2019: That’s all she wrote folks. They say success is not given; it is earned. Well, that’s the way Sierra Golf Club feels about our golf season. SGC proudly commends not one but every member for their continuous support to make another enjoyable and successful summer season.

One golfer was saying after a winning a round, “Winning feels less of interest to me but who you beat.”

You well know that you cannot be sulking in the corner for a long time, you must go out there and have your day in the sun.

Stay healthy and see you all next summer.

Bah……humbug. Finito. Terminado. Tapos. Kkeutmachin. Banhcho. All in the books. What can I say? Round 25 at Lakeridge golf course at a cool twenty degrees Celsius ended SGC’s season for twenty-eight players last Sunday. Amazing how summer just went by like that. SGC felt glad that membership was up this year and proud of new recruits not only they could play golf but SGC likened the idea of them blending nicely to the rest of the members because of their subtle but reasonably wholesome demeanor off and on the golf course. Not to forget that every SGC member wholeheartedly welcomed every one of them with open arms. Nice going folks.

I don’t know about you, but these members listed below equally demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice their own little time to get SGC organization reaching its goals and aspiration year in and year out. High admiration to all of you. Special mention to ex-member Ed Peñas from whom SGC got its handicapping program and support. Thank you all.

From L to R: Jojo Dizon, Bingoy Peña, Rey Plaza, Joey Cruz and Ed Peñas.

Yes, after twenty-four rounds with one cancellation SGC proudly presents and declares the final winners for this summer past time.

A sophomore member proved that nothing’s wrong with stealing most of the tournament accolades offered this year and winning the POY in a thrilling fashion and the closest win by far at any account. Steve Kim before last Sunday play was trailing Dave Nelson by huge eight POY strokes came from behind to grab the coveted trophy by a hair of a margin of one stroke with a super net scorecard of 67 at a difficult golf course. Mind you, Dave Nelson was leading the POY race for four straight weeks prior which was not an easy thing to accomplish. Going back to Steve, let’s see what else he won: Day prize because of that net 67; grabbed another major trophy as a runaway favorite of MIP (Most Improved Player); Super Series huge, huge first prize; Nassau front nine and total net. Not convinced yet? He’s got to be looking forward to next year, isn’t he?

SPOY (Senior Player of the Year): Seniors up. Seho Oh who gruntled that Lakeridge golf course was not one of his favorite golf courses hung on to the lead and shared the SPOY trophy with who else, Joey Cruz. Joey was bragging about winning a hat-trick for this award. Yes, Joey won it in the last three years. Playing golf consistently paid handsomely, did it not?

The ever turning back the hands of time Mar DeVeyra seized the Nassau back nine convincingly. Mar keeps on ticking and keeps on going.

Par 3 closest to the pin contest: Erland Ibañez who just missed by a chinny chin chin to get an ace a week ago, fired another super shot on the difficult wind and water infested seventeenth hole. Bert Cerrudo won the third hole.

From L to R: Erlan Ibañez, Bert Cerrudo

Month 5 winner: Manny Marquez who volunteered to back up Joey Cruz for calculating handicaps next year, remained unseated for the lead of best three net scores of the month with 203. Bingoy Peña’s 198 still holds the lowest recorded score that was set in 2017.

Was it a bird? No, it was an eagle. Jimmy Manguerra eagled the sixteenth par 5 hole. It was his fourth eagle of the summer. Jimmy also won the “Best Grossser” of the year award, his eleventh in the past thirteen years.

We got a delicious treat from a hard-hitting ball member, Jess Velarde for providing food that warmed our hearts and stomachs in a cool day after our round. Thank you.

Looking back: On June 29, 2019 SGC won the 2019 GTA Interleague Tournament Championship.

See you at the awards/banquet night.

Not much to talk about last Sunday except for the fun of playing the Blind Partner contest. Weather wise, there was a treat of looming rainfall as it was getting dark during SGC’s twenty-fourth round of golf of the season at Kingsforest Golf Club. Although the rain never materialized, it was on the cooler side of temps at only sixteen degrees Celsius for the thirty players that showed up and played while the skies cleared up. It was an enjoyable experience for new SGC members as the Blind Partner contest finally happened with a light dinner complete with drinks after the round. To win this contest, a partnership by two players selected through a random raffle must have the lowest total net score of the round. Top three win a prize. Here are the lucky pairs that won prizes:

From L to R: Fred Bataclan, Lina Mayo, Joey Cruz, Jess Velarde, Bert Cerrudo, Ron Wilson

Nassau corner contest: The seldom to play member Ross Bautista with a net score of 32 captured the front nine. Back nine and total net score was won by Bert Cerrudo with net score of 31 and 65 respectively.

From L to R: Ross Bautista, Bert Cerrudo

Closest to the pin contest: The ever happy go lucky guy Steve Kim fired a perfect shot at the fourteenth par 3 hole while Bert Cerrudo won the seventh.

From L to R: Steve Kim, Bert Cerrudo

For the major contest updates, please check the scores and standing on our web site. Good luck to all contenders.

There was a suggestion of moving the Grand Finals contest back to its original slot in the schedule – being in the last two rounds. Members were talking about that there was not much excitement at the end of our season as the Grand Finals was held a month earlier due to unpredictable fall weather conditions.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A real trooper SGC member is somewhat in a little bit of quandary because of health issues. In behalf of SGC and its members we would like to see you get better and to see you soon playing golf again. Ditto also for other members who are still recuperating and having other issues in life.

A perfect timing to play a round of golf last Sunday at Carlisle Golf and Country Club. At twenty-seven degrees Celsius, a good number of players showed up to play – thirty players plus three guests. It may be a little early, but one of these guests by the name of Phillip Javier, a Mississaugan applied to join SGC next year. One other guest showing a likelihood of joining as well. At any rate, SGC gladly welcomes them no matter what. Winding down to two more rounds of play, the most pressing question is, who will win the coveted awards with only one award seems to be a sure thing.

As we are all battling time and decline, we tend to slow down physically and mentally. It seems that this member, Rey Macapagal does not believe on all these things. Not yet. With a wonderful performance last Sunday, finishing one shot better than his closest pursuer Manny Marquez. ReyMac as we call him carded the lowest net score of the day with a 63. He merited himself by winning the twenty-third day prize as well as the Nassau total net.

Other Nassau corner winners: Both Rey Macapagal and Rey Plaza took charge on the front nine with sparkling net score of 30. Following his wins in the last two weeks, Manny Marquez won his third in a row sharing the back nine with Ron Wilson, his second in a row. Both gentlemen signed a net scorecard of 32.

From L to R: Rey Macapagal, Rey Plaza, Manny Marquez, Ron Wilson

Major updates: Barring something unforeseen happens, Dave Nelson can hold the trophy high. He still leads the POY race for four weeks in a row holding a ten-shot advantage over Steve Kim and Joey Cruz heading into the final two days of competition. Seho Oh who is in the heart-attack territory because of the tight SPOY race, leads by meager two strokes over Exe Navarette. Interestingly five players are within six strokes to win it all. In the MIP race, Steve Kim still finishes in sole possession of the lead by 0.0310 points over Julio Rodriguez.

From L to R: Dave Nelson, Seho Oh, Steve Kim

Closest to the pin contest: Erland Ibañez who was glowering with dissatisfaction, almost captured the near miss hole-in-one on his shot on par 3 fourth hole. He claimed that it was only inches away to claim the ace. Manny Marquez won the confidence he needed to re-engage by winning a lot lately, got the perfect shot on seventh hole.

From L to R: Erland Ibañez, Manny Marquez

ANNOUNCEMENT: Blind Partner contest this Sunday at Kingsforest. Held once every summer, it is mandatory entry for all members playing a round for that day. A no or incomplete score submitted by a member or a disqualification in a round, that member is taken out of partnership pool and out of the contest. No refund. Top three couples with total lowest net scores win a prize. A light dinner follows the round courtesy of SGC. As SGC recommends to members, please try not to have guest on this day.

Please confirm your attendance to the awards/banquet night if you have not done it yet to either Rey Plaza or Joey Cruz.

Cheers to SGC members who excelled in the 2019 GTA Interleague golf event. They brought with them the 2019 GTA championship trophy. Kudos also to those other members who participated in the event who played and represented SGC exceptionally well.

None of the twenty-five players plus two guests signed a scorecard in the net 60s, ever wondered why? Why it was Lakeridge. A challenging golf course indeed. But somebody or somebodies would win it regardless, wouldn’t you think so? A bit of shower irritably fell during the round at cool nineteen degrees Celsius but ultimately stopped and got a little bit warmer at the back nine. A lot of players were so disappointed after they found out after finishing their round that Lakeridge’s canteen, restroom and the pro shop were all closed. Not too many players booked for that day because of the rain.

Another team of first timers eventually won last Sunday making them the tenth new winners and the fifth time to share the day prize. This time around, the effervescent JC Montilla had the big hitting Ed Ilao settled for a joint day prize winner with a hard-earned net score of 71. Scoring was so close that these two gentlemen were amongst six people winning something that day. Deservingly, JC and Ed also captured the Nassau total net score.

Other Nassau corner winners: Most of the players could attest that the back nine on this golf course was a lot harder than the front. So, hats off to Steve Kim and Ron Wilson who both landed with both net score of 34 to seize the back nine. Manny Marquez with a streak of winning two in a row grabbed the front nine with Bert Cerrudo. Both signing a net scorecard of 33.

From L to R: Steve Kim, Ron Wilson, Manny Marquez, Bert Cerrudo

How about Julio Rodriguez winning both par 3s, the seventh and the seventeenth? There was a little controversy about this one as there was a mixed up of what two holes were to be contested. As a matter of fact, all par 3s had all closest to the pin markers and that was when the confusion started. Anyway, decision was made, and Julio’s winning shots stood.

Major contest updates: Dave Nelson maintains his lead in the POY race with ten-shot cushion over two second placers, Joey Cruz and Exe Navarette. Seho Oh keeps his lead in the SPOY race with the slimmest of margins over Exe Navarette by mere two strokes. Steve Kim’s lead over Julio Rodriguez in the MIP race has jumped up to 0.0384. So, after the twenty-second round with three rounds to go, same leaders held on to their lead for three weeks in a row.

From L to R: Dave Nelson, Seho Oh, Steve KIm

ANNOUNCEMENT: A message to members playing the Blind Partner event at Kingsforest after this Sunday at Carlisle, please adhere to SGC’s plea not to have any guest for this particular event. A light dinner after the round is in the offing compliments of SGC.

For those of you who are not committed yet to attend the awards/banquet night, please do so by contacting Rey Plaza or Joey Cruz.

In the cooler side of temps at eighteen degrees Celsius, it was an ideal atmosphere to play golf for twenty-two players at the twenty-first round of the summer season. Four more rounds to go and we all go on separate ways for the old man winter. SGC is conducting this Sunday a list of banquet night attendees to be held on a Saturday, October 12, 2019. We recommend to all to attend this gala at no cost to you with your preferred partner to enjoy and harness the award festivities.

One of the feel-good stories happened last Sunday. Early part of the 2019 season had been a bit disjointed season when the results had been few and far between for this member. After a quick turnaround seeking redemption by breaking through with his first day win, Manny Marquez finishing hard earned shot better than two others with a net score of 67 at Glen Cedars. Although he outgunned everybody in the field by claiming the Nassau total net as well, Manny was saying after the round not much of himself, but he was more of paying complimentary acclaims to other members of his group. How about that display of humility and modesty? I salute you, Sir! Keep it contagious for the rest of us.

Other Nassau corner winners: Rey Macapagal, Manny Marquez & JC Montilla, capped off a front-nine 32 net score to land a three-way tie while another share on the back nine was captivated by ‘Mr. Original’ Mar DeVeyra & the go for broke Jess Velarde with a praiseworthy net score of 33.

From L to R: Rey Macapagal, Manny Marquez, JC Montilla, Mar DeVeyra, Jess Velarde

Closest to the pin contest: The ever-quiet Jun Paculaba fired a precise shot on the par 3 5^th hole and almost beat out Jess Velarde on the 16^th hole. Jess ten-footer shot to the pin never got contested by other players.

From L to R: Jun Paculaba, Jess Velarde

Major contest updates: Dave Nelson appears to be the runaway favorite to win the POY contest. He continues to lead for three weeks in a row now by 11 strokes with only four games to go over his closest pursuers Exe Navarette and Julio Rodriguez. Seho Oh sits 2 strokes clear of Exe Navarette in the SPOY race. Steve Kim who was an absentee last week, may claim the title of MIP if the season ends now. He still sits atop the MIP atop the leader board over Julio Rodriguez by 0.0284 points.

From L to R: Dave Nelson, Seho Oh, Steve KIm

ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to circumstance we could not control, round 25 at Kaneff’s Masters golf course on October the 6^th was cancelled and replaced by Lakeridge golf course. For more details please check SGC Schedule posted on the website.

At twenty-two degrees Celsius with slimmest of shower falling in the middle of the round, twenty-five players were aspiring for a good round of golf for it was the end of the month at Kingsforest golf course last Sunday. Temperature at this time of year reminds us that September is here expect cooler temps plus the daylight gets shorter and shorter. Well, as the saying goes – “Time flies when you’re having fun”. Five more weeks of playing golf and our summer pastime will be over. We worry about that later and in the meantime enjoy whatever we can.

When you are lackadaisical, the golf game is cruel. Dave Nelson was not thinking about that. He made sure that he was spot on with his game because plenty of prizes at stake riding on a single game. For most players, it was a deciding factor to make or break. Dave Nelson did make it, convincingly signing a scorecard with a net score of 69. Let’s see what a net score of 69 could do. He topped four others for the best four finishers to win Super Series 4 contest. That was two in a row for him as he also won Super Series 3 a month ago. A week before last, Dave with a net score of 70 for third place was one of five players expecting to win the Grand Finals. While others fizzled and with that virtuoso net-69 performance last Sunday at Kingsforest, he accumulated an aggregate score of 139 to capture the Grand Finals championship. With no one else matching his sparkling performance for the day, Dave won the day prize as well. Surprisingly enough this was the first time he won the day prize. Let me see, he won the day prize, Super Series 4, & the Grand Finals. Not bad take for a day, was it?

In the Nassau corners department, Seho Oh captured the front nine with a net score of 33 while the back nine going to Rey Macapagal with a net score of 32. Nassau total net score of 70 was shared by Ross Bautista and Julio Rodriguez.

From L to R: Seho Oh, Rey Macapagal, Ross Bautista, Julio Rodriguez

Major contest updates: Dave Nelson still leads the POY race for the second week with smashing ten strokes over the second placer Joey Cruz. Seho Oh became a solo leader in the POY contest after last Sunday over Joey Cruz by meager three strokes. A new leader emerged after Steve Kim just registered his fifteenth game of the season. Steve leads Jun Paculaba by a whopping 0.0461 points.

Fro L to R: Dave Nelson, Seho Oh, Steve Kim

Closest to the pin contest: Steve Kim was one of only two players that made it to the par 3 seventh hole green but his shot was closer than Exe Navarette’s. Jojo Dizon’s shot on the par 3 fourteenth hole awarded himself the prize for his effort.

From L to R: Steve Kim, Jojo Dizon

Month 4 Contest: Even without playing for the last two rounds of the month, nobody but nobody could still get passed the best three net scores of 201 recorded earlier in the month by Manny Chea. He won by three strokes over his closest pursuer, Steve Kim. By the way, the record was set by Bingoy Peña a year ago with aggregate score of 198.

ANNOUNCEMENT: For those playing next Sunday at Glen Cedars, tee off time is at 1:40 o’clock PM.

Kaneff’s evil euphoria did it again to SGC. How come did you ask? SGC booked at least six rounds of golf to four Kaneff courses for this year. As a matter of fact, the bookings were made earlier this year way back in January as it opened its booking office then. Kaneff management had a history of changing booked sched often getting us off guard every time SGC were about to play one of these venues. Well, it happened again Sunday. Management frustratingly moved an hour back our tee off time and let our thirty-one players join another turtle pace playing group to a shotgun start at last Sunday’s tournament at Royal Ontario golf course. Not only that mind you, we had a tournament at this very same venue on May 12^th that was cancelled due to inclement weather, so they issued us rain checks to compensate for that unfortunate situation. Guessed what, when the members tried to use those rain checks they were told that those rain checks could not be honored in a tournament………….from the same tournament that was cancelled? Perplexing and very unbecoming. The only thing that was happening good that day was the twenty-three-degree Celsius weather. We are going to say goodbye to all Kaneff golf courses next year. It is sacramentally unbelievable the way they maltreated us. Kaneff, we hope you are reading this.

Moving on. How about this, two renaissance senior members who got it together capped off their rounds with Nassau corners front-nine net 32 and total net 68 scores. The unflappable “I’m still here guys” Sennix Bontigao and master tactician Exe Navarette both shared that identical net scores to win those two Nassau corners and the day prize as well. This was a second day prize crown for Exe Navarette making him the seventh multiple winner for the year. Sennix Bontigao on the other hand, gave a performance of his life on a challenging golf course capturing his first win of the year.

Other Nassau corner winners: This was the first time ever to happen as five players with a coincidental net of 36 shared the back nine win: Sennix Bontigao, Mar DeVeyra, Exe Navarette, Seho Oh, & Julio Rodriguez. Wasn’t that remarkable how it played out? Whether you like it or not, both Sennix & Exe swept all Nassau corners. 

From L to R: Sennix Bontigao, Mar DeVeyra, Exe Navarette, Seho Oh, Julio Rodriguez

Accuracy shot department: The smooth swinging Dave Nelson got it closest than anybody else on the par 3 eight hole while Jimmy Manguerra couldn’t be satisfied without winning anything going home captured the eleventh hole.

From L to R: Dave Nelson, Jimmy Manguerra

After last Sunday’s nineteenth round, here are the top five favorite candidates to win next Sunday’s Grand Finals:

Sennix Bontigao (68)

Exe Navarette (68)

Dave Nelson (70)

Ray Macapagal (72)

Seho Oh (72).

For complete results please refer to  Round 16 to 20.

Major contest updates: We have a new leader in the POY contest. Dave Nelson climbed up the leaderboard upon reaching fifteen games and now leads last week’s leader Joey Cruz by two meager strokes. Seho Oh now co-leads Joey Cruz in the SPOY contest. In the MIP race, a new leader also showed up. Jun Paculaba entering his fifteenth game of the season to qualify, leads Exe Navarette by 0.0016 points while last week’s leader Joey Cruz fell back to sixth. Now I could see how flaky this game of golf was after only a week Joey lost all the lead except SPOY in which he co-leads. Manny Chea still holds a three-shot advantage heading into the final round of the Month 4 race next week over Steve Kim.

From L to R: Dave Nelson, Joey Cruz, Seho Oh, Jun Paculaba, Manny Chea

Food for thought: One member of ours let his promising daughter more than once to play with us this year. It is a breath of fresh air scene to watch as father and daughter who are both soft spoken demonstrating they can also play golf. Hopefully, SGC can entice more women golfers to our league and the entire GTA Interleague event for a start. It needs a lot of labor of thoughtful interest among members and real commitment to support the idea. SGC sees no gender restriction if an individual has a passion for the game of golf at all. At any rate regarding a co-ed related golf sport, we welcome SGC’s lone female member, Lina Mayo who just came back for her first game after a shoulder injury. Nice to see her playing again then she’s off again for a 14-day vacay. Enjoy.

Congratulations to the winners. Wish you good luck to Month 4, Grand Finals, & Super Series 4 contests next week.