Oct 10 & 17, 2012 Midweek Group - 2 Day Club Championship

Thanks to all of you for playing in our Midweek Group's Club Championship Tournament. It was a 2 round affair held on consecutive Wednesdays and concluded yesterday, October 17th. Both rounds were held under beautiful weather conditions with temps in the 70's, fair skies and little wind. The first round found the greens smooth and true with average speed but there was a big difference in the last round with the greens much faster.

Speed of the greens was no problem for Jim Coombs (85-85--170) who even chipped it in from a nasty spot on the hill left of #14 on his way to the Men's Low Gross title. Willard Hart backed up his torrid 62 first round with a nice 68 in the final on his way to a smooth 130 total to become the Men's Low Net Champion for 2012. Mike McKenna (68-65--133) and Leon Taylor (71-65--136) took second and third Low Net for the men.

For the ladies, Barbara Conerly's 195 and Marie Hart's147 took Low Gross and Low Net honors for this year's Championship.

In the closest to the pin contest, the winners were: Marie Hart, 3-10" at #5, Glen Kinion, 14'-6" at #8, Doug Swann, 5'-7" at #12 and Marie Hart, 2'-9" at #17.

9 players in the optional skins game accounted for only 7 skins as follows: Mike McKenna (#'s 5 & 12), Dave Springer (#'s 8 & 17), Myron Dahl @ #9, Ron McKenna @ #10, and Jim Coombs @ #14. Good Shootin' by all.

So, after all of that, the four winners of this year's Club Championship will be crowned at the Christmas Party planned for December 5th, and their names will be engraved on the perpetual trophies on display in the clubhouse foyer display case. Congratulations to all the winners and my personal thanks to all who competed. Great job!

Bob Thomas

Midweek Tournament Chair
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Oct 13 & 14, 2012 - Weekend - 2 Day Club Championship

Two days of perfect weather greeted all participants in this year’s Weekend Club Championship. Aside from the occasional wet spot that left a muddy residue on the golf ball, the course was in excellent shape as the greens had recovered nicely from the aerification that was performed in September. The format, as always for the Club Championship, was Gross Score/Net Score with both the Gross and Net Club Champions being crowned. Pairings for the second day of play were based on the net score from Saturday’s round where players with the lowest net scores teed off later in the round.

Leading after the first day was Greg Taca with a net 66. Other players at net even par or better after Saturday were: Mark Edgar (net 68); Dave Schutt (net 68); Dick Jones (net 68); Lonnie Podgorny (net 69); Bob Ruff (net 69); Bob Benefiel (net 71); and Glen Kinion (net 71). Competition on Sunday was stiff as the leaders saw themselves paired with their closest competitors. From what I can determine however, was that everyone behaved well as there were no reports of anyone yelling “Noonan!” in the middle of anyone’s backswing! As the dust settled on Sunday, a new Net Champion was crowned! Final Net results are as follows:

7th Place – Shawn Breakey (Net 74/71 = 145)

6th Place – Bryan Springer (Net 75/69 = 144)

5th Place – George Yanez (Net 77/66 = 143)

4th Place – Bob Ruff (Net 69/72 = 141)

3rd Place – Greg Taca (Net 66/73 = 139)

2nd Place – Dave Schutt (Net 68/70 = 138)

Net Club Champion – Dick Jones (Net 68/66 = 134)

Mr. 38-38-38-38 (Gross)

Competition for the Club Championship (Gross) was very close after the first day with only four strokes separating the top three competitors. Gross Score leaders after the first day were: Lonnie Podgorny (75); Bob Benefiel (76); and Bob Volk (79). In the end however, Bob Benefiel whose lucky number is “4”, prevailed after shooting nines of 38-38-38-38 for a Gross total of 152 to win the Championship for the fourth consecutive year!

It appeared that everyone enjoyed themselves this year as there were plenty of stories and laughter shared with each other in the clubhouse after the round! I can truthfully say that it is a pleasure to be associated with everyone in our fine club!

Other tournament results as follows:

Closest to the Pin (Saturday) – Hole #5 – Greg Taca 26’5”
Closest to the Pin (Saturday) – Hole #12 - Bob Benefiel 12’1”
Closest to the Pin (Sunday) – Hole #8 – Sean Breakey 31’6” (Who happened to beat out Bob Benefiel by 1 inch!! - I demand a re-measure!!)
Closest to the Pin (Sunday) – Hole #17 – Dave Springer 4’7” (Yes! Dave made the putt!)

Our next tournament will be the Turkey Shoot to be held on November 10. I hope to see all of us “old birds” and “young chicks” gather on that day!

Bob Benefiel
BCGC Weekend Tournament Chair

Bryan Springer Wins the 2012 Matchplay Championship



Bryan Springer - 2012 BCGC Matchplay Champion



2012 BCGC Match Play Championship Review

After a one year hiatus, the Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Club resumed its annual Match Play Championship in 2012. Sixteen players were seeded in the tournament, based on their March, 2012 tournament results. Matches took place over a span of five months, beginning in April, and ended with an exciting Finals match on August 11, 2012. During that five month span, seven of the total 15 matches went down to the final hole, or beyond, before the matches were decided. The Finals match pitted Bryan Springer, whose handicap index at the beginning of the year was 29.1 but had impressively improved (an obvious understatement!) to 17.0 at the time of the Finals match, against Lonnie Podgorny who entered the Finals match with a handicap index of 5.4. In case some of you haven’t played golf with Lonnie, he has arguably one of the best short games in the Sacramento Region. No matter what trouble he may be in, Lonnie is never out of a hole!

The first round of match play saw Kim Volk, an avid Giant’s fan, defeat Dave Springer, an equally avid Dodger’s fan, 8&7. During the match both wore outer wear displaying their respective team allegiances. Also in first round play, Bob Thomas beat Shawn Breakey 3&2; Bryan Springer beat Greg Leuterio 1-Up; Glen Kinion defeated Mark Edgar 2-Up; Dave Schutt defeated Bob Benefiel 5&4; Lonnie Podgorny beat Steve Ackly 2&1; Bob Volk defeated Tim Gudman 4&3; and Wayne Urbani beat George Yanez 1-Up on the 19th hole.

Second round matches saw Kim Volk beat Bob Thomas 5&3; Bryan Springer defeat Glen Kinion 2&1; Lonnie Podgorny beat Dave Schutt 6&5; and Wayne Urbani defeat Bob Volk 2-UP.

Both third round matches went down to the final hole before being decided. Kim Volk, who many in the club thought would go all the way to win the Match Play Championship, lost to Bryan Springer 1-Up. Wayne Urbani took Lonnie Podgorny to the 21st hole until Lonnie prevailed in the match 1-Up.

The Final Match between Bryan Springer and Lonnie Podgorny was held on Saturday, August 18, 2012. I can attest that it was an exciting match to watch. During the 18 hole finale, the lead changed SIX times! Lonnie won the first hole with a par to Bryan’s bogey, as Bryan did not stroke on that hole. The second hole was halved with Lonnie making par to Bryan’s net par. On hole #3, Bryan knocked in a 20 footer for a natural birdie to even the match against Lonnie’s par. On hole #4, Bryan took the lead (second lead change) with a net par to Lonnie’s bogey, after Lonnie hit an errant tee shot. Hole #5 was halved with 4’s. On hole #6, Lonnie got the match back to square with a par to Bryan’s net 5. Bryan again took the lead (third lead change) on hole #7 with a par, net birdie, to Lonnie’s par, after lagging from 40 ft. with a down-hill curling putt that finished close to the hole. Bryan extended his lead to 2-up on #8 with a par, net birdie, to Lonnie’s par. That only seemed to get Lonnie fired-up! On #9, Lonnie stuck his approach shot to within one foot for a “kick-in” birdie, which tightened the match to Bryan being 1-up after the front nine. Gross scores for both players were: Lonnie – 37; Bryan – 42. Great golf on the front nine!

The back nine began on #10 with Lonnie again hitting his approach shot to “kick-in” range for back-to-back natural birds and getting the match back to ALL-SQUARE. On hole #11, Lonnie made par to Bryan’s bogey to take the lead (fourth lead change) at 1-up. On hole #12, Bryan made a great scrambling par, knocking in a 20 footer for net birdie against Lonnie’s par to, again, get the match to all-square. On hole #13, Bryan ran into trouble off the tee. After Lonnie hit his approach shot close to the hole, Bryan conceded Lonnie’s birdie putt with Lonnie taking the lead (fifth lead change) at 1-up. On the 14th hole, each player made an easy par with Bryan getting the match back to all-square with a net birdie. The difficult 15th was halved with Lonnie’s bogey against Bryan’s net bogey. On hole #16, Bryan took the lead again (sixth lead change) with a net birdie to Lonnie’s par. Hole #17 was halved with pars after Lonnie knocked in a tricky five foot comebacker, a result of Lonnie going for his birdie from 12 feet to try to square the match. As Lonnie stood on the tee at #18, he knew he had to “go for it” as Bryan was 1-up, as well this being a stroke hole for him. Lonnie tried to take a straight line to the hole, but the tee shot got away from him and ended up in the water. Regardless, after taking a drop, Lonnie hit his approach shot to the green from 200 yards and still had an opportunity to save par. After playing his tee shot safely to the right side, Bryan coolly laid up his second shot, giving him a fairly safe approach shot to the green, which he hit to within 18 feet. Bryan calmly knocked in the 18 footer for net birdie to win the match 2-up. Both players had a terrific round. Gross scores on the back nine were; Lonnie – 35 (gross 72); Bryan – 42 (gross 84). It was a very enjoyable round to watch. Congratulations to both players for making it so competitive, and congratulations to Bryan for being the 2012 BCGC Match Play Champion!

Bob Benefiel
BCGC Weekend Tournament Chair

Aug 15, 2012 - Midweek Group - Individual Stroke Play, Flights

 Thanks to all of you for coming out for the August weekday tournament. The course was in great shape and trying to get it better yet with concentrated efforts to water and treat the few dry spots left around the course. Tee boxes were dressed up with new boxes for broken tees too. Add to all of this a beautiful day which turned out to be the coolest all week as our 19 members sped around the course in record time (for us!)

In the Women's flight, Shirley Johnson and Barbara Conerly tied with a net 68 which Shirley won after a back nine tie-breaker.

The Men's 'A' flight was won by Dick Carlsen with a sweet 37-38/75, net 65. Bob Benefiel, taking a break from his duties as our Weekend TC, joined our group and took second place with a 73 net 68. Dave Springer (net 69) and Jim Coombs (after a net 70 and a 3-way tie breaker) rounded out the leader board.

Finally, Will Hart (46-39/85, net 62) was the class of the Men's 'B' group. John Hawck and Bob Thomas both shot net 64 with John edging Bob after a back nine tie-breaker. And Mike McKenna's net 66 filled out that flight's leader board.

Closet to the Pin:  Dick Jones won both of the CTP's: 53'0" at #12 and 12'7" at #17.

Nine members played in the optional Skins game with Ron McKenna taking three skins, Kinion and Thomas 2 each and Jones and Sperling one each.

Looking ahead, our next tournament will be September 19th, to be followed quickly by our two-round Club Championship waged October 10th and 17th. All 3 of these will be starting later than recently at 8:57 am. Hope to see you there.

Robert & Sherrie Thomas

Midweek Tournament Chair

August 11, 2012 - Weekend Group - Individual Net and NCGA Net Amateur Qualifying

Bob Benefiel congratulating Mark Edgar, the NCGA Net Am Qualifer

On Saturday, August 11th, everyone prepared for a warm, hotly-competitive day. The temperature was 105*, and Mark Edgar was even hotter than that! In fact, on the back nine, he was on fire! Yes, Mark Edgar blew away the field in the NCGA Net Amateur Qualifier “fire-ing” a second-best-ever 74 from the Gold Tees, which included a sub-par 34 on the back nine!! Mark’s net score was a scorching 61!! After the round, Mark’s playing partners; Lonnie Podgorny, Wayne Urbani and George Yanez were complaining more about losing their regular “Rabbit” game to Mark than they were about the heat! Mark now goes on to Sectional Qualifying on September 13. Good luck Mark! By the way, Mark credits much of his recent success on the acquisition of an old, late ‘40’s early ‘50’s sand wedge. Have him show it to you sometime!

Bryan Springer, Dave Spring and Greg Taca

Mark’s closest competitor in the regular net competition was Greg Taca who shot an 81 (net 66) for second place. Third place went to Greg Leuterio with an 83 (net 68). Fourth place went to new member Tim Ramirez who shot 80 (net 72). Welcome to the club, Tim! Considering the number of birdie opportunities you had, I suspect that next time you’ll enter our side skins game! There was a tie for fifth place between Bryan Springer with a 91 (net 73) and Dick Jones 87 (net 73), however, Bryan’s lower back nine net score proved to be the tie-breaker. Bryan, by the way, is our Player of the Year point leader with 1,930 points-to-date.

Dick Jones, Rim ramirez, Bob Benefield and Greg Leuterio

Other tournament results:

Closest to Pin #8 – Greg Taca @ 12’7”
Closest to Pin #17 – Lonny Podgorny @ 10’5”


Lonnie Podgorny chasing Rabbits

Our next tournament is scheduled for Saturday, September 8th. Format will be Front-nine Net, Back-nine Net, and Total Putts. Prizes will be awarded for each category. Player-of-the-year points will be awarded based on a total of all three categories. Hope to see you all there on the 8th of September,

Bob Benefiel

Weekend Tournament Chair

July 18, 2012 - Midweek - Net Tournament

Our Wednesday, July 18th tournament was held under clear, calm skies and mild temperatures. The Bartley Cavanaugh course was in great shape, the best this year. Fairways were responding to added water and punching the dry spots, most of which have greened up. The greens were fast and true. A great day for golf!

Marie Hart led the women with a net 69, followed by Jean Chong (71) and Barbara Conely (75). Doug Swann shot his lowest tournament round ever, a beautiful 42-36/78 (net 64) to win the men's A flight. He was chased by Haruo Makimoto (69) and Richard Carlsen (71).

Finally, Bob Thomas led the Men's B flight with a net 62 ahead of Ron McKenna's net 65 and Glen Kinion's 68. This was Bob's best ever tournament round also.

In the optional skins game, 6 contestants scored 9 skins as follows: McKenna, 3; Thomas and Hart, 2 each; and Kinion and Schutt, 2 apiece.

Looking ahead, the next event for the midweek group is scheduled for 8:03 am on the 15th of August. I hope to see a big crowd out there for another flighted, individual stroke play tournament.

Bob Thomas
Midweek Tournament Chair

July 7, 2012 - Weekend Group - 7-5-3-1

Even though we played early enough to beat most of the heat, Saturday, July 7 was a hot day and a number of BCGC players were “HOT” as well! The tournament format was 7-5-3-1 (played within the foursome), with 7 points awarded on an individual basis to the low net score per hole, 5 points for second, 3 points for third, etc. A total of 15 players participated in the tournament which was comprised of three foursomes and one threesome.

The player who most dominated their foursome was Bob Volk, who shot a gross 79 and scored 93 points! Other winners within their respective groups were: Dave Springer, who posted consistent nines of 44/44 and earned 80 points; new member Greg Taca who shot his best-round-ever at Bartley with a gross 79! Welcome to BCGC Greg!; and Greg Leuterio, who shot a sizzling 78 gross (29 net on the front nine) and is coming off an outstanding win in Monterey in the Sacramento Zone with his teammates (Dave Schutt, Bob Ruff & Shawn Breakey).

I also want to pass along a Weekend welcome to Jean Chong! Jean normally plays in the BCGC Weekday events and decided to play with us on Saturday. I hope to see Jean at future Weekend tournaments. FYI –Jean is deadly on any putt outside of 10 feet!

I don’t typically report on our results from our side Skins game, however, on Saturday there was a “first”! Yes, I have been running the Skins game for six months now and, for the first time, I won a Skin! Lookout folks, I’m no longer just donating to the pot!! My financial advisor, Michael DePhilippis, (who happens to be my son-in-law, and is a fellow BCGC member) would tell me that I have not had a very good return on investment!

Other tournament results:

Closest to Pin #5 – Kim Volk @ 25’6”. Kim, by the way, is one of four semi-finalists in the Club’s Match Play Championship. Word is going around the club that she may be the one to beat!

Closest to Pin #12 – Lonny Podgorny @ 15’7”. Lonny beat out yours truly by one foot, six-and-a-half inches. I demand a re-measure!!

Our next tournament is scheduled for Saturday, August 11. Format will be Individual Stroke Play, Net. The NCGA Net Amateur qualifier is that day as well. Entry into the qualifier is optional. Hope to see you on the 11th!

Bob Benefiel

Weekend Tournament Chair