| Winner | Runner-Up | |||
| Player of the Year | M. Hurst | 131 | M. Cook | 130 |
| Points Champion | N. Williamson | 27.0 | B. Simonson | 24.0 |
| Scoring Champion * – won tie breaker | D. Menzel * | 72.60 | R. Carr | 72.60 |
| Pyramid Tournament | M. Hurst | D. Menzel | ||
| Winners Tournament *won playoff | D. Pearce * | 67(82) | B. Simonson | 67(83) |
| Valero Cup Tournament | M. Hurst | 65 | M. Cook | 74 |
| Club Championship * – won tie breaker | S. Menzel * | 44 pts | B. Simonson | 44 pts |
| Low Gross Club Champion | M. Cook | 82 | N. Williamson | 86 |
| Barbara Juris Award | D. Menzel | |||
| Most Improved Handicap | M. Hurst | 19.4-14.8 | S. Menzel | 29.0-23.4 |
| Most Improved Player | M. Hurst | B. Simonson | ||
| Most Tournament Wins | B. Simonson | 3 |
| Most Eagles | none | |
| Most Birdies | B. Simonson | 8 |
| N. Williamson | 8 | |
| Most Long Drives | N. Williamson | 4 |
| Most Closest to the Pins | N. Williamson | 3 |
| Number of Tournaments | 9 |
| Avg. # of players per tournament | 19 |
| # different players winning first place | 11 |
| # different players winning second place | 13 |
| # of players eligible for the Winners Tournament | 14 |
| Valero Golf Club Records set or tied | Previous Record or Runner-UP |
| Lowest Career Scoring Average | |
| 72.15 – M. Cook | 72.25 – E. Vegas |
| Most Winners Tournament Wins | |
| 3 – D. Pearce, 1972, 1999, 2001 | 3 – C. Reyes, 1978, 1979, 1983 |
| Lowest Best-Ball Tournament Score | |
| 13 under par, Pearce-Spurgeon, Wildhorse, 2001 | 12 under par, Ortiz-Richey, Blue Rock, 1980 |
| 12 under par, Luna-Podwys, Green Tree, 1984 | |
| 12 under par, Campbell-Cook, Green Tree, 1993 | |
| 12 under par, Peck-Podwys, Rancho Solano, 1994 | |
| 12 under par, Osada-Storbeck, Foxtail-N, 1999 | |
| 12 under par, Vegas-Williamson, Wildhorse, 2001 | |
| Lowest Tom Stead Scramble Tournament Score | |
| 7 under par, Boyer, Carr, Hurst, Peck | 7 under par, Bohnet, Bohnet, Eubanks, Scribner |
| Green Tree, 2001 | Green Tree, 1989 |
| 7 under par, Dorsey, Finnegan, Robinson, Williamson | 7 under par, Menzel, Menzel, Storbeck, Reinhart |
| Green Tree,2001 | Green Tree, 1991 |
Notes:
Matt Hurst with a total of 20 long drives moves past Tom Palilonis (19 through 1984) into second place in career long drives.
| Achieved 500 Tour. Points, Mike Cook – 519.5 |
| Achieved 300 Tour. Points, Dave Pearce – 312.5 |
| Achieved 150 Tour. Points, Nemon Williamson – 161.0 |
| Achieved 100 Tour. Points, Matt Hurst – 106.0 |
| Achieved 50 Tour. Points, Sonny Menzel – 53.5 |
2001 Highlights
The 31st Valero Golf Club season started out on April 7th with the weather half way decent but by the time the players had started the back nine they had to put up with as one player described it “the hail storm from hell” with so much hail falling it completely covered the fairways, some nice Tom Stead weather for the playing of the 16th annual Tom Stead memorial scramble tournament. The team of Ken Dorsey, Jake Finnegan, Rod Robinson, and Nemon Williamson repeated as first flight winners. The Bob Boyer, Rick Carr, Matt Hurst and Kevin Peck team pulled off the hat trick by winning three years in a row. The second flight was won by the team of Gary Coleman, Brian Fien, Pete Gonzales and AJ Jones. We raised $470.00 for the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name. Total to date $4271.00. Thanks to all of you that played and contributed.
The best-ball tournament at Wildhorse G.C. on April 28th was played in ideal conditions, temperature in the mid 70’s with very little wind. The course was in good condition. The Ed Vegas, Nemon Williamson team won the first flight with a net 60 with the John Ortiz, Kevin Peck team finishing close behind with a 62. The Bohnet, Riley team was third. The second flight was won with a record 13 under par performance by the Dave Pearce, Jim Spurgeon team who after a slow start on the front nine birdied and eagled every hole on the back nine. Last years winners, Debbie and Sonny Menzel finished second with a strong 61. The Carr, Hurst team was third. Dan Riley and Nemon Williamson won the CP’s with Kevin Peck and Rick Carr taking the LD’s. Nemon Williamson took the points lead to start off the year. Jim Spurgeon took the scoring average lead. Nemon Williamson had two birdies for net eagles. Bob Simonson, Dave Pearce, Matt Hurst, Rick Carr, Mark Reinhart, Dan Riley and Mike Narodzonek had birdies for net eagles. Jim Spurgeon had a net 59 and Sonny Menzel a net 63 on their own ball.
Our first regular tournament of the year was held at Bethel Island G.C. on May 19th, the weather was good with the temperatiue in the high eighties and a mild wind. In the one flight tournament, Rick Carr shot a net 63 to win going away. Finishing second was last years winner Ed Vegas, Dave Pearce also tied for second place. Neal Stachowicz took third place. Matt Hurst had a closest to the pin and a long drive. Dan Riley won the other CP with Ed Vegas winning the other LD. Rick Carr took over the tournament points lead for the year. Jim Spurgeon kept his scoring lead. Nemon Williamson had two more birdies to bring his total to 5 for the year so far. Ken Dorsey and Rod Robinson played in their first tournament after establishing handicaps.
Paradise Valley G.C. was the site for our Club Championship on June 23rd. After a solid week of temperatures above 100 degrees we played on a mild day but had a strong westerly wind. Play was started on the back nine first. We again used the modified stableford points system plus handicap to determine the Club Champion. Sonny Menzel and Bob Simonson tied for 1st place in the second flight with 44 points with Sonny winning the tie breaker to win the Club Championship and claim his first major. Jim Spurgeon finished second with 37 points and taking third with 34 points was Debbie Menzel. In the first flight, Mike Cook took first place with 35 points closely followed in second place by Dave Pearce with 34 points. Nemon Williamson claimed third place with 31 points, and won the long drive on the 5th hole with a 312 yard drive. Sonny Menzel won the long drive on the 13th hole with a 300 + yard drive. Dave Pearce won the CP and also took over the tournament points lead. Amazingly no one hit the green on the short par 3 twelfth hole for the other CP. Sonny Menzel took over the scoring average lead. Bob Simonson had two birdies. To date in first round Pyramid play it was Dave Pearce over Sheldon Custer, Kevin Peck over Sandie Cook, Sonny Menzel over Dan Riley and John Ortiz over Steve Blotzer.
The tournament at Rio Vista G.C. on July 21st was held the same weekend as the British Open and played in similar conditions, very windy play on a difficult course with the temperature in the mid seventies. Denzil Storbeck was in good form winning the first flight after shooting a 39 on the back nine. Mike Cook and Marv Smith tied for second place with Dave Pearce taking third. In the second flight Debbie Menzel won first place followed closely by Sandie Cook who finished second and Sonny Menzel who took third place. Sonny maintained the scoring average lead for the year. Dave Pearce maintained the tournament points lead for the year. Sandie Cook won the long drive on the 12th hole with a 210 yard drive. Rick Carr won the long drive on the 7th hole with a 270 yard drive. Marv Smith and Dave Pearce won the closest to the pins. Bob Simonson had two of only three birdies for the entire field and tied Nemon Williamson for the birdies lead. Mike Cook was the only player to par the 18th hole, the field averaging a double bogey on the tough finishing par 4. To date in first round Pyramid play it was Rob Yarbrough over Nemon Williamson, Debbie Menzel over Rick Carr, Matt Hurst over Rollin Podwys and Mike Cook over Larry Campbell. In Second round play Dave Pearce and Matt Hurst tied at Paradise Valley G.C. and will play again.
The original tournament scheduled for August could not be set up. Nemon Williamson arranged for us to play at Cypress Lakes G.C. on August 11th. Nemon thought as long as he had to set the tournament up he might as well go ahead and win it, which he did shooting a gross 79 including a 39 on the back side. He also had two birdies and won a closest to the pin and a long drive. Debbie Menzel continued her good play by finishing second. A rare third place tie of four players included Larry Campbell, Matt Hurst, Sonny Menzel and Dan Riley. Larry Campbell also had a CP. Darwin Richey won the long drive on the 12th hole. Nemon took over the points lead from Dave Pearce who didn’t play. Sonny Menzel maintained his scoring average lead for the year but it tightened up. Bob Simonson had another birdie but Nemon with two for the day took over the birdies lead for the year. No new players qualified for the Winners Tournament. Playing conditions were good, temperature in the high eighties with very little wind. To date in second round action in the Pyramid Tournament it was Debbie Menzel over Kevin Peck and John Ortiz over Sonny Menzel.
The Mare Island Tournament was played on September 15th, temperature in the seventies with the wind not being a big factor. What was a big factor was the putting greens as the old greens were moderate in speed the new ones were quite fast causing problems for most of the field. Two players however didn’t seem to have any problems as they won their flights by wide margins. Larry Campbell shot an excellent net 65 to win the first flight and was also the only player to hit the green on the difficult par 3 third hole to give him the closest to the pin. He was also the last player to qualify for the Winners Tournament. Mike Cook finished a distant second to Larry and also won the CP on the 15t hole. Dan Riley finished third. In the second flight Bob Simonson also won by a large margin shooting a net 69 with second place Rick Carr at a net 78. Finishing third and just missing a Winners Tournament berth by one stroke was Matt Hurst. Matt also won the long drive on the 16th hole. Phil Kruger came down out of the hills to win the long drive on the 5th hole. Nemon Williamson didn’t win any points but narrowly maintained his points lead for the year. Sonny Menzel hung on to retain his scoring average lead for the year. In second round matches for the Pyramid Tournament it was Matt Hurst over Dave Pearce and Mike Cook over Rob Yarbrough.
The 31st annual Winners Tournament was played for the first time at Rancho Solano G.C. on September 29th. The temperature was in the low nineties but felt warmer because of the complete lack of wind. Eleven of the fourteen eligible players played plus two ineligible for a total of thirteen. For the second year in a row we had a tie for first place, this time between Dave Pearce and Bob Simonson with net 67’s, both players having two birdies apiece. Finishing second with net 71’s was the trio of Mike Cook, Denzil Storbeck ( also with two birdies ) and Nemon Williamson. Dan Riley took third place. Not eligible but taking first place points was Matt Hurst with an excellent net 64 including three birdies and a gross 38 on the tough back nine. Sharing third place points with a net 71 was Steve Blotzer. Nemon Williamson had a gross 38 on the front nine, won both long drives and a closest to the pin helping him to win the Points Championship for the year. Nemon also tied with Bob Simonson for the most birdies for the year. Sandie Cook won the closest to the pin on the eight hole. Debbie Menzel and Rick Carr passed Sonny Menzel and tied for the Scoring Average Championship at 72.60. Debbie won the third tie breaker to become the Scoring Average Champion for 2001. In Pyramid Tournament play, in the semi-finals it was Matt Hurst over Mike Cook and at a very windy Rio Vista G.C. it was Debbie Menzel over John Ortiz.
The Winners Tournament playoff was held at Canyon Lakes C.C. on October 13th during the Valero Cup Tournament. Bob Simonson was down 5 strokes to Dave Pearce after the front nine but came back to go one stroke up after 17 holes. The match went down to the last hole with Dave making a par, winning the playoff over Bob by one stroke and claiming his third Winners Tournament crown. ( ties a record )
The 15th Valero Cup tournament was again played at Canyon Lakes C.C. on October 13th. The temperature was in the low nineties with very little wind blowing. Matt Hurst took advantage of the conditions and shot an excellent net 65 to win his first major tournament. Mike Cook finished second, Larry Campbell and last years winner Debbie Menzel took third place. Other players included; Rick Carr, Dave Pearce, Bob Simonson and Sonny Menzel. ( Nemon Williamson didn’t play )
Matt Hurst had his name engraved on the “Tom Stead Trophy” as the winner of the 25th silver anniversary Pyramid Tournament, ( $60.00 ) his second major win. The finals were played at Canyon Lakes C.C. during the Valero Cup Tournament. Finishing second was Debbie Menzel ( $28.00 ). Low net money went to Matt Hurst ( $20.00 ), Sonny Menzel ( $16.00 ), Mike Cook ( $14.00 ), Dave Pearce ( $12.00 ) and Steve Blotzer ( $10.00 ).
Larry Campbell, Rick Carr, Mike Cook, Matt Hurst, Debbie Menzel, Sonny Menzel, Dave Pearce and Nemon Williamson had a chance to win “Player of the Year” going into the Winners Tournament. Making the biggest move by shooting the Winners Tournament low net score, finishing fifth in Tournament Points and Scoring Average for the year, second in birdies, and winning the Pyramid and Valero Cup Tournaments, Matt Hurst was the Valero Golf Club’s “Player of the Year” for 2001.
The 7th annual Revenge at Kennedy Scramble Tournament was played on a cloudy, cool day on October 27th with the temperature in the low sixties. With a sixties score of 62 the team of Ken Dorsey, Jake Finnegan, Rod Robinson and Nemon Williamson pulled off the hat trick by winning the tournament for the third year in a row. Closest to the Pins went to Larry Campbell with two, Dave Pearce and Mike DeHart. The team of Ron Cupid. Al Harp, Ken Powers and Neal Stachowicz received the traditional “Black Towels” for finishing in last place. It was a good way to end the golf year, everyone had fun, all the teams shot good scores and we beat the first winter rain storm by a couple of days.
On September 1st, the Sonoma Golf Course went private. We started playing there in 1972 when the course was in very bad shape, semi-dirt fairways but the greens were usually good. Play continued through the seventies but because of slow play and poor conditions only two tournaments were held there in the eighties. After the course was completely renovated we held the 1993 and 1994 Exxon Cup Tournaments there, returned again for a regular tournament in 1998 and for the Winners Tournament in 1999. Some old timers will remember in 1974 Graham Barnes broke his putter in two after three putting the ninth green and in the process of throwing it away he cut his hand open. He went on to win the tournament putting with a long iron and bought a new putter with his first place prize money. ( Question was, did he need a new putter ? )
Another golf year comes to a close, and as before we must thank Rob Yarbrough for doing an outstanding job as our Tournament Director for the last 9 years. He held the job much longer than any other Director we’ve had. Rob is turning over the reins to Debbie Menzel but he will still be involved in helping run the club. We’re looking foward to next year with more tournaments planned and some weekday tournament play.
Mike Cook