Recreation Park. Sign up early to make it easy on Steve and this one usually fills up fast.

The Christmas Tournament was a big success as we had great weather and played in 5:45. As always, my team finished DFL.

I have already received 4 emails about the January Scramble, PLEASE REMEMBER TO CONTACT DON DIDIER! Don’t hit 'em short and crooked like I do!

THANKS,
Dennis Tramer

DECEMBER 2019 MEETING MINUTES

The monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 in the Big White Tent. The home cookin’ themed pre-meeting dinner included salad, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, ham, turkey and cake. The meeting was called to order at 7:06 pm by Vice President Dennis Tramer who led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance. In anticipation of the Big Drawing, there were approximately 140 members in attendance including Past Presidents Terry Fulford, Nick Zamora, Mike Montgomery, Tom Conlisk, Don Marmion, Dennis Tramer, Tom Retterath and Past Prez/Life Member Bob Livingstone. There were three new members who introduced themselves, got some grief about their alleged handicaps and then received a hearty welcome before they were given the New Member Spiel by Past President Zamora. President Elect Tramer introduced the gentlemen who would comprise the Board of Directors in 2020.

The previous month’s Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved as printed in the Newsletter.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Acting Handicap Chairman Bob Livingstone reminded the members of some important upcoming changes to the World Handicap System effective January 6th. Bob also noted that our Senior Club Champion Jeff Thomas had participated in the SCGA Sr. Tournament of Club Champions and Corey Smith participated in the Net Tournament of Club Champions. Corey finished tied for 5th, earning a nice crystal trophy (he was three shots off the lead despite two triple bogeys on par 3 holes – nice finish nonetheless!).

Communications Director Mike Montgomery led the membership in a rousing thank you to the Board for their commitment to making the Club great, and then in lieu of a moment of silence, Mike asked everyone to raise their glass in remembrance of several members who had passed away in 2019.

Rules Chairman Omar Diaz noted that there will not be any changes to the USGA Rules in 2020. Omar also announced GOM for Matt Huntington. No Gross cards were submitted and Kenneth Cheong won Net GOM with a 65.

Special Events Chairman Don Didier recapped the Super’s Revenge where a total of 37 members cashed in the various special events. He also discussed the events for the upcoming Christmas Tournament.

Past President Nick Zamora reminded everyone to check with him or the website to ensure they are signed up in the Hole-In-One Insurance Fund. If you are not in, sign up at any monthly tournament or put an envelope with $5 into the slot in the Men’s Club Drawer below the Posting Computer in the Golf Shop.

Entertainment Chairman Lucero announced “his long nightmare was over” (wink-wink!) and announced the winners of the Little Brown Jug for year-long performance in the away trips. Don Didier was 1st, Bret Holloway was 2nd, and Henry Degraaf was 3rd. The Club thanked Lucero for his three years on the Board of Directors. Entertainment Chairman-to-be Steve Cook recapped the Away Trip to Rec Park in late January. Going forward, signups and payment MUST happen in advance of the away trip. There will be entry forms on the website and at meetings.

Director Mike Vaughn recapped the Flights, with semi-final participants, runners-up and winners, all receiving a portion of the largess that included the entry fees and a subsidy from the Club. Winners and pictures are listed on the website.

Special Assignments Director Terry Fulford noted that, as has become an annual custom, the Club had earlier in the day hosted a Taco Bar for the Maintenance Crew, to thank them for their work on the course and the great conditions that we enjoy throughout the year.

Tournament Chairman Dennis Tramer recapped the Super’s Revenge and thanked our esteemed Superintendent Marc Lilliberg and his staff. Dennis also gave some instructions for the upcoming Christmas Tournament. Vice President-to-be Don Didier reminded everyone that tournament entries will go up to $65 in 2020 ($70 for late entries). Don then read names for the January sign-up process.

Old Business. There was no old business.

New Business. Bob Livingstone noted that 7 years ago, our esteemed President Cliff Aichele decided to take to heart, the repetitive requests from the Board for members to get involved with the Club; he volunteered to be the Special Events Chairman. Along with this job Cliff served as a Director at Large, Vice President and President and he will stick around as Past President. Bob noted that the Club has historically thanked our Presidents by covering their annual membership dues as long as the stay active in the Club. Bob made a motion to extend this courtesy to Cliff, there was a second and both enthusiastic and unanimous approval.

The $50 membership drawing went to the very first name called, Walter Gordon.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm and the Big Raffle/Opportunity Drawing began.

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone,
Secretary Pro-Tem

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

First and foremost, I’d like to thank Dennis “Chop” Tramer for his 2nd term as VP/Tournament Director. He’s done a great job and the amount of time he puts into our club is amazing. I hope I can fill those big shoes without lowering the bar. Well done Dennis!

As always, the Christmas Tournament was a big success. 192 players teed off at 7:30am on a misty morning. Winning A Flight Gross by shooting 11 under, the team of Omar Diaz, Ryder Epson and Justin Vanderbroek. A Flight Net was captured by John Hasselman, Andrew Cochrane & Cj Triola.

B Flight Gross winners at 4 under were Steve Giroux, Rich Gilmore & Dwight Summers. B Flight Net winners at 126 were Josh Dubón, Andrew Pulido & Jonathon Rymer. Josh Dubón’s net 61 might have something to do with that win!

Michael Burke, Conner Burke & Jessie Duncan took C Flight Gross at 151 while Mathew Dao, Tim Braswell & Greg Marks won 1st Place Net in a card-off.

The Bandit Elves, Arthur Zamarripa, Henry Degraaff & Jeff Degraaff won D Flight Gross at 158 and “Best Christmas Attire”. Mike Filbey, Tom Turner & Michael Jones snatched 1st place net at 133.

January Scramble will be Sunday the 19th. We’ve got limited daylight and full field (185 players). Since this is a scramble, we need to play fast. The first few groups need to set a pace of 4:15 or less with later groups at 4:45. We play fivesomes and must use 3 drives from each player (mark drives on card). Team Handicap will be calculated using the Tramer System. Add up each player’s “Tramer Cap” for the Team Handicap.
HDCP 3 of less = 0, 4-5 = 0.5, 6-9 = 1, 10-12 = 1.5
13-15 = 2, 16-19 = 2.5, 20-22 = 3, 23-25 = 3.5, 26 & UP = 4

Looking forward to a great 2020 with the El Dorado Men’s Club!

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

First of all, thank you DD for an outstanding year as Special Events Director. Thanks for the great work putting those all those raffle prizes together. A goodtime was had by all. My job will be to keep Special Events running as smoothly as my predecessors and most importantly get those results posted quickly.

The Christmas Shotgun Tournament was another success! 39 members got a piece of the Special Events pot, lead by John Hasselman and Mickey Miller in A Flight, Connor Burke stood out in B Flight, Josh Dubon the only player in the field winning all three events in C Flight. Well done everyone! All results are posted on the website.

Happy New Year to all! Looking forward to a great 2020!

Hit Them Straight!

Happy New Year to all, coming up this month we have Big Rec on Sunday January 26th. Sign up & payment are due no later than Saturday January 11th.

The weekender at Soboba will be here before you know it. April 3, 4 & 5. Hoping for a good turnout please spread the word to your fellow Men’s Clubbers! More info & sign-up sheets will be available on the website soon!

If you have any questions please send me an email.
Thanks, Steve

Welcome to 2020 and the new World Handicap System or WHS! Our Webmaster has posted some great info about WHS on the Club website; the link to see it all, is on the right side of the front page about half way down, under the “Club Information” links. We will also have new conversion charts that have been posted at the course, and will appear online and on our Club Posting Computer. At some point in the future (probably in the Spring) there will be some tweaks to these and permanent conversion charts will become available. Most people’s indexes will go down when the computers come back online on January 6th – do not be alarmed when your Course Handicap goes down, as most everyone else is losing shots like you are! Remember that you cannot post any scores between January 1st and 5th but you will need to post your rounds daily once the 6th gets here (there will no longer be a 48-hour grace period since a new handicap will be issued every night). This will be my first year as Handicap Chairman and the first year for WHS, so it will be a learning experience for us all, and we will all need patience!

Congrats to our 4th Quarter Most Improved, Scott Dietschak, who dropped from a 7.6 on October 1st to a 5.5 on December 31. The next best were Sammy Krishna who dropped from a 9.8 to a 7.9 and Danny Martin who fell from a 20.5 to an 18.1. The year-long Most Improved were: Nick De Lia who improved from a 5.7 to a 2.0, Scott Davis who dropped from a 5.1 to a 2.2 and Rafael Holcombe who went from a 10.9 to a 7.1. Attaboys go to Dave Hasselman and Mickey Miller who were right on their heels. To qualify, there were minimum numbers of rounds and tournaments that had to be played. The Q4 and Top 3 for the year will all receive a “bonus” from the Club, so show up at the January General Meeting to get those bonuses.

Nick Zamora
Handicap Chairman

During the Christmas Tournament, someone playing hole #11 hit his tee ball onto the maintenance road between the right rough and the chain link fence that serves as the course Boundary. For several decades the Club has played this road (except where it turns into a relatively newly-paved path behind the 3rd green) as an Integral Object, rather than an Obstruction, so free relief is not granted if a player’s ball, stance or intended swing touches the road…this particular player now has a few skid marks on the bottom of his 8-iron, from playing the ball! He asked why we make this road an Integral Object, which the Rules define as “an artificial object defined by the Committee as part of the challenge of playing the course, from which free relief is not allowed”.

There were three reasons the Club decided to make this road an Integral Object (at the time it was called an Integral Part of the Course). The first is that the asphalt has deteriorated dramatically since it was installed in the 1960s and there is not uniform asphalt rather than dirt, and there is not a clear course-side edge that could easily be identified as the start/end of an obstruction (however there is clear definition for the newer path behind the 3rd green, so that is an Obstruction and relief can be taken). The second is a scenario where a right-handed player hooks his ball very close to the fence on #7 with no real swing. He could claim that his best option is to play his next shot left-handed, in which case he would be standing on the road, get relief toward the fairway, could take relief and then probably turn around and play right-handed. While his claim could be viable for an exceptional player, Rule 16-1a (3) prohibits relief if it is clearly unreasonable to play the ball because of some other interference – which the OB fence could clearly be, particularly for a higher handicap player. We felt we would not have sufficient Rules Officials to address the question of whether playing right- or left-handed was reasonable, so (and this is the 3rd reason) we just decided that since any shot on the road was at least 20+ yards from the fairway, we decided that a shot on that road just didn’t deserve free relief. Again, however, since there is room to drop on the other side of the clearly identified road behind the 3rd green, we do offer relief from that Obstruction.

Finally, the SCGA will be hosting multiple 2-hour Rules of Golf Seminars all over southern California for a cost of $25. You can sign up for one of these if you have interest by visiting www.scga.org/rules/rules-seminars.

Treasurer's Report - December 31, 2019

Balance on November 30, 2019		23,999.90
Income
Christmas Tourney Entries	15,001.00
Hole In One Insurance	70.00
Memberships	10,435.00
Interest	0.51
Total December Income	25,506.51
Expenses
December Green Fees		8,400.00
December Cart Fees		2,100.00
December Scrip		9,435.00
Christmas Tee Prizes		4,800.00
Scorecards		115.00
Little Brown Jug Winners		225.00
Maintenance Crew Thanks Party		338.24
Board Meeting		100.00
Printer Cartridge		31.74
Walkie Talkie Batteries		207.68
San Vicente Refund		225.00
Membership Dues - SCGA		3,312.00
Mtg. Drawing - W. Gordon		50.00
Copies		6.45
Website Hosting Fee		295.75
Website Domain Registry		169.36
Flights Trophies		525.65
GOM Name Plate Change		11.91
Total December Expenses		30,348.78
Balance on December 31, 2018		19,157.63

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone, Treasurer

NOTES:

$8,204 was added to the Christmas Tournament above entry fees ($4,800 for tee prizes and $3,404 to the Prize Fund).

We have $1,450 in pre paid 2020 expenses for Team Play Entry Fees and Away Trip Deposits.

The Hole In One Insurance is currently $855.

Since Oct. we have received $12,535 in new members (less $3,852 in SCGA dues). $8,683 will go to the 2020 budget.

We will be carrying forward $8,169.63 into 2020 for any unexpected needs.

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

We are off to a good start as the January Tournament we had great weather and everyone played fast finishing without a penalty. Great job Don on your first Tournament.

To all who didn’t get in the January & February Tournaments, thanks for being understanding and not hassling Don. In March, we will be back to normal as Daylight Saving Time starts March 8th so we should be able to accommodate everyone.

Congratulations to Brad on a job well done in the Special Events and getting the results up promptly. I didn’t go but I understand the away trip at Recreation Park went off without a hitch and Mr. Cook was on top of everything. I guess the new WHS handicap system works as I couldn’t believe the scores. Only 3 out of 60 shot below net 70, where you usually had about 18 out of 60 with the old system. LIVY is happier than a fly on s*&! because of all the guys on the new system LOSING DOUBLE POPS! Any members who have questions or concerns don’t hesitate to give me a text or a call and I will try to resolve them.

THANKS,
Dennis Tramer

JANUARY 2020 MEETING MINUTES

The monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 in the Big White Tent. The pre-meeting dinner (looking suspiciously like the November dinner) included meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, salad and cookies for desert. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by New (and repeat) President Dennis Tramer (welcome back to the podium Dennis) who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were approximately 90 members in attendance including Past Presidents Tom Conlisk, Terry Fulford, Nick Zamora, Mike Montgomery, Don Marmion, Dennis Tramer (after all, he is a Past President), Richard Scoville, Cliff Aichele, and (Life Member) Bob Livingstone. New Members Bill Leivan and Jay Bullock introduced themselves, gave us a little info about themselves, and were given the New Member Spiel by Director Zamora. The previous month’s Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports were as follow:

Director Mike Montgomery asked the membership if there was interest in having El Do Men's Club logo shirts available for purchase by any and all members. Cost would be approximately $50-$60. Given the positive response Mike will order shirts and have them available for purchase in the Pro Shop.

New Director and Special Events Guru Brad Wilcox summarized Special Event winners from the December Christmas Tournament and then announced the Special Events for this month’s Scramble Tournament. We’ll have CTP on #3 and #12, and In the Circle (A and B Flights) and On the Green (C Flight) on #9 and #17.

Director (and new Handicap Chairman) Nick Zamora discussed the new World Handicap System adopted by USGA (and SCGA) and the mega data that is now available through it. This system is specifically made to work seamlessly with your cell phone so take advantage of it. Two key things to remember: post your score as soon as you’re done playing, and the maximum score on a hole for posting purposes is net double bogey.

Director Mike Vaughn noted that the Quad Club Tournament (El Do, Rec Park, Skylinks and Lakewood) is scheduled for April 25th and that our Team for this event is nearly finalized.

Director and Entertainment Director Steve Cook reminded us that the first Away Tournament of the year is set for Sunday January 26 at Rec Park. The format is Individual (not team) and Steve is anticipating 50-60 players. The next Away Tournament will be March 1 at The Golf Club at Rancho California, and the Weekender is scheduled for April 3-4-5 at Soboba. See Steve to sign up for these fun events.

Director Terry Fulford announced winners of GOM for December. Low Gross was Ryder Epson (with what was described by Livy as an effortless) 67, and Low Net was Rich Gilmore with a 64, a score that should certainly draw interest from the Handicap Committee.Terry reminded us that the 9 hole and Putting Tournament pre-meeting events will start back up in March.

Director Omar Diaz reminded us of several rules that came into effect in 2019 regarding the ball moving on the green, 3 minutes versus 5 minutes allowed for looking for a lost ball, etc.

Director/Past President Cliff Aichele noted that there were 173 members signed up for the Hole in One Fund. See Cliff if you haven’t contributed your $5 to this cheap insurance coverage.

Vice President/Tournament Chairman Don Didier thanked his predecessor Dennis Tramer for all his help in assuming the onerous duties of Tournament Chairman. Don noted that this month’s Scramble Tournament is completely full. We’ll play from the Combo Tees and require 3 drives from each member of your fivesome. Next month will be Select Drive on February 16th.

Old Business: Bob Livingstone announced Most Improved Golfer winners as follow: Yearlong Most Improved, Nick DeLia, Scott Davis was 2nd most improved for the year and Rafael Holcombe was 3rd. 4th Quarter of 2019 most improved was Scott Dietschak. Congratulations to these hard working members! Now if we only had an award for Least Improved I could finally win something.

New Business: There was no New Business.

The $50 Drawing winner was Paul Standish. Welcome Back Paul.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45

Rob Kuehn
Secretary/Membership Director

November Membership is 409.

Daylight Saving Time starts this year at 2:00 am Sunday March 8 and ends Sunday November 1 at 2:00 am. The Putting Contest will be held on meeting night during the months of March, April, May, June, July, August, September and October at or about 5:15 and continue to 6:45 pm on the south green. The Club is contributing $50 stipend to add to the Putting Contest prize fund for each month's putting tournament. Normal participants are welcomed back and new players are encouraged to participate in this fun activity. Bring your putter and take a shot at winning a little extra cash. Format changes monthly.

Quad Club is to be contested Saturday April 25 at Rec Park. We are playing to bring the trophy back to our trophy case. Teams will consist of 25 players. Cost to play is yet to be provided by the Rec Park captain. It will likely be in the range of $65 per player which will include green fee and prize fund. Our team players are being recruited as this is being typed. With the new WHS the date your handicap will be determined has yet to be defined but will be at your Current Index. Your entry will be paid to me in cash or a check payable to “Mike Vaughn”. The NLT date will likely be our home tournament the April 1 Gross / 2 Net on Saturday April 19. Detail on the first group starting time has not yet been provided. The first group will be Club Pros. The President / Vice President group will most likely tee off second, with groups proceeding from lower to higher handicap. It is not yet known which tee we will be playing from. The format will be Medal play using the 3-2-1-0 point system. Players who win 3-points this year will have a roster spot guaranteed for the 2021 event when the event moves to Lakewood.

Flight Championships will be put together in mid-summer. Those matches will get underway as early as August 1. Player entry fee will remain at $20. Signup will start NLT June 1. More on that when the time gets closer.

Always remain a professional while at or on the golf course, regardless of how you played.

Mike Vaughn

Here we are in a new year with a different position, Director #2. I am in charge of the Golfer of Month and the 9 hole during Daylight Saving Time.

For all the new members we have a 9 hole tournament before are monthly meeting, you make your own time and have to play with a Men's Club member to qualify. There well be an envelope with the starters in the Pro Shop: cost is $5 dollars and use 1/2 your handicap from the designated tees, 2 signatures are also required. You can play as many holes as you want but we only count the front nine score. Place your card in the envelope as soon as you are done with 9 holes.

GOM is your best score of the month, you also need to play with a member and have 2 signatures. Place a score card in the drawer by the computer in Pro Shop marked SCORE CARDS. Any question please don't hesitate to call or text.

See at the course,
Terry

My first tournament went off without too much drama. Big thanks to Mel Collins for filling in at the last minute making the Scramble a complete field of 34 fivesomes, 170 players. Another big thanks to Dennis Tramer in helping me run the tournament as smooth as possible. Thanks to the whole Board for your support!

After the tournament, our Webmaster (Mark Miller) fixed the problem I was having with emails sent to me thru our website. Please feel free to email me thru the website when necessary.

January Scramble Results are posted. A Flight Gross was a runaway with Pulido, Williams, Dubon, Kelly, Rymer group shooting 56. Jerry Leininger just rolled over! The fivesome of Kervin, Martin, Friend, Evans and new member, Michael Fiore took 1st Place Net with a 54. Welcome to the club Mike!

The guys in my group, Wilcox, Fleming, Miller and Glorioso really ham and egged it to take B Flight 1st Place Gross with 59 (card-off). Short stick in the card-off was the group of Hall, Hargrave, Lineberger, Osborne and Schilling taking 1st Place Net with a 51.5.

C Flight Gross was won with a 62 by “Bing” Smith, Gonzales, Belman, Dubry and Sanders. 1st Place Net went to the bandits Faris, Gonzales, Serge, Green and Zehmer with a 50.5.

February Select Drive is next on the 16th. Tournament if full at this writing, but things can and do change! We’ve got 37 groups, 185 players. Just a reminder, Tournament Fee is $65 (cash or check) when paid prior to the tournament and $70 (cash or check) when paid on tournament day. Easiest way to pay is at the General Meeting on the 11th or place an envelope with your name and payment in the Men’s Club drawer in the Pro Shop.

Select Drive is a fivesome format where each player a tee shot, players in the group decide which drive to use and each player then plays his own ball from the selected spot until holed. A minimum of 3 drives for each player must be used. The 3 Best Balls, Gross and Net will count as the team score. We will be playing the Combo Tees at 80% of your handicap or assigned handicap, which ever is lower. Format and rules will be on the back of the Official Scorecard.

March Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz sign-ups at the General Meeting on February 11th.

Fairways and greens!

Don Didier

We had 53 players earn points in the January Scramble Special Events, below is the break down.

A Flight had 42% of the field earn points, with strong showings from Mark Baldwin and Vern Followell top 2 out of 64 players, well done guys.

B Flight had 24% of the field earn points, with Frank Dicken and Kevin Irvine being the top 2 out of 51 players.

C Flight had 26% of the field earning points, with Eugene Rothstein and Miguel Espinoza top 2 out of 54 players. The flight had better payouts due to nobody was able to reached #9 so the money was split between winners on 3, 12 & 17.

February Select Drive Tournament will limit us to circles and KP’s again. We’ll have circles on holes 9 & 12 and KP’s on holes 3 & 17.

See you at the blue point box

Brad Wilcox

Well we got our first away tournament done with only a couple rookie mistakes. I hope everyone that played had a good time! By the looks of the scores not everyone did! The results are posted on the website. This was also the first qualifying event for the Little Brown Jug 2020. The leaderboard won't be published until 3 events have been completed, so after Soboba we will be able to see it.

Next up is Rancho California on Sunday, March 1st with an 8:30 shotgun start. Signup forms are on the website.

The Weekender @ Soboba is rapidly approaching and I'm hoping for a good turnout. Please make you plans as early as possible. That's it for now, see ya at the next meeting.

Treasurer's Report - January 31, 2020

Balance December 31, 2019		19,157.63
Income
Member Dues	16,610.00
January Tournament	11,070.00
February Tournament	2,015.00
Christmas Tournament	110.00
Rec Away Trip	5,215.00
Interest	0.52
Total January Income	35,020.52
Expenses
SCGA Dues		5,400.00
January Greens Fees		6,683.00
January Scrip		4,350.00
USGA Dues		150.00
Team Play Subsidies (Thurs/Sat)		1,500.00
Mtg. Drawing - P. Standish		50.00
GOM Trophies (Nov/Dec)		169.90
BOD Meeting		35.00
Schedule Card Printing		243.00
BOD Pictures/Nameplates		58.66
Most Improved (2019 Annual and Q4)		275.00
Rec Away Green Fees		2,830.00
Rec Away Prize Fund/Skins		2,135.00
Printing (BOD & Scoreboards)		27.06
Total January Expenses		23,906.62
Balance on January 31, 2020		30,271.53

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone
Treasurer