Here we were again folks. Monday through Saturday came without any hitch as far as inclement weather was concerned. But mother nature came haunting us at last Sunday’s round thirteen at Woodington Lake golf course with a brief thunderstorm packaged with threatening lightning. It got twenty players running for cover and unfortunately, only fourteen players selectively stayed and finished their respective rounds. The bright side of it all was, the presence of slim daylight when the last group finished the round. SGC played this golf venue way back in 2006. SGC asked almost every player who showed up what they thought about giving this golf course another shot in our schedule for next year. The consensus was actually pretty good even taking the account the time of travel to get to this location as it was a little bit farther away. Maybe we should play this course three times next year?

We have a first-time winner in Bingoy Peña. It was truly long time coming as he won the Nassau front with a net score of 32. Everyone was kidding about the blinding, glaring bright Ping Eye 2 iron set that he used. They looked like as if they were the set used by Goldfinger. Bert Cerrudo took the back nine as well as the total net score. Bong Munson was one of three players carding net score in the high 60s with posted round of 68 tying Bingoy for second overall.

Closest to the pin contest: Ron Protacio nearly got both par 3s won but he only ended winning hole number 3. Bert C. won the sixteenth hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Race to POY and SPOY still led by Mr. Consistent, Joey Cruz. To add to his repertoire, MIP award was not that far fetched either.

SGC appreciates the effort of Bong Munson for designing and handing each member a laminated SGC membership name tag. Beautifully done.

No rain. No disturbance. No interruption whatsoever from mother nature at last Sunday’s round 12 at Kingsforest. Merci beaucoup. With the sun beaming brightly at twenty-two players that showed up and played, we had all afternoon long with a slight breeze coming from the Hamilton peninsula at twenty-six degrees Celsius. All we gotta do was play and play good. Whaaat? Play good? This golf course somewhat got the best of us a lot of times. It was playing long and hard as indicated by high scores presented by the maddening crowd. A number of players were sighing grief about the slowness of putting greens. Good turn out by members as weather phenomena turning out to be in golfer’s favour………finally. It was not an ideal situation getting to the golf course as QEW traffic was quite heavy and infuriating at around noontime. This was the first time that SGC ever travelled to Hamilton at this time of day. Was it because of the tee off time change from AM to PM or Niagara had casino specials over the weekend?

Golf results: Mar Deveyra & Jojo Dizon carded the same net score of 71. Tying them for the day’s prize and of course the Nassau total net score. Bong Munson garnered himself another win by capturing Nassau front while our consistent always in the payroll every week member – Julio Rodriguez grabbed the back nine. Mind you, to add to his collection of “what more could you give me” moment, Julio also shot an eagle at the par 5 hole number four.

 

 

 

 

 

Closest to the pin contest: Seho Oh who we had not heard from for quite some time now, shot the closest at hole number 7 while Ed Ilao seized hole fourteenth.

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to the winners. Mucho abrigado to Ross Bautista for the round of drinks and food he provided. Remember his hole-in-one two weeks ago at Glen Cedars?

Announcement: For this Sunday’s round 13 at Woodington Lake, SGC contacted the golf course about certain holes having environmental areas setting. This is what they say: (SGC will once again confirm this situation when we get there)
1. Signs are posted around EA (environmental areas)
2. One stroke penalty if your ball enters EA.
3. Drop area is also available.
4. No entry to EA.

Additional info: I was checking their web site and these were the holes mentioned with EA: 5, 6, 8, 13, 14, & 15. You could help yourself by researching/asking them as well.

Please check the directions below of how to get to Woodington Lake. We are playing the Legend Course.

Address: 7110 4 Line, Tottenham ON L0G 1W0
Phone: 905-936-4343

From Toronto (East/ Central)
From Hwy. 401, take Hwy. 400 north for approx. 30 min.
Get off at Hwy. 9 (Orangeville / Newmarket exit)
Turn west (left) on Hwy. 9
Travel 17 km west on Hwy. 9
Turn north (right) on Tottenham Rd.
Proceed to Mill St. (second lights, 5 km north of Hwy. 9)
Turn west (left) on Mill St.
Travel 1.5 km west to Woodington Lake (7110 Mill St.)

From the Westend/Mississauga/Etobicoke
Take Hwy. 427 north to Hwy. 7 (end of Hwy. 427)
Turn west (left) on Hwy. 7 and travel 0.5 km to Hwy. 50
Turn north (right) on Hwy. 50
Proceed north for approx. 30 min. (through the communities of Bolton and Palgrave)  to Hwy. 9
Turn east (right) on Hwy. 9
Travel Hwy. 9 for 2.5 km to “Adjala-Tecumseth Townline”
Turn north (left) on Adjala-Tecumseth Townline
Travel 5 km north to the 4th Line, Turn right (north)
Travel 0.5 km east to Woodington Lake (7110 Mill St.)

Hopefully you got most of the info you need to play this course. Another public info from SGC.

To take up the mantle of keeping some of the most important work that is happening behind closed doors every week, these three members in likelihood deserve appreciation – Jojo Dizon, Bingoy Peña, & Jimmy Manguerra. Jojo, the smiling collector has shown without any qualms doing his job week in and week out. With that contagious smile who would turn Jojo down? For Bingoy, ‘the closest to the pin guy’ his busiest part of his job as SGC’s treasurer is the early part of the season – having everyone not miss out membership fees and contest entries. Is the golf course venue giving SGC a hard time to how many players are playing or what time do we tee off? Got a beef with your next foursome? Jimmy Manguerra must put up with all these concerns every time. Thanks to all three members for continued support.

 

 

 

 

 

Mother nature played a major role again as we rolled on to round eleven of our young season at Royal Woodbine golf course. First three foursomes of the twenty players who showed up were running for cover as a rain heavy downpour interrupted our round. The rain came early as some lucky players were still at the club house. As a matter of fact, from what we gathered two members went home without teeing off because of the rain. Fortunately, the rain did not last long and with almost twenty-six degrees Celsius plus the blue sky up above, provided us ideally perfect atmosphere ‘til the end our round.

It was getting closer to the halfway mark of our young schedule. For those who had not done their homework of not capitalizing grabbing few awards, it was time to make a move. You knew you could do it for sure. Some said it would only take just your wit. Good golfers knew how to grind. How you would handle adversity defined you just as much how you would handle success. A good example of that was the winner of last Sunday day’s prize to sit at 63 net score, Bong Munson. He duly delivered and might had turned a corner at Royal Woodbine. It took several attempts, but the trending Bong finally found his groove. Murmurs could be heard from him about not to be left out whilst everyone else was winning. He did grab the Nassau front nine plus the total net score with avenging performance.

It was important to remain fluid with your swing according to golf experts. By giving himself that resolute kind of consistency, Joey Cruz blitzed the Nassau back nine as well as winning one of the closest to the pin contests. With his steadfast demeanor on and before every round of golf, he rewarded himself by leading the two prestigious awards – POY & SPOY. Joey is going for his sixth POY title. It was never done winning both awards before. How about them apples, huh?

If I may add, Jojo D. eagled the par 5 hole number 12. Three other members scoring in the high net 60s – Bert Cerrudo 66, Joey Cruz 69, & Jimmy Manguerra 68.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Change of tee times at Kingsforest from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM due to booking error in the scheduling calendar by the golf course management. They apologetically informed us and gave us a break with the green fee rates: $48 riding, $43 walking.

SGC welcomes back to the fold Pat DeOca, Lina Mayo, and Para Tuy. All three showed up and played in the GTA tournament a week ago. Ditto with Jun Paculaba & Ron Protacio who were away for a little while for personal reasons. Glad seeing them back. SGC wonders about Fred Halili, Don Nelson & Manny Chea for missing quite a few events and we hope to see them playing regularly. We are aware of MIA players that are having health issues – Sam Kim, Nap Pascual, Rene Querubin, and Ricky Reyes. We hope for your immediate recovery and to see you all able and joining us again. Cheers.

Phenomenal weather was in store all week according to the weather forecast. Seasonable high temperatures at right around twenty-two degrees Celsius last Sunday at Glen Cedars golf course accompanied by sunshine and barely a breath of wind. Was mother nature giving us the summer treatment that we were supposed to have? Not so fast. We were interrupted by thunder and lightning in the middle of our round and was told by the golf course management to take shelter at the club house for safety reasons. We were thinking, “Oh no, here we are again. Inclement weather greeting us with another horrid golf conditions.”  But once we reached the club house, it did not take long for the twenty-three players to get back to the course after huddling together for about fifteen minutes. It was a clear blue sky right to the end of our round. What a relief.

Momentous day it was at Glen Cedars. Why? It was the end of the month. So much staging of prizes to be had. With all the perks going with it, were the high anxiety of players thinking of what prize should they take home. Well, it was easy to be seduced by these contests, frustrations could come over you very fast if you went empty handed. If you would think you could not lose them all, try & try again. Again, ‘rub of the green’ so they said in golf. So much for the hoopla. Let us proceed with the contingency of winners. Almost everyone knew that this soft-spoken guy would rise from time to time and became a spoiler when you never expected. Paolo Ballares who was tagged by everybody as the ‘Silent killer’ did win more than one prize. By posting a net round score of 68, Paolo took home the day’s prize as well as the top coveted Super Series 2 prize. He did not stop there; he also claimed the Nassau back and lowest net total score.

Erlandro Ibañez shared the Nassau front with Jojo Dizon. Worthwhile mentioning was the other low net score of one of only two players in the high 60s – Manny Marquez carded a net score of 69.

 

 

 

 

 

Adding to the colourful and eventful day was the performance of another member who happened to play minimal number of events with us because of church commitment on Sundays – Ross Bautista as luck and skill would have it shot an amazing hole-in-one at the par 3 hole 5. What a feat.

 

Month 2 contest: Jimmy Manguerra was a runaway winner with lowest aggregate three-week net score of 210.

 

Closest to the pin contest: This guy seemed to win on a weekly basis as he treated every week as another day at the office – Julio Rodriguez shot the closest on hole number 3 while the ever forever young Mar DeVeyra won the 16^th hole.

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to the winners. Appreciate the round of drinks provided by Paolo B.

Announcement: SGC should decide soon whether to join GTA Interleague tournament next year…….or not.

Correct me if I was wrong – the SGC’s membership support for this year’s GTA Interleague tournament was obviously waning by a great number. Only nineteen members committed and played. For whatever reasons, SGC needed a total commitment from almost all members to get this going again.

If you ask me, let us set aside for now playing for fun for this event. If you still have pride competing and winning this event, it all relies on numbers. The chance of winning the holy grail depends mostly on the number of player’s participation. You get higher percentage of carding lower scores when you get more people playing. Good example is the eventual winner this year, Talamak. They came in droves to play. I was not saying they were better than anybody else but I could sense their sense of motivation. Had you notice their hats, shirts, and even golf bags were in unison?

This was a disastrous showing, attendance wise by members. SGC appreciated the effort of those members participated. They really tried but remember the percentage I mentioned above? Now I heard rumour swirling that a few of those who played last Saturday were thinking of discontinuing their support. If this was the case, let’s absolve all together joining next year’s GTA.

Let’s talk.

SGC’s week 9 in numbers at 2017 Remington Parkview’s GTA Interleague tournament: Although we did not do well as a team collectively, there were few members who had encouraging finish. To name a few – Jimmy Manguerra, Joey Cruz, Ron Wilson, Lina Mayo, & Rey Plaza. SGC had 893 points losing 44 points to the eventual champion Talamak. SGC finished dead last. Here is the GTA Interleague Final Scores.

Your comment?

Here are local rules as released by Talamak organization. Help yourself to a copy and bring it to the golf course for this Saturday.

Ball hitting wire or hydro tower is out of play.  AUTOMATIC RE-HIT.

Line of sight relief from all hydro towers is 20 yards (closest point of relief).

All other hazards are marked with red and white stakes.

1)            Holes 3, 4, 5 left side of the road is OB (painted white)

2)            Hole 3 right side is in bound (not OB)

3)            Holes 6, 7, 8, 9 left side (fescue) are lateral hazard

4)            Hole 9 right side is OB

5)            Holes 15, 16 left side is boundary fence and is OB

6)            Holes 17, 18 left side are lateral hazards

Shocking. Yes, it was a shocking Sunday at Westview golf course. We finally had that kind of sunny golfing weather after seven straight weeks of gloom. With temperature of thirty-two degree Celsius and amplified humidity, we got a relief from brisk winds blowing across the golf course every now and then. But I’d tell you what, the players were stunned to get this kind of weather for the first time in this  summer’s young tournament. Most of the twenty players who showed up barely handled the heat and humidity as the day wore on. Get used to it I supposed. Would you rather have a rainy cold weather? Adding to our desolation of having tee balls that spent more time in the fairway trees than an arborist, this quirky-cool golf course returned the favor by biting our you knew what. Should we mention that the golf course management mishandled the situation by running short of golf carts? We believed we should. Was it a case of over booking they got the idea from Delta airlines or an impromptu of malfunctioning carts that brought the chaos within our club? At least we had the acknowledgement as well as an apology from the owner himself afterwards. Hmmmmm…….

No matter what kind of weather mother nature presented us, who would be the last man standing? When you were having one of those days, fighting for pars and smart bogeys were imperative, it helped build character.  We could also say it was also part of becoming a real player. Regardless what happened, we had been there before. We could draw on some great practices where it was not like this was brand new ground where the signs were not there. I’ve had a front row seat playing with this member last Sunday in a foursome. Julio Rodriguez showed the composure of a veteran shooting a hard-earned net of 72. Numbers alone didn’t paint the full picture but scoring low with this kind of weather environment was almost intolerable. Julio’s Sunday’s win represented a continuation of some excellent early season form. Quashing the competition, he got the day’s prize as well as the Nassau corner sweep only to be tied with the cool and mild-mannered Mar DeVeyra at the front nine. Julio showed he could be around on some more Sunday’s in the future.

 

 

 

 

Par 3 contest: A hard hitting Jess Velardo got Middle course’s seventh while the ever competitive Sennix Bontigao fired the closest at Lakeland’s fourth.

 

 

 

 

Food for thought: A good organization in the face of disgruntlement among members will have its uphill climb achieving relaxed and heaven like atmosphere. Members ought to ask themselves, “Can’t we get along?”

ANNOUNCEMENT: GTA tournament is this SATURDAY, June 17^th. Please come early – 9:30 AM to register; SHOTGUN START AT 11:00 AM SHARP. Words of caution – since the holes for this golf venue are very close to each other, please be mindful of other golf balls flying toward your direction!!!!  Play safely. To members who are representing SGC this year, good luck to you all, have fun. Be proud, we are defending champs.

Threat of rain a few days prior got some of the players thinking twice before committing to play last Sunday at Glen Cedars. Well, sorry to say but for those who showed up to brave the forecast of rain throughout the day with fear of an abbreviated round of golf because of that unnerving weather forecast, were surprised by cloudy mild twenty-two-degree Celsius temperature with no sun smiling at us. Rain almost never happened but only a dash of shower that did not last long. A little humid but as a matter of fact, almost perfect playing conditions with a little bit on the cool side plus the wind stayed calm. I could hear most of the thirteen players who showed up whispering “This is a perfect number of people playing, not much competition and less people to beat.”  We had seen deficient weather conditions for the past four weeks now but this Sunday was a sanctification, a trifling weather temperature for our very own enjoyment. In unison, we could still say “Is summer coming at all?”

I think this was the day where we welcomed our three new members – Erlando Ibañez, Ron Protacio, & Jess Velardo. We weren’t sure enough if these newcomers would continue their new trek of happy experience with SGC for sure but now we knew. Welcome gentlemen.

Round seven it was, hitching to seventh week of our tourney with one round cancelled, eighteen more rounds unaccounted for. The way the inclement weather was trending toward every Sunday, we might see another cancelation. We hoped not. Anyway, SGC was a little bit more euphoric for who did what at the recent game. It was inspiring to see a surprised winner. Conforming a mystique aura in which he carried with him for two years now, Ron Wilson who showed up for his first game of the year finally connected last Sunday ending a dry run in as many years. Nobody covered the beat better than easy going Ron who carded a convincingly net score of twenty-nine at the Nassau back nine. Adding to his winning for that day was his best shot at the sixteenth par 3 hole garnering him one of the two of the closest to the pin prizes. Was he elated? Why of course he was….. silly. Erlan Ibañez fired the closest at the other par 3 hole third. Other Nassau corner winners were Bert Cerrudo, Joey Cruz who had the most consistent showing of good play so far, & Rey Plaza. All three players carded the same net score of 33 at the front nine with the former winning the total net score as well as the day’s prize.

 

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not, we had a wonderful time. So, for those notable absentees, hope to see you next week. A beautiful sunny 29 degrees Celsius on Sunday is forecasted.

What a break. I meant what a break really, offered by mother nature after miserable three consecutive weeks of lousy weather afflicting rounds of playing golf in as many Sundays. Weather transforming to a comfortable temperature surroundings something like eighteen degrees Celsius last Sunday around Hamilton peninsula at Kingsforest golf course. Eighteen players who showed up were blessed with almost perfect weather with the sun mostly up for the whole afternoon as we played with the wind as a no factor at all. Hopefully this was a good indication of good things to come, weather wise.

Back to golf results. Parity in golf as opposed to individual dominance, might not be everyone’s favorite, but it could be certainly entertaining and most specially if you were a participant. A swift turnaround in fortunes of any player early on could give confidence and set how competition would be in such a more confrontational manner. At a point where it’s about quality, not quantity Jimmy Manguerra fired a brilliant four over par 76 gross score, roared to a gross eight-shot triumph over his closest competitor in Round 6. Jimmy slammed the door closed on his way to sweeping aside any competition winning the Nassau total score as well as the back nine & the day’s prize. Two players worth mentioning – Ed Ilao who won the Nassau front nine, and Joey Cruz coasted to firing gross scores in the high 80s.

Closest to the pin contest: After Sunday previous, another precise swing paid off for Julio Rodriguez at the seventh par 3 hole while Exe Navarette displaying a memoir precise golf swing of old, got it so close to the pin on hole fourteenth.

ANNOUNCEMENT: A new declaration of golf rules concerning pace of play and choice of playing from the forward (red) tees for male players as voted on by majority of members are added to supplement SGC Local Rules 2017. Prez Joey Cruz hereby declares:

1. If one or more players in a group playing in a sanctioned SGC’s round of golf deliberately delay the game during a round, all players in the group will be penalized 2 strokes. The other players in the group not causing the deliberate delay must warn the player(s) of his/her action immediately before moving on. If the so said player(s) will continue delaying the game after the warning, then that/those player(s) will be disqualified. A non-action from the other players in the very same group to warn player(s) who is/are causing the deliberate delay, all the players in the group face disqualification.

2. Any male member 75 years of age or older, or approaching 75 years of age in a year may opt to tee off from the red tees in his very first game in any given year. (See ruling regarding Established Tee Box Selection) Same age ruling applies to a new member provided he has already an established handicap index. (Established handicap index from his former club or the normal SGC handicapping process. Both depending on SGC approval) Since most golf courses do not offer course & slope rating for men teeing off from the red tees, it has been decided that the net score adjustment assessed to a player teeing off from the white tees will be used plus an additional stroke. Example: If net adjustment from the white tees is 2, the net adjustment from the red tees will be: 2 + 1 = 3. This will take effect immediately for those players who have not yet played their first game of the year at next Sunday’s game at Glen Cedars, June 4, 2017. These two amended rulings will stay within SGC Local Rules for the coming years until SGC decides to obliterate them.

Food for thought: SGC with 55 percent of its members are seniors, needs young blood to replenish its membership count for the sake of its future. Whether you like it or not, things hopefully would be looking up to achieve such an achievement that relies on every member’s shoulder most specially to those younger members. SGC is such an accomplished organization not to attract newcomers to its fold. SGC just received a heartbreaking news that one of our old-timers is having health issues as of late. Nap Pascual is recently suffering different health complications. In behalf of SGC and its members, we would like to pray and wish for Nap’s speedy recovery. See you soon at the golf course, Bud. On a good note, I’ve known this member for a little short while when I joined SGC some years ago. Last Sunday I happened to be playing with this member as in many occasions over the years and he continues time after time to amaze me with his gentlemanly play and perseverance. Mar De Veyra who happens to be SGC’s most senior member has astounding physical stature. How I wish to be in a position like that when I get to be his age. Cheers.

SGC welcomes back Manny Marquez, Exe Navaretti, & Ron Wilson to our league and of course the ever loving gigolo, Ray Macapagal. We hope to see Pat Deoca,  Fred Halili, Sam Kim, Lina Mayo, Jun Paculaba, & Para Tuy, freed from their respective accountable obligations and likely to see them at the golf course soon. Be glad to see you all back.

How about this? Prez Joey Cruz and Tony Peña have a viable suggestion of having seniors of 75 years of age if they still wish to play to give them a competitive status by teeing off from the forward tees. Let’s talk.

Round 5 at Royal Woodbine last Sunday: Guess what? Like the two previous Sundays, let me say it again – mother nature reigned supreme. Rain was the catapult for the whole day. It was so wet that day I had to wring dry my gloves with my hands every time I intended to use them. Anyway, out of nowhere a persistent player had to win this debacle event. What was so remarkable was the way he did it. Joey Cruz fired a gross score of eight over par 79 as if he was playing on a tropical island with coconut trees growing all over the place. It was so chilling display of scoring low consistently for his three starts that feared most of his competitors and backed off betting anything on the side. He deservingly got the day’s prize for this astonishing feat. Joey did seize one Nassau corner and shared the total best score with someone else as well as a winning share of Super Series 1. My, oh my, the fruitful results of playing in Pinas during the winter’s hibernation period was paying off.

Closest to the pin contest: Julio Rodriguez fired an accurately designed shot on the seventh hole while nobody got any closer to Jimmy Manguerra’s shot at the longest fifteenth hole par 3.                    

Month 1 contest: Another Pinas vacationing member, Jojo Dizon showed consistent play on three occasions winning this Month 1 contest convincingly.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Beware of looking for lost golf balls in thick bushes. You could possibly get bitten by ticks that could result to Lyme disease. Common Lyme symptoms include:

•fever•headache•muscle and joint pain•spasms, numbness or tingling•facial paralysis•fatigue•swollen glands•expanding skin rash

People with Lyme disease often see symptoms within 1-2 weeks. But symptoms can appear as early as 3 to 30 days after a bite from an infected blacklegged tick.

People with Lyme disease often see symptoms within 1-2 weeks. But symptoms can appear as early as 3 to 30 days after a bite from an infected blacklegged tick.

The preceding post is not intended to scare you but just a simple precaution notice to avoid contacting Lyme disease.