Howie Tiger
On Thursday and Friday, April 23 and 24, the PebbleCreek Men’s Golf Association held the competition portion of its twentieth annual Member/Guest Tournament. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” The same overall winners in 2013 earned the 2015 overall titles. James Thompson and Duey Gililland won the traditional title and Bob Millikan and Kermit Reich took the match-play title.
The traditional format consisted of two 18 hole stroke play rounds. The first day was a two-man one net best ball. The second day was a two-man net aggregate where every shot counted. There were three flights in this format.
The match-play format consisted of five nine hole matches. There were three groups within each of the three flights. Each group consisted of six two-man teams. Every team played against each of the other five teams in their respective group. A point was awarded for each hole won. Highest number of accumulated points for all five matches wins their group.
Traditional Flight Winners
Flight 1: 1st place James Seith/Chuck Hagen; 2nd place Bill Walenda/Dave Marzullo; 3rd place Ken Sisemore/Rick Tate
Flight 2: 1st place James Thompson/Duey Gililland; 2nd place Doug Goodin/Wes Goodin; 3rd place George Brown/Josh Barclay
Flight 3: 1st place Mack Johnson/Charles Brewer; 2nd place – Rodney Suttles/Theodore Glover; 3rd place Ken Feather/Billy Ward
Match-Play Group Winners
Flight 1: Group A Bob Millikan/Kermit Reich; Group B Jack Schafer/Tom Mairs; Group C Cort Wyss/Bob Hubert
Flight 2: Group A Kelly Schunke/Paul Schwartz; Group B Jack Stipp/Paul Littledale; Group C Mike DerManual/Ryann Roberts
Flight 3: Group A Ray Catalano/Gary Kirkman; Group B John Pugsley/Tony Ratanaproeska; Group C Bob Williams/Joe Ortlof
Once all of the flight/group winners were identified a playoff was conducted to determine the overall winners for each format. The playoffs took place on the putting greens at Tuscany Falls in front of a sizeable crowd.
The three traditional flight winners competed first on the upper putting green. The test was to hole out in the least number of strokes with a chip/putt from a distance of 100 feet. One team was eliminated after each round until only one team remained. Ronnie Decker and Dave Vader conducted this playoff.
Congratulations to James Thompson and Duey Gililland for winning the traditional format title!
The nine match-play group winners then competed on the lower putting green. The test was to hole out in the least number of strokes with a chip/putt from a distance of 150 feet. Three teams competed at a time to identify the three flight winners. Bill Barnard and Jason Whitehill conducted this playoff.
The three flight winners, Bob Millikan and Kermit Reich, Mike DerManual and Ryann Roberts and Bob Williams and Joe Ortlof, then competed for the overall match-play title. Mike and Ryann were eliminated after the first round. The second round ended in a tie, so the excitement grew as the crowd waited for a chip-off. The challenge was a 90 foot chip with a severe right to left break. Bob Williams went first and hit a great shot that was about six feet from the hole. Bob Millikan stepped up, hit the chip briskly and in a fitting way to end the tourney, the ball hit the flagstick and dropped in to win the overall match-play title. The crowd went wild!
Congratulations to Bob Millikan and Kermit Reich for winning the match-play format title!
We want to thank Paul McGinnis and his greenskeeper staff for excellent playing conditions. As always, thanks to the Food & Beverage staff and managers for all of their efforts. Thanks to Bill Barnard, Jason Whitehill, Ronnie Decker and Dave Vader for all they do for our events.
Many, many thanks to all the folks who volunteered (registration, hole monitors, skills challenge etc.). We could not do it without you!
This event probably requires the most planning and coordination of all events held by the PCMGA. It is the VP’s main job to make this happen. Thanks to Jerry Treece and his many assistants (too many to list here!) for making this event such a success.