| Winner | Runner-Up | |||
| Player of the Year | N. Stachowicz | 135 | R. Butler | 121 |
| Points Champion | N. Stachowicz | 25.5 | M. Hurst, N. Williamson | 20.5 |
| Scoring Champion | D. Scribner | 71.75 | K. Dorsey | 72.75 |
| Pyramid Tournament | R. Butler | 74 | K. Peck | 81 |
| Winners Tournament | S. Menzel | 66 | M. Hurst | 67 |
| Club Championship | N. Williamson | 37 pts | R. Butler | 35 pts |
| Low Gross Club Championship | R. Butler | 83 | N. Williamson | 84 |
| 2016 Valero Cup Tournament | N. Williamson | 67 | R. Butler | 74 |
| Barbara Juris Award, Comeback Player/Year | S. Cook | |||
| # 1 Ranked Golfer at the end of the year | N. Williamson | 12.58 | K. Peck | 11.19 |
| Most Tour. as the # 1 ranked golfer | K. Peck | 4 | D. Menzel | 2 |
| N. Williamson | 2 | |||
| Most Improved Handicap | M. Hurst | 15.7-13.5 | K. Dorsey | 16.6-14.6 |
| Most Improved Player | R. Butler | B. Boyer | ||
| N. Stachowicz | K. Dorsey | |||
| Most Tournament Wins | N. Williamson | 3 | M. Cook, K. Dorsey | 2 |
| S. Menzel, N. Stachowicz | 2 | |||
| Most Top 3’s | N. Stachowicz | 6 | R. Butler | 5 |
| M. Hurst | 5 | |||
| Most Eagles | none | |||
| Most Birdies | R. Butler | 8 | N. Williamson | 7 |
| Most Long Drives | M. Hurst | 3 | ||
| Most Closest to the Pin | B. Hurst | 2 | ||
| M. Hurst | 2 | |||
| N. Stachowicz | 2 | |||
| Number of Tournaments | 8 | |||
| Avg # of players per tournament | 19 | |||
| Different players winning 1st place | 14 | |||
| Different players winning 2nd place | 13 | |||
| Players eligible for the Winners Tournament | 17 | |||
2013 Highlights Notes;
New Players; John Perrin, Rob Villarreal, Todd Yarbrough, Vinny Zabat Entered the Hall of Fame – Sonny Menzel
Achieved 825 Tournament Points – M. Cook, 838.0
Achieved 350 Tournament Points – S. Cook, 363.0
Achieved 325 Tournament Points – M. Hurst, 335.5
Achieved 250 Tournament Points – S. Menzel, 258.0
Achieved 250 Tournament Points – K. Peck, 259.5
Achieved 225 Tournament Points – D. Menzel ,229.5
Achieved 200 Tournament Points – N. Stachowicz, 224.0
Achieved 75 Tournament Points – K. Dorsey, 90.5, B, Hurst, 85.5, AJ Jones, 75.0, Achieved 50 Tournament Points – B. Boyer, 54.0
| Valero Golf Club records set or tied | Previous record or runner-up |
| Most Consecutive Years with at least one Tournament Win | |
| 9 – S. Menzel, 2005 – 2013 | 9 – D. Menzel, 2000 – 2008 |
| 9 – N. Williamson, 2001 – 2009 | |
| Most Tournament Wins at one golf course | |
| 8 – M. Cook, Franklin Canyon, 1979, 82, 86, 88, 90, 02, 05, 13 | 7 – B. Cook, Chimney Rock, 1979, 80, 84, 85, 86, 87, 96 |
| Most Consecutive Tournaments at the # 1 Ranking | |
| 9 – K. Peck, 2012 – 2013 | 8 – C. Kelly, 2006 – 2007, B. Simonson, 2007 – 2008 |
| 8 – G. Campbell, 2010 | |
| Highest Average Ranking Points | |
| 17.33 – K. Peck, 2013 | 16.22 – M. Katz, 2010 |
| Won the Career 4 Major Grand Slam (the Yarbie Slam) | |
| 4 – N. Williamson, 2013 | 4 – R. Yarbrough, 2003, M. Cook – 2011 |
| Lowest Scramble Tournament Score (Tom Stead Scramble) | |
| 9 under par (par 69), 60 Green Tree, 2013 | 9 under par (par 71), 62, Green Tree, 2005 |
| R. Butler, M. Hurst, AJ Jones, J. Perrin | J. Finnegan, D. Frank, E. Vegas, N. Williamson |
| 9 under par (par 71), 62, Green Tree, 2010 | |
| Cuciono, Livatra, McFatter, N. Williamson | |
| Course Record – Low Gross Score | |
| 8 over par (par), 79, Peacock Gap, N. Williamson, 2013 | none |
| 10 over par, 82, Eagle Vines, V. Zabat, 2013 | 10 over par, 82, Eagle Vines, N. Williamson, 2004 |
| 10 over par, 82, Eagle Vines, M. Cook, 2005 | |
| Course Record – Low Net Score | |
| 5 under par 67, K. Dorsey, Eagle Vines, 2013 | 5 under par 67, K. Dorsey, Eagle Vines, 2004 |
| 4 under par 67, N. Williamson, Peacock Gap, 2013 | none |
2013 Highlights
The 43rd Valero Golf Club season started out with the playing of the 28th annual Tom Stead memorial scramble at Green Tree G.C. on April 20th starting at 9:00am. This last year was a weather oddity, a lot of rain in November and December and very little in January, February and March. We played on a beautiful spring day, temperature in the mid 80’s at the end of play, problem was, there was a very strong North wind blowing the entire round. The last 3 par three holes coming into the wind played extremely long, but downwind there were some 330 and 340 yard drives on the par 5 twelfth hole. The first flight was won by the team of Randy Butler, Matt Hurst, AJ Jones and John Perrin with a 60. The team of Mike Cook, Sandie Cook, Nemon Williamson and Rob Yarbrough took second place with a 63. In third place was the team of Steve Blotzer, John Ortiz, Don Scribner and Denzil Storbeck with a 67. The second flight was won by the team of Larry Campbell, Floyd Duggins, Bob Simonson and Neal Stachowicz with a 66. In Second place was the team of Bob Brown, Sandy Kreger, Alex Tegenkamp and Vickie Devlin with a 73. Taking third was the team of Kevin Lassahn, Debbie Menzel, Sonny Menzel and Margie Talbot with a 77. The course was in very good shape but the greens were a little slow, the field did however make 25 birdies. Nemon Williamson won the closest to the pin on the front nine, the back nine CP was won by John Ortiz. John Perrin won the longest drive on the front and the back nine. The Butler, Hurst, Jones and Perrin team tied the tournament record of 9 under par. The old par 5 sixteenth hole (currently playing as a par 3) remains that way for now. This year we raised $240.00 in contributions to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” memory, this brought our total to date to $7936.00. Thanks again for your generous support.
Valero Golf Rankings, to start the year off Kevin Peck held the # 1 spot, Mike Cook # 2, Sonny Menzel # 3, Matt Hurst # 4 and Debbie Menzel # 5.
The first regular tournament of the year was held at Paradise Valley GC on Tuesday, May 7th starting at 09:00 am. We had rain showers the day before and the day after the tournament but we lucked out and played on a mostly cloudy day, temperature in the low 70’s at the end of play. The normal westerly wind was with us most of the day. The greens were OK but slower than normal, especially when the course workers were syringing the greens just before we played them (very irritating). Nemon Williamson won the first flight for the second year in a row with a net 72. Fred Longoria was second one stroke back. Mike Cook and Vinny Zabat took third with a net 74’s. Recent Hall of Fame inductee Bob Simonson won the second flight with a net 68. Kevin Peck was second with a 71 after turning a front nine 50 into a back nine 37. Don Scribner took third with a net 72. The CP’s were won by Matt Hurst and Larry Campbell. Fred Longoria won both the LD’s (290 yards & 282 yards). Nemon Williamson starts off the year with the tournament points lead, Bob Simonson the scoring average lead. The field made 13 birdies, Randy Butler, Fred Longoria, Kevin Peck and Nemon Williamson led the way with 2 each. Matt Hurst, John Perrin, Don Scribner, Bill Sharp and Vinny Zabat had one each. Randy Butler had a gross 37 on the front nine, Kevin Peck a 37 on the back nine, Fred Longoria had nines of 37 & 39. The Rankings after the tournament were, Kevin Peck remained at # 1, Mike Cook held at # 2, Sonny Menzel held at # 3, Debbie Menzel moved up to # 4 with Nemon Williamson moving up to the # 5 spot.
We had a very good turnout for the playing of the 18th Club Championship at Cypress Lakes GC, like last year another 3 flight tournament It was held June 8th starting at 10:00 am. The weather was a key, the temperature at the end of play was 106 degrees with a fairly strong North wind blowing, it was very hot, some players could not complete 18 holes of play. Home course favorite Nemon Williamson (his 4th win there and 35th career win) won his 1st Club Championship with 37 points, Randy Butler was second with 35 points, in third was the trio of Kevin Peck, Neal Stachowicz and Sandie Cook with 33 points. The first flight was won by Nemon Williamson with 37 pts, second was Randy Butler with 35 pts, third was Matt Hurst with 32 points. In the second flight it was Kevin Peck (went over 250 career points) and Neal Stachowicz (15th career win) tied for first place with 33 points, second was Sonny Menzel with 31 points and tying for third place with 28 points were Steve Blotzer and Ken Dorsey. The third flight was won by Sandie Cook with 33 points (after an extended win drought), second was Bob Boyer with 30 points, third was Debbie Menzel with 29 points. Randy Butler won the low gross Club Championship with a gross 83, Nemon Williamson was second with a 84. With his CC win Nemon became the third player to achieve the career grand slam (the Yarbie Slam) Ken Dorsey (his 5th) and Steve Blotzer (his 10th) won the CP’s. Matt Hurst won both the LD’s. Nemon Williamson extended his points lead for the year. Bob Simonson maintained the scoring average lead. Nemon Williamson shot a gross 38 on the front nine. Sandie Cook was the only player in the field to shoot net par or better round. The greens were in good shape but a little slow. Randy Butler, Matt Hurst and Nemon Williamson had 2 birdies each, other birdie shooters were Ken Dorsey and Kevin Peck. Randy Butler unsuccessfully putted for an eagle on # 10 trying to get that 8 point prize. It was nice to see Dave Pearce who came out of the desert with his rental clubs to join us for some golf. Some fun stat updates from the last tournament at Paradise Valley, Fred Longoria became the 100th different golfer to make a birdie with the club and also happened to make the 1600th birdie since 1979. Some changes took place in the golf club rankings, Kevin Peck broke Michael Katz’s record from 2010 for the highest ranking and remained at # 1, Mike Cook held at # 2, Nemon Williamson with his win moved up from # 5 to the # 3 spot, Sonny Menzel slipped from 3rd to 4th, Debbie Menzel slipped fropm 4th to 5th. In early Player of the Year standings it’s Kevin Peck @ #1, Sandie Cook @ # 2, Randy Butler @ # 3, Matt Hurst @ # 4 with Bob Simonson @ 5. In first round Pyramid play it was Debbie Menzel over Bob Brown, Kevin Peck over Michael Katz, Randy Butler over Rob Yarbrough, and Alex Tegenkamp over Bob Simonson by forfeit. Bob Boyer and Sonny Menzel tied their 1st round match.
The 12th annual Menzel Classic best-ball tournament was held on Tuesday, June 25th at Franklin Canyon GC starting at 09:30 am. Going from 106 degrees at the last tournament at Cypress Lakes to drizzle and light rain almost the entire round at Franklin took some adjusting by the field. Larry Campbell (with his 20th career win) and Mike Cook teamed up to win the first flight with a best-ball score of 68. This was their 8th Best-Ball win together as a team. The team of Randy Butler and Brittany Hurst took second place with a net 69. Matt Hurst and Nemon Williamson took third place with a 70. The team of Debbie (with her 20th career win) and Sonny Menzel (Sonny with a net 64) won first place in the second flight with a net 61. This was their 5th Best-Ball win. Six strokes back was the team of Sandie Cook and Rob Yarbrough who tied with the team of Neal Stachowicz and Alex Tegenkamp for second place. Third place was won by the team of Mike Osada and late replacement John Ortiz with a net 70. The greens were awful, very bumpy and inconsistent in speed, the field had a very tough day with only 3 birdies made. The birdie shooters were Sandie Cook, Sonny Menzel and Neal Stachowicz with one each. Rare net eagles were made by Alex Tegenkamp with two, Sandie Cook and Sonny Menzel had one apiece. Debbie and Sonny handed out very generous prizes to the winners ($100.00 each player) and gift certificates to the 2nd place teams. The CP’s were won by Alex Tegenkamp (his first) and Brittany Hurst. The LD’s were both won by John Perrin (his first point counting LD’s). Nemon Williamson maintained the tournament points lead. Brittany Hurst took over the scoring average lead. In the Race for the Hall of Fame eligibility Sonny Menzel only needs 1.5 tournament points, Rob Yarbrough 5.0 points and Larry Campbell 12.5 points. There were no pyramid matches played. Kevin Peck remained in the # 1 Ranking, Mike Cook held at # 2, Debbie Menzel moved up to # 3, Sonny Menzel held at # 4 with Rob Yarbrough re-entering the rankings at # 5. The Player of the Year standings tightened up with Kevin Peck holding a small lead over Sonny Menzel, Sandie Cook, Debbie Menzel and Randy Butler.
Thursday the 18th of July was the date for the Eagle Vines Tournament starting at 12:30 pm. The weather was beautiful, temperature in the mid 80’s with a less than normal afternoon prevailing wind. Play was started on the par 5 eleventh hole, quite a few players got off to a bad start on this hole. Brittany Hurst won the first flight shooting a net 69. Vin Zabat took second place only one stroke back, tied the low gross course record and qualified for the Winners Tournament. Matt Hurst had a net 71 for third place. Ken Dorsey who had won the 2004 Valero Cup at Eagle Vines remembered how to do it and won the second flight with an excellent net 67 tying his own low net course record. Bob Boyer took second place with a net 72. Bob Simonson and Neal Stachowicz tied for third place with net 74’s. Kevin Peck won the LD on the front nine and in a rare occurrence no one was able to hit the fairway cut on the LD 18th hole. Floyd Duggins (his 15th) and Neal Stachowicz won the CP’s. Eagle Vines gave out certificates for a free round of golf to each of the CP winners. The absent Nemon Williamson maintained his points lead for the year, Brittany Hurst maintained her scoring average lead for the year. The usually fast greens at Eagle Vines were bumpy but were a little faster than they looked. The field did made 8 birdies, birdie shooters were Randy Butler, Mike Cook, Brittany Hurst, Matt Hurst, Sonny Menzel, John Perrin, Alex Tegenkamp and Vin Zabat with one apiece. Randy Butler shot a gross 38 on the back nine. In first round pyramid play it was Bob Boyer over Sonny Menzel in their rematch, Neal Stachowiucz over Steve Blotzer and Mike Cook over Sandie Cook (at Kennedy GC). In second round play it was Kevin Peck over Alex Tegenkamp by 1 stroke and Randy Butler over Mike Cook. The 1st round Matt Hurst – AJ Jones match is overdue. The rankings were changed a bit, Kevin Peck maintained the # 1 position, Debbie Menzel moved up to the # 2 spot, Mike Cook slipped to # 3, Bob Simonson moved up to # 4, Sonny Menzel slipped to the # 5 spot. Player of the Year standings changed quite a bit after pyramid play: # 1 – Kevin Peck, # 2 – Neal Stachowicz, # 3 – Matt Hurst, # 4 – Bob Boyer and Randy Butler, # 5 – Debbie Menzel.
Our sixth tournament of the year was played at Wildhorse GC starting at 09:30 am on Saturday, August 10th. Perfect weather conditions greeted us, temperature in the mid 80’s with a mild northwest wind blowing throughout the day. Ken Dorsey with his second tournament win in a row won the first flight shooting a very good net 66. Mike Cook and Matt Hurst tied for second place with net 70’s. Larry Campbell took third with a net 74. In the second flight it was go low or go home, Neal Stachowicz with his second win this year shot a excellent net 62 to capture first place. Brittany Hurst continued her good play with a net 64, good for second place. Rob Villarreal took third place with a net 66 and gained his first tournament points. He also won the LD on hole # 13 and a CP on the 12th hole (problem was, the CP hole was on the 14th hole) Bob Boyer won the other LD. Brittany and Matt Hurst won the CP’s. Matt Hurst qualified for the Winners Tournament. The par 5 fifth and thirteenth holes as usual ruined some players rounds. It was nice to see Ed Vegas who joined us after a 5 year absence from the club. Neal Stachowicz took over the tournament points lead for the year. Brittany Hurst increased her scoring average lead. The greens were in better shape this year but the field could only muster 7 birdies. Brittany Hurst led the way with 2, Larry Campbell, Sandie Cook, Ken Dorsey, Don Scribner and Neal Stachowicz had one apiece. It didn’t help that the green keepers were syringing the greens just before you played them. The par 3 fourth hole had possibly the worst temporary green ever put in service. In first round pyramid play it was Matt Hurst over AJ Jones by forfeit. In second round Pyramid play it was Neal Stachowicz over Matt Hurst and Bob Boyer over defending champion Debbie Menzel (@ Paradise Valley). In third round play it was Kevin Peck over Bob Boyer in a very close match. Low net money in the first round went to Michael Katz and Neal Stachowicz. Low net money in the second round went to Matt Hurst and Neal Stachowicz. In the Rankings; Debbie Menzel takes over the # 1 position, Kevin Peck slips to # 2, Mike Cook holds at # 3, Bob Simonson holds at # 4, Nemon Williamson moves up to the # 5 spot. Player of the Year top 10 standings; Neal Stachowicz takes over the top spot, then Kevin Peck, Matt Hurst, Randy Butler, Bob Boyer, Mike Cook, Debbie Menzel, Sonny Menzel, Sandie Cook and Bob Simonson.
The 12th “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” was held at the Napa Golf Course (Kennedy) on Wednesday (our 4th weekday tournament), September 11th starting at 9:00 am. It was a dreary gray day at the start of play and really didn’t lighten up until play on the back nine, the temperature at the end of play was mid 70’s with a fairly mild wind the entire round. The course played long from the blue tees with only one player (Bob Boyer) scoring a net par. Mike Cook (his 4th Classic win) and Don Scribner (his 2nd Classic win) tied for first place in the first flight with net 73’s. Randy Butler was second two strokes back, Kevin Peck was 3rd with a net 77. Bob Boyer won his first Classic by winning the second flight with a net 72. Sandie Cook shot a net 75 to finish second, Alex Tegenkamp took 3rd place with net 76. Randy Butler and Sandie Cook won the CP’s, Randy Butler and Matt Hurst won the LD’s. Don Scribner took the 17th and last qualifying spot for the Winners Tournament. Neal Stachowicz maintained his points lead for the year, Ken Dorsey took over the scoring average lead. The greens were slow and inconsistent in speed, only 1 birdie (Randy Butler) for the entire field @ Kennedy. Mike and Sandie Cook passed out cash prizes to the flight winners and gift cards to 2nd & 3rd place finishers. In third round pyramid play it was Randy Butler over Neal Stachowicz, Randy will now play Kevin Peck in the finals. Low net money in the third round goes to Neal Stachowicz. In the rankings the absent Debbie Menzel maintained the # 1 spot, Mike Cook with his win moved up from # 3 to # 2, Bob Boyer re-entered the rankings in # 3, Kevin Peck slipped to # 4, Nemon Williamson held at # 5. Player of the Year top 10 standings; Neal Stachowicz, Kevin Peck, Bob Boyer, Randy Butler, Mike Cook, Matt Hurst, Sandie Cook, Sonny Menzel, Bob Simonson and Alex Tegenkamp.
After 10 years we returned to the Rancho Solano GC for the playing of the “43rd” annual Winners Tournament. It was the sight of the 2001 W.T. (Dave Pearce), the 2002 W.T. (Mike Cook) and the 2003 W.T. (Kevin Peck). Play took place on Saturday, September 28th with a 09:40 am start time. The weather conditions were perfect, temperature in the mid 80’s, the afternoon prevailing wind was absent, just some high clouds and some mysterious smoke. The course was in good shape, the greens were a little slower than normal but the pin placements were pretty tough, especially the blue ones. A good turnout, fourteen of the seventeen eligible players played plus five ineligible for a total of nineteen. Sonny Menzel with a net 66 won his second Winners Tournament in the last three years and gained 9 tournament points, enough to qualify him for the Valero Golf Club “Hall of Fame”. Matt Hurst took second place with a net 67. Neal Stachowicz took 3rd place with net a 68. Floyd Duggins, not eligible also took the third place tournament points. Other under par net scores were shot by Mike Cook & Nemon Williamson (69) and Bob Simonson & Alex Tegenkamp (70). Matt Hurst and Nemon Williamson shot gross 39’s on the front nine. Going into the tournament 10 different players had a chance to win the Points Championship, Neal Stachowicz (his 1st) won the Points Championship for the year. AJ Jones and Neal Stachowicz took the CP’s. In another very competitive year 11 different players won a CP, Brittany Hurst, Matt Hurst and Neal Stachowicz led the way with 2 each for the year. The LD’s were won by Randy Butler and Vinny Zabat (his first). We had 8 different players claim a LD during the year, Matt Hurst led the way with 3 for the year. Don Scribner won the Scoring Average Championship for the year (his second). Nemon Williamson made 3 birdies for the day including back to back birdies on the first two holes, other birdie shooters were Randy Butler, Mike Cook, AJ Jones, Sonny Menzrel and Alex Tegenkamp with two each. Additional birdie shooters were Matt Hurst and Neal Stachowicz with one apiece. Randy Butler led the birdie leaders for the year with 8. Sonny Menzel with his win took over first place in the Valero Golf Rankings, Debbie Menzel slipped to the second spot, Ken Dorsey re-entered the rankings in the # 3 spot, Bob Boyer slipped down to the # 4 spot with Mike Cook moving down to the # 5 position. In the Player of the Year race it’s over, Neal Stachowicz wins his first Player of the Year title.
The 27th Valero Cup tournament was played at the first time venue of Peacock Gap G.C. on Wednesday, November 6th starting at 10:04 am. The temperature for play was in the low 70’s with a fairly strong north wind which switched to the northwest during play. The Peacock Gap greens were fuzzy and just sanded, some more than others which made green speed very difficult to judge. The bunkers contained very soft sand leading to embedded lies, the canal that winds throughout the course caught it’s share of golf balls. Play was from the blue tees. Before the Valero Cup results were announced Sonny Menzel was officially inducted into the Valero Golf Club “Hall of Fame”. In the Valero Cup at the end of the front nine Nemon Williamson and Sonny Menzel led the way with a net 35’s, Randy Butler at net 36, Matt Hurst at net 37 and Neal Stachowicz at net 38. After shooting a net 32 on the back nine Nemon Williamson won his second major of the year, his 3rd Valero Cup and 7th major championship. Randy Butler finished second, a distant 7 strokes back. For the second year in a row in the cup Sonny Menzel took 3rd place with net 75. Nemon won the $80.00 winner takes all Valero Cup prize money and bought a round of drinks for the field. The conditions were tough, only one birdie was made, Randy Butler birdied the par five 4th hole. Randy hit three of the four par 5’s in two but tough putting made it hard to score. Other top eight players included; Mike Cook, Matt Hurst, Kevin Peck and Neal Stachowicz. The field was not not filled to 8 players, 7 played. Bob Boyer, Ken Dorsey and Brittany Hurst were eligible but didn’t play. Nemon Williamson with his win took over the # 1 ranking, Debbie Menzel held at # 2, Ken Dorsey held at # 3, Sonny Menzel slipped to # 4, Bob Boyer slipped to the # 5
The 37th Pyramid Tournament finals were held at Peacock Gap G.C. during play in the Valero Cup on Wednesday, November 6th at 10:04 am. The temperature for play was in the low 70’s with a fairly strong north wind which switched to the northwest during play. The Peacock Gap greens were fuzzy and just sanded, some more than others which made green speed very difficult to judge. The bunkers contained very soft sand leading to embedded lies, the canal that winds throughout the course would catch any errant shots. Play was from the blue tees. The two players in the finals were Randy Butler and Kevin Peck. Randy had won matches over Rob Yarbrough, Mike Cook and Neal Stachowicz, Kevin had won matches over Michael Katz, Alex Tegenkamp and Bob Boyer. Randy had to give seven strokes to Kevin for the match. Both players hit very good drives on the dogleg left 404 yard first hole. Randy hit the green in two, Kevin went long right over the green, chipped on and two putted for a bogey 5. Randy two putted for an opening par 4. On the 393 yard into the wind par 4 second hole Randy hit a good drive, Kevin was a little right giving him a bad angle to the green. His next shot caught the bunker, out and two putted for a bogey 5. Randy missed the green, got on and two putted for a bogey. On the tough 170 yard uphill par three third hole Kevin hit a very good shot to the center of the green. Randy’s tee shot went long left and careened down the hill towards the second fairway. His chip shot up the hill came up short, he then got on in three and two putted for a double bogey 5. Kevin misread the green leading to a three putt bogey 4. The first big turnaround of the match took place on the 501 yard par five downwind fourth hole. Randy hit a very good drive. Kevin’s tee shot went left and into the canal hazard. After a drop he advanced his next shot towards the green but some mishits and putting led to a triple bogey 8. Randy hit his second shot on the green in two, missed his eagle putt but tapped in for a birdie four. On the 381 yard into the wind dogleg left par four fifth hole Randy hit a perfect drive, was on in two and two putted for a par 4. Kevin’s tee shot went right into the fourth fairway. Kevin attempted to get to the green but hit a tree, one shot led to another, on in four and three putted for a triple bogey 7. The match was now even going to the sixth hole. The 170 yard par three sixth hole was playing directly into the north wind, all carry over a lake. Randy’s tee shot barely made it over landing about one foot in the fringe. Kevin’s tee shot was short and into the lake. Kevin hit a beautiful shot from the drop area (over the lake again) a couple of feet from the pin. Randy chipped on and two putted for a bogey 4. Kevin just missed his bogey putt and took a 5 on the hole. The short 287 yard par four seventh hole was playing downwind. Both players hit good tee shots, Randy left and Kevin right. Both players hit the green and two putted for pars. The 472 yard par five eighth hole played directly back into the north wind. Randy’s tee shot went way right, Kevin‘s tee shot hit a tree just off the tee. It was a struggle to get to the green with both players on in four and two putting for bogey 6’s. The 348 yard ninth hole was also directly into the wind. Randy hit a fair tee shot, Kevin hit his tee shot way right and into the canal hazard. After a drop Kevin hit a blind third shot back to the fairway, on in four and two putted for a double bogey 6. Randy missed the green with his second, chipped on a two putted for a bogey 5. At the end of the first nine holes of play Randy was up by two strokes in the match. The back nine starts with a short downhill 131 yard par 3. Kevin hit the green with his tee shot and two putted for a par. Randy missed the green, got on and also two putted for a bogey 4. Kevin was one down in the match. The tough 386 yard dogleg left # 2 handicap hole was playing back into the north wind. Randy’s tee shot went left out of bounds but rolled back down into play, he then hit a nice draw shot around the corner and on the back of the green. Kevin’s tee shot went way right into the twelfth fairway, he then hit a very good shot into the very small opening just short of the green. Kevin got on and two putted for a bogey 5. Randy two putted for a very good par. The 530 yard par five twelfth hole was playing downwind. Kevin’s tee shot went way left, Randy’s went way right. Both players had to maneuver around trees etc. on their way to the green, Randy made a bogey 6, Kevin a double bogey 7 to go 3 down in the match. The 190 yard par 3 thirteenth hole played straight back into the wind. Kevin hit a shot of the day hitting the upper tier of the green. Randy’s tee shot embedded in the top lip of the front greenside bunker. After struggling to just get a stance Randy barely got it out just on top of the bunker. Randy chipped on and two putted for a double bogey 5. Kevin putted down from the upper tier past the hole and two putted from there for a bogey 4 to go 2 down in the match. The 484 yard par 5 par five fourteenth hole played downwind. Randy hit a very good tee shot, Kevin’s tee shot went left where he was stymied behind a tree. He played around the tree but had other problems on the hole which led to a double bogey 7. Randy hit his second shot on the green but then three putted for a par 5. The 356 yard par four fifteenth hole was playing downwind but did have OB left. Kevin’s tee shot went right and through the tree branches to the right side of the fairway. Randy’s tee shot went right and hit a tree bouncing way right just short of the canal hazard. He had to play out to the fairway, hit another shot, then on the green in four and two putted for a double bogey 6. Kevin hit his second shot on the green and two putted for a par 4 to go 2 down in the match again. The 148 yard par three sixteenth hole, all carry over a lake with the wind blowing right to left. Kevin’s tee shot flew into the back right side bunker. Randy’s tee shot went left over the water but short of the green. He hit a very nice chip shot close and tapped in for a par 3. Kevin got out of the bunker and two putted for a bogey 4. Kevin was now three strokes down in the match with two holes to go. On the dogleg left 320 yard par four seventeenth hole into the wind you cannot go left. Randy hit a very good tee shot to the right side of the fairway. Kevin had won all three of his previous matches by one stroke, the Golf God’s took notice of this and decided enough was enough. Kevin’s tee shot went way left, a hit tree and some water etc. led to a 8 on the hole to Randy’s 5. Randy finished the round by parring the tough 429 yard par four into the wind eighteenth hole to win the match by 7 strokes. Randy will have his name engraved on the “Tom Stead” trophy as the winner of the 37th Pyramid Tournament ($60.00), finishing second was Kevin Peck ($28.00). Low net money went to Neal Stachowicz ($20.00), Neal Stachowicz ($16.00), Neal Stachowicz ($14.00), Matt Hurst ($12.00) and Michael Katz ($10.00). After the Pyramid Tournament Nemon Williamson maintained the # 1 spot in the golf rankings, Kevin Peck moved up to # 2, Bob Boyer moved up to # 3, Ken Dorsey slipped to # 4 and Sonny Menzel slipping to the # 5 spot. Randy Butler moved up from # 13 to # 6.
The # 1 position in the Valero Golf Club Rankings was held by Kevin Peck to start the year off. Kevin maintained the # 1 spot through the Paradise Valley, Cypress Lakes, Franklin Canyon and Eagle Vines tournaments. Debbie Menzel took over after the Wildhorse tournament and held it through the Kennedy tournament. Sonny Menzel after winning the Winners Tournament reached the # 1 position, Nemon Williamson took over # 1 following the Valero Cup and the Pyramid Finals.
By finishing 1st in Tournament Points, 5th in the Scoring Average Championship for the year, and 3rd in the Pyramid Tournament, Neal Stachowicz was the Valero Golf Club’s “Player of the Year” for 2013 (his first).
2013 was the twelfth year for the Valero Golf League. Play continued at Blue Rock West on Wednesday’s. Farm League play was held on Thursday’s. The League continued to be nine hole team play starting officially at 4:30 pm every Wednesday. The League ran from mid April through September. The League consisted of 5 teams of 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as the League President. 2013 started out with the Hackers, the Rovers and the Mulligans tied for first place after week # 1. The defending champion Hackers took over in week # 2. The Rovers then took first place for the next three weeks. The Hackers came back and held the top spot for 9 weeks. In week 15 the Mulligans took first place and held it until the end of the regular season (by 1/2 point). At the end of the regular season the first place team (the Mulligans) received a bye, the second place team, the Hackers and the third place finisher the Seadlings played off on August 21st to determine who would play the top team. The Seadlings won over the Hackers 6.5 to 5.5 and advanced on to play the Mulligans August 28th. In the championship finals it was the Mulligans winning over the Seadlings 6.0 to 2.0. This gave the Mulligans their first league championship. The Mulligan team consisted of Bob Brown, Chris Hom, team captain Joe Muehlbauer, Glenn Overman, Eddie Pereira, Jim Petrellese, Paul Sierra and Margie Talbot. Mike Cook shot video of the match showing some play on the first, second, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth holes. The Seadlings finished second, the team consisted of Jason Allen, Jim Aton, Rick Carr, John Endicott, Ken Hoehn, Michael Katz, (Al Middleton), team captain Neal Stachowicz and Casey Walker. The third place team the Hackers consisted of Gary Armstrong, AJ Jones, Brad Martin, Jim Minkel, Debbie Menzel, team captain Sonny Menzel, Christine Stewart and Chris Wilburn. The Rovers finished tied for fourth place, the team consisted of Randy Butler, Steve Duff, Jeff McDermott, team captain Rick Morgan, Mike Petrellese, Chad Rollans, Jim Rollans and Nick Vollmer. Birdies-R-Us tied for fourth place, the team consisted of Andrew Estrada, Mike Evans, John Hill, James Johnson, team captain Kevin Lassahn, Mike Osada, Randy Pockrandt and Alex Tegenkamp. Year long individual honors went to Eddie Pereira with an outstanding new record low gross of 31 in the regular season. Bob Brown and Eddie Pereira tied the runner-up record of 27 for low net score in the regular season. AJ Jones tied the record for the low gross score in the playoffs with a 37. Eddie Pereira set a new runner-up record for low gross in the playoffs with a 38. Brad Martin tied the Runner-up record for the most weeks at the # 1 ranking. It was the most topsy turvy ranking year ever, Randy Butler started the year in the # 1 position and held it by himself through week # 2. Brad Martin tied Randy in week # 3 and the two players held it together until week # 6. Brad Martin held it alone from week # 6 until week # 10. Chris Wilburn took it over in week # 11 but was rejoined by Brad Martin in week # 12 and they held it together until week # 13. Michael Katz joined Brad and Chris in the top spot in week # 16. Brad came back again to claim # 1 in week # 17 and held it until the end of the playoffs. In post season tournament play; the 2 person scramble tour. was won by the teams of Neal Stachowicz-Alex Tegenkamp, Glenn Overman-Randy Pockrandt and Chris Hom-Andrew Estrada, the two person worst ball tour. was won by the team of Debbie Menzel-Sonny Menzel, the three club tour. was won by Rick Carr, the stableford plus handicap tour. was won by Rick Morgan for the second year in a row, the season finale tournament, the low net tour. was won by Christine Stewart. This was followed by awards, food and drinks provided by league president Steve Duff. The Valero Golf League had another good year.
This golf year came to a close following the Pyramid tournament. This year we continued the players sponsoring tournaments, thanks to all the sponsors. Thanks go out to Matt Hurst for doing an outstanding job as our Tournament Director in a year that made tournament scheduling very difficult due to the new refinery shift schedule. The Valero Golf League had another good year with the Mulligans finally winning their first League Championship. Thanks to Steve Duff for continuing to run the Valero Golf League as League President this year and Chris Homs who was the league statistician. As always we’re looking forward to next year.
Mike Cook