Golf Club History

Golf Club History

Benicia Refinery Golf Club History

     Golf – a game which is rich in tradition and history.

     The Benicia Refinery Golf Club was founded by Don Scribner in 1971. It was then known as the Humble Golf Club or more correctly, Humble Club Golf as it was a part of the Humble Club, the social and recreational club for the refinery at that time. As with all althletic activities at that time there was a large turnout of players. The golf tournaments would have fifty + players with five flights, both low gross and low net winners. The annual Winners Tournament was started by Don Scribner at that time. To be eligible to play in it you had to win 1st place in a tournament during the year. Blue Rock Springs G.C. was the site of the first golf tournament, April 17th, 1971 and was also the site of the first Winners Tournament, August 28th, 1971 won by Jim McDonald. Other courses used were Chimney Rock, Green Tree, Kennedy and Sonoma National.

     In 1972 Don Scribner had three tournament wins. The 1972 Winners Tournament was won by Dave Pearce at San Ramon National G.C.  In 1973 the low gross flights were dropped and low net scores used to determine winners etc. Trophies were awarded to all the winners during the first few years. In 1973 the Humble Golf Club became the Exxon Golf Club. The 1973 Winners Tournament was won by Jerry Lindquist at Silverado C.C. – south with Mike Cook second.

     There were two flights of players for the 1974 golf season. Franklin Canyon G.C. became a regular tournament site in 1974. One of the big events of the 1974 season was an April 28th tournament at Silverado C.C. which was followed by dinner and dancing for the players and their spouses. Later in the year the Winners Tournament was won by Mike Cook at Silverado C.C. – north, with Rollin Podwys second. Mike had four tournament wins that year. The Humble & Exxon Club’s provided $300.00 to $500.00 a year for prizes etc., the amount was determined by the number of tournaments and where they were played. Don Scribner was the Tournament Director from 1971 through 1974.

     In 1975 John Ortiz and Dave Pearce took over as Tournament Directors. There was only one flight in 1975 with players finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd eligible for the Winners Tournament. Closest to the Pins and Long Drives became a regular part of the golf tournaments during this time period, for sure in 1976. Prior to 1976 the tournament results are sketchy or in the case of 1974,5 almost completely missing. There are however some CP results from as early as the 1974 Winners Tournament. We played in some of the coldest conditions ever in the April 5th tournament at Chimney Rock G.C. The 1975 Winners Tournament was won by Gary Beckman, with Bob Simonson second at Boundary Oak G.C. This course became a regular tournament site in 1981. Play at Tilden G.C. started in 1975. The first post Winners Tournament golf event was held at Silverado C.C. in September, 1975, this idea eventually lead to the Exxon Cup tournament six years later.                                                                                                           

In 1976 there was again only one flight for each tournament with players finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd eligible for the Winners Tournament. The 6th Winners Tournament was won by Harland Stuart (with a record net score of 58) at Franklin Canyon G.C. over an astounded Darwin Richey who was the clubhouse leader with a net score of 61. Cash prizes were given for the one CP & LD that we had for each tournament. In 1976 the first Pyramid Tournament was played, unfortunately no record of it exists except that Rollin Podwys won over Dan Tiburcio in the finals. Mike Cook remembers losing to Jim McDonald in the first round by match play, an option at the time. Differentials from pyramid matches outside the regular tournaments were not used in the handicap system. Diablo Creek G.C. was first played in 1976 and became a regular tournament site. First time winners were Paul Del Ross, Ron Kempka, Joe Luna, Howard Nitzkowski and Harland Stuart. (except for Del Ross the other players may have won earlier, the records are missing or incomplete)

     In 1977 the Pyramid Tournament (16 players) was a double elimination tournament. John Ortiz won over Mike Cook  who had to play seven matches to win the losers bracket and reach the finals. The tournament was too long and returned to single elimination in 1979. John Ortiz had three tournament wins in 1977. In 1977 1st & 2nd place in the first & second flights were eligible for the Winners Tournament which was won by Bob Simonson at Franklin Canyon G.C. with Harland Stuart second. Indian Valley G.C. was first played in 1977 but didn’t become a regular tournament site until 1997. 8mm film shot by Mike Cook and others shows some of  the golf action at Indian Valley, Sonoma, Blue Rock Springs and Green Valley C.C. The film was spliced together with action from the PGA tour, set to music and shown at a party at Mike and Sandie Cook’s house in late 1977 or early 1978. All the Exxon club golfers were invited to come. First time winners for 1977 were Carl Bradow, Jim Spurgeon, Dan Tiburcio and Bob Young. (these players may have won earlier, the records are missing or incomplete) We received $385.00 from the Exxon Club for prize money.

                                                                                                                         There was no Pyramid Tournament in 1978. In 1978 only first and second place were awarded prizes. The CP & LD were increased to four, two on the front nine and two on the back nine with six golf balls given to each winner. The 1978 Winners Tournament was unique in that it took place over two different days at Blue Rock Springs G.C. Because some players could not play the scheduled weekend they played ahead of the tournament date. The first group of players played and posted their scores, Don Scribner leading, the second group of players played the scheduled weekend and posted their scores. The two sets of scores were compared, Clar Reyes with the lowest score was the winner with Dan Tiburcio finishing second. Clar was presented a trophy for his win. This idea for future Winners Tournaments was dropped as the two groups played under different conditions etc. Mike Cook, Joe Luna and Dan Tiburcio tied for the most Long Drives, Mike Cook and Dave Pearce tied for the most closest to the pins. First time winners were Alex Sutton, Mark Harris and with two wins Clar Reyes. Dave Pearce retired as co- Tournament Director after four years. We received $375.00 from the Exxon Club for prize money.

     In 1979 the golf season didn’t start until the middle of May because of the refinery wide turnaround in the spring. John Ortiz took over as Tournament Director by himself with Mike Cook helping out. Mike changed the Handicap System to one based on the USGA System. Also new players were given discounted handicaps to start with and had to work their way up to a normal handicap. A Points system was started with 1st place receiving 8 pts, 2nd place, 4pts, 3rd place, 2pts, long drives and closest to the pin one point each. Clar Reyes was the Points Champion. Cash prizes were given to the top five points players at the end of the year. The Pyramid Tournament (16 players) returned after a years absence with low net scores added for the winners and losers brackets. Differentials from pyramid matches outside the regular tournaments were now used in the handicap system. Clar Reyes won the Pyramid Tournament over Mike Cook. Clar tied with Jim Spurgeon in the Winners Tournament and won the playoff which was held at Blue Rock Springs G.C. Clar had four tournament wins in 1979. Tom Palilonis had five birdies for the year. The CP & LD were returned to one for each tournament. Barbara Juris became the first lady golfer who played on a regular basis with the golf club. First time winners were Scotty Coffin, Boyd Cook, Marv Smith, Tom Stead and Fred Trott. We received no money from the Exxon Club as it was having financial problems.         

     In 1980, players had to be a member of the Exxon Club to receive prizes. We received   $300.00 from the Exxon Club for prize money.  The Pyramid Tournament was expanded, we ended up with 26 players in a 32 player format, 6 byes in the first round. Tom Stead won the tournament with Ron Kempka second. After dropping the idea for a two person scramble tournament we held our first two person best-ball tournament at Blue Rock Springs. Longest Drive and Closest to the Pin were expanded to two each for each tournament again in 1980. Points were given for each CP and LD but three golf ball prizes only went to the one most diffucult CP and LD. Cash prizes were given to the top three places in the Points and Scoring average at the end of the year. Don Dean was the Points Champion. Tournament Scoring Averages were started to determine the most consistent golfer of the year. Scoring averages only counted for players that played in 1/2 or more of the regular tournaments. Boyd Cook won the Scoring Championship and the Winners Tournament at Kennedy G.C. over Scotty Coffin and Darwin Richey. Boyd was presented a trophy as the Winners Tournament champion. Mike Cook and Tom Palilonis set a record for the most long drives in a year with four apiece. First time winners were Darwin Richey, Roger Staha and with three wins Don Dean. Our secretary Linda Matthews was given flowers in appreciation for her help.

     In 1981 we started with a three flight tournament in March at Blue Rock Springs but then went 2 1/2 months before our second tournament due to the refinery wide spring turnaround. We received $300.00 from the Exxon Club for prizes. The Pyramid Tournament had it’s first 32 player field with no byes. Jim Aton won the tournament over Andy Marquez. The Exxon Cup tournament was started with eligible players coming from the top eight tournament point places at the end of the year. Tom Stead won the first Exxon Cup by one stroke over Boyd Cook at Diablo Creek G.C. Tom was presented a trophy for his win. The Winners Tournament, held at Kennedy G.C. was won by Don Dean with John Ortiz second. Don also won the Points and Scoring Championships. The Player of the Year system was started based on the finishing positions in tournament points, tournament scoring average and the pyramid tournament. Don Dean was the winner and received an individual trophy for his win, this tradition stopped in 1987 when the perpetual plaque was started. The Golf Club purchased a bullentin board which was placed on the southwest wall of the control center to post tournament information and results on. First time winners were Andy Marquez, Bob Meyer and Tom Palilonis. John Ortiz retired as Tournament Director after seven years (four with Dave Pearce).

     In 1982 Tom Palilonis took over as Tournament Director. Guidelines for flight divisions were developed. We received $300.00 from the Exxon Club for prize money. We held our first four-person scramble tournament at Blue Rock Springs G.C. Teams were made up as close as possible by handicap. The Best-Ball tournament at Kennedy G.C. was cancelled as the golf course was completely under water. We had a full 32 player field for the Pyramid Tournament for the second year in a row with Don Dean winning it over Don Scribner. The first Club Championship was held, match play, open to the eight lowest handicap players at the mid point of the golf season. Rollin Podwys became the first Club Champion winning one up over Mike Cook. The Winners Tournament, held at Diablo Creek G.C. was won by Scotty Coffin with Tom Stead second, but Scotty tied and later lost the Exxon Cup at Rancho Murieta G.C. to Tom Palilonis. (who won the playoff at Kennedy G.C.) The tournament points were expanded to include 1/2 point for a birdie and 2 points for an eagle. Taking advantage were Rollin Podwys and Don Scribner who eagled the par five 18th hole at Franklin Canyon, Cullen Stephenson jumped on the band wagon by getting an eagle on the par 5, 12th hole at Diablo Creek G.C. Mike Cook won the Points Championship and set a record for the most tournament points in one tournament, 12 points at Boundary Oak G.C. He also set a record for the most closest to the pins for one year with five. Denzil Storbeck was the Scoring Champion and Player of the Year with a record 141 Player of the Year points. Lone Tree G.C. became a regular tournament site starting in 1982. Bethel Island G.C. was first played in 1982 but didn’t become a regular tournament site until 1997. First time winners were Larry Campbell and with two wins Cullen Stephenson. Shots to remember; on the 7th hole at Lone Tree G.C. Jim Aton hit his drive, the ball hit the ladies tee marker, careened backwards hitting a tree, bounced foward hitting the men’s tee marker and then bounced back about 30 yards behind him. Needless to say the rest of his foursome was diving for cover (witness, Don Scribner).

      In 1983 because of the spring refinery wide turnaround, the golf season didn’t start until May, therefore no scramble tournament was held. We received $300.00 for prize money from the Exxon Club. We again had a 32 player field in the Pyramid won by Denzil Storbeck over Joe Luna. Joe tied the record for the most long drives in a year with four. Clar Reyes won a record third Winners Tournament at Boundary Oak G.C. with Rollin Podwys finishing second. Clar also won the Exxon Cup over Mike Cook at Rancho Murieta C.C. Mike Cook was the Points and Scoring Average Champion and won a tie breaker over Dave Pearce for Player of the Year. Tom Palilonis became our second Club Champion winning 8 & 7 over Denzil Storbeck. Mike Cook set a record for the most birdies in one tournament, 5 at Lone Tree G.C. and the most in one year, 16. First time winners were Bob Mathews, Mary Palilonis, Lloyd Stepp and Al Trujillo.

     In June, 1984 Tom Palilonis left to go back east but before leaving he set a new record for the most long drives in a year with five. (Tom was only able to play in the first 4 of 10 tournaments)  A going away ceremony was held at Tilden G.C. where Tom was presented a plaque in appreciation for his work as Tournament Director, also noted were his Club Championship and Exxon Cup wins. John Ortiz filled in as Tournament Director for the rest of the year and was the Points Champion with 4 tournament wins (tied a record). The scramble tournament returned after a years absence and was held at Chimney Rock G.C. where Mike Cook was presented a trophy as the 1983 Player of the Year.  There was a four way tie for first place at the Winners Tournament held at Franklin Canyon. Two of the players ( Darwin Richey and Roger Staha ) declined to play in the 18 hole playoff which was won by Scotty Coffin over Denzil Storbeck, his second Winners Tournament win in three years. Denzil Storbeck went on to become our third Club Champion with a 2 up win over Mike Cook. Dave Pearce won the Pyramid Tournament over Cullen Stephenson but Cullen came back to win the Exxon Cup over Mike Cook at Green Valley C.C., played on the fastest greens ever. Cullen won the Scoring Average Championship and Player of the Year. Joe Luna and Rollin Podwys tied the record for the lowest Best-Ball score. First time winners in 1984 were Sandie Cook, Harold Juris, Charles Gross and with two wins, Jim Grant. We received $300.00 from the Exxon Club for prize money. Don Larkin and Joe Luna worked as temporary Tournament Directors in setting up our tournaments for 1985 and requesting money from the Exxon Club.

     In 1985 the refinery wide turnaround ended in late March allowing the golf season to start in mid April. At the scramble tournament Mike Cook took pictures of all the available past Winners and Pyramid Tournament champions. Cullen Stephenson was presented a trophy as the 1984 Player of the Year. Cullen became our Tournament Director. He won the Points Championship and repeated as Scoring Average Champion and Player of the Year. The Club Championship was not completed and was dropped as it was too hard to get players to play their matches. The golf club had it’s first hole in one, Blayne Eversole aced the 138 yd., 17th hole at Franklin Canyon G.C. during the tournament in September. The Winners Tournament was won by Larry Campbell at Chimney Rock G.C. with a net 71, tying for second were Bob Mathews and Cullen Stephenson. Not eligible to win the tournament, Stephenie Bellato (with a 75% handicap) shot a net 62 to win the 8 first place points. Boyd Cook won the Pyramid Tournament over Ray Turner but Ray went on to win the Exxon Cup over Mike Cook at Green Valley C.C. Blayne Eversole tied the record for the most long drives in a year with five. We received $350.00 from the Exxon Club after requesting an increase to $450.00. First time winners for 1985 were Ray Turner and Ron Powers both with two wins. On August 22nd, forty year old Exxon Club golfer Tom Stead who had 6 tournament wins including the 1980 Pyramid Tournament and the 1981 Exxon Cup passed away while playing golf at Ancil Hoffman G.C. in Sacramento.

     In 1986 the scramble tournament was named the “Tom Stead Memorial Tournament” with donations collected going to the American Heart Association. We again received $350.00 from the Exxon Club for prize money. The Pyramid Tournament was not filled to 32 players, so we started a 24 player format with a three way playoff in the finals to determine the winner. Denzil Storbeck won over Howard Nitzkowski and Dave Pearce for his second Pyramid win. Denzil also won the Scoring Championship for the second time. Boyd Cook won his second Winners Tournament over the second place trio of  Larry Campbell, Sandie Cook and Denzil Storbeck. Boyd also won the Points Championship by winning the tie breaker with Cullen Stephenson. Ray Turner repeated as Exxon Cup champion at Fountaingrove C.C. and was presented a plaque as the Player of the Year.  Bruce Campbell eagled the par 5, 18th hole at Franklin Canyon G.C., along with a first place, a long drive and a birdie accumulated a near record 11.5 tournament points. Cullen Stephenson was presented a plaque for his work as Tournament Director the last two years. First time winners for 1986 were Bruce Campbell, Blayne Eversole, Bill Telepak and Jim Telepak.

     Drew Paterson took over as Tournament Director in 1987 and completely dominated the golf season. He won seven tournaments, four in a row (both records) the Winners Tournament, with Boyd Cook second and the Pyramid Tournament over John Ortiz. He also won the Tournament Points (60.5) and Scoring Championships (both records) and was the Player of the Year with a maximum of 150 points. There was no Exxon Cup played, the season ended early ( Aug. 29th ) because of the refinery wide turnaround starting in mid September. We again received $350.00 from the Exxon Club. The Tom Stead tournament was rained out in March but rescheduled and played in April. The number of players per tournament had dropped down to 14 from an average of 20+ in the previous years. The Pyramid Tournament was down to 16 players. First time winners for 1987 were Mike Rosenberg, and with 7 wins, Drew Paterson. Flowers were presented to Linda Matthews from the golf club for all the work she had done for us in the past. For many years she took the tournament signups, collected our money, did our typing, drew the Pyramid Tournament names and patiently listened to boring golf stories.

     Drew Paterson left mid year,1988, John Ortiz filled in as Tournament Director for the rest of the year. Drew came back for his Tournament Director plaque presentation at the Winners Tournament. The Pyramid Tournament again had 16 players. Don Scribner and Phil Eubanks tied for first in the Winners Tournament and the Pyramid Tournament with Phil winning the 18 hole playoff for both. Don however was the Points Champion with 4 tournament wins and was the Player of the Year. There was no Exxon Cup Tournament held. Mike Cook was the Scoring Champion. (67.71, a record) We had our first eagle two by Howard Nitzkowski at Lone Tree G.C. on the par 4, 3rd hole. Larry Campbell eagled the old par 5, 3rd hole at Green Tree. We received $350.00 for prize money from the Exxon Club. First time winners for 1988 were Ed Vegas and with three wins, Phil Eubanks.

     1989 started with no Tournament Director and none could be found. To keep things going Mike Cook set up three tournaments. The Tom Stead scramble was played at Green Tree G.C. in early March, a tournament at Kennedy in late July and the Winners Tournament at Boundary Oak in mid September. All players with full Exxon handicaps were eligible to play in the Winners Tournament. We started on the back nine and played even though the hair on your arms and back of your neck stood straight up because of lightning in the area. Play was stopped after nine holes with John Ortiz declared the winner, Mike and Sandie Cook tied for second place. The Pyramid Tournament was played using best-ball teams, 8 teams with the team of Don Scribner and Phil Eubanks winning over the team of Jim Grant and John Ortiz. The operating teams also formed two person best-ball teams to compete against each other. The winning team got nothing but bragging rights, the losing team got the skunk trophy. In play at Franklin Canyon G.C. it was the Grant, Ortiz and Campbell, Cook teams ( team 6 ) over the Bohnet, Blotzer and Eubanks, Sharp teams (team 1) in a non skunk event. Pictures document that team 2 held the skunk trophy for a long time.We requested $350.00 from the Exxon Club but because of the lack of tournaments we received only $100.00. Negotiations with the Exxon Club resulted in an additional $200.00 to cover our debit from the previous years. First time winner in 1989 was Mark Reinhart. Don Scribner who left Exxon was presented a memory book highlighting his past performances. The book included comments, kind and otherwise and was signed by all the Exxon Club golfers.

     In 1990 the refinery wide turnaround took place in late April and ran through May. There were only two tournament held, the Tom Stead scramble at Green Tree G.C. in March and the Winners Tournament at Kennedy G.C. in September. Mark Reinhart won the Winners Tournament by one stroke over John Ortiz. The Pyramid Tournament had 12 players requiring a three way playoff, John Ortiz winning over Phil Eubanks and Bob Bohnet for his second Pyramid win. We didn’t receive any money from the Exxon Club but had enough from the previous year to cover the prize money. Exxon Club golfer Don Dean who won 12 tournaments including the 1981 Winners Tournament, the 1982 Pyramid Tournament and was the 1981 Player of the Year passed away in March.

     1991 was similar to 1990, except the Tom Stead scramble was rained out in March at Green Tree G.C. The tournament was rescheduled for mid June at Green Tree taking the date we had set up for a best-ball tournament. The team of  Debbie and Sonny Menzel, Mark Reinhart and Denzil Storbeck tied the record for the lowest scramble score. The Winners Tournament was played in early August at Kennedy G.C. with Sandie Cook winning and Denzil Storbeck finishing second. We began using NCGA handicaps for the first time for the players that had them. The Pyramid Tournament had just 8 players with Mike Cook winning over Dave Pearce in the finals. We started charging golfers higher green fees for the first time to provide all the prize money. We received no funds from the Exxon Club.

     1992 started out badly as Green Tree G.C. lost our tournament date for the Tom Stead scramble. The donations for the American Heart Association came from the green fees at the Winners Tournament which was held at Kennedy G.C. in late August. Ed Vegas won the Winners Tournament by one stroke over Bob Bohnet with 16 other eligible players in the field. The Pyramid Tournament moved back up to 16 players with Mike Cook winning over Ed Vegas in the finals. Prize money again came from increased green fees.

     In 1993 Rob Yarbrough became our Tournament Director. He scheduled 7 tournaments and we had a record 30 players per tournament for the year. Because of a difference of opinion in who could play in our tournamemts, Exxon Club membership etc. we received no funds from the Exxon Club from 1993 to 2000. Rob set up a system to provide prize money and tournament deposits from the players green fees. For the first time the scramble tournament required a three shot minimum for each player. The start and finish of the rain soaked Tom Stead scramble tournament at Chimney Rock G.C. was captured on video by Rob Yarbrough. We had a field of 24 players in the Pyramid Tournament won by Ed Vegas over Rollin Podwys and Larry Campbell who tied for second place. Gary Beckman shot a 3 over par gross score and won the Winners Tournament over Rob Yarbrough by one stroke at Franklin Canyon G.C. The Exxon Cup was reestablished and won by Dan Riley at Sonoma G.C. Dan Tiburcio won the Scoring Championship. Mike Cook won the Points Championship,  Player of the Year, and tied a record with four consecutive wins. 1993 was a big year for eagles, started by Ed Vegas at the 14th hole at Delta View in July, followed by Gary Beckman on the 1st hole at Franklin Canyon but the best was by Nemon Williamson who eagled both the 1st and the 9th holes at Franklin Canyon (a record) during the Winners Tournament.(we played the back nine first at Franklin Canyon) The team of Larry Campbell and Mike Cook tied the Best-Ball low score record. Delta View and Paradise Valley G.C’s were played for the first time and became regular tournament sites. First time winners for 1993 were Rick Carr, Sheldon Custer, Sal Salinas, Gary Villeneuve, Rob Yarbrough and with two wins Dan Riley.

     In 1994 the golf season started a little late because of the refinery wide turnaround. The minimum tee shot for each player in the scramble tournament was reduced from three to two. Our contributions to the American Heart Association went over the $1000.00 mark with $1421.00. (thanks to Pete McAllister who had Exxon match our $220.00 contribution) We again had 7 tournaments and 24 players in the Pyramid Tournament. The Pyramid was won by Dan Tiburcio over Mike Cook with the same results in the Exxon Cup and the Winners Tournament (with Dave Pearce also tying for second place). Dan Tiburcio repeated as Scoring Champion. Mike Cook repeated as Points Champion and Player of the Year. Rancho Solano G.C. was played for the first time and became a regular tournament site. First time winners for 1994 were Bob Bohnet, Steve Blotzer, Richard Nitzkowski, Neal Stachowicz, Nemon Williamson, Kevin Peck with two wins and Larry Odom who broke Harland Stuart’s 18 year old record with a 15 under par (57) net score at Delta View G.C. Kevin Peck and Rollin Podwys tied the Best-Ball low scoring record. Exxon Club golfer Scotty Coffin who won 7 tournaments including the 1982 and 1984 Winners Tournaments passed away in December.

     Rob Yarbrough scheduled 11 tournaments for 1995, our most since the 1984 season. The year started with a record turnout for the “Tom Stead Memorial” tournament, 51 players. For the first time players were able to make up their own scramble teams and the minimun shot requirement was eliminated. We had our first tournament at the newly formed Blue Rock east G.C. Starting in 1995, both the  CP and LD winners received three golf balls as prizes as well as tournament points. We played Cypress Lakes G.C. for the first time and it became a regular tournament site. A Callaway flight was used in 1995,96 for players who didn’t have established handicaps yet. The Pyramid Tournament was won by Neal Stachowicz over John Ortiz and Bill Sharp in a field of 24 players. Richard Nitzkowski set a new low net score record of 17 under par (55) at Cypress Lakes G.C. on a 107 degree day in June. The Winners Tournament, held at Paradise Valley G.C. was won by Floyd Duggins with a near record low net score of 56. Jim Grant finished second with a 62. Dan Riley won his second Exxon Cup at Oakhurst C.C. Matt Hurst won the Points Championship. Nemon Williamson won the Scoring Championship and the Player of the Year. John Justus set a  record with a one over par gross score at Rancho Solano G.C. We had our first “Revenge at Kennedy” scramble tournament to finish off the golf season. First time winners for 1995 were Matt Hurst, Bill Sharp, Maynard Spurgeon and with two wins Floyd Duggins. Shots to remember; Neal Stachowicz had an eagle two on the par 4, 5th hole at Chimney Rock G.C. in May. Later in the year Steve Blotzer eagled the par 5, 18th hole at Franklin Canyon G.C.  On the 292 yard 18th hole at Lone Tree G.C. Gary Beckman hit his tee shot off to the right towards the O.B. markers. He then hit his provisional tee shot onto the green stopping about 3 inches from the cup. Larry Odom had just three putted and was still further away from the hole than Gary was. As it turns out Gary’s first ball was in play and he ended up taking a bogey 5. If he had been out of bounds he would have tapped in for a par 4, that’s golf. Larry Odom would figure out a way to not to three putt, on the par 3 second hole at Boundary Oak G.C. he missed a hole in one by a couple of inches and tapped in for his birdie. At Cypress Lakes G.C. on the par 5 fifth hole Don Scribner hit his third shot with an 8 iron and thought he had broken his iron. His ball had been sitting on the buried head of a broken off 6 iron and when Don took his shot the broken club head shot up in the air. Needless to say, Don got a big suprise. On the 9th hole at Franklin Canyon G.C., Bill Sharp hit his second shot on the par 5 hole into the lake. He then dropped a ball and hit his fourth shot left which was hooking out of bounds when it hit half way up a redwood tree and bounced back to the center of the fairway. He then hit a pitch shot on the green and made the putt for a bogey 6. He would go on to win the tournament. On the 10th hole at Paradise Valley G.C., John Justus hit his tee shot left into the hazard, about a minute later with his foursome just coming off the tee his ball came back out into the fairway and was later identified as his. (some kids playing in the ditch had thrown it back out).

     In 1996 we had 10 tournaments including Mare Island G.C. for the first time. Our contributions to the American Heart Association went over the $2000.00 mark with $2121.00. The Pyramid Tournament had a field of 32 players, the most since 1985. Rollin Podwys won the tournament ( his second ) over Dave Pearce. Ron Powers won the Winners Tournament at Franklin Canyon G.C. with Howard Nitzkowski second but Howard did go on to win the Scoring Championship. Rob Yarbrough won the rain soaked Exxon Cup tournament at Green Valley C.C. Mike Cook won the Points Championship and the Player of the Year. John Justus set an golf club record of a two under par gross score at Cypress Lakes G.C and a record 3 under par for nine holes. Much of the play at the Chimney Rock G.C. tournament in September was captured on video by Mike Cook. Shots to Remember; At Cypress Lakes G.C. John Justus hit his second shot on the par 5 first hole left under the willow tree, he then made a near impossible chip across the green to the opposite fringe and then calmly sank a long  putt for a birdie, that’s the way to start a round. On one of the toughest holes, the  dogleg right16th at Cypress Lakes during the Best-Ball tournament Larry Campbell, with his partner out of play, hit his tee shot way left, hit his second shot across the lake just right of the green and calmly chipped in for a birdie 3, net 2. What a partner ! The “I love that golf hole” award went to Rob Yarbrough at Mare Island G.C. He birdied the par 4 fourth hole the first time around on the 9 hole course and then birdied the same hole again, this time it was the par 3 thirteenth hole. At the same course Howard Nitzkowski won the “ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” award for the second year in a row, he shot a 52 on the front nine giving away all of his pyramid strokes and then turned it around with a 41 on the back nine to win his match. At the Rancho Solano tournament the “how to get off to a good start” awards went to Debbie Menzel who hit her third shot on the par 5 first hole 6 inches from the cup and tapped in for a birdie 4. The same went for Nemon Williamson who hit his second shot stiff on the par 4 third hole for a tap in birdie. Best shot of the day also went to Nemon who hit a severe downhill shot out of the rough across the lake and on the green on the tough par 4 eleventh hole. Lucky shots of the day went to Rob Yarbrough and Nemon Williamson who both hit their tee shots out of bounds on the 18th hole only to have them hit new homes under construction and bounce back in bounds. On this strange day it was reported that Rick Carr hit an uphill putt short of the hole by one inch and then watch in amazement as it fell in the hole. At Delta View G.C. on the par 3 ninth hole Matt Hurst hit his tee shot about 6 inches from the water. He couldn’t take a normal stance so he hit the ball backwards between his legs onto the green.

     Mike Cook retired from Exxon and reflected on some of the many players he’s played with in the past;

     Best Golf Swings………………………………..Tommy Thompson

                                                                     Gary Barrett

                                                                     Terrance Woram

                                                                     Cullen Stephenson

                                                                     Bryant Washburne

     Longest Accurate Driver………………………..Tom Palilonis

     Longest Iron Drivers…………………………….Tom Stead

                                                                      Gary Beckman

                                                                      Bill Telepak

                                                                      John Ortiz

     Best Recovery Shot Maker………………………Dave Pearce

     Best Up and Down near the green…………….Don Scribner

     Best Putter Under Pressure……………………..John Ortiz

     Best Iron Players………………………………….Don Dean

                                                                       Dave Pearce

                                                                       Tom Palilonis

                                                                       Cullen Stephenson

     Best Shot Maker Under Pressure……………….Gary Beckman

     Best “Best-Ball” partner………………………….Larry Campbell

     Toughest Player for me to beat in

     head to head competition……………………….Denzil Storbeck

     Best Senior Golfers……………………………….Boyd Cook

                                                                       Scotty Coffin

                                                                       Tommy Thompson

     Most Improved Game in one Year………………Ray Turner

                                                                        Drew Paterson

     This list didn’t include our newer players ( since 1993 ) but I will say that John Justus was the best all around golfer I’ve ever played with in the Exxon Golf Club. –  Mike Cook

     We again had 10 tournaments in 1997, including Indian Valley and San Ramon, courses we hadn’t played in quite a few years. Mike Cook won the Winners Tournament at Cypress Lakes G.C. with Neal Stachowicz and Nemon Williamson tying for second place. Mike repeated as Points Champion and Player of the Year. Due to El Nino, the Pyramid and the Exxon Cup finals were not played until early 1998. John Justus won the Pyramid Tournament over Phil Kruger and Nemon Williamson. Nemon went on to win the Exxon Cup Tournament at Green Valley C.C. over Sandie Cook by one stroke. Nemon also tied the record for the most long drives in one year with five. First time winners for 1997 were John Justus and with two wins Brian Cook who was also the Scoring Average Champion for the year. The Cook’s team tied the record for the lowest score at the revenge at Kennedy scramble. The scramble foursomes were caught on video before teeing off by Mike Cook. Shots to Remember; Sandie Cook missed a hole in one by one inch on the ninth hole at Green Tree G.C. In August Boyd Cook eagled the par 5, 4th hole at Paradise Valley G.C. holing out a 8 iron. Who can forget the third hole tee box at San Ramon’s Royal Vista G.C., it didn’t face the fairway !

     Eleven tournaments were scheduled for 1998, including a new course for us, Mountain Shadows-south. Blue Rock-west G.C. was played for the first time as the site of the best-ball tournament. Rob Yarbrough won the Winners Tournament at Cypress Lakes G.C. with Jim Aton and Mike Narodzonek tying for second place. In the tournament Matt Hurst eagled the par 5, 10th hole while Larry Campbell missed an eagle on the par 5, 17th hole by 4 inches. Nemon Williamson won the Exxon Cup for the second year in a row at Hiddenbrook C.C. over Mike Cook who went on to win his third (a record) Pyramid Tournament over John Ortiz. Don Scribner was the Points and Scoring Champion. Nemon Williamson was the Player of the Year. The Revenge at Kennedy tournament was rained out for the field of 40 players who had signed up. First time winners for 1998 were Doug Honsinger, Mike Narodzonek and Mike DeHart who had a near record low net score record of 16 under par at Bethel Island G.C. Matt Hurst broke Tom Palilonis’ 14 year old record for the most long drives in one year with six.

     In 1999 the refinery wide turnaround ended early enough for the golf season to start in early April. We had 9 tournaments scheduled and returned to Mountain Shadows but this time played the north course for our best-ball tournament. The first tournament, the “Tom Stead” scramble was played in very cold conditions with some snow flakes seen falling. Our contributions to the American Heart Association went over the $3000.00 mark with $3401.00. Dave Pearce won his second Winners Tournament at Sonoma G.C. with Steve Blotzer finishing second. Sandie Cook won the Pyramid Tournament over John Ortiz and John Justus. Mike Cook won the Exxon Cup at Hiddenbrook C.C. in mid December. Denzil Storbeck was the Points and Scoring Champion (his third, a record). Marv Smith was the Player of the Year. First time winners for 1999 were Sonny Menzel and Mike Osada. We returned to using only tournament and pyramid scores for our handicap system. NCGA handicaps could only used for players with less than 10 differentials. The team of Mike Osada and Denzil Storbeck tied the low score record in the Best-Ball tournament. The team of Ken Dorsey, Jake Finnegan, Rod Robinson and Nemon Williamson set a new record for low score in the revenge at Kennedy scramble tournament. Exxon Club golfer Boyd Cook who won 22 tournaments including the 1980 and 1986 Winners Tournaments and the 1985 Pyramid Tournament passed away in August.

     Eight tournaments were scheduled for the year 2000, a year in which we made the tranisition from the Exxon Golf Club to the Valero Golf Club. The third tournament of the year was our first Valero Golf Club tournament and our first Club Championship in 15 years. The format was changed from match play to a modified stableford points plus handicap tournament. Dan Riley won the tournament held at Rancho Solano G.C. The scheduled Mare Island tournament in June had to be cancelled due to a conflict with Valero’s family day at Marine World. Dan Riley and Mike Cook tied for first in the Winners Tournament and after two playoffs Dan prevailed and won. Dan won the Points and Scoring Championships and Player of the Year. Debbie Menzel won the first Valero Cup tournament held at Canyon Lakes C.C. Rick Carr won over Kevin Peck and Nemon Williamson to capture the Pyramid Tournament for 2000. First time winner for 2000 was Debbie Menzel with three wins. The Valero Golf Club “Hall of Fame” had it’s first four players inducted, Mike Cook in 1992, Boyd Cook (posthumously) in 1997, Denzil Storbeck in 1999 and Dave Pearce in 1999. Canyon Lakes golf course was played for the first time. In 2000 Chimney Rock G.C. was closed with the land being converted to grape vineyards. Boyd Cook was the king at Chimney Rock, having won there seven times.

     Nine tournaments were scheduled for the 2001 golf season. The Valero Employees Club was kind enough to provide us with $630.00 for prizes etc. We started out in a hail storm for the 16th annual Tom Stead scramble. Our contributions to the American Heart Association went over the $4000.00 mark with $4271.00. In one of the most competitive years ever we had many close finishes starting with the Club Championship. Sonny Menzel and Bob Simonson tied for the Championship with Sonny winning by a tie breaker over Bob. Bob also tied Dave Pearce for first place in the Winners Tournament. After an 18 hole playoff  Bob lost to Dave on the last hole by one stroke. Dave won his record tying third Winners Tournament. Bob Simonson in one of his best years ever with the golf club had 3 tournament wins and tied Nemon Williamson for the birdies lead. Nemon won the most long drives, the most closest to the pins and the Points Championship for the year. Debbie Menzel and Rick Carr tied for the Scoring Average Championship with Debbie winning it on the third tie breaker. Matt Hurst won the Valero Cup, the Pyramid Tournament over Debbie Menzel and “Player of the Year” over Mike Cook all on the same day at Canyon Lakes C.C. Matt with 20 career long drives moved past Tom Palilonis into second place all time. Dave Pearce teamed with a red hot Jim Spurgeon (net 59 on his own ball) to win the Best-Ball tournament with a record 13 under par performance. The record had stood for 21 years with six teams tied at 12 under par. The team of Bob Boyer, Rick Carr, Matt Hurst and Kevin Peck and the team of Ken Dorsey, Jake Finnegan, Rod Robinson and Nemon Williamson tied the record low Tom Stead scramble score. Wild Horse and Rio Vista golf courses were played for the first time as was the new 18 hole Mare Island G.C. 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. Rob Yarbrough retired as Tournament Director after a record nine great years on the job

     2002 was a year of firsts for the Valero Golf Club, we held our first weekday tournaments and some of our tournaments were sponsored by the players themselves. Debbie Menzel became our new Tournament Director and scheduled a record 12 tournaments for the year. The year started out slow because of the end of the refinery turnaround and bad weather we had only 23 players signed up for the “Tom Stead” scramble in late March. It rained so hard the night before, the tournament was cancelled but 17 die hard golfers played anyway interrupted by some large thunder showers. The Menzel Classic best-ball tournament at Tilden G.C. was sponsored by Debbie and Sonny Menzel who provided the prizes for the winners and tee prizes for all the players. This was also the first time a tournament was not completed because of darkness, play was called off after 16 holes. Our first weekday Tournament ever was held at Diablo Creek G.C. on Friday, April 26th at 1 pm. The winner of the Club Championship held at Paradise Valley G.C. was determined on the 18th hole. Rob Yarbrough after making some great pars into the wind on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes came to the 18th tee with 43 points but took a triple bogey 7 and lost 2 points. Darwin Richey came to the 18th hole with 41 points, made a 2 point par on the hole for a total of 43 points and won his first major championship. Franklin Canyon was the site of our first ever Thursday tournament. It was sponsored by Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough and was therefore called the “Greater Peckbrough Open”. Kevin and Rob provided the prize money and had plaques made for the flight winners. The Bethel Island tournament was sponsored by Rick Carr and Matt Hurst and was known as the “Matt Hurst Shootout featuring Rick Carr”. Tee prizes included some home brewed ale. Three more weekday tournaments were held at Blue Rock Springs – East, Cypress Lakes and Kennedy. The Kennedy tournament sponsored by Mike And Sandie Cook was the “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic”. Due to clubhouse remodeling and the pro shop relocation the nines at Kennedy were permanently reversed. Play started on the old 10th hole. Twenty-three players qualified for the Winners Tournament with eighteen different players claiming a first place during the year. Mike Cook won his third Winners Tournament (ties a record) with Nemon Williamson second and Mike Katz and Mike Osada tying for third place. Mike Osada set a new low Scoring Average record for the year of 67.60. First time winners were Mike Katz and Rick Simonson (2)  Matt Hurst won his second straight Valero Cup, (ties a record) at the first time venue of Chardonnay – Vineyards G.C. Mike Cook was the Player of the Year for 2002. The Pyramid Tournament was not completed until 2003 when it was Rob Yarbrough over Mike Cook in the finals. During the golf year Mike Cook, Boyd Cook, Dave Pearce and Denzil Storbeck were presented their Hall of Fame certificates. Due to a generous contribution from the Valero Employees Club of  $2293.00, scheduling some weekday tournaments and players sponsoring some tournaments the green fees for the year were set at a reduced $45.00 per tournament (including a cart) The scramble tournaments had slightly higher green fees.

     2002 was the first year for the Valero Golf League, nine hole team play starting at 4:30 pm every Thursday afternoon at Kennedy G.C. in Napa. The League was started by Neal Stachowicz and ran from April through October with four teams of  four to six players competing against each other in a combination of medal and match play. Each week two players from one team would play two players from another team according to a regular schedule. Every four weeks was position week requiring four players from each team to play, the first place team against the second place team, the third against the fourth. At the end of the regular season the first place team (the Rovers) received a bye, the second place team (the Seadlings ) and third place team (the Hackers Unlimited) played off on Sept. 5th to determine who would play the top team. The Hackers Unlimited won. The Championship match this year held on Sept. 12th ended in a tie requiring a tie breaker to determine the first Valero Golf League Championship Team. The first place Rovers Team won, the team members were Mike and Sandie Cook, Mike DeHart, Karl Fails, Ken Marden and team captain Dave Pearce. The second place team was the Hackers Unlimited consisting of  team captain Sheldon Custer, Willie Grinslade, Debbie and Sonny Menzel and Rob Yarbrough. The third place team was the Seadlings consisting of Tony Alilin, Mike Katz, Dan Kilkenny, Paul Masta, Al Middleton and team captain Neal Stachowicz. Finishing in last place after waiting too long to make their championship run was Team Albatross which included Bob Boyer, Rick Carr, John Hill, Captain Matt Hurst and Glen Overman.

      2003 was another full year of golf with 12 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. The year started out at Green Tree G.C. with a record setting performance in the Tom Stead scramble. The team of Bob Boyer, Matt Hurst, Fred Longoria and Kevin Peck shot an 8 under par 63. Green Tree G.C. reversed their routing and the nines, the routing is now back to the way it was for years except the nines are now reversed. Another record was shattered at the Menzel Classic best-ball tournament at Wildhorse G.C. Debbie and Sonny Menzel set a new best-ball record of 22 under par besting the previous record by 9 strokes. This was our first three flight tournament in 4 years. AJ Jones and Rod Robinson had their first tournament wins. Other player sponsored tournaments included Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Paradise Valley, Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough’s “Greater Peckbrough Open” at Chardonnay-vineyards and Rick Carr and Matt Hurst’s “Matt Hurst Shootout featuring Rick Carr” at Brentwood. This tournament also had a charity raffle which raised $1000.00 matched by Valero for a total of $2000.00 which went to the Solano County Foster Parents Association. As part of the shootout festivities a junior shootout was held at Scandia the night before for children 9 and under and 10 to 12 years old. Our first ever Wednesday tournament was held at Lone Tree G.C. in July. With the building of a new clubhouse Lone Tree’s nines have been reversed. The Club Championship was held at Franklin Canyon G.C. with Rob Yarbrough winning thus giving him his career grand slam in the majors. Twenty one players qualified for the Winners Tournament which was held for the third year in a row at Rancho Solano G.C. Kevin Peck won giving him his first major championship. We had 21 different players win first place in a tournament ( a new record, 19 in 1984 ). Three players, Matt Hurst, Dave Pearce and Neal Stachowicz tied for first place in the Valero Cup which was held at the first time venue of Shadow Lakes G.C. The playoff was held at Rancho Solano G.C. with Matt Hurst winning his third straight Valero Cup ( sets a record ). Matt also overtook Mike Cook for the most career Long Drives. The Pyramid Tournament was won by Larry Campbell giving him his second major championship. Rob Yarbrough after winning the Points and Scoring Average Championships and runner-up in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2003. Mike Cook won a tournament for the 8th consecutive year breaking his tie of  7 years with Don Dean. Mike also broke two low gross course records at Bethel Island and Chardonnay-vineyards golf courses. Low net course records were set by Sonny Menzel at Wildhorse and Rob Yarbrough at Chardonnay-vineyards. The eagle drought ended, the club had it’s first eagles in five years, John Ortiz had an eagle 3 on the par 5 fifteenth hole at Wildhorse and Rob Yarbrough had an eagle 2 on the par 4 sixth hole at Chadronnay-vineyards. John Ortiz was inducted into the Valero Golf Club’s “Hall of Fame” early in the year. Don Scribner who founded the golf club and was it’s first tournament director became the first honorary member to be inducted into the “Hall of Fame”. Green fees for the year were held at $45.00 thanks to another generous contribution of $3653.80 from the Valero Employees Club. New players this year included Mark Anderson, Kimo Fujinaka, Pete Gonzales, Willie Grinslade, Sue Gustofson, Dan Kilkenny, Frank Lewin, Mitch Miller, Jim Minkel, Tom Rogers and Joe Upton.

     2004 was an abbreviated season of golf with 9 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. The season ended early because of the refinery wide turnaround scheduled for October. The year started out at Green Tree G.C. with a record tying performance in the Tom Stead scramble. The team of  Ken Dorsey, Jake Finnegan, Rod Robinson and Nemon Williamson shot an 8 under par 63. The tournament raised $400.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name over the five thousand mark to $5181.00. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at Foxtail-North, Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Paradise Valley, Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough’s “Greater Peckbrough Open” at Franklin Canyon (with $450.00 in prize money) and Rick Carr and Matt Hurst’s “Matt Hurst Shootout featuring Rick Carr” at Hiddenbrooke. The shootout tournament also had a charity raffle which raised $750.00 which went to the “Foster a Dream” charity. The Club Championship was held at Shadow Lakes G.C. with Ken Dorsey winning his first tournament and his first major. He broke the low net course record by 4 strokes. Frank Lewin also got his first tournament win. Nineteen players qualified for the Winners Tournament which was held for the first time at Wildhorse G.C. Matt Hurst after tying the low gross course record won his fifth career major and his first Winners Tournament title. Ken Dorsey won his second major of the year in the Valero Cup which was held at the first time venue of Eagle Vines G.C. The 16 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Rob Yarbrough giving him his second Pyramid win in the last three years. Debbie Menzel after winning the Points and Scoring Average Championships and runner-up in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2004. The club had 3 three flight tournaments in a row, the most since the early days of the golf club in the 1970’s. The golf club averaged 28 players per tournament, our highest average since the record 30 in 1993. Sandie Cook and Nemon Williamson both went over the 250 career points total and each needs one more major to qualify for the Hall of Fame. The eagle drought which ended last year was back on again with no eagles for the year. Don Scribner lipped out for an eagle on the 18th hole at Franklin Canyon. Green fees for the year were raised to $50.00 but are still low thanks to the additional Valero Employees Club’s generous contribution of $1700.00.  New players this year included Joe Bateman, Al Cano, Jerry Crumrine, Ken Gibson, Chris Kelly, John Robnett and Marge Talbot. 

     Sue Gustofson became the new president of the Valero Golf League when Neal Stachowicz retired, Neal did stay on as the league’s statistician. The League was again held at Kennedy G.C. on Thursdays starting officially at a later 4:45 starting time.(most play started at 4:34). The Rovers consisting of Mike and Sandie Cook, new captain Mike DeHart, Steve Duff, Karl Fails, Dave Pearce and Bob Simonson won the league championship for the second time in the last three years. The Seadling’s Dan Kilkenny retired. The league raised $250.00 for the “Foster a Dream” charity through the sale of  Kennedy golf course’s Cabernet Cards.

     2005 was our 35th season of golf with 10 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. The year started out at Green Tree G.C. with a record setting performance in the Tom Stead scramble. The team of  Jake Finnegan, Dave Frank, Ed Vegas and Nemon Williamson shot an 9 under par 62. The tournament raised $400.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $5581.00. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at Mare Island, Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough’s “Greater PeckBrough Open” at Franklin Canyon, Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Rancho Solano and Rick Carr and Matt Hurst’s “Matt Hurst Shootout featuring Rick Carr” at Rio Vista. The Club Championship was held for the first time at Roddy Ranch G.C. with Larry Campbell winning his fifteenth tournament and his third major. Twenty-two players qualified for the Winners Tournament which was held for the first time at Indian Valley G.C. Debbie Menzel won her second career major and her first Winners Tournament title. The 16 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Dave Pearce giving him his second Pyramid win and his 5th major champuonship Dave also won his second major of the year in the Valero Cup which was held for the second year in a row at Eagle Vines G.C. Dave after finishing 6th in Tournament Points, 9th in the Scoring Average Championship and winning the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2005. Player Rankings were established this year, they are based on the system used by the PGA and other World Tours. Rick Simonson and Rob Yarbrough each held the # 1 ranking for three tournaments. Dave Pearce ended the year as the # 1 ranked golfer.  The club had 3 three flight tournaments again this year, the most since the early days of the golf club in the 1970’s. The minimun number of players for a three flight tournament was reduced from 28 to 24. The golf club averaged 26 players per tournament. Chris Kelly with two and Mitch Miller both had their first tournament wins. Chris went on to win the Scoring Average Championship for the tear. Mike Cook won the Points Championship for the 8th time. Mike also broke the low gross course record by 2 strokes at Mare Island, Sonny Menzel broke the low net course record by 4 strokes at Mare Island. Sheldon Custer broke the low net course record by 2 strokes at Rio Vista. The eagle drought continued with no eagles for the year. Green fees for the year were held at $50.00 and are still low thanks to player sponsored tournaments and the Valero Employees Club’s generous carryover from the year before. A new player this year was Alex Tegenkamp. 

     Sue Gustofson continued as the president of the Valero Golf League with Neal Stachowicz as the league’s statistician. The League moved from Kennedy G.C. in Napa to Blue Rock Springs-east in Vallejo. Play was still held on Thursdays starting at 4:30 pm. A sixth team, the Hookers was added to the league. Rankings for individual players were added this year. John Endicott held the # 1 ranking for 7 weeks. Kevin Peck was the # 1 ranked golfer at the end of the year.  The Seadlings won their first league championship, the team consisting of  Steve Blotzer, John Endicott, Michael Katz, Tom Klemish, Al Middleton, captain Neal Stachowicz and Gene Stangel.

     2006 was our 36th season of golf with 12 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. The year started out at Green Tree G.C. after a record setting winter for rainfall, the course was extremely wet and the weather cold but 36 hardy souls showed up and played. The tournament raised $460.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $6041.00. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at the first time venue of Rooster Run, Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough’s “Greater PeckBrough Open” at Franklin Canyon, Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Mare Island and Matt Hurst’s “Matt Hurst Shootout” at Chardonnay. The Club Championship was held at the first time venue of Deer Ridge G.C. with Jerry Crumrine winning his first major tournament. Twenty-three players qualified for the Winners Tournament which was held for the first time at Shadow Lakes G.C. Chris Kelly won his first career major. The 24 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Dave Pearce giving him his second Pyramid win in a row and his 7th major champuonship Chris Kelly won his second major of the year in the Valero Cup which was held for the first time at Windsor GC. Sandie Cook after finishing 6th in Tournament Points, 3rd in the Scoring Average Championship and 4th in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2006. The club had 2 three flight tournaments this year. The golf club averaged 24 players per tournament. Jerry Crumrine had his first tournament wins (2). Michael Katz won the Scoring Average Championship for the year. Sonny Menzel won the Points Championship for the first time. Denzil Storbeck set new records as he held the # 1 ranking for 5 consecutive tournaments. Chris Kelly with his 2 major tournament wins finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. We had 22 different players with a second place finish (ties the record from 1984) Mike Cook broke the low gross course record by one stroke at Wildhorse, Nemon Williamson broke the low gross course record by 2 strokes at Bethel Island. Debbie Menzel broke the low net course record by 5 strokes at Chardonnay. The eagle drought was broken by Ed Vegas at Wildhorse and with it he tied Nemon Williamson for most career eagles. Green fees for the year were held at $50.00 and are still low thanks to player sponsored tournaments and the additional Valero Employees Club’s generous contribution of $3750.00. New players this year were Bob Brown, Glen Campbell, Todd Lopez and Trent Van Nieuwburg. Former club golfer Jim Murphy passed away in September, not too serious about his game Jim was out for fun and laughs. “Murph” had a great laugh, was a good guy and will be missed.     

     Sue Gustofson continued as the president of the Valero Golf League with Sheldon Custer taking over as the league’s statistician. Play was still held at Blue Rock Springs – east on Thursdays starting at 4:30 pm. Will Grinslade held or shared the # 1 ranking for 15 consecutive weeks (a record). The Seadlings repeated as league champions, the team consisted of  John Endicott, Michael Katz, Tom Kelly, Al Middleton, captain Neal Stachowicz, Gene Stangel and Casey Walker.  

           2007 was our 37th season of golf with 9 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. The year started out late, April 28th at Green Tree G.C. because of the Refinery Turnaround and Major Project work. The tournament raised $310.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $6351.00. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at Deer Ridge, Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Cypress Lakes and Matt Hurst’s “Matt Hurst Shootout” at Rancho Solano. There was no Greater PeckBrough Open this year, Rob Yarbrough contributed an additional cash prize for the Winners Tournament.  The Club Championship was held at Rio Vista G.C. with Sonny Menzel winning his second major tournament, Sandie Cook was second. Twenty-three players qualified for the Winners Tournament which was held for the second consecutive time at Shadow Lakes G.C. Nemon Williamson won his third career major which qualified him for the Valero Golf Club “Hall of Fame”. The 24 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Neal Stachowicz giving him his second Pyramid Tournament win. Steve Blotzer won his first career major in the Valero Cup which was held for the fifth time at Green Valley CC, he also broke the low net course record by 3 strokes in doing so. Nemon Williamson after finishing 1st in Tournament Points, 3rd in the Scoring Average Championship and 5th in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2007. The club had 3 three flight tournaments this year. The golf club averaged 22 players per tournament. Glenn Campbell and Steve Page both had their first tournament wins (2 apiece). Bob Bohnet and AJ Jones tied in the Scoring Average Championship for the year, Bob winning it using the tie breaker. Nemon Williamson won the Points Championship for the second time. Chris Kelly and Michael Katz  held the # 1 ranking for most of the season. Bob Simonson finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Don Scribner broke the low gross course record by 4 strokes at Deer Ridge GC. Nemon Williamson broke the low gross course record by 4 strokes at Shadow Lakes. Steve Blotzer broke the low net course record by 2 strokes at Deer Ridge GC  The “Revenge at Kennedy Scramble Tournament” was cancelled due to a refinery turnaround.The eagle drought was on again. Paradise Valley Golf Course changes that were made for the better, removal of the large oak tree in front of the # 4 tee, moving the lake back on the 10th hole tee shot and adding two fairway bunkers, adding an unneeded bunker in the 18th fairway was questionable but removing the 18th hole greenside bunkers was a good move. Most players hit a long second shot there and this allows you to run a shot unto the green. Green fees for the year were held at $50.00 and were still low thanks to player sponsored tournaments and the additional Valero Employees Club’s generous contribution of $????.00. Debbie Menzel continued as our tournament director.               

     Sue Gustofson continued as the president of the Valero Golf League with Jim Rollans taking over as the league’s statistician. Play was still held at Blue Rock Springs – east on Thursdays starting at 4:30 pm. New this year, a farm league was formed that played on Wednesday’s, this was for players hoping to get into regular league play. Jim Rollans held the # 1 ranking for 11 consecutive weeks and 12 weeks overall and achieved a perfect ranking of 10. Birdies-R-Us won their first league championship in a route over Team Albatross. Birdies-R-Us consisted of  Glenn Campbell (captain), Susan Cortez, Andrew Estrada, Sue Gustofson, Gary Jeffcoats, JD Johnson and Todd Lopez.
 
       2008 was our 38th season of golf with 8 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. The year started out in late April again at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the 23rd Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $360.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $6711.00. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at Rancho Solano, Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Shadow Lakes,  Matt Hurst’s “Matt Hurst Shootout” at Paradise Valley and returning after a years absence the Greater PeckBrough Open at Franklin Canyon. The Club Championship was held at Eagle Vines G.C. with Jerry Crumrine winning his second CC. Twenty players qualified for the Winners Tournament which was held at Foxtail – North G.C. Debbie Menzel won her second WT with a net 62 and an eagle two on the par 4 tenth hole. Dave Pearce finished second after shooting a gross 74, a new course record and a new low gross winning score in the Winners Tournament. The 20 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Nemon Williamson giving him his first Pyramid Tournament win. The round was highlighted by Nemon’s eagle two on the par 4 second hole at Paradise Valley GC. Mike Cook won his eight major in the Valero Cup which was held at Wildhorse GC, it was his second Valero Cup win. Debbie Menzel after finishing 1st in Tournament Points, 8th in the Scoring Average Championship and 2nd in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2008. The club had only one three flight tournaments this year. The golf club averaged 24 players per tournament. Bob Boyer had his first tournament win. New players this year were Randy Butler ansd Brittany Hurst. AJ Jones after tying for the Scoring Average Championship last year won it outright this year. Debbie Menzel won the Points Championship for the second time. Bob Simonson, Jerry Crumrine, Neal Stachowicz and Kevin Peck  held the # 1 ranking for most of the season. Debbie Menzel finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Dave Pearce tied the low gross course record of 76  at Shadow Lakes GC. and won his 40th career tournament. Mike Cook and Nemon Williamson broke the low gross record by one stroke at Deer Ridge GC. Debbie Menzel set a new record of 9 consecutive years with at least one Tournament win. The “Revenge at Kennedy Scramble Tournament” was not held. A Paradise Valley Golf Course change that was made for the better, removal of the large oak tree in front of the 10th hole green. The eagle drought was short lived, Debbie Menzel with her eagle two at Foxtail – North. Green fees for the year were raised to $60.00 but were still low thanks to player sponsored tournaments.We did not receive any additional funds from the Valero Employees Club’s. Debbie Menzel continued as our Tournament Director.               

     Bob Boyer took over as the president of the Valero Golf League with Jim Rollans continuing as the league’s statistician. Play was still held at Blue Rock Springs – east on Thursdays starting at 4:30 pm. A major change took place as the men moved up from the blue tees to the whites, ladies from the gold tees to the reds, this led to much lower scoring in the League this year. Glenn Campbell held the # 1 ranking for 8 consecutive weeks and was the second player to achieve a perfect ranking of 10. Sue Gustofson and Jim Rollans also held the # 1 ranking during the season. The Rovers returned to glory by winning their third league championship. The Rovers consisted of  Mike DeHart (captain), Steve Duff, Rick Morgan, Jim Petrellese, Jim Rollans, Margie Talbot and Karen Webster.     

      2009 was our 39th season of golf with 8 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. Matt Hurst became our new Tournament Director. The year started out in late April again at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the 24th Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $200.00, the players contributed an additional $185.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to over $7000.00 ($7096.00. At the tournament Mike Cook showed a video of  Tom Stead playing Green Tree GC in 1984. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at Wildhorse, Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Paradise Valley,  Matt Hurst’s “Matt Hurst Shootout” at Tilden. There was no Greater PeckBrough Open this year. The Club Championship was held at Rooster Run G.C. with Michael Katz winning his first major. Randy Butler was second by one point. Twenty one players qualified for the Winners Tournament which was held at Roddy Ranch G.C. Bob Simonson won his second Winners Tournament 22 years after winning his first. The 24 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Steve Blotzer at Eagle Vines giving him his first Pyramid Tournament win. Glenn Campbell won his first Valero Cup which was held at Yocha-De-He GC. Glenn Campbell after finishing 7th in Tournament Points, 1st in the Scoring Average Championship and 4th in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2009. He won it over Michael Katz by one point. The club had two three flight tournaments this year. The golf club averaged 22 players per tournament. Britanny Hurst had her first tournament win. Glenn Campbell and Michael Katz both had their first major tournament win. Glenn Campbell won the Scoring Average Championship this year. Sonny Menzel won the Points Championship for the second time. Debbie Menzel, Jerry Crumrine, AJ Jones and Glenn Campbell held the # 1 ranking for most of the season. Michael Katz finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Nemon Williamson broke Mike Cook’s low gross course record with a 76  at Wildhorse GC. Randy Butler broke Mike Cook and Nemon Williamson’s low gross record at Rooster Run GC shooting a 78. Brittany Hurst set a new low net course record at Wildhorse and tied Richard Nitzkowski’s 1995 club record for the all time low net score. Nemon Williamson tied Debbie Menzel’s record of 9 consecutive years with at least one Tournament win. The eagle drought was on again. Green fees for the year were held at $60.00 and were still low thanks to player sponsored tournaments and the additional Valero Employees Club’s generous contribution of $1500.00. Brittany Hurst won the Barbara Juris Award as the best lady golfer of the year. Barbara Juris was the first lady golfer to play with the club on a regular basis. The award was named in her memory. Sandie Cook and Debbie Menzel were also given the award for the years in which they had won it in the past. Matt Hurst after the Tilden Tournament passed the 250 tournament points plateau and was inducted into the Valero Golf Club “Hall of Fame”. Debbie Menzel was presented a plaque from the club in appreciation for her 7 years as the club’s Tournament Director. We lost three former players in 2009. Sal Salinas, winner of the 1993 Paradise Valley tournament passed away. Jay Jordan, who won the 1972 & 1973 Chimney Rock tournaments and was the subject of a couple of writeups in the Club’s Golf Stories passed away in February. Clarence Reyes who won 14 tournaments from 1978 – 1985 including three Winners Tournaments, one Exxon Cup and one Pyramid Tournament passed away in September.               

     Bob Boyer continued as the president of the Valero Golf League with Jim Rollans continuing as the league’s statistician. Play was still held at Blue Rock Springs – east on Thursdays starting at 4:30 pm. Play this year was from the white and red tees. Andrew Estrada, JD Johnson, Michael Katz held the # 1 ranking for most of the year, Will Grinslade and Trent VanNieuwburg finished the year tied at # 1. The Hackers Unlimited won their first league championship. The Hackers consisted of  Will Grinslade, AJ Jones, Brad Martin, Debbie Menzel, Sonny Menzel (captain), Trent VanNieuwburg and Dave Watson.     

      2010 was our 40th season of golf with 8 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. Matt Hurst continued as our Tournament Director. The year started out in late April again at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the silver anniversary 25th Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $240.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $7336.00. At the tournament Mike Cook showed a video of Tom Stead playing Green Tree GC in 1984. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at Rancho Solano and Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Paradise Valley. There was no Greater PeckBrough Open or Matt Hurst Shootout this year. The Club Championship was held at Franklin Canyon G.C. with Randy Butler winning his first major after shooting a gross 76. Randy was second by one point in last years CC. Eighteen players qualified for the 40th Winners Tournament which was held at Mare Island G.C. Jerry Crumrine won his first Winners Tournament. The 24 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Kevin Peck at Paradise Valley GC giving him his first Pyramid Tournament win. Jerry Crumrine won his first Valero Cup which was held again at Yocha-De-He GC and his second major of the year. Michael Katz after finishing 6th in Tournament Points, 7th in the Scoring Average Championship and 3rd in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2010. He had lost it by one point last year. The club did not have any three flight tournaments this year. The golf club averaged 18 players per tournament. Brittany Hurst won the Scoring Average Championship for the year. Floyd Duggins won the Points Championship for the first time. Michael Katz and Glenn Campbell held the # 1 ranking for most of the season. Kevin Peck finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Glenn Campbell broke the records for the most tournaments and consecutive tournaments at the # 1 ranking. Michael Katz set a new record for the highest average ranking points. Gary Beckman broke Mike Cook’s low gross course record with a 79  at Mare Island GC. Randy Butler broke Larry Campbell, Michael Katz and Don Scribner’s low gross record at Yocha-De-He GC shooting a 84. Neal Stachowicz broke Bob Simonson’s low net course record at Rooster Run by one stroke. The eagle drought was ended again with Nemon Williamson’s 175 yard hole out on the par 4 eighteenth hole at Paradise Valley. Green fees for the year were held at $60.00 and were still low thanks to the player sponsored tournaments, we received no additional funds from the Valero Employees Club. Brittany Hurst won the Barbara Juris Award for the second year in a row as the best lady golfer of the year.

     Steve Duff took over as the president of the Valero Golf League with Jim Rollans continuing as the league’s statistician. The venue was changed from Blue Rock Springs – east on Thursday’s starting at 4:30 pm. to Blue Rock Springs – west on Wednesday’s starting at 4:30 pm. Play this year continued from the white and red tees. Glenn Overman, Jim Rollans, Casey Walker and Matt Hurst held the # 1 ranking for most of the year, Michael Katz finished the year at # 1. Glenn Campbell recorded the first “hole in one” in league history. The Seadlings won their third league championship in a tie breaker over the Rovers. The Seadlings consisted of  (Rick Carr), Hugh Connell, John Endicott, Michael Katz, Al Middleton, Neal Stachowicz (captain), Gene Stangel and Casey Walker.

     2011 was our 41st season of golf with 9 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. Matt Hurst, even with some health issues continued as our Tournament Director. Because of the refinery turnaround the year started out in early May at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the 26th Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $200.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $7536.00. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s two person best-ball tournament at Rancho Solano and Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Kennedy GC. The Club Championship was held at Foxtail – South G.C. with Mike Cook winning his first CC in a tie breaker over Nemon Williamson and Brittany Hurst. This win gave Mike his career grand slam (the Yarbie Slam). Nemon Williamson won the low gross CC. Nineteen players qualified for the 41st Winners Tournament which was held at Boundary Oak G.C. Sonny Menzel won his first Winners Tournament. The 24 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Nemon Williamson at Paradise Valley GC giving him his second Pyramid Tournament Mike Cook lost in the finals for the second year in a row. Matt Hurst won his fourth Valero Cup which was held at Eagle Vines GC. Mike Cook after finishing 1st in Tournament Points, 3rd in the Scoring Average Championship and 2nd in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2011. He won a tie breaker over Nemon Williamson for the title. The club again did not have any three flight tournaments this year. The golf club averaged 17 players per tournament. Nemon Williamson won the Scoring Average Championship for the year. Mike Cook won the Points Championship for the ninth time. Sandie Cook and Debbie Menzel both won the Barbara Juris Award as the best lady golfers of the year. Kevin Peck, Jerry Crumrine and Mike Cook held the # 1 ranking for most of the season. Nemon Williamson finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Mike Cook set a new record for the highest total ranking points. Nemon Williamson broke his own and Mike Cook’s low gross course record with a 77  at Foxtail – South GC. The eagle drought offically started again. Green fees for the year were held at $60.00 and were still low thanks to the player sponsored tournaments, we again received no additional funds from the Valero Employees Club. 

     Steve Duff continued as the president of the Valero Golf League with Jim Rollans continuing as the league’s statistician. Play was held on Wednesday’s starting at 4:30 pm. on Blue Rock Springs – West. Play this year was again from the white and red tees. Michael Katz and Chad Rollans held the # 1 ranking for all of the year, Chad Rollans finished the year at # 1. The Rovers won their fourth league championship in a double tie breaker over the Mulligans. The Rovers consisted of  Steve Blotzer, Randy Butler, Susan Cortez, Steve Duff, Rick Morgan, Chad Rollans and Jim Rollans (captain).     

     2012 was our 42nd season of golf with 9 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. Matt Hurst continued as our Tournament Director. Due to the change in the refinery shift work schedule three weekday tournaments were held this year. The year started out in late April at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the 27th Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $160.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $7696.00. The par 5 sixteenth hole at Green Tree GC was shortened to a par 3 and the par 3 seventeenth hole shortened and the tee moved due to a lawsuit concerning golf balls being hit unto Leisure Town Road. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s tournament at Rooster Run and Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Kennedy GC. The Club Championship was held at Boundary Oak G.C. with Mike Osada winning his first major tournament. Gary Beckman won the low gross CC. Nineteen players qualified for the 42nd Winners Tournament which was held at Franklin Canyon G.C. Bob Simonson won his third Winners Tournament and qualified for the Hall of Fame The 20 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Debbie Menzel at Green Valley CC in a second  rematch after tying with Sonny Menzel in the finals at Rancho Solano GC. Mike Cook won his third Valero Cup which was held at Oakmont-West GC. Matt Hurst after winning a tie breaker for 1st in Tournament Points, 4th in the Scoring Average Championship and 4th in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2012. He won a double tie breaker over Kevin Peck for the title. The club did have one three flight tournament this year. The golf club averaged 17 players per tournament. Brittany Hurst won the Scoring Average Championship for the year, her second in the last 3 years. Matt Hurst won the Points Championship for the second time in a tie breaker over Kevin Peck. Debbie Menzel won the Barbara Juris Award as the best lady golfer of the year. Nemon Williamson, Kevin Peck and Mike Cook held the # 1 ranking for most of the season. Kevin Peck finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Randy Butler broke Nemon Williamson’s low gross course record with a 73  at Wildhorse GC. The eagle drought ended, Debbie Menzel had one on the 18th hole @ Wildhorse GC. A new venue, Oakmont – West GC in Santa Rosa was the site of the Valero Cup tournament. Green fees for the year were held between $50.00 and $60.00 and were still low thanks to the player sponsored tournaments and some scheduled weekday tournaments. We again received no additional funds from the Valero Employees Club.

     The Valero Golf League went from 6 teams of 7 players each to 5 teams of 8 players each. Team Albatross was dropped. This was in response to the new work shift schedule at the Refinery. Steve Duff continued as League President with Jim Rollans continuing as league statistician. Play was held at Blue Rock Springs – West on Wednesday’s starting at 4:30 pm. Play continued from the white and red tees. Randy Butler held the # 1 ranking for a total of 14 weeks, Chad Rollans for 3 weeks and Alex Tegenkamp for one week. The Hackers Unlimited won their second league championship over the Seadlings. The Hackers consisted of Gary Armstrong, AJ Jones, Brad Martin, Debbie Menzel, Sonny Menzel (captain), Jim Minkel, Christine Stewart and Chris Wilburn.    

    2013 was our 43rd season of golf with 8 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. Matt Hurst continued as our Tournament Director. Due to the refinery shift work schedule four weekday tournaments were held this year. The club did have one three flight tournament this year. The golf club averaged 19 players per tournament. The year started out in late April at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the 28th Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $240.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name to $7936.00. The team of Randy Butler, Matt Hurst, AJ Jones and John Perrin tied the lowest Tom Stead scramble tournament score record. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s best-ball tournament at Franklin Canyon and Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Kennedy GC. The Club Championship was held at Cypress Lakes G.C. with Nemon Williamson winning his first CC tournament and achieving the career grand slam in the majors (the Yarbie Slam). Randy Butler won the low gross CC. Seventeen players qualified for the 43rd Winners Tournament which was held at Rancho Solano G.C. Sonny Menzel won his second Winners Tournament in the last three years and qualified for the Hall of Fame. It was Sonny’s 9th consecutive year with a tournament win (ties a record). The 16 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Randy Butler at Peacock Gap GC. Nemon Williamson won his third Valero Cup which was also held at Peacock Gap GC. Neal Stachowicz after finishing first in Tournament Points, 5th in the Scoring Average Championship and 3rd in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2013. Neal also shared the most improved player for the year with Randy Butler. Brittany Hurst had the most improved handicap, her third in the last 4 years. Neal Stachowicz won the Points Championship for the year. Don Scribner won the Scoring Average Championship for the year.  Sandie Cook won the Barbara Juris Award as the best lady golfer of the year and was also the comeback player of the year. Kevin Peck, Debbie Menzel and Sonny Menzel held the # 1 ranking for most of the season. Nemon Williamson finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Kevin Peck set new records for the most consecutive tour. at the # 1 ranking and the highest average ranking points. Mike Cook won at Franklin Canyon for the 8th time (a new record). Vinny Zabat tied the low gross course record at Eagle Vines GC., also there Ken Dorsey tied his own low net course record. The eagle drought was on again, none for the year. A new venue, Peacock Gap GC in San Rafael was the site of the Valero Cup tournament. Green fees for the year were held between $50.00 and $60.00 and were still low thanks to the player sponsored tournaments and some scheduled weekday tournaments. We again received no additional funds from the Valero Employees Club. 

      The Valero Golf League continued with 5 teams of  8 players each. Steve Duff continued as League President with Chris Hom taking over as the league statistician. Play was held at Blue Rock Springs – West on Wednesday’s starting at 4:30 pm. Play continued from the white and red tees. Eddie Pereira set a new low gross score of 31 in the regular season. Brad Martin held or shared the # 1 ranking for a total of 14 weeks, Randy Butler for 5 weeks Chris Wilburn for 5 weeks and Michael Katz for one week. The Mulligans (formally the Hookers) won their first league championship over the Seadlings. The Mulligans consisted of  Bob Brown, Chris Hom, Joe Muehlbauer (captain), Glenn Overman, Eddie Pereira, Jim Petrellese, Paul Sierra and Margie Talbot.     

     2014 was our 44th season of golf with 7 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. Matt Hurst continued as our Tournament Director. Due to the refinery shift work schedule four weekday tournaments were held this year. The club did not have a  three flight tournament this year. The golf club averaged 17 players per tournament. The year started out in mid May at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the 29th Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $200.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name over the $8000.00 mark with $8136.00. The team of Steve Dodini, John Ortiz, Dave Pearce and Don Scribner won first place. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s best-ball tournament at Rancho Solano and Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Franklin Canyon GC. The Club Championship was held at Foxtail-South G.C. with Steve Blotzer winning a tie breaker over Alex Tegenkamp for his first CC tournament win. Randy Butler won the low gross CC for the second year in a row. Nineteen players qualified for the 44th Winners Tournament which was held at Kennedy G.C. Kevin Peck won his second Winners Tournament and qualified for the Hall of Fame. The 12 player Pyramid Tournament was won by Neal Stachowicz at Paradise Valley GC. Rob Villarreal won his first major, the 28th Valero Cup which was held at Hiddenbrooke GC. Bob Boyer after finishing first in Tournament Points, 1st in the Scoring Average Championship and 2nd in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of theYear” for 2014. Bob also shared with Floyd Duggins the most improved player of the year award, and also had the most improved handicap. Bob Boyer won the Points Championship for the year and the Scoring Average Championship for the year.  Sandie Cook won the Barbara Juris Award as the best lady golfer of the year. Bob Boyer held the # 1 ranking for most of the season and finished the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. John Perrin had his first tournament win at Paradise Valley GC, Rob Villarreal got his first win at Franklin Canyon GC and followed it up with his Valero Cup win at Hiddenbrooke GC. Fred Longoria tied John Justus’ club record with a 2 under par gross score at Wildhorse GC. Neal Stachowicz tied a record by winning his third Pyramid Tournament. Randy Butler tied the low gross course record at Foxtail-South, Alex Tegenkamp tied the low net course record at Foxtail-South GC. The eagle drought continued, again none for the year.  Green fees for the year were held between $50.00 and $60.00 and were still low thanks to the player sponsored tournaments and some scheduled weekday tournaments. We again received no additional funds from the Valero Employees Club. Matt Hurst retired as the Club’ Tournament Director after six years and was presented a plaque and gift card in appreciation for all of his excellent work.

     The Valero Golf League added another team (Slice Motifs) making it 6 teams of  7 to 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as League President with Jim Rollans returning as the league statistician. Play was held at Blue Rock Springs – West on Wednesday’s starting at 4:30 pm. Play continued from the white and red tees. The Mulligans (formally the Hookers) repeated as league champions over Birdies-R-Us. The Mulligans consisted of  Bob Brown, Joe Muehlbauer (captain), Dexter Nigos, Glenn Overman, Eddie Pereira, Jim Petrellese, Rebecca Spambati and Frank Sluga. Rick Morgan tied the record for the low net score in the regular season, Nick Vollmer tied the record for the low net score in the playoffs. John Hill set new records in the match point winning % in the playoffs and total points winning % through the playoffs. Sue Gustofson set a new record for most points in the points + handicap tournament. Chad and Jim Rollans tied their own record and were joined by Ken Hoehn and Rick Morgan in the two person scramble tournament. John Hill held the # 1 ranking for a total of 13 weeks, Brad Martin for 3 weeks Alex Tegenkamp for 3 weeks and Eddie Pereira for one week.
     

     2015 was our 45th season of golf with 7 tournaments scheduled plus additional play again in the Valero Golf League. Rob Yarbrough, our Tournament from 1993 – 2001 returned as our Tournament Director for the year. Due to the refinery shift work schedule four weekday tournaments were held this year. The club did not have a  three flight tournament this year. The golf club averaged 15 players per tournament. The year started out in mid May at Green Tree G.C. for the playing of the 30th Tom Stead Memorial Scramble. The tournament raised $200.00 which put the total contribution to the American Heart Association in “Tom’s” name at $8336.00. The team of Stephanie Bellato, John Ortiz, Mike Osada, Dave Pearce and Don Scribner won first place. The continuing player sponsored tournaments included Debbie and Sonny Menzel’s best-ball tournament at Paradise Valley and Sandie and Mike Cook’s “Boyd Cook Memorial Classic” at Kennedy GC. New sponsorship of the Kamp-Devlin Classic at Eagle Vines was provided by Vicki Devlin and Alex Tegenkamp. Returning was the Greater Peckbrough Open at Hiddenbrooke GC sponsored by Kevin Peck and Rob Yarbrough. The Club Championship was held at Rancho Solano G.C. with Rob Yarbrough tying the record in winning his second CC tournament. Randy Butler won the low gross CC for the third year in a row. Twelve players qualified for the 45th Winners Tournament which was held at Yocha-De-He G.C. Rob Villarreal won his first Winners Tournament The 12 player Pyramid Tournament was won by defending champion Neal Stachowicz at Chardonnay GC which has been reconfigured to 18 holes. Due to scheduling conflicts the 29th Valero Cup tournament was not held. Alex Tegenkamp after finishing third in Tournament Points, second in the Scoring Average Championship and fourth in the Pyramid Tournament was the “Player of the Year” for 2015. Alex Tegenkamp and Rob Yarbrough shared the most improved player of the year award with Rob having the most improved handicap for the year. Don Scribner won the Points Championship for the year. The Scoring Average Championship for the year was won by Rob Yarbrough. Brittany Hurst who won a tournament for the 7th consecutive year won the Barbara Juris Award as the best lady golfer of the year. Bob Boyer, Randy Butler and Rob Yarbrough held the # 1 ranking for most of the season with Rob Villarreal finishing the year as the # 1 ranked golfer. Neal Stachowicz set a new record by winning his fourth Pyramid Tournament. Rick Morgan broke Glenn Campbell’s  low net course record at Yocha-De-He GC. The eagle drought continued, again none for the year.  Green fees for the year were held between $50.00 and $65.00 and were still low thanks to the player sponsored tournaments and some scheduled weekday tournaments. We again received no additional funds from the Valero Employees Club.

     The Valero Golf League continued with 6 teams of  7 to 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as League President with Jim Rollans as the league statistician. Play was held at Blue Rock Springs – West on Wednesday’s starting at 4:30 pm. Play continued from the white and red tees. The Rovers won over the defending champion Mulligans for their 5th league Championship. The Rovers consisted of Randy Butler, Steve Duff, Jami McDermott, Jeff McDermott, Rick Morgan, Chad Rollans, Jim Rollans (captain) and Josh Winterburn. James Johnson tied the record for the low gross score in the playoffs, Steve Duff and Jeff McDermott set a new record for the low net score in the playoffs. Chad Rollans tied the record for match point winning % in the regular season and set a  new record for the match point winning % through the playoffs. Bill Quessenberry tied the record for the most medal points won in the regular season, Steve Duff tied the record for the most medal points won through the playoffs. Steve Duff also tied the record for the medal points winning percentage in the regular season and broke that record for the winning % through the playoffs. Bob Brown held the # 1 ranking for a total of 7 weeks, Steve Duff and Eddie Pereira each for 5 weeks, Randy Butler for 3 weeks, Bill Quessenberry and Chad Rollans for 2 weeks, Ken Hoehn and Alex Tegenkamp for one week. 
 

     2016 was our 46th season of golf but we only had 2 tournaments scheduled plus the Pyramid Tournament and the 2015 Valero Cup. We did not have a tournament director so Mike and Sandie Cook tried to put some things together late in the golf year. Alex Tegenkamp and Vicki Devlin set up their Kamp-Devlin Classic again this year and it was held in late August at Eagle Vines GC. Mike and Sandie set up and sponsored the 46th Winners Tournament which was held at Paradise Valley GC in mid September, Matt Hurst won it claiming his 7th major win. Larry Campbell helped out by setting up the 29th Valero Cup (from 2015) at Cypress Lakes GC in late September, Alex Tegenkamp won his first major tournament there. The Tom Stead, the other player sponsored tournaments and the Club Championship were not held this year. Eight players signed up to play in the 40th Pyramid Tournament which was won by Neal Stachowicz for the third year in a row at the Rossmoor CC Dollar Ranch course. There was also no Player of the Year, most improved handicap and player and Scoring Champion awards this year. Sandie Cook won the Barbara Juris Award for the year. Rob Villarreal held the # 1 ranking for the first three tournaments of the year with Rob Yarbrough taking the top spot after the Pyramid Tournament finals. Green Tree GC closed for good on Feb. 24th due to a lack of play. We held tournaments there from 1972 to 2015. Roddy Ranch GC also closed for good on August 11th due to the high cost of irrigation. It was the site of the 2005 Club Championship won by Larry Campbell and the 2009 Winners Tournament won by Bob Simonson.  

     The Valero Golf League continued with 6 teams of  7 to 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as league president with Jim Rollans as the league statistician. Play was held at Blue Rock Springs West on Wednesday’s starting at 4:30 pm. Play continued from the red and white tees. The Birdies-R-Us team won over the Mulligans for their 2nd league championship. The Birdies team consisted of Wafa Alfatesh, George Cruz, Andrew Estrada, team captain James Johnson, Mike Osada, Randy Pockrandt, Richard Sullivan and Alex Tegenkamp.Year long individual honors went to Eddie Pereira who set a new runner-up record for low gross score in the reg. season, The Mulligans who set a new runner-up record for the most team medal points, Alex Tegenkamp who set a new record for low net score in the playoffs, Jim Petrellese who tied the record for medal point winning % in the regular season, James Johnson who tied the record for the three club tour. low gross, Andrew Estrada who set a new record in the one person 2 ball scramble tournament, Chad and Jim Rollans tied the runner-up record in the two person scramble tournament. In the individual rankings this year; Steve Duff started the year in the # 1 position and held it by himself through week # 2. Eddie Pereira joined Steve in the # 1 position for weeks # 3 & 4. Steve Duff took # 1 by himself for weeks 5 & 6. Eddie Pereira took over by himself in week # 7 and held it until week # 15 when he was joined by Josh Lundholm for one week, Eddie continued by hinself for week # 16 and into the first round of the playoffs. After the championship finals were completed Dexter Nigos took over the # 1 ranking.  

          2017 was our 47th season of golf with 7 tournaments scheduled plus additional play in the Valero Golf League. For the second year in a row we didn’t have a tournament director so four of our players, Sandie Cook, Alex Tegenkamp, Ed Vegas and Nemon Williamson each helped out by setting up our tournaments for us. Major operating problems at the refinery considerably reduced our player participation for the year. The year started out with the playing of the 31st Tom Stead Scramble at Kennedy GC with a new scramble format, two person scramble teams. Larry Campbell and Mike Cook won the 1st flight, Steve Blotzer and Neal Stachowicz won the 2nd flight. We raised $148.00 for the American Heart Association in Tom’s name, total to date $8484.00. The 21st Club Championship was held at Hiddenbrooke GC in June, Mike Cook won the Club Championship and the low gross CC, this gave Mike the double Yarbie Slam. 12 Players qualified for the 47th Winners Tournament held at Paradise Valley GC in October. Alex Tegenkamp won it giving him his second major title. The six player Pyramid Tournament was still in progress at the end of the golf season. The Valero Cup was not held this tear. Mike Cook after finishing first in tournament points, second in the scoring average and fourth in the pyramid tournament was the 2017 Player of the Year. Sandie Cook won the most improved player of the year, Alex Tegenkamp had the most improved handicap for the year. Mike Cook won the points championship, the scoring average championship was won by Sandie Cook. Don Scribner, Mike Cook and Steve Blotzer held the # 1 ranking for the year with Steve ending the year at # 1. Alex Tegenkamp and Vicki Devlin sponsored the 3rd Kamp-Devlin Tournament at Eagle Vines GC, Mike and Sandie Cook sponsored the Tom Stead and the Winners Tournament. 

      2017 was the 16th year for the Valero Golf League, play continued at Blue Rock West on Wednesday’s. Fun league play was held on Thursday’s on the East course. The league continued to be nine hole team play starting officially at 4:30pm every Wednesday. Playing were 6 teams of 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as as the League President, Jim Rollans was the League Statistician. The Mulligans won over the Birds by a score of 5.5 to 4.5 and claimed their third league championship. Mike Cook shot video of the match showing some play on the first, second, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth holes. The Mulligans finished first, the team consisted of Bob Brown, Kevin Ebert, Ron Hall, Jeff Marquez, team captain Dexter Nigos, Rob Villarreal, Eddie Pereira and Jim Petrellese. Yearlong individual honors went to Steve Milicevich who set a new record for low net score in the reg. season, Eddie Pereira who matched his own record for low gross score in the playoffs, Randy Pockrandt and Eddie Pereira who tied the record for most match points won in the Reg. Season, Eddie Pereira who set a new record for most match points won through the playoffs, Eddie also tied the record for the most medal points won through the playoffs, Jim Petrellese and Randy Butler who tied the record for the medal point winning % through the playoffs and Eddie Pereira who set a new record for the total points won through the playoffs. In the individual rankings this year; Dexter Nigos started the year in the #1 position and held it by himself through week #5. Eddie Pereira took over the #1 position for weeks # 6, 7, 8 and # 9 when he was joined by Randy Butler, Eddie retook # 1 in week # 10 by himself and held it until week # 13 when he was joined by Randy Butler and Jim Petrellese, Eddie retook # 1 in week # 14 and held it through week # 15. At the end of the regular season Randy Butler took over # 1 and held it through the playoffs. In post season play, it was Sanjeet Kamat winning the points tournament in a tie breaker over Bill Quessenberry, in the best-ball tournament it was the team of Rick Carr-Josh Lundholm winning the tie breaker over the team of Sanjeet Kamat-Ken Hoehn, both teams set a new runner-up record, Josh Lundholm and Dexter Nigos won the two person scramble and set a new record in doing so, in the one person 2 ball scramble tournament it was Jim Rollans winning it tying the runner-up record. The Valero Golf League had another good year. 

     2018 was our 48th season of golf with 6 tournaments scheduled plus additional play in the Valero Golf League. For the third year in a row we didn’t have a tournament director so five of our players, Larry Campbell, Sandie Cook, Alex Tegenkamp, Ed Vegas and Nemon Williamson each helped out by setting up our tournaments for us. The year started out with the Rio Vista Tournament won by Eddie Pereira and Ed Vegas. Next we played the 32nd Tom Stead Scramble at Cypress Lakes GC again with a new scramble format, two person scramble teams. Jason Allen and Eddie Pereira won the 1st flight. We raised $260.00 for the American Heart Association in Tom’s name, total to date $8744.00. The next tournament was held at Hiddenbrooke GC in June where Mike Cook won for the second year in a row. The 22nd Club Championship was held at Rancho Solano GC in July, Alex Tegenkamp won the Club Championship, Mike Cook the low gross CC. 11 Players qualified for the 48th Winners Tournament held at Wildhorse GC in October. Neal Stachowicz won it giving him his seventh major title. The 2017 Pyramid Tournament finals were won by Neal Stachowicz over Steve Blotzer and Nemon Williamson, it was Neal’s 4th straight win. The 2018 finals were won by Steve Blotzer over Neal Stachowicz, both were held at Rossmoor CC. The 2016 Valero Cup was won in May by Bob Simonson at Kennedy GC. Eddie Pereira after finishing second in tournament points, first in the scoring average and third in the pyramid tournament was the 2018 Player of the Year. Eddie Pereira shares the most improved player of the year with Neal Stachowicz, Eddie Pereira also had the most improved handicap for the year. Mike Cook won the points championship for the second year in a row, the scoring average championship was won by Eddie Pereira. Alex Tegenkamp, Mike Cook and Steve Blotzer held the # 1 ranking for the year with Neal Stachowicz ending the year at # 1. Alex Tegenkamp and Vicki Devlin sponsored the 4th Kamp-Devlin Tournament at Eagle Vines GC and also set up the Hiddenbrooke tournament, Mike and Sandie Cook sponsored the Tom Stead and the Winners Tournament. 

      2018 was the 17th year for the Valero Golf League, play continued at Blue Rock West on Wednesday’s. Fun league play was held on Thursday’s on the East course. The league continued to be nine hole team play starting officially at 4:30pm every Wednesday. Playing were 6 teams of 7 to 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as the League President, Hadi Jammal took over as the League Statistician.  At the end of the regular season the first place team (The Hackers Unlimited) received a bye. The second place team the Mulligans and the third place team, the Tennis Pros played off on August 15th to determine who would play the top team. The Tennis Pros won 4.5 to 3.5 and advanced on to play the Hackers on August 22nd. The Hackers won over the Tennis Pros who had reached the finals for the first time by a score of 11.0 to 1.0 and claimed their third league championship. Mike Cook shot video of the match showing some play on the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth holes. The Hackers Unlimited finished first, the Hackers consisted of Justin Biecharczyk, Sean Black, Sarah Harlan, team captain Ben LaFountain, Yves Marekani, Brad Martin, and Steve Milicevich. . Yearlong individual honors went to Eddie Pereira who tied the record for low gross score in the playoffs, Sean Black who tied the runner-up record for low net score in the reg. season, Sarah Harlan tying the record for low net score in the playoffs, the team of S. Kamat-J. Rollans who tied the record for the low net score in the best-ball tour, Sanjeet Kamat who tied the record for low net score in the three club tournament and Sean Black and Steve Milicevich who both set a new net record in the mini golf challenge, James Johnson also tied the runner-up record in the same tournament. In the individual rankings this year; Randy Butler started the year in the #1 position and held it by himself through week #5. Rob Villarreal joined Randy in the #1 position for week #6. Rob Villarreal then took it by himself through week # 12, Ron Hall held it on week # 13. Brad Martin took it over in week # 13 and held it through the playoffs. In post season play, it was Sanjeet Kamat winning the 3 club tournament tying the club record set by Rick Carr in 2013, Sanjeet Kamat teamed up with Jim Rollans to win the best-ball tournament, in the Mini golf challenge it was Sean Black and Steve Milicevich tying for first place, in the two person scramble it was the team of Jason Allen and Eddie Pereira taking first place. The Valero Golf League had another good year.

     2019 was our 49th season of golf with 6 tournaments scheduled plus additional play in the Valero Golf League. For the fourth year in a row we didn’t have a tournament director so four of our players, Sandie Cook, Alex Tegenkamp, Ed Vegas and Nemon Williamson each helped out by setting up our tournaments for us. The year started out with the playing of the 33rd Tom Stead Scramble at Rio Vista GC again with two person scramble teams but this year using low net scores to determine the winners. Steve Blotzer and Don Scribner won the 1st flight. We raised $190.00 for the American Heart Association in Tom’s name, total to date $8934.00. The next tournament, the 5th Kamp-Devlin Classic which was held at Eagle Vines GC in June where Floyd Duggins won. The 2017 Valero Cup was held at Rancho Solano in July. Floyd Duggins and Neal Stachowicz tied for first place requiring an 18 hole playoff to determine the winner. Neal Stachowicz won by one stroke in the playoff to win his first Valero Cup and his 8th major. The 23rd Club Championship was held at Wildhorse GC in August, Floyd Duggins won the Club Championship for his second major, Nemon Williamson the low gross CC. The next tournament was held at Hiddenbrooke GC in late August with Dave Pearce winning. 9 Players qualified for the 49th Winners Tournament held at Paradise Valley GC in October. Neal Stachowicz won it giving him back to back Winners Tournament wins and his ninth major title. The 2019 Pyramid Tournament was still in play at the end of the year. Neal Stachowicz  after finishing second in tournament points, second in the scoring average and still in the pyramid tournament was the 2019 Player of the Year. Floyd Duggins shares the most improved player of the year with Neal Stachowicz, Neal also had the most improved handicap for the year. Floyd Duggins won both the Points Championship and the Scoring Average Championship for the year. Neal Stachowicz and Mike Cook held the # 1 ranking for the year with Floyd Duggins ending the year at # 1. Alex Tegenkamp and Vicki Devlin sponsored the 5th Kamp-Devlin Tournament at Eagle Vines GC and also set up the Hiddenbrooke tournament for us, Mike and Sandie Cook sponsored the Tom Stead and the Winners Tournament.      

    2019 was the 18th year for the Valero Golf League, play continued at Blue Rock West and this year with some play on the back nine also. The front and back nines were also used on the East Course for some play on Wednesday’s. Fun league play was held on Thursday’s on the East course. The league continued to be nine hole team play starting officially at 4:30 pm every Wednesday. Playing were 6 teams of 7 to 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as the League President, Hadi Jammal continued as the League Statistician. At the end of the regular season the first place team (The Rovers) received a bye. The second place team the Birds and the third place team, the Seadlings played off on August 21st to determine who would play the top team. The Birds won 7.0 to 5.0 and advanced on to play the Rovers on August 28th. The Rovers won over the Birds by a score of 6.5 to 5.5 and claimed their sixth league championship. It was a big turnaround for the Rovers who finished in last place in 2018. Mike Cook shot video of the match showing some play on the front nine holes. The Rovers finished first, the Rovers consisted of Randy Butler, Steve Duff, Jake Finnigan, Frank Hartig, Hadi Jammal, Sanjeet Kamat, Jami McDermott and team captain Jim Rollans. Yearlong individual honors went to Nick Alexander who set a new record in the low gross score in the playoffs on the front nine of the west course with an even par 36. Nick also tied the runner-up record, low net score in the playoffs on the same nine. In new records the team of Cruz-Schiwal smashed the old record by 10 strokes in the Two Person Alternate Shot on the front nine of the West Course. Setting an initial record on the West course, back nine three club tournament, low gross was James Johnson with a gross 43. The initial low net score in that tournament was set by Yves Marekani at even par. In the Two Person Scramble on the front nine of the East course the team of Hoehn-Marquez set the initial record with a 31. In the individual rankings this year; the rankings were not done this year as the information was not available, they will return in 2020, also not available was the medal and match points and possibly some course records on the back nines of both courses. The SOLO CUP champion was Frank Hartig. In post season play, it was the team of Hoehn-Marquez winning the 2–Person Scramble tournament which was held on the front nine of the East course. In the 3 club tournament held on the back nine of the West course it was Yves Marekani winning with a net 35, also with a net 35 was James Johnson. In the Best-Ball tournament held on the front nine of the East course it was the team of Hoehn-Forthuber tying with the team of Jami McDermott-Milicevich. The Alternate Shot tournament which was held on the front nine of the West course, it was the team of Cruz-Schiwal setting a new record. In the One Person 2 Ball Scramble tournament it was James Johnson taking first place. The Valero Golf League had another good year.

2020 was our 50th season of golf, we still did not have a tournament director. Nemon Williamson was moving to Florida so we set up a tournament very early in the year in February to say goodbye. Sandie Cook made the arrangements for the tournament at Paradise Valley GC . We had a great turnout of players. Nemon decided as long as this was his last tournament with us he might just as well win it, which he did. Finishing in second place was Dave Pearce, Randy Butler took third. In the second flight it was Sandie Cook and Alex Tegenkamp tying for first place, Floyd Duggins second and Steve Blotzer third. After the tournament Mike Cook presented Nemon a framed document listing all of his career stats from 1993 to 2019.

Shortly after the tournament the COVID-19 virus outbreak started and everything came to an abrupt halt. One more attempt was made later in the year to save the season, Alex Tegenkamp set up the sixth Kamp-Devlin Classic at Hiddenbrooke GC in early August. Only three players signed up to play with Dave Pearce winning first place, Alex Tegenkamp took second place.

The Tournament season was over for the rest of the year. The Tom Stead Scramble was not played but a contribution to the American Heart Association was made putting us over the $9,000.00 mark. total to date was $9124.00

The Valero Golf League however did hold their 19th season after a late start. The Seadlings finished the regular season in first place, the Birds and the Rovers played off with the Birds winning and playing the Seadlings for the League Championship. The Seadlings won and claimed their fourth league championship. The finals match was not videoed this year. Josh Lundholm finished the year with the # 1 ranking and was the # 1 ranked golfer for 2020. The SOLO CUP champion was Sanjeet Kamat.

We hope for a better season in 2021.

The 2021 tournament season, our 51st was a complete loss due to COVID-19 and the Delta Variant.

The Valero Golf League however held their 20th season but it too was affected by the virus, trouble finding enough players to play in the team matches was a problem. The League Finals only had 6 players participate.

At the end of the regular season the first place team (The Rovers) received a bye. The second place team the Hackers Unlimited and the third place team the Tennis Pros played off on August 4th to determine who would play the top team. The Hackers Unlimited won 4.0 to 2.0 and advanced on to play the Rovers on August 11th. The Hackers Unlimited won over the Rovers by a score of 4.0 to 2.0 to win their fourth League Championship. Video of the finals match was shot by Mike Cook, it should be available for viewing soon.  

Jake Finnegan is the SOLO CUP Champion for 2021

Jake Finnegan ends the year with the # 1 Ranking. Josh Lundholm is the 2021 # 1 Ranked golfer with 11 weeks @ # 1.

   2022 Highlights

Notes; The Club was saddened by the news we lost Hall of Fame golfer Bob Simonson in 2022.
  As it was the last couple of years we didn’t have a tournament director but it didn’t really matter, COVID-19 and it’s variants continued to be a problem, only one tournament was held.

 The 2018 & 2019 Valero Cup tournaments have not been played yet.
The 24th Club Championship was not held this year.
The “50th” annual Winners Tournament sponsored by Mike and Sandie Cook was not held this year.
Floyd Duggins carries over the # 1 Ranking. There was no Valero Golf Club’s Player of the Year for 2022.

2022 was the 21st year for the Valero Golf League, because of the Coronavirus pandemic, league play was again affected. Play continued at the Blue Rock West and East courses. The league continued to be nine hole team play starting officially at 4:30 pm every Wednesday. Playing were 6 teams of 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as the League President, Ken Hoehn took over as the League Statistician. 2022 started out with the Birds in first place after week # 1 & # 2.. The Seadlings and the Mulligans tied for 1^st in week # 3 then the Seadlings for the next four weeks, the Birds then took the top spot until the last week of the regular season. At the end of the regular season the first place team (the Birds) received a bye. The Mulligans and the Tennis Pros played off on August 17^th to determine who would play the Birds in the Championship Finals. The Mulligans won 3.5 to 2.5 and advanced on to play the Birds on August 24th, 2022. The Birds who lost in the championship finals in 2019 & 2020 decided enough was enough and went on to win 6.0 to 2.0 and claim their third league championship. The finals match was videoed this year by Mike Cook. The Birds finished first, the team consisted of James Johnson, Andrew Estrada, Ray Castro, George Cruz., Mike Trevino, Danny Weir and Pete Asselin. The Mulligans finished second, the team consisted of Dexter Nigos, Ron Hall, Zac Ronan, Eddie Pereira, Mike Burzynski, Antonio Santiago and Jeff Marquez. The Tennis Pros finished third, the team consisted of Jim Minkel, Dale Ramirez, Doug Nelson,, Bill Quessenberry, Fred Foote, Graham Miskella, Pat Ponce and Rob Villarreal. The Seadlings finished fourth, the team consisted of Ken Hoehn, Josh Lundholm, Randy Goudy, Jason Allen, Glen Campbell, Mike Sierras, Cody Stephens and Brad Stephens. The Rovers finished fifth, the team consisted of Steve Duff, Frank Hartig, Hadi Jammal, Jake Finnegan, Sanjeet Kamat, Kyle Massaro, Bradely Rupert and Bob Winn. The Hackers Unlimited finished sixth, the team consisted of Ben LaFountain, Ryan Murphy, Justin Blecharczyk, Sean Black, Steve Millicevich, Mason England, Ben Osborne and Matt Frits. In the individual rankings this year; Jake Finnegan started out the year as # 1 and held it through week # 4, Sean Black took over # 1 in week # 5 and held it through week # 9, in week # 10 Eddie Pereira took # 1 and held it through week # 11 where he was joined again by Sean Black, in week # 12 Sean Black held # 1 by himself and held it until the end of the regular season and through the playoffs. Sean Black ended up the # 1 ranked golfer for the year. Yearlong individual honors went to Pete Asselin who was the SOLO CUP Champion for the year, James Johnson was the runner-up. Pete Asselin broke the record for low gross score on Blue Rock – East, back nine, white tees with a 36. Also on Blue Rock – East back nine, white tees low net score in the playoffs, Fred Foote and Eddie Pereira set the initial record with net 32’s, Dale Ramirez set the runner-up record with a 33. Eddie set the initial gross record with a 37 with Dale Ramirez setting the runner-up record with a 39. Pete Asselin and Ken Hoehn broke the record for low gross score on Blue Rock – West back nine, white tees with 37’s. On Blue Rock – East back nine in the regular season Randy Goudy and Dexter Nigos tied Jake Finnegans low net score record with 29’s. On Blue Rock West back nine low net score in the regular season Steve Duff tied the runner-up record of 30 but this was later broken by Glen Campbell with a 28. Pete Asselin tied the runner-up record for low gross score in the playoffs on Blue Rock – West front nine with a 37. Post season play was limited, the good news was the VGL completed another entire season during the COVID-19 pandemic and look forward to a more normal season in 2023.  Mike Cook     

2023 Highlights

Very limited activity with the golf club this year, in fact we only held the Tom Stead – Bob Simonson Scramble at Rio Vista GC on Saturday, July 29th. The Tournament was set up by Ed Vegas, we had 16 players with some of them regulars from Rio Vista GC. We raised $ 600.00 for the American Heart Assoc. in Tom’s and Bob’s memory, total to date $ 10,174.00.

The 2023 Tom Stead-Bob Simonson Memorial Scramble with the two person scramble format and low net scores used was sponsored by Mike and Sandie Cook and held at Rio Vista GC on Saturday, April 29th starting at 10:04 am. We played on an absolutely beautiful day, temperature in the mid 80’s with the normal prevailing wind coming up in the afternoon. We played one day before a predicted major cool down. Play was again from the up front green tees which made for lots of fun. The greens were in good shape but very slow ruining quite a few birdie chances. In the first flight it was Steve Blotzer and Dave Pearce teaming up to win first place repeating their win from last year with a net score of 69 (2 birdies). Also winning first place was the team of John Askin and John Santamaria with net 69 (2 birdies), also in first place was Dean Dye whose partner didn’t show up with a net 69 (1 birdie). Floyd Duggins teamed up with Rio Vista regular Wayne Antoque to take second place with a net 70 (2 birdies). Home course favorite Ed Vegas teamed up with Al Thacker to also finish in second place with a net 70 (1 birdie). The Larry and Glenn Campbell team finished third with a net 73 (1 birdie). The Mike and Sandie Cook team tied for third place with a net 73 (1 birdie). The Rick and Matt Simonson team who didn’t have an established handicap played for fun and had a good time. The Valero Golf Club’s closest to the pins on the front nine were won by Larry Campbell and John Askin, on the back nine it was Wayne Antoque and John Askin, each received a sleeve of the Callaway tour soft golf balls contributed by Ed Vegas. Steve Blotzer also took one point for being the closest Valero Player on # 13. The first place team members split $80.00, second place $60.00, third place $40.00. Our thanks go out to Ed Vegas for setting up the tournament and arranging for reduced green fees for us. Thanks to the winning team members who gave back their prize money and added it to our donation, we raised $600.00, plus generous contributions from Don Scribner, Nemon Williamson and Rio Vista’s Ronald Auger for the American Heart Association in Tom’s and Bob’s names. We broke a milestone, total to date is now $10,174.00.

See Rio Vista Stats

The Valero Golf League had another great year.

2023 was the 22nd year for the Valero Golf League, play continued on the Blue Rock West and East courses. The league continued to be nine hole team play starting officially at 4:30 pm every Wednesday. Playing were 6 teams of 8 players each. Steve Duff continued as the League President, Ken Hoehn continued as the League Statistician. 2023 started out with the Mulligans in first place after week # 1 & # 2.. The Rovers and the Mulligans tied for first in week # 3 then the Rovers alone for week # 4, the Mulligans then took the top spot in week # 5 and comfortably held it until the last week of the regular season. At the end of the regular season the first place team (the Mulligans) received a bye. The second place Birds and the third place Rovers played off on August 30th to determine who would play the Mulligans in the Championship Finals. The Rovers won 8.5 to 1.5 and advanced on to play the Mulligans on September 6th, 2023. The Rovers who found themselves in fourth place going into the final week of the season came through to finish in third place. They won their first playoff match and then faced the Mulligans in the Finals. The Rovers went on to win 5.5 to 2.5 and claim their seventh league championship. The finals match was videoed this year by Mike Cook. The Rovers finished first, the team consisted of Steve Duff, Nick Alexander, Frank Hartig, Kyle Massaro, Tyler Mortensen, Tony Schiwal, Brad Stephens and Rob Winn. The Mulligans finished second, the team consisted of Dexter Nigos, Sean Black, Ed Colonna, John Cupp, Ron Hall, Dale Maus, Eddie Pereira, and Daniel Reyes. The Birds finished third, the team consisted of James Johnson, Pete Asselin, Ray Castro, George Cruz., Andrew Estrada, Mason England, Jim Minkel, and Bill Schroll. The Seadlings finished fourth, the team consisted of Ken Hoehn, Jason Allen, Glen Campbell, Josh Lundholm, Bill Quessenberry, Antony Stelly, Mike Trevino, and Johnath Zychowicz. The Hackers Unlimited finished fifth, the team consisted of Ben LaFountain, Mo Abueida, Jake Finnegan, Ryan Murphy, Steve Millicevich, Tim Rickabaugh, Bradley Rupert and Danny Weir. The Tennis Pros finished sixth, the team consisted of Doug Nelson, Fred Foote, Sanjeet Kamat, Ben Osborne, Eddie Pereira Jr., Pat Ponce, Dale Ramirez and Antonio Santiago. In the individual rankings this year; Sean Black started out the year as # 1 and held it through week # 2, James Johnson took over # 1 in week # 3 and held it through week # 7, in week # 8 Steve Duff took # 1 and held it for one week. In week # 9 Dan Weir took # 1 for one week. In week # 10 Steve Duff held # 1 until the end of Week # 13. In week # 14 Pete Asselin and Dexter Nigos held # 1 together through week # 15. After the first round of the playoffs Dexter Nigos took # 1 by himself. After the Championship Finals Steve Duff finished the year as # 1 and ended up the # 1 ranked golfer for the year. Yearlong individual honors went to Pete Asselin who was the SOLO CUP Champion for the year for the second year in a row. John Cupp was the runner-up. Pete Asselin broke the record for low gross score on Blue Rock – West, back nine, white tees with a 35 and Blue Rock East front nine, white tees with an even par 35. Josh Lundholm tied the runner-up record, low gross on Blue Rock – East front nine white tees. Nick Alexander and Pete Aselin tied the runner-up record for low gross score in the playoffs on Blue Rock West front nine. Nick Alexander made an Eagle two on the par four 4^th hole on Blue Rock west in the playoffs. In Post season play the two person scramble tournament was won by the team of Steve Duff and Jason Allen. The three club tournament was won by ???.The VGL completed another entire season and we look forward to another great season in 2024.     Mike Cook

 

 

2024 Highlights

Very limited activity again with the golf club this year, in fact we only held the Tom Stead – Bob Simonson Scramble at Rio Vista GC on Saturday, May 18th. The Tournament was set up by Ed Vegas, we had 20 players with some of them regulars from Rio Vista GC. We raised $ 680.00 for the American Heart Assoc. in Tom’s and Bob’s memory, total to date $ 10,854.00.

The 2024 Tom Stead-Bob Simonson Memorial Scramble with the two person scramble format and low net scores used was sponsored by Mike and Sandie Cook and held at Rio Vista GC on Saturday, May 18th starting at 10:00 am. Each player was asked to contribute $ 20.00 to the American Heart Association. We played on a very very windy day, temperature in the low 70’s. Play was thankfully again from the up front green tees which made it possible to reach some of the greens. The greens were in good shape, much better than last year, lots of birdies were made. In the first flight it was Cash Campbell and Glenn Campbell teaming up to win first place with a net score of 66 (4 birdies). Ed Vegas teamed up with Rio Vista regular Glen Hahn to take second place with a net 67 (4 birdies). Also finishing in second place was the team of Ron Chalmers and Dave D’ Arche with a net 67 (6 birdies). The Gene Richards and John Santa Maria team finished third with a net 68 (1 birdie), also in third place was the team of John Askin and Jim Rostec with a net 68 (5 birdies). The closest to the pins were expanded so The Valero Golfers and the Rio Vista Golfers had their own markers for CP’s. The Valero golfers closest to the pins went to Mike Cook and Rick Carr (with two), the Rio Vista golfers closest to the pins went to Gary Hahn, Gene Richards, John Askin and Ron Chalmers. Each Valero golfer received a sleeve of the Titleist PV1’s golf balls contributed by Mike and Sandie Cook. The Rio Vista golfers received Titleist AVX golf balls contributed by Ed Vegas. The first place team members split $80.00, second place $60.00, third place $40.00. Other teams that played; Carr-Hurst, Pearce-Yarbrough, Campbell-Cook, Devlin-Tegenkamp and Ament-Dye. Our thanks go out to Ed Vegas for setting up the tournament and arranging for reduced green fees for us and the Rio Vista golfers, a great group of guys. Thanks to some of the winning team members who gave back their prize money and added it to our donation, we raised a total $680.00, some of that coming from players that couldn’t attend, Floyd Duggins plus a generous contribution from Don Scribner, Rio Vista’s Ronald Auger and George Barlesi for the American Heart Association in Tom’s and Bob’s names. Total to date is now $10,854.00.

See Rio Vista Stats