2026 Newsletters

Happy New Year!

I’d like to start off by thanking the 2025 Board of directors for putting on a great year, full of activities making El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club the best club around.

Wow can’t believe it’s 2026 already, please help me welcome our new Board of Directors for 2026:

President - Brad Wilcox
Past President – Wally Gordon
Vice President/Tournament Chairman/Webmaster – Mark Miller
Secretary - Cary Thomason
Treasurer - Ken Rademacher
Assistant to Tournament Chairman and Special Projects - Terry Fulford
Special Events - Rich Koskela
Handicap - Vern Followell
Rules - Cliff Aichele
Communications - Mike Montgomery
Director at Large - Omar Diaz
Director at Large (2) - Mark Ziegenhagen
Club Historian- Bob Livingstone

We have a full slate of tournaments for 2026 with Mark Miller continuing his last year as Tournament Chairman. Away tournaments will be run by committee, the Directors will ensure we have fun as always.

Trying something new this year, we will be having a mid-week away trip to the Morongo course so check out the website for details, you don’t want to miss out!

These Tournaments plus Thursday and Saturday Team Play, Club Championship, Senior Club Championship, Flights, and Quad Club in April, we have a full schedule to satisfy your competitive golfing appetite!

A note to Members, new as well as old: Each player must Sign-Up thru the Member Portal on our website to enter Tournaments. Seems simple, but history tells us members still struggle to know how to do the basics in our member portal. Don’t be afraid to ask someone in your group or a director for help if you need it, that is why we are here! It really helps Mark out by Signing up for events early, be smart and stay on his good side!

Special Thanks to : Southern Wine & Spirits (Ron Maden, Tyler Marmion & Geno De Angelis) as well as Ghost Golf (Jim Jamison) for the great swag to make it another great raffle.

The Christmas Shotgun Tournament went off well! After a foggy/cool morning we ended up having a great day for golf. Official results are posted on our website.

See you at our next meeting 1-13-2026

Brad Wilcox

On Tuesday, December 9, 2025, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held under the legendary Big White Tent. Chef Bing served a buffet including turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, salad, and brownies for dessert. Some people say it was the moistest turkey ever, believe me.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Brad Wilcox, who led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were approximately 100 members including past presidents Mike Montgomery, Tommy Retterath, Terry Fulford, Clifford Aichele, Walter Gordon, and Nick Zamora.

New members Luke de León, Tom Curran, and David Caudle introduced themselves and were welcomed into the fine tradition of golf, meetings, and raffle tickets.

The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports:

Director Mike Montgomery explained the evening’s raffle procedures and thanked the Board for their service this year, which they accepted graciously and without blushing (much).

Special Events Chairman Ken Rademacher mumbled the details for the Special Events for the Christmas tournament and thanked the following members for their raffle donations:

- Jim Jamison with Ghost Golf
- Ron Maden with Southern Wine and Spirits
- Tyler Marmion
- Geno DeAngelis

Director Omar Diaz distributed winnings to the Flight champions and runners-up and confirmed that trophies are “on the way,” which in golf terms means definitely happening at some point.

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced that October’s Golfer-of-the-Month honors go to absolutely no one, as no one turned in a scorecard. Mark also noted that the Derby will take place on the 1st tee box immediately following the Christmas Tournament, so plan accordingly—or don’t.

VP-Tournament Chairman-Webmaster-Life Member Mark Miller said that the stage was set for the Christmas Tournament and those that paid for November's rained-out Super’s Revenge would automatically be signed up for the January Mad Scramble. Members were also told to check their Special Event sign-ups and playing groups for accuracy.

There was no New Business.

There was no Old Business.

The winner of the $100 attendance drawing was Chris Plumridge.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:19 pm so the very rowdy raffle could begin— which was clearly the real reason everyone showed up.

Cary Thomason
Secretary/Membership Director
December membership is 493

Like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a fun filled year of golf for 2026.

I will have the trophies for our Flights winners from 2025 at the next meeting. Looking forward to another exciting year of Flights Championship starting in August with sign-ups in late June.

Good luck to our Thursday and Saturday Team Play teams.

I will be emailing to see who will be interested in playing Players League for El Dorado when that starts later this year.

Omar

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe and sane holiday. It was a cold and wet month and so were the cards for GOM. But we had a couple of fellas grind out some good scores. Mel Collins shot a gross 69 in the December Tourney to edge out Beau Wesson who shot 70. Our NET winner is Terry Fulford. Terry went low in the Wednesday skins game shooting a nice NET 65. He just edged out Ned Schwingdinger who tried to sneak in a late score on Dec 31. Congrats to both of our December Golfers of the Month.

2025 Golfers of the Month

January- John Hasselman 65 Walter Gordon 66
February- No Winner. 0 Rich Gilmore 68
March- David Rubin 65 Corey Smith 70
April- No Winner 0 Rodney Dickerson 67
May- Noah Busch 69 Steve Brand 69
June- David Covey 69 Shaun Steenwyk 63
July- No Winner 0 Greg Ramsey 65
August- Omar Diaz 69 Jason Perz 63
Sept- Daniel Kletke 70 Tyler Marmion 67
October - Vern Followell 70 Michael Miller 65
November- No Winner 0 No Winner 0
December- Mel Collins 69 Terry Fullford 65

The Hackers Delight Derby was held after Christmas Tournament.
Here are the top 3 teams that cashed.
- Trey Cox/Tony Rodriguez- 600 points
- Derek Bedell/Eric Lishka- 400 points
- David DePina/Garrett Marks- 200 points

See you all at the MAD SCRAMBLE!
Ziggy

Happy New Year Members! 2026 is packed with fun and challenging tournaments to test your game.

Thank you to our fabulous Board of Directors for their hard work and support. And thank you to our Membership for your kind words of encouragement over that past year. Always much appreciated.

Dense fog eventually gave way to a beautiful winter day to contest the annual Christmas Shotgun tournament with 186 players in attendance. With the recent rains and fog, the course played a little longer and coupled with some challenging pin positions, produced scores about a stroke higher than average.

The course was no match for former Club Champion Mel C., who shot a field-best 69. Mel also shot under his age, perhaps a first in a Club tournament. Greg M. (net 69) and Jeff M. (net 70) also played quite well. The stud team of Mickey, Sterry and Lopez shot 4 under gross, best in the field by three. In the A Flight, Hauver, Mickelson, and Izu took top honors at 7 under. Dauk, Dauk, and Zehmer lead the B Flight. The team of Jeff M., Gray, and Barker won the C Flight by 2 and perennial stars Faris, Serge, and Dickerson lead the entire field at 10 under and won the D Flight by six. With the enhanced prize fund, we paid over 50% of the field.

To kick off 2026, the Mad Scramble will be played on Sunday, January 18th. This is a fivesome affair with a three-drive quota for each player. Expect see to a layout that is quite unfamiliar on a number of holes. The event is severely overbooked so unfortunately, we will be unable to accommodate all that want to play. Tee times and pairings were moved from the November tournament where possible.

On Meeting Night January 13th, attendance will be back in vogue when sign-ups open for the February 15th – Select Drive. Be sure to register your attendance before the Meeting at 7:00pm to enter the priority tee time lottery. The field is limited to 152 players due to the short daylight hours. As with all Club events, it is best to sign up as early as possible especially if you do not win a priority tee time.

The most important shot is the next one,
MMM

The December Christmas Shotgun tournament was completed, and the Special Events (SE) big winners were Steven Sterry and Lat Sypracert with 230 points each, followed by Bill Hasselman with 180 points. Good shots gentlemen! A total of 40 golfers scored points in the December SEs.

The SEs also had Run, Run Rudolph which was net par or better on red flag holes. It was set up based on flags on Friday and the courses regular rotation. Unfortunately, the course didn’t change the flags from Friday. Therefore, the Board decided to pay the actual red flag holes (holes 1,4,7,10,13, and 16, 12 players won) and holes as marked at the T-box (holes 3,6,9,12,15 and 18, 6 players won). Sorry for the confusion (it will never happen again because I’m not the SE Director anymore).

Just a reminder, all winnings must be picked up 90 days after the tournament. Example is September winnings were removed after December and October winnings will be removed at the end of January and are donated to the Christmas raffle. Also, if you would like someone else to pick up your winnings, just send me an email/text to let me know. Thanks

SEs for January 2026 Scramble tournament are:
CTP holes #s 3, 9 and 12 $5 each and hole #17, A and B flights within the flagpole (polies) and C flight on the green $5.

Good luck!
Ken

Happy New Year to all and it's time for some year-end major awards...

First, Most Improved Golfer for the 4th quarter. Just one winner and he receives $50 for the effort.

Just finishing out of the money were Erwin Ripoll who went from a 6.8 to a 5.0, and Jeff Tanner who went from a 18.1 to a 15.2.

The 4th quarter winner was Chris Mandich who went from a 13.1 to a 9.6, an improvement factor of 1.1620. Congrats Chris!

Recapping previous winners from 2025 -1st quarter David DePina, 2nd quarter Marc Maden, 3rd quarter Jeff Thomas.

And for the Most Improved Golfers of 2025, we recognize, congratulate, and more importantly pay, our three best.

1st... Tom Retterath... (11.3 - 6.7)... Improvement factor 1.2460... $100
2nd... Robert Lopez... (+.4 - +2.4)... Improvement factor 1.2083... $75
3rd... Beau Wesson... (3.6 - 1.5)... Improvement factor 1.1556... $50

Our December Christmas event proved challenging for most of the field. Many factors, cold, fog, six-somes, LI6 HI's, and maybe more liquor than usual probably contributed. But I'd point to the pin positions that were more difficult and unfamiliar than we've seen in some time.

The scoring average was the second highest of the year with a median net differential of +5.7 - which made the THS five stroke adjustment threshold moot since it ended up above par. So only nine players shot below their LI6 handicaps or THI's and four of he nine by less than a stroke.

Note that we do handle LI6 events a little differently for the THS. Whichever handicap a player plays to, the lower of LI6 or a current THI, that is the basis in calculating stroke adjustments like any normal event. However, reductions are not made "from" the LI6 - we only apply reductions from the full handicap on the day of the event - or from a THI if that was lower.

Lastly, the 2025 THS recap is posted on the bulletin board in the bathroom hallway - appropriately?

Happy New Year Everyone!

Now that it’s January, Team Play will be kicking off, and our monthly tournaments will be relegated to Sundays until we get to the Member-Member tournament in May. I bring this up for two reasons, first I don’t like playing on Sundays, sorry that might just be me and secondly, it’s a topic for this month’s NL. Team Play is obviously in a team play format and has oodles of Rules that apply specifically. I can’t go over all of those Rules here and would suggest if you're new to team play you review at minimum Rules 23 and 24. I will however mention the following Rules tidbit.

Rule 23.6 Side’s Order of Play
Partners may play in the order the side considers best.
This means that when it is a player’s turn to play under Rule 6.4a (match play) or 6.4b (stroke play), either the player or their partner may play next.
Exception – Continuing Play of Hole After Stroke Conceded in Match Play:
• A player must not continue play of a hole after the player’s next stroke has been conceded if this would help their partner.
• If the player does so, their score for the hole stands without penalty, but the partner’s score for the hole cannot count for the side.

I would also like to follow this up by reminding everyone that when making a concession, make sure to speak up so that there is no debate as to the concession. And if you’re not sure if a stroke has been conceded, double check with your opponent before raking the ball away. This can even serve you well even in a friendly Saturday game, because who wants to get in a heated squabble over a $2 Nassau bet.

Play it as it lies, The Rules are your friend.

Cliff Aichele.

Treasurer's Report - December 31, 2025

Balance November 30, 2025		41,405.23
Income
Memberships		5,870.00
Christmas Tourney CC Entries		22,314.25
Christmas Tourney Cash/Check Entries		1,673.00
Hole in One Insurance		165.00
Uncashed Jr Golf Donation		250.00
Interest		0.77
Total December Income		30,273.02
Expenses
Membership Dues - SCGA	2,050.00
Super's Revenge Refunds	202.00
BOD Meeting	301.00
Member Drawing - C. Plumridge	100.00
Christmas Green Fees	10,600.00
Christmas Cart Fees	2,650.00
Christmas Range Balls	350.00
Christmas Tee Prize - Pitchmark Tools	2,429.90
Christmas Scrip	10,920.00
Christmas Special Events	3,060.00
Christmas F&B Tickets	2,000.00
Christmas Add Low Gross and Low Net	250.00
Christmas Refunds	389.00
Printer Supplies & Copies	217.31
Orange Balls	300.32
GOM & Flights Trophies	834.11
Maint Crew Thank You Party	1,000.00
Sec of State Officer Change Filing Fee	5.00
Capital Purchase - Putting Green Clocks	72.74
Credit Card Fees	414.27
Directors Shirts for 2026	481.24
Weekender Deposit for 2026	460.00
USGA Membership 2026	175.00
Total December Expenses	39,261.89
Balance on December 31, 2025		32,416.36

It has been an honor to serve the Club. Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livingstone, Treasurer

NOTES:
- LB Junior Golf never deposited our Quad Club Donation, so that amount was returned to our balance.
- The Club added $9,535.90 to the Christmas Tourney; $5,106 prize fund, $2,430 for tee prize and $2,000 for F/B Tickets.
- We have prepaid $4,897.24 as deposits for 2025 Away Trips, Directors Shirts, USGA Membership and Team Play Entries
- The Hole-in-One Insurance is currently $1,015 (of which $300 is in Scrip in the Blue Box).
- We assign membership fees in the last 3 months of 2025 to 2026 - that net amount right now is $7,148
- We will be carrying forward approximately $18,020 into 2026 ($21,200 was carried forward in 2025)

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

January Mad Scramble went off without a hitch, the course played fair with lots of low rounds. Good Job by Mark Miller dealing with the canceled Super's Revenge due to weather and getting as many as he could to participate in our Mad Scramble. My hand still hurts from writing all those refund checks, hope we don’t have to deal with that again.

January also brings our first away trip of the year. Remember to win the “Little Brown Jug” you have to have played in at least 3 away trips throughout the year as we count the 3 lowest NET rounds you have on the books. Included in the away tournaments is the Weekender this year at Pala Mesa which should be a lot of fun staying on site. Keep your eyes open for when the Weekender is opened for sign up online, first 40 to sign up are in and more information will be available at our next General meeting on Feb 10th under the big White Tent, make sure to join us if you can.

Play well!
Brad Wilcox

On Tuesday, January 13, the first 2026 monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held under the Big White Tent. Chef Bing and his team served the fan favorite buffet of meatloaf that was accompanied by mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, salad, and cookies for dessert. Still the best deal in town for $8.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Brad Wilcox, who led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were approximately 72 members including past presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Clifford Aichele, Walter Gordon, Don Marmion, Nick Zamora and life member Bob Livingstone.

New member and scratch golfer Jim Spurlock introduced himself.

The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports:

President Brad Wilcox introduced the 2026 Board of Directors and thanked Bob Livingstone for his many somewhat successful years as treasurer and that Bob would stay on the Board as Historian due to his outstanding memory retention skills.

Thursday Team Play Captain Bob Livingstone reviewed the crushing 2 point defeat by Costa Mesa at El Dorado while Saturday Team Play Captain Kevin Mehlbrech announced that his team beat Recreation Park at ElDo.

Director Mike Montgomery warned the members to be on time at the tee box or that they could be severely punished with a 5-year board term.

President Brad Wilcox, as the pro tem Entertainment Chairman, reiterated that there are 5 away tournaments that the members do not want to miss, including a Wednesday at Morongo Tukwet. Check the website for dates.

Director and Rules Chairman Cliff Aichele mentioned that there were no new USGA rules for 2026 (not to be confused with new rules for the PGA) and also advised members to download the USGA rules app for a handy reference. Members can also call Cliff anytime day or night (he’s not busy) with rules questions.

Special Events Chairman Rich Koskela commended the big winners for the Christmas tournament as: Bill Hasselman, Steven Sterry, Lat Syprasert, Jeff Miller, and Ryan Silbaugh.

Director and Handicap Chairman Vern Followell announced that the Most Improved Golfers were: Chris Mandich for 4Q and 2025 full-year honors goes to Tom Retterath. Vern also mentioned that the differential at the Christmas Tourney was 5.7 and that 9 golfers were honored to be chosen for adjustments. Any questions, feel free to text Vern multiple times.

Director Omar Diaz presented trophies to the Flight champions: Doug Jones (Pres.), Patrick Field (VP), Mark “Lucky” Miller (Sec.), Vern Cannon (Treas.), Henry de Graaff (Dir.).

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced that December’s Golfer-of-the-Month honors go to Terry “I never win” Fulford (net 65) and Mel Collins (gross 69). Mark will be reaching out to the 2025 monthly winners for the Golfer-of-the-year tournament details.

VP-Tournament Chairman-Webmaster-Life Member Mark Miller commented that the Christmas Tourney was a HUGE success with 186 players and over half cashing in. He also mentioned that the January Mad Scramble is looking good and encouraged everyone to wear their “mad” hats.

There was no New Business.

There was no Old Business.

The winner of the $50 attendance drawing was Cap’n Mehlbrech.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 pm.

Cary Thomason
Secretary/Membership Director
January membership is 490

We had a great start to 2026 with great weather so far for our 2 tournaments and looking like that will continue. Not much from me tell we get to March with Daylight Saving Time and the Putting contest is back on before our General Meeting on Tuesday, March 10th.

The Flights Championships start in August with sign-ups in July and will be for the first 80 players to make up the 5 brackets of 16 players each.

Good Luck for the Select Drive this month,
Omar

Hello Members,

It was another slow month with cards. We had one Gross Card and two NET cards. Congrats to Neal Janssen who fired a smooth 72. After a rough start on front nine (39), he came back with 3 birdies on the back nine (33). Our Net winner is no stranger around here, Vern Cannon shot a net 67. I heard him in the parking lot saying “I can’t believe how many putts i made!” Tony Glorioso honorable mention with net 69. Congrats to both Golfers for January GOM. Our February tournament is a non post round, so come out with another member during week and play some golf! Weather has been summer like but some rain coming.

2025 Golfer of the Year tournament has been set! Saturday April 4 with first times starting at 8am. They are punching Greens in mid March so they should be good to go that weekend! Emails will follow this month to get commitments for the weekend. Remember Men’s club pays for your round. You pay for cart and beers!

See you at the meeting!
Ziggy

Howdy everyone. We have a couple of Port Authority shirts with the Club logo that were purchased for Team Play but were not needed. We have two Medium and two 2XL shirts in royal blue and two XL shirts in grey. We also have two grey ball caps with the Club logo on them as well. We will sell everything for $20 each at the February meeting; you can proudly wear the Club logo. First come, first sold!

Livy

The Mad Scramble kicked off the new year with 177 players on a perfect winter’s day with the high temp approaching 80 degrees. The course was in good shape given the recent drenching, with plenty of good scores despite the “madness” of some tees and pin placements.

The Team of Roger M., Chris M., Joe R., Nate W., and Beau W. scorched the Back 9 with 8 birds and an eagle in 26 and won low gross at 18 under. Three teams shot 28 on the Front 9. President Brad’s team won the Net prize in the A Flight in a three way card-off by playing the final 6 holes in 9 under!

In the B Flight, Mark B, Kyle E., Drew K., Leo U., and Michael S. prevailed by 3 strokes with Mitchell C., Bill K., Tom H., Donald D., Raul G. leading the C Flight in a card-off. The team of Jim C., Jeff D., Richard E., and Clark I. won the 4-Man Flight at 19 under.

Overall, there were 12 eagles and 7 bogies. Two teams were tagged for a slow play penalty (including mine!) and the final group eagled 18 despite playing the last hole in the dark.

The annual Select Drive tournament will be contested on February 15. The event is way oversold with a small field of 154 players. Handicaps will be 80% of current or adjusted index and each player must use 4 drives. The format is three best scores on each hole.

On Meeting Night February 10th, attendance will be taken and sign-ups will open for the March 15th – Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz. Be sure to register your attendance before the Meeting at 7:00pm to enter the priority tee time lottery. As with all Club events, it is best to sign up as early as possible especially if you do not win a priority tee time.

The most important shot is the next one,
MMM

I hope everyone had a good time playing the January Mad Scramble. The prizes were spread out nicely with over 50 players winning points. Congrats to Shane Riley who was the big SE winner with 145 points. Nice shooting.

Next month we have the Select Drive on February 15. The Special Events are Closest to the Pin on Holes 3, 9 12 and 17. The cost is $5/hole so $20 gets you in all of the SEs.

Just a reminder, all winnings must be picked up 90 days after the tournament. Example is October winnings were removed after January and November winnings will be removed at the end of February and are donated to the Christmas raffle. Also, if you would like someone else to pick up your winnings, just send me an email to let me know. Thanks.

See you at the blue box.
Rich

First away trip is in the books and we had great weather but a little mix up on the tee times being 8 minute intervals instead of the 10 I published. Ziggy did a great job moving a couple of the last groups around to make it work! Guys, we really need you to show up a little earlier than 10/15 minutes before your scheduled tee time as sometimes the course will be running ahead of schedule (when you least expect it) and it's a scramble to get everyone checked in and ready to go!

Rec Park results are posted on website.

72 players had a great day, one player (Colin Boylan) was extremely happy with a hole in one on #12, congrats to Colin, well done! FYI, hole in one fund is still intact as away tournaments do not qualify!

FYI when the Club offers away trips we generally sign a contract that states we will pay full field green fee price 2 weeks in advance of our scheduled tournament, with this being said if you happen to withdraw from a tournament within this 2 week window you could be liable to pay IF you cannot find a replacement to cover your spot OR we have someone on the standby list that can take your spot.

Next away trip is Mountain Meadows, Sunday March 29th, and signs up will be live at our next general meeting. Cost is $110, first tee time is 10am, and we have room for 68 players.

Our website has our full 2026 schedule posted!

Looking for the fairway!

Brad

It is officially Scramble season which I know is good news for the membership and is a bit of a reprieve for handicapping duties also. Remember that non-postable Scramble formats count as "events played" and are freebies to satisfy THI adjustments. So a lot of players are coming off THI's in the first two months of '26 - we're down to 50 which is a low from this time last year.

With 72 total players, the Rec Park away event did meet the threshold to apply the THS. The median differential was high again at +5.7, so the only adjustments were for golfers that shot below their index - just five adjustments.

And some news that will affect us all in the near future. It seems our course is due to be re-rated by the SCGA and should be scheduled soon. This will apply to the Course and Slope Ratings only. However, I expect that once completed, we'll also have internal discussions regarding the re-ordering of hole handicaps. We certainly have plenty of data from our events that could support and/or justify changes where warranted. Stay tuned...

Hello Fellow Golfers,

Are you enjoying summer lol. This month I’m going to cut right to the chase. When you play tournament golf you are required by the Rules to enter the correct hole-by-hole score. The consequence for entering a lower score for a hole is disqualification and if you enter a score that is higher than you made, you have to take the higher score. El Dorado Men’s Club also wants you to enter the front 9 and back 9 total score on the card. This helps the Directors when they enter your scores in Golf Genius. Because, let’s face it, we don’t all have the best penmanship so it’s a way of double-checking scores. Also don’t forget the scorecards always require multiple player signatures. Lastly the point of no return for scorecards at home tournaments is the big box we always have on the scoring table. At away tournaments we have a scoring table and once you leave the card and walk away the card is considered returned. No one wants to be cut out of cashing in a tournament for a clerical error. When you’re at the scoring table you can always ask for help if needed.

Play it as it lies, The Rules are your friend.

Cliff Aichele.

Treasurer's Report - January 31, 2026

Balance December 31, 2025		32,416.36
Income
Memberships		9,570.00
Scramble Cash Entries		1,289.00
Rec Cash Entries		470.00
Scramble CC Entries		7,630.25
Rec CC Entries		6,440.00
Hole-In-One Insurance		120.00
Interest		0.46
Total January Income		25,519.71
Expenses
Member Drawing - Kevin Mehlbrech	50.00
BOD Meeting	79.12
Most Improved Hdcps 2025	275.00
Scramble Green Fees	8,960.75
Scramble Scrip	4,600.00
Scramble Refunds	2,861.75
Scramble Special Events	3,095.00
Rec Green Fees	3,726.00
Rec Prize Fund & CTP & Skins	3,406.00
Rec Low Gross/Net	250.00
Credit Card Fees	702.03
Total Expenses	28,005.65
Balance on January 31, 2026		29,930.42

Respectfully submitted,
Ken Rademacher, Treasurer


NOTES

- The scramble entry fees are lower because $8,532.25 was credit applied from the canceled November 2025 Superintendents Revenge

Thursday & Saturday Team Play have finished their season, thanks to Bob and Kevin for leading our team play rosters.

March is here which brings more sun and daylight! With that in mind, Ziggy will be running a 9-Hole Tournament and Omar Diaz will run a Putting Contest prior to the General Meeting on March 10th, check their newsletter articles for details. Our next Home Tournament is the Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz on March 15th. Away Tournament at Mountain Meadows GC on March 29th, only a couple spots left so you better sign up if you want to play.

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

Play good fast, play bad faster!!

Brad Wilcox

On Tuesday, February 10th the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held under the Big White Tent. Chef Bing and his team served a fiesta of chicken fajitas, beans, rice, tortillas, salad, and cookies for dessert. You can’t get Taco Bell for this price!

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Brad Wilcox, who led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. A fine turnout with approximately 92 members including past presidents Mike Montgomery, Terry Fulford, Clifford Aichele, Walter Gordon, Nick Zamora and life member Bob Livingstone.

New member Lou Carrasco introduced himself… another scratch golfer (how easy is this game?).

The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved.

Directors’ Reports:

President Brad Wilcox announced the new course Superintendent, Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez, who came up and introduced himself.

Thursday Team Play Captain, Bob Livingstone said it was all over for the team this year except a potential spoiler match @ Los Verdes next week.

President Brad Wilcox, as the pro tem Entertainment Chairman, announced that sign-ups were now open for the limited field (40) at the Pala Mesa Weekender September 26-27. Brad also mentioned that the Club contractually commits to the away tournament courses and to prevent last minute cancellations there will be a change in payment policy: players that withdraw within 2 weeks before the tournament are liable to pay unless someone else fills their spot.

Director and Rules Chairman Cliff Aichele reminded members to validate and add up their scores across the top of the scorecard. Also, the hole-by-hole scores must be correct or players will be disqualified when it’s determined that their actual hole score is higher. Lastly, slope must be turned off on range finders during all tournaments, including away trips (e.g. Mountain Meadows). Players are allowed to determine the slope manually using c^2 = a^2 + b^2.

Special Events Chairman Rich Koskela commended the big winners for the Mad Scramble tournament as: Dave Rubin and Shane Riley.

Director and Handicap Chairman Vern Followell mentioned that the differential at the Big Rec Tourney was 5.7 and that 5 golfers were adjusted. He also stated that the SCGA was going to re-rate the course in the near future.

Director Omar Diaz announced that the club subsidized pre-meeting putting contest would pick up again in March.

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced that January’s Golfer-of-the-Month honors go to Vern Cannon (net 67) and Neal Janssen (gross 72). Mark also said that the pre-meeting 9-hole tourney would start again in March.

VP-Tournament Chairman-Webmaster-Life Member Mark Miller warned himself and others about the slow play penalty.

There was no New Business.

There was no Old Business.

The winner of the $50 attendance drawing was Tim Heffern.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm.
Cary Thomason
Secretary/Membership Director
February membership is 490

For the putting contest before the next meeting on 3/10, we will keep it simple for the 1st putting contest. We will be doing Aces only to start out this year's run of putting. $5 for each 9-HOLE attempt and you can go as many time as you like. Remember the club adds $50 to build up the pot. I will try to start around 5:15pm and with some limited daylight still just to make sure we get everyone a chance to get a round in.

Good Luck
Omar

Hello Friends!

Another low month of cards being turned in for February’s GOM. We had two members who turned in for low net. Nick Zamora (71) edged out Jeff Miller (73). For Gross GOM, Jeff Miller also submitted his Gross 88…… but he respectfully declined his award for GROSS GOM. Jeff could have broken the highest Gross scorecard turned in but not sure if he wanted that distinguished honor. The first couple of months are hard since we have no individual tournaments until March. So no excuses this month! Congrats to Nick Zamora and pseudo gross champ Jeff Miller!

We start 9 hole and putting contests this month before meeting. Play with member, pay five bucks, use half of current handicap from COMBO tees, please total cards with half net handicap and turn into pro shop or to me at meeting. Good luck in the Waltz this month and turn in your cards!

Golfer of Year is set for Saturday, April 4 starting at 9am. I’ve heard from most but some are still lying low in the weeds to see if the sun has come out! Please read your emails and respond back kindly.
Also Quad Club coming up in April. Signups will start soon as well.

Thanks,
Ziggy

Welcome to the month where Spring arrives, aerification happens (beginning March 16th) and hopefully the ball goes farther on firmer fairways. As you drive along Studebaker Road to enter the oft over-crowded parking lots at our beloved El Dorado Park GC, you may have noticed some orange bollards with signage heralding the onset of the long-discussed, and very much needed, Studebaker Road Transformation Project (you can find specific info at https://www.longbeach.gov/pw/projects/studebaker-road/ ).

Phase 1 of this project begins on Monday, March 2nd, and will include repairs and replacement of the asphalt and sidewalks from Atherton St. by the 405 South offramp all the way up to Wardlow Road. For at least the next 7 weeks, from early morning to evenings on weekdays, there will be no parking on the northbound side of Studebaker and potentially a closure of the parking lot entrance by the circle in front of the clubhouse...plan accordingly as you don't want to be delayed and miss your starting time (thus getting a penalty from Rules Guru Cliff Aichele), or miss out on the start of Chef Bing's meeting dinner!

Livy

On a lovely winter’s day, the Select Drive tournament pitted 150 players in four flights. The course had firmed up a bit but that did not hamper the scoring by many teams.

The Team of Jason P., Andrew C., Robert A., and Drew K. struck the right balance of high and low handicappers to win the A Flight Net with a field-best 194. Going low at 10 under gross was the team of Mike P., Mickey M, Steven S. and Nate W.

In the B Flight, Cliff A., Steve G. Rich G., and Corey S. prevailed by 3 strokes. The C Flight was dominated by the team of Dennis C., Michael D., Bryan M., and Mario R., scoring 4 strokes clear of the rest of the flight. Dewayne K., Anthony C., and George M. won the duel in the Three-Man Flight on a card-off.

We’re back to playing regular golf in the Pat Harris St. Patrick's Day Waltz tournament slated for Sunday, March 15. The event is full but still taking Standbys. Handicaps will be 85% of current or adjusted index.

On Meeting Night Tuesday, March 10th, attendance will be taken and sign-ups will open for the April 19th – 1 Gross/2 Net tournament. Be sure to register your attendance before the Meeting at 7:00pm to enter the priority tee time lottery. As with all Club events, it is best to sign up as early as possible especially if you do not win a priority tee time.

The most important shot is the next one,
MMM

Another Select Drive tourney is in the books. Congrats to the big SE winners: Steve Brand with 175 points and Bryan McMahon with 125 points. A total of 48 players won SE prizes.

The Pat Harris St Patrick’s Day Waltz tournament is coming up in March. The SEs are:
- Gross Skins $10
- Pot o’ Gold (net 69 or better) $5
- Shamrock Shuffle (net par or better on 3,6,9,10,15 and 18) $5.
- Top two low gross and top two low net scores - Free, funded by the Club.
$20 gets you in all SE.

A few administrative notes:

1. Don't write your name on the CTP placard if you didn't enter the event. Yep - there are people who did that. One genius did it twice!

2. All winnings must be picked up 90 days after the tournament. Example is November winnings were removed after February and December winnings will be removed at the end of March and are donated to the Christmas raffle. If you would like someone else to pick up your winnings, just send me an email to let me know.

See you at the Blue Box.
Rich

March is here, that means Mountain Meadows is next on our away schedule on Sunday, March 29th. The first tee time is 10am so sign up quickly if you want to play!

Our Pala Mesa Weekender is starting to fill up so check your schedule if you have nothing planned for the last weekend in September sign up today before the event fills up, it’s always a lot of fun.

Upcoming events scheduled:

Wed, Jun 17 Morongo Golf Club
Sun, Jul 26 Rio Hondo
Sep 26-27 Pala Mesa Weekender

Play good fast, play bad faster!!

Brad Wilcox

Two months into the year and actually not much to report from the Handicap Dept. Our "Assigned Handicap" list continues to dwindle down with more scheduled to come off after our next event.

The SCGA course rating team will have completed their work in a few days but I'm sure it'll be a while before it becomes official and can be implemented. Separately, the Handicap Committee will be analyzing scoring data for potential changes to stroke allocation adjustments.

Just a few tidbits from early analysis, not many surprises really. The hardest holes in order are #8, #1, #13 and #15. And the easiest in reverse order #18, #17, #16 and #12 - by a whisker over #7. A case could be made that #12 now ranked as 5th hardest on the back might actually be 4th easiest on the course?? As I suspected and though many disagree, #5 has played harder than #6. And what is maybe more obscure is that #6 is rated the 2nd hardest on the front but its rank to par is just 10th hardest overall.

So I'm sure this topic will likely generate some spirited discussions. Also one note on this data - it's mostly unfiltered, without regard to white/blue tee differences that make up the Combos, nor the few outlier events with highly variable tees.

Last note, when checking your handicap for non-event/casual rounds you should always use the Ghin app rather than the Eldo site. Ghin is updated every day and will give you a correct course handicap based on your current index. I believe the Eldo site is only updated once per week. Checking both to uncover an extra stroke or two is less than sporting, or appropriate...

This month I’m going to touch on something I haven’t before. Rule 4.1 Clubs, covered under Rule 4, Player’s Equipment. And specifically, what happens during a round if you damage a club unintentionally or intentionally, lose a club or make adjustments to a club.
If you or someone else unintentionally damages a club, you can replace the club or repair it without delay of play or continue to use it in its damaged state for the remainder of the round.
If you intentionally damage your club. Your out of luck hot head. You can neither repair nor replace it. Good luck making putts with your driver.
If you lose a club during a round, you are not allowed to replace it during the round. Hopefully if you forget your wedge next to the previous green, the group behind is nice enough to run it up to you.
If you make adjustments to your driver after starting the round you had better change it back before making a stroke as this would mean disqualification.
Rule 4 is a bit complicated and there are a lot more pieces to this pie. This is one more reason to take a gander at the Rules of Golf now and again.

Play it as it lies, The Rules are your friend.

Cliff Aichele

Treasurer's Report - February 28, 2026

Balance January 31, 2026		30,242.63
Income
Member Dues		3,304.00
Interest		0.72
Select Drive Cash/Check Entries		1,386.50
Select Drive CCard Entries		13,713.25
Hole In One Insurance		60.00
Total February Income		18,464.47
Expenses
BOD Meeting
Member Drawing - Tim Heffern	50.00
GOM Plaques/4 alum plates	142.95
Select Drive Green Fees	7,613.25
Select Drive Special Events	2,445.00
Select Drive Scrip	3,880.00
Select Drive Refunds	691.00
November 2025 Super Refunds	25.00
Printing /checks/stamps/envelopes	228.13
Weekender Pala Mesa Deposit	225.72
Credit Card Fees	491.16
Total February Expenses	15,792.21
Balance on February 28, 2026		32,914.89

Respectfully submitted,
Ken Rademacher, Treasurer

On Tuesday, March 10th, the monthly meeting of the El Dorado Park Men’s Golf Club was held under the Big White Tent. Chef Bing-a-tito and his team served a generous meal of pasta with sauce, chicken parmesan, rolls, salad, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Eldo’s affordable version of Buca di Beppo!

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Brad Wilcox, who led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. A fine turnout with just under 100 members including past presidents Terry Fulford, Walter Gordon, Nick Zamora, an unexpected visit from Dick Scoville (who wanted everyone to know he was still alive) and Life Member Bob Livingstone.

There were no new members, so the meeting just moved along.

The previous month’s Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were approved as submitted in the newsletter.

Directors’ Reports:

President Brad Wilcox as Entertainment Pro Tem discussed two upcoming Entertainment events. Mountain Meadows on March 29 is full but DEFINITELY sign up as a standby if you are interested in playing, as there are invariably late cancellations. The Weekender at Pala Mesa is also filling fast – check the website for info or to sign up. Brad also gave a Special Events overview for Rich Koskela who is seeing his baby boy off to college. There were some big winners in February who are listed on the website and the Pat Harris Waltz will have Flighted Skins, the Pot O’ Gold for net 69 or better and The Shamrock Shuffle for net par or better on holes 3-6-9-10-15-18. Finally, Brad complimented our new Superintendent for the green speeds – which are quite interesting and challenging ahead of aeration.

Thursday Team Play Captain Bob Livingstone briefly bemoaned a 1-5 season and Joey Schilling - who is the presumptive next Saturday Captain “if they let me” - introduced himself and asked for interested parties to reach out to him or a Director for more info. Saturday Team is expecting a Long Beach Pod again next year.

Director and Handicap Chairman Vern Followell announced that for the first time in his tenure the PCC (Playing Conditions Calculation) kicked in on Saturday, March 7th, with a +3 adjustment. That was a windy day with two tournaments that posted scores from the blue and black tees, so the scores were high…so high in fact that the average scores were a full 3 shots higher than the GHIN Brain Trust would expect, so all scores posted that day were lowered by 3 shots. We have had a few times where all the scores were 1 better than expected and the posted scores were raised by a shot, but this +3 was quite uncommon. Vern also recapped the SCGA Course Rerating that happened on March 3rd. Three club members played with the raters who realized our greens can be really fast and our bunkers are “tough”. Finally, the Handicap Committee is evaluating the Handicap Stroke Allocation (i.e. Hole 8 is the toughest hole, and #3 is the easiest) and in the next month or so, will propose a re-rank the holes where our “double-popper members” may just be able to make a 4 for 2!

Director Omar Diaz announced 54 guys attempted (yeah, some guys tried 5 times!) the Aces Only Putting Contest. Ten guys got 2 Aces for $10, two guys got 3 Aces for $50 and Louie Rodriguez got 4 Aces (in a row!) for $120. Flights sign-ups will happen in May or June and later in the year, Omar will again run the renamed Player’s League for low handicappers with an all Long Beach pod.

Director Mark Ziegenhagen announced that February’s net Golfer-of-the-Month was Nickiepoo Zamora with a net 71. Jeff Miller just lost to Nick for net but also submitted his 83 as the only gross card…when Ziggy chatted with him, he waved off the gross plaque, so no winner in February. Twenty-two guys played in the 9-hole tournament, with four guys cashing. Mitch Caban took top honors with a net 33.5 worth 70 bucks. Quad Club will be April 25 at Skylinks, with a brisk first tee time of 5:50 AM! Ziggy will reach out to last year’s top performers, but you may also sign up online for consideration of one of the 25 spots that will try for a Three-Peat.

Special Assignments Assistant Terry Fulford let everyone know that the Club Championship will happen in June and that YOU MUST be entered in the June Funky Nassau in order to play in the Club Championship. The Senior Club Championship is in August. For both events, you must have played in 3 Club-sponsored events (monthly or away events, Team Play or Quad Club).

VP-Tournament Chairman-Webmaster-Life Member Mark Miller reminded folks that they must have played in three Club-sponsored events to sign up next month for the Member-Member, arguably our biggest event. Tee times for the Pat Harris Waltz will go from 6:50 am to 2:20 pm. When you go into the tournament sign-up page there will now be a GREEN BOX that will allow you to check one time that you always want to be entered into every possible side pot for every event you enter (including if you are not already in the Hole In One pool), so look for that if you don’t want to risk missing something…this is an option, not a requirement. In response to a newer member’s question, Mark clarified that if you get a tee time in the meeting drawing you STILL MUST sign-up online within two weeks of the meeting to confirm you will play AND PAY.

There was no New Business.

There was no Old Business.

The first name listed for the $50 attendance drawing was Rich Koskela – damn! The winner was Pingo Zamarripa (who also won in December) who was the name just above poor old Brad Wilcox.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:33 pm.
Bob Livingstone
Secretary Pro Tem
March membership is 492

Its Masters month and with the tough greens of Augusta National let's have a tough putting contest before the next meeting. We will be doing Pull Back count them all. Every time you do not make the putt you must pull back 1 putter length away from the hole, max score will be 5. $5 for each attempt. And as always, the club will add $50 to build the pot.

We are a couple months away from signups to begin for the Flights Championship. The first 80 guys to sign up will get into one of 5 brackets so be on the lookout in June.

For our Players League players we will be in a new pod this year. We will be playing in an all Long Beach group.
El Dorado, Lakewood, Skylinks, and Recreation Park. Players League starts in August. I will email to see who would like to play this year. Lakewood Sunday August 30th. El Dorado Sunday September 20th. Skylinks Saturday October 24th and Rec Park Sunday November 1st. If you have any interest in Players League, please email me.

Enjoy the Masters Tournament.
Omar

Our annual Pat Harris St. Patrick's Day Waltz was contested on a firm and fast course with 183 players. With slick greens and thick rough, the course played about a stroke harder than average.

Our own Super Senior Jeff Thomas shot a field-best 69 as a precursor to his victory in the San Francisco City Championship. That’s some fine play, Mr. Thomas!

On the Net side, Lloyd L. was quite super too, shooting a career-best 38 (net 28!) on the front 9 and 82 overall, with a stellar 62. Jason P. also shined with a brilliant 64.

The A Flight team of Roger M., Tyler M., Chris M. and Shaun S. lead the field at 12 under. Gross honors went to Robert A., Brian G., Jim J. and Jason P. with a 10 under team score. The B Flight was won by Cliff A., Rich G., Steve G., and Dwight S. by a whisker. The team of Aaron D., Kyle E., Lloyd L. and Ryan S. ruled in the C Flight.

On the tee is the 1 Gross/2 Net tournament to be held on Sunday, April 19. With plenty of daylight, we will have the biggest field of the year. Get your group organized and sign up! Don’t have a full group? No problem, we’ll find a fun group for you.

On Meeting Night Tuesday, April 14th, there will be no attendance taken but sign-ups will open for our crown jewel event, the Member-Member on May 16 and 17. To sign up, you will need to have participated in at least 3 events in the prior year. Some players may not be able to sign up until after the April results are posted to get that third event. No worries if you need a partner as we have a deep stable of ringers available.

The most important shot is the next one,
MMM

A good time was had by all at the March Pat Harris St. Patrick’s Day Waltz tournament. Only one name is worthy of mention this month … Lloyd Lee. Lloyd won a whopping 395 special event points. Great Job Lloyd! A total of 16 golfers scored points in the March tournament.

Just a reminder, all winnings must be picked up 90 days after the tournament. Example is December winnings were removed after March and January winnings will be removed at the end of April and are donated to the Christmas raffle. Also, if you would like someone else to pick up your winnings, just send me an email to let me know. Thanks

SEs for April 2026 1 Gross 2 Net tournament are:
- Gross Skins $10,
- Closest to the Pin (on the green) # 3 for $5,
- Up Livy’s Creek (net par or better on 1,2,8,11,13 and 15) for $5.

$20 gets you in all SE.

See you at the Blue Box.
Rich

Hello El Do golfers.
Have you ever wondered, “What exactly is the definition of a Loose Impediment”?
I pulled the following definition right off the USGA website. To have a complete understanding of Loose Impediments and how Rule 15.1 applies, I suggest reading this rule in its entirety at USGA.ORG. And yes, this is a rule I have posted in NL previously, but heck, a lot of us are old and have poor memory.

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.

Now that you know what is and what is not considered a loose impediment. You can use Rule 15.1 to remove it without penalty in most cases. READ Rule 15.1 to learn exactly how to get rid of pesky loose impediments and how to avoid incurring a penalty stroke by doing so.

Play it as it lies, The Rules are your friend.

Cliff Aichele