Yuka Saso, a half Japanese, half Filipino lady golfer from the Philippines probably could not have imagined she would be the one holding the trophy of the 2021 US Open Women Golf Championship held in San Francisco, California, USA. She won herself the prize money of a cool US $1 million. Still a teenager at 19 years old, Yuka was one of the youngest to win it. Another Korean player won it in 2008 at exactly the same age. Mind you, Yuka Saso prior to her win was not even a member of the LPGA. She created history for the Philippines at the 2018 Asian Games by winning the first ever gold medal for the Philippines in both women’s individual and women’s team event in Asian Games golf competitions.

The players who participated admired playing the golf course because of its setup and considered this course as one of the hardest as indicated by the low scores.

Congratulations. Step aside please, Mr. Manny Pacquiao.

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:

RANK	NAMES	TOTAL NET SCORE
1	Fred Bataclan/Lina Mayo	142
2	Joey Cruz/Jess Velarde	143
3	Bert Cerrudo/Ron Wilson	145

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.

CLASS	PLAYER	HDCP	FRONT NET	BACK NET	TOTAL NET
A	Bautista, Ross	14	35	31	66
A	Montilla, Mikee	14	33	33	66
A	Bataclan, Fred	15	29	39	68
B	Paculaba, Jun	20	28	35	66	Actual net of 63 but capped to 66
B	Sok, Sangva	18	37	33	70
B	Gomez, Roy	21	30	40	70
C	Navarette, Exe	22	35	31	66
C	Plaza, Rey	24	37	32	69
C	Kim, Steve	23	29	41	70
D	Romero, Louie	34	32	33	66	Actual net of 65 but capped to 66
D	DeVeyra, Mar	30	35	37	72
D	Halili, Fred	29	34	39	73
				TOTAL	822	BIGAT came second with 855 points.

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.