| Winner | Runner-up | |||
| Player of the Year | D. Menzel | 147 | R. Yarbrough | 136 |
| Points Champion | D. Menzel | 30.0 | M. Hurst | 25.5 |
| Scoring Champion | D. Menzel | 69.00 | K. Dorsey | 71.20 |
| Pyramid Tournament | R. Yarbrough | Debbie Menzel | ||
| Winners Tournament | M. Hurst | 65 | K. Peck, R. Yarbrough | 66 |
| Valero Cup Tournament | K. Dorsey | 67 | N. Williamson | 69 |
| Club Championship | K. Dorsey | 46 pts | M. Hurst, F. Lewin | 40 pts |
| Low Gross Club Champion | M. Cook | 81 | K. Dorsey | 83 |
| Barbara Juris Award | D. Menzel | |||
| Most Improved Handicap | K. Dorsey | 18.8-15.4 | M. Hurst | 13.3-11.2 |
| Most Improved Player | D. Menzel | K. Dorsey | ||
| K. Peck |
| Most Tournament Wins | R. Yarbrough | 3 |
| Most Eagles | none | |
| Most Birdies | M. Hurst | 7 |
| Most Long Drives | D. Menzel | 2 |
| N. Williamson | 2 | |
| Most Closest to the Pin | M. Cook | 4 |
| Number of Tournaments | 9 |
| Avg. # of players per tournament | 28 |
| # different players winning first place | 15 |
| # different players winning second place | 16 |
| # of players eligible for the Winners Tournament | 19 |
| Valero Golf Club Records set or tied | Previous Record or Runner-UP |
| Lowest Tom Stead Scramble Tour. Score | |
| 8 under par, K. Dorsey, J. Finnegan, R. Robinson, N. Williamson | 8 under par, B. Boyer, M. Hurst, F. Longoria, K. Peck |
| Green Tree GC, 2004 | Green Tree GC, 2003 |
| Course Record – Low Gross Score | |
| 6 over par, M. Hurst, Wildhorse, 2004 | 6 over par, N. Williamson, Wildhorse, 2001 |
| 10 over par, N. Williamson, Eagle Vines, 2004 | none |
| Course Record – Low Net Score | |
| 9 under par, K. Dorsey | 5 under par, M. Hurst, D. Pearce, N. Stachowicz |
| Shadow Lakes, 2004 | Shadow Lakes, 2003 |
| 5 under par, 67, K. Dorsey, Eagle Vines, 2004 | none |
Notes:
First Time Winner – Ken Dorsey (2), Frank Lewin
New Players; Chris Kelly, Al Cano, John Robnett, Marge Talbot, Ken Gibson, Jerry Crumrine, Joe Bateman
| Achieved 400 Tour. Points, Dave Pearce – 404.0 |
| Achieved 250 Tour. Points, Sandie Cook – 260.0 |
| Achieved 250 Tour. Points, Nemon Williamson – 252.0 |
| Achieved 150 Tour. Points – Larry Campbell – 150.0 |
| Achieved 100 Tour. Points, Kevin Peck – 115.5 |
| Achieved 100 Tour. Point, Darwin Richey – 100.0 |
2004 Highlights
The 34th Valero Golf Club season started out with perfect playing conditions for the 19th annual Tom Stead memorial scramble at Green Tree G.C. on April 3rd. The temperature was in the high 70’s with no wind on the front nine and a mild westerly wind on the back nine. Taking advantage of the perfect playing conditions was the team of Ken Dorsey, Jake Finnegan, Rod Robinson and Nemon Williamson who shot a record tying score of 8 under par to win the first flight. Tying for second place three strokes back were the team of Larry Campbell, Mike & Sandie Cook and Don Scribner and the team of Bob Boyer, Matt Hurst, Phil Kruger and Kevin Peck. The third place team consisted of Mike Narodzonek, Mike Osada, Steve Page and Denzil Storbeck. The second flight was won by the team of Joe Bateman, Brian Fien, Mitch Miller and Rob Yarbrough who shot a 6 under par 65. Two strokes back was the team of Gary Coleman, Pete Gonzales, AJ Jones and Chris Kelly who after shooting a one over par 37 on the front nine came back with a five under par 30 on the back nine. Taking third place was the team of Mark Anderson, Karl Fails, Mike Katz and Bob Simonson. Mike Cook and Denzil Storbeck won the closest to the pins. Rod Robinson and Pete Gonzales won the long drives. Mike Katz drove the green on the 285 yard, par 4 seventh hole. This year we went over the five thousand dollar mark in contributions to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” memory. We raised $400.00 for a total to date of $5181.00.
Our first weekday tournament of the year took place at Diablo Creek G.C. on a cool and windy Friday, April 16th with the starting time of 1pm. Along with the cool weather the greens were very lumpy and bumpy leading to only five players that finished at net par or better. Dave Pearce who won for the second year in a row tied with Nemon Williamson for first place in the first flight. Rob Yarbrough took second place with a net 76, further back was Larry Campbell and Don Scribner with net 78’s for third place. Don had two birdies for the day. The second flight fared much better with Rick Simonson winning for the second time in three years with a net 69. Debbie Menzel shot a solid net 70 to take second place. Bob Bohnet after a long layoff from golf took third place with a net 72. Larry Campbell and Rob Yarbrough took the Closest to the Pins, Nemon Williamson and Kevin Peck won the Long Drives. Nemon Williamson started out the year with the points lead, Rick Simonson with the scoring average lead. Shots of the day went to Rick Simonson, on the par five 14th hole his tee shot hit the OB fence and bounced back in, his second shot was heading OB when it hit a tree and bounced back in, his third shot was skulled but managed to make the green where he lipped out a putt for birdie. This is what can happen to you when you win a tournament. His Dad Bob wasn’t so lucky, after some trouble on the par four 16th hole, his recovery shot hit a metal sign so hard you could hear it all over the golf course. Bob ended up taking a 10 on the hole. In first round Pyramid play it was Matt Hurst over Ed Vegas and Dave Pearce and Nemon Williamson tying their match which will need to be replayed.
The 3rd annual Menzel Classic best-ball tournament was held on May 8th at Foxtail – North G.C. We had a good turnout of 26 players. Starting at 10am the weather was nice, temperature in the low seventies with a slight breeze. By the time we finished the temperature had dropped into the mid sixties and combined with a brutal west wind to make the finish a real challenge. After shooting a best-ball net 27 on the front nine the team of Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough shot even par on the back side to win the first flight. Four strokes back was the team of Larry Campbell and Mike Cook. Taking third with a net 70 was the Dave Pearce, Jim Spurgeon team. In the second flight the team of Steve Blotzer and John Ortiz started out slowly with a net 33 on the front side but blistered the back nine in tough conditions with a net 29 to finish in first place. The team of Frank Lewin and Mitch Miller took second place with a 64. In third place was the team of Sandie Cook and Don Scribner. Dave Pearce and Karl Fails won the CP’s. AJ Jones and Rob Yarbrough won the LD’s. Rob also took over the points lead for the year. Rick Simonson who didn’t play held on to the scoring average lead. Rob Yarbrough had a net eagle two on the # 1 handicap par four fifth hole. Mitch Miller had a net eagle two on the # 2 handicap par four eleventh hole. Mike Cook shot a gross 37 on the front side with two birdies, Rob Yarbrough shot a gross 39 on the front side with two birdies, Mitch Miller also had two birdies. Debbie and Sonny handed out nice prizes and gift certificates to all the first, second and third place finishers in the first and second flights. The flight winners had their pictures taken with the Menzel Classic traditional crystal vase. In first round pyramid play it was Mike Cook over Mike Osada, Kevin Peck over Sandie Cook, Debbie Menzel over Bob Bohnet. In outside play it was Rob Yarbrough over Darwin Richey (at Blue Rock Springs-East) and John Ortiz over Rick Morgan (also at Blue Rock Springs-East) Dave Pearce and Nemon Williamson after tying in the first round, managed again to tie and will play their match for the third time. In second round play it was Kevin Peck over Matt Hurst (at Franklin Canyon).
Our first major championship of the year was played at Shadow Lakes G.C. on Saturday, June 12th starting at 9am. The playing conditions were perfect, temperature in the seventies and eighties with a mild wind. Ken Dorsey after shooting a net 62 gathered 46 points and blew away the field to win his first tournament and major championship. He broke the low net course record by 4 strokes. Finishing in second place in the first flight was Matt Hurst with 40 points. Mitch Miller took third place with 37 points. The second flight results were much closer. Frank Lewin also with his first tournament win won the flight with 40 points. Finishing second one point behind was Debbie Menzel, another one point back was John Ortiz in third. Matt Hurst won a CP and also had two birdies. Mike Cook won the other CP. Don Scribner and Debbie Menzel won the LD’s. Rob Yarbrough narrowly maintained his points lead for the year. Ken Dorsey took over the scoring average lead from Rick Simonson who didn’t play. John Ortiz and Neal Stachowicz both shot gross 39’s on the front nine. Mike Cook shot a gross 39 on the back nine. In first round pyramid play after previously tying twice it was Dave Pearce over Nemon Williamson by two strokes. In other first round play it was Steve Blotzer over Mike Katz (at Blue Rock Springs-East)
The third “Matt Hurst shootout featuring Rick Carr” was played on Friday, June 25th starting at 12:30 pm at Hiddenbrooke, site of the 1998 and 1999 Valero Cup tournaments. The weather was warm with the temperature in the low eighties. A strong westerly wind was blowing especially on the back nine which made for some tough playing conditions. We had 28 players sign up for the three flight tournament. Denzil Storbeck with two birdies shot a net 69 to win the first flight. Nemon Williamson also with two birdies finished second. Last years winner Dave Pearce took third. Bob Simonson repeated as the second flight winner with a net 72. Kevin Peck took second place, Ken Dorsey and Mike Katz tied for third. The distaff side dominated the third flight. Sandie Cook won first place with a net 68 and went over the 250 career point plateau. Sue Gustofson finished in second place and collected her first tournament points. Debbie Menzel took third place. The rest of the field had a very tough long day, The first flight averaged a net 83, the second flight a net 86 and the third a net 83. Matt Hurst and Mike Cook won the CP’s, Bob Simonson (his first) and Chris Kelly (his first) won the LD’s. Nemon Williamson took over the points lead from Rob Yarbrough who didn’t play. Debbie Menzel tied Ken Dorsey for the scoring average lead for the year. Four more players qualified for the Winners Tournament bringing the total to 15 for the year so far. Matt and Rick handed out very nice tee prizes again including an updated pamphlet with information concerning the shootout. They also drew the winning raffle names for prizes at the end of the day. Denzil Storbeck, Bob Simonson and Sandie Cook had their pictures taken in the traditional lavender blazer worn by the first place finishers. The 7th hole at Shinnecock Hills G.C. during the U.S. Open had nothing on us as the par three 13th hole at Hiddenbrooke was extremely fast with balls on the green being putted off the green down the hillside into the tall grass or bunkers. Shot of the day went to Don Scribner who was just off the back of the par three 13th hole with his ball laying down in a depression, he chipped the ball, it took one bounce and hopped into the hole for a birdie two. If that ball hadn’t gone in, Don might still be out there playing that hole.
The third “Greater PeckBrough Open” was held at Franklin Canyon G.C. on Saturday, July 17th starting at 8 am. The weather was great with the temperature in the seventies to start and a mild westerly wind that dropped off on the back nine. A strong field of 28 players gave us our second three flight tournament in a row. The field was vying for the biggest prize money by far of the year, $450.00 provided by Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough who sponsored the tournament. Matt Hurst with a strong net 66 and three birdies won the first flight. Don Scribner with two birdies and almost a chip in eagle on the 18th hole took second place. Dave Pearce added to the birdie total with two himself and finished third. Rob Yarbrough with a net 67 repeated as the second flight winner and won some of his own prize money back again. Rick Simonson finished in second place one stroke back, had a birdie and won both closest to the pins. Ken Dorsey took third place for the second tournament in a row. Debbie Menzel one of only two players in the field to make a par on the par 5 ninth hole went on to shoot a net 67 and win the third flight. Ed Vegas finished in second place and qualified for the Winners Tournament. Sandie Cook continued her good play and took third place. Nemon Williamson and Mitch Miller won the LD’s. Mitch also had the shot of the day, although dubious when his shot into a tree on the par 4 third hole stayed up in the tree, tough lie. Adding to the birdie barrage was Steve Page with two, Mike Cook, Mike DeHart, Mike Narodzonek, Mike Osada and Rob Yarbrough with one. Rob regained his points lead for the year. Debbie Menzel who previously shared the scoring averaged lead for the year took over the top spot by herself. The par 5 ninth and the par 5 thirteenth holes took their tolls again this year, the field averaged a double bogey seven on both holes. Mike Cook along with Debbie made a par on the ninth, Bob Simonson was the only player to make a par on the 13th hole. In second round pyramid play it was Debbie Menzel over John Ortiz. In outside second round pyramid play it was Mike Cook over Dave Pearce (at Paradise Valley).
Friday the 27th of August was the date for the 3rd “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” held again this year at Paradise Valley G.C. starting at 12:30 pm. This was our third three flight tournament in a row, the last time this happened was in the early 1970’s. Mike and Sandie Cook who sponsored the tournament passed out divot repair tools and ball markers to each player before they teed off. Nemon Williamson playing in the first flight won his second Boyd Cook Classic and his 20th career tournament with a net 68. Dave Pearce and Kevin Peck took second place. The duo of Mike Cook, and Denzil Storbeck finished tied for third. The Simonson twins, Bob and Rick both shot net 71’s to win the second flight., it was Bob’s 15th tournament win. Ken Dorsey and Darwin Richey took second and third place. The third flight was won by Karl Fails with his first tournament win and Debbie Menzel who won for the second tournament in a row. Jim Spurgeon finished second and took the last qualifying spot for the Winners Tournament. Sandie Cook took third place. The temperature was in the high nineties with an unusual northeast wind in force. Ken Dorsey and Mike Cook won the CP’s. Rick Carr and Debbie Menzel won the LD’s. Debbie knocked Rob Yarbrough out of the points lead for the year and increased her lead in the scoring average for the year. Karl Fails and Kevin Peck had two birdies apiece, Sandie Cook, Ken Dorsey, Sonny Menzel, Bob Simonson, Jim Spurgeon and Rob Yarbrough each had one birdie. In second round pyramid play it was Rob Yarbrough over Steve Blotzer. In third round play it was Debbie Menzel over Kevin Peck.
The “34th” annual Winners Tournament was played for the first time at Wildhorse G.C. on Saturday, September 11th with a 9am start time. The temperature at the finish was in the high nineties but with essentially no wind all day we had perfect playing conditions. Sixteen of the nineteen eligible players played plus five ineligible for a total of twenty one. Matt Hurst claimed his first Winners Tournament win shooting an excellent gross 78 (tied the low gross course record), net 65 which was helped out by shooting a gross 38 on the front nine. This was Matt’s fifth major tournament win. Finishing tied for second with identical net scores of 66 were Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough. Rob finished strong playing the last four holes in one under par. The going in odds on favorite Debbie Menzel finished third with a net 67. Bob Simonson was bumped by Matt and Kevin from the number seven spot to the ninth spot for the Valero Cup tournament. No one was able to hit the narrow long drive fairways so the long drives went unclaimed (Sandie Cook’s LD was not counted). Rick Carr and Mike Cook took the CP’s. Mike with his fourth CP won the most for the year. Debbie Menzel maintained her points and scoring average leads and claimed both championships for the year. Debbie also shared the most long drives for the year with Nemon Williamson. Ten players had birdies for the day, Nemon and Mitch Miller had two apiece Matt Hurst was the birdie leader for the year with 7. Dave Pearce shot a gross 39 on the front nine. Sandie Cook mistakenly played the wrong ladies tees (was disqualified) but shot a strong gross 87, net 62. In third round pyramid play it was Mike Cook and Rob Yarbrough tying (at Paradise Valley). Rob and Mike played again at Paradise Valley and this time it was Rob over Mike by 2 strokes. Rob will go on to play Debbie Menzel in the finals.
The 18th Valero Cup tournament was played for the first time at Eagle Vines G.C. on September 18th starting at 7:00am. The temperature was a little cool to start with but ended up in the mid seventies with very little wind blowing. Ken Dorsey claimed his second major championship for the year by finishing in first place with a net 67. Nemon Williamson, one major away from the Hall of Fame finished in second place with a net 69. Rick Simonson finished a strong third with a net 70. Other top eight players included; Matt Hurst, Rob Yarbrough, Debbie Menzel and Bob Simonson (Dave Pearce was a no show) not eligible but played, Sonny Menzel.
The 28th Pyramid Tournament finals were held at Paradise Valley G.C. on October 2nd, a beautiful fall day with temperatures in the low eighties and essentially no wind. Rob Yarbrough shot a gross 40 on the front nine and after making a birdie on the eighth hole he recovered the 12 strokes he needed to give Debbie Menzel for the match. Debbie made a go of it on the back nine but Rob cruised in with a four stroke victory. Rob will have his name engraved for the second time in the last three years on the “Tom Stead Trophy” as the winner of the 28th Pyramid Tournament, ( $60.00 ). Finishing second was Debbie Menzel ( $28.00 ). Finishing third was Kevin Peck ( $14.00). Low net money went to Debbie Menzel ( $20.00 & $16.00 ), John Ortiz ( $12.00 ) and Sandie Cook ( $10.00 ).
By winning both the Points and Scoring Average Championships for the year, and runner-up in the Pyramid Tournament, Debbie Menzel was the Valero Golf Club’s “Player of the Year” for 2004.
The 10th annual Revenge at Kennedy Scramble Tournament was played on a beautiful fall day, September 25th with a noon start time. The temperature was in the low eighties with a mild westerly wind. Shooting a 11 under par score of 61 the team of Ken Dorsey, Jake Finnegan, Rod Robinson and Nemon Williamson won the revenge tournament for the fifth time but had to share first place honors with the team of Larry Campbell, Mike and Sandie Cook and Mitch Miller who also shot a 61. Finishing tied for second place with 63’s was the team of Jim Aton, Dave Pearce and Jim Spurgeon and the team of Gary Jeffcoats, Neal Stachowicz and Ed Vegas. Tying for third place with 64’s was the team of Mike DeHart, Steve Duff and Sue Gustofson and the team of Karl Fails, Bob and Rick Simonson. Closest to the Pins went to Neal Stachowicz, Sonny Menzel, Mike Cook and Al Harp. The greens were in awful shape which led to some interesting putting. Everyone enjoyed a dinner following golf. After dinner Sue Gustofson presented the Valero Golf League awards and prizes. It was a good way to end the golf year, everyone had fun, and all the teams shot good scores, the two last place teams were a very respectable 7 under par.
2004 was the third year for the Valero Golf League, nine hole team play starting officially at 4:45 pm ( most play started at 4:34 pm) every Thursday afternoon at Kennedy G.C. in Napa. The League ran from mid April through September. The Rovers were in first place for the start of the year in May, in June Team Albatross and the Hackers Unlimited took over, the Rovers came back to first in July, Team Albatross then came back to take the lead in August and kept it through the end of the regular season. At the end of the regular season the first place team ( Team Albatross ) received a bye, the second place team ( the Rovers ) and third place team ( the Hackers Unlimited ) played off on August 19th to determine who would play the top team. The Rovers won 6.0 to 2.0 and advanced on to play Team Albatross on August 26th. The Championship match was played with the The Rovers winning 9.5 to 0.5 to claim their second League Championship in the past three years. The first place team the Rovers consisted of Mike and Sandie Cook, new team captain Mike DeHart, Steve Duff, Karl Fails, Dave Pearce and Bob Simonson. Team Albatross team members were Bob Boyer, Rick Carr, Stephanie George, team captain Matt Hurst, Mitch Miller, Glenn Overman and Kevin Peck. The Hackers Unlimited finished in third place. The team consisted of Phil Eubanks, Willie Grinslade, Al Harp, team captain Debbie Menzel, Sonny Menzel, Don O’Donnell and Rob Yarbrough. Finishing in fourth place was the Seadlings consisting of John Endicott, Alan Hepp, Mike Katz, Dan Kilkenny, Tom Klemesh, Al Middleton, Linda Moore and team captain Neal Stachowicz. Finishing in fifth place was Birdies-R-Us team consisting of Connie and Sheldon Custer, Jerry Crumrine, Andrew Estrada, team captain Sue Gustofson, Gary Jeffcoats and Marge Talbot. Year long individual honors went to Mike Cook, low gross of 39, Gary Jeffcoats, low net of 30 in the regular season ( Steve Duff, the Rovers secret weapon had a net 29 in the Championship finals) and Andrew Estrada who had the most improved handicap. In post season tournament play; in the two club tournament it was Dave Pearce with a net 41 and John Endicott with a gross 48, in the two person best-ball it was the Mike Katz – Tom Klemesh team with a new record net 26, in the two person worst ball it was Jerry Crumrine – Neal Stachowicz team with a new record net 41, and in the point tournament it was Jerry Crumrine winning with a new record 19 points. The Luck of the Draw tournament was won by Neal Stachowicz and this ended the third season of the Valero Golf League.
This golf year came to a close early because of the Refinery wide turnaround in October. This year we continued our weekday tournament play and players sponsoring tournaments, thanks to all the sponsors. The Valero Golf League was excellent all year with many good matches. Out thanks go out to Debbie Menzel for doing an outstanding job again as our Tournament Director and to Sue Gustofson for taking over and running the Valero Golf League, also Neal Stachowicz who stayed on as the league statistician. As always we’re looking forward to next year. Mike Cook