August 2010

VOL XIV No. 2

AND THE WINNERS WERE
SIMI HILLS G.C.-07/01/10: Our 22 entrants included 3 prospective members in the process of their

Mr. Crook

prerequisite 5 qualifying rounds. Gordon Crook's terrific 72 Gross completely blitzed the field for a whopping $91 payday, accumulated from his TWO blind-drawn birdies and bolstered by First Place ties in both Low Net & Low Putts. Next down the list at just $41 we find Jim Jacobs, matching his own age with a birdie-less 79 Gross that took FIRSTS in Porter Gross & Partners plus that tie with Mr. Crook for Low Net. Fred Murphy followed at $33 by continuing his fine play of recent weeks with 2nd in Porter Gross & Low Net, a win in Partners with JJ and the Low Putts tie with the Crookster. The 3rd blind-draw, worth an "Oyster House" bound $30, was scooped up by Jim Raymond for his solo tweeter on Hole #18. ENCINO MUNI G.C.-07/08/10: Another 22 player turnout tackled the Encino track and witnessed outstanding scoring from the leading two money winners. Bruce Simon topped that list at $41, firing a hot 78 for the Porter Gross & Low Putts awards. Jim Sabbe pocketed 38 bucks for his one-over-par 73 Super Gross win and the solo birdie on Hole #2. The remaining two blind-draws and their $34 payouts went to Mike Belson on Hole #6 and Paul Ventura on Hole #10. "Cat" Ballou grabbed the Low Net title at 64 over runners-up Jim Raymond and Sam Strangis. LOS ROBLES GREENS G.C.-07/15/10: Bruce Simon continued his dominance in the current season's Porter Gross category with yet another win and repeat $41 take-home that included the Partner's 1st and a Low Net tie. Some real fireworks happened in Super Gross on this steamy hot day as Dan Chambers' terrific 72 Gross edged out Gordon Crook's fine 73 after Danny Boy drained a lengthy "sea-goer" putt to birdie that tough Par 4, Hole #17. The Tamburro clan added to the drama with Chuck Tamburro's 76 Gross score being overshadowed by his two guests, brother John firing a sub-par round of 69, and nephew Mike posting a nice 73. Payouts of $37 apiece found their way to two birdie boys, Rich Marzella for his deuce on the designated Hole #8, and Ted "Dead Hands" Winship for his trey on the difficult uphill Hole #15. The blind-drawn 3rd birdie, for Hole #1, was shared by the unlikely trio of Bruce Simon, Dick Raguse, and Jim Jacobs. CAMARILLO SPRINGS G.C.-07/22/10: Chuck Tamburro took advantage of very pleasant playing conditions by firing a 75 Gross to garner the Super Gross title, a solo birdie, the Low Putts runner-up, and 57 bucks to boot as our wager pots were bolstered by a 27 player turnout. Close behind came Gordon Crook's $46 take for his own solo birdie and the Super Gross 2nd Place. Paul Ventura startled the gang with his 26-putt winning total and a Porter Gross tie with Bruce Simon that led to a $41 payday for Pauly boy. The only designated birdie payout, for Hole #8, was shared by Mike Belson and Jim Sabbe. "Cat" Ballou punctuated his return to form with a solid 66 Low Net victory and 4th place monies. BUENAVENTURA G.C.-07/29/10: In his stunning encore to last week's performance Chuck Tamburro was even more spectacular with a one-over-par 71 Gross that accumulated a sizable $82 in prize monies for his Super Gross title, a solo birdie AND shares of the remaining two birdie payouts. Joining the encores was Gordon Crook again in the runner-up spot at $35 for 2nd Gross (73), a shared birdie on Hole #18, and the Low Putts stipend with a meager 26 pops that narrowly edged out Sam Strangis' 27 total. Wielding his mighty new driver Dick Raguse shocked the Group with the season's best Low Net at 60, followed by 63's from his playing partners, Bill Lewis and Bob Planck. Apparently no collusion here of course. Bruce Simon again repeated as Porter Low Gross winner for his 7th title of the new season in that category. The blind-drawn 18th Hole spread the wealth by giving up birdie payouts to Tamburro, both of the Crooks, and "Cat" Ballou.

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GIGS & STUFF
Both July & August contain a bunch of important dates: 7/2 the 55th anniversary for the Winships, 7/8 an undisclosed birthday for Marcia Rodd, also natal days for Joanne Dodds 8/3, and Jim Raymond, while on 8/25 Moi Jacobs makes it easier to shoot his age as both he and showbiz golfer & former Hollywood Hacker Sean Connery share the same birth date that this year puts them into the octogenarian group. Then on 8/30 Jim Dodds adds another year. Marilou Miller finally finished repairs on her Malibu beach front mansion by employing some of Danny Chambers' construction guys. Peter Stanford has recovered from surgery in Israel and Jennifer Marshall finally tied the knot. Both should return to the tour this month. Chuck Tamburro will be with us for the duration of the summer after he tired of reading about Sabbe, Crook & Chambers' exploits in the newsletter. Another summertime visitor was Jeff Jacobs who joined us on the links along with competing in the Keep LA Running 10K Race at Dockwieler Beach with world-record holder South Africa's Zola Budd whom he coaches for her U.S. Master's race events. We have two new members. Larry Fine, brought in by the aforementioned Ms. Miller, comes to us by way of New Jersey & Tampa University. His checkerboard career includes stints as a stock broker, fine wine and gourmet food merchant, and in L.A., while attending his daughter's equestrian events, he became a show jumping photographer. Of course this led to background acting and Marilou and the DPTGG. He has been playing golf since he was a kid but still hits the ball from the wrong side like someone named Phil. Joe Cala, the famous sports announcer on KNX, finally hooked up with the group after years of recruiting by Jim Raymond & John Moskoff. Born in Manteka, CA Joe started his professional career as a tassel remover in the local cornfields. Not content with his future outlook he attended The College of the Pacific and, with broadcasting degree in hand, started working his way south with gigs in Turlock & Visalia. Luckily he landed in L.A. with gigs at KABC & KFWB where he spent 30 years. In his spare time he co-wrote the screenplay for "Angel" the story of an A student in high school by day and a prostitute by night. There was also a sequel which you could look up. He and wife Bunny have spawned two children and have a grandson, Wyatt. Joe has been playing at golf since he was a youngster, but in spite of all that experience, he will still play from the white tees. Back in South Bend, Pervis Atkins was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Among the other inductees were USC's John Robinson & UND's Tim Brown.

RULES GUY
Rule 27. Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball. We all know that for most players of the game, a ball lost or out of bounds results in a punishing "stroke & distance" penalty. One must replay from the spot at which they last took a stroke, and add an additional penalty stroke to the scorecard. We are allowed 5 minutes to search for the ball, and, of course, the walk back to the original spot can be eliminated when the player takes advantage of the provisional ball allowed under the second part of the Rule. For many golfers the saddest walk in golf is the trudge back to the tee, (or other spot that they last swatted at the ball), when a ball is lost or determined to be Out of Bounds. For members of the elite group of small-ballers known as the DPTGG, this punishing exercise in further exercise IS NOT AN OPTION. Perhaps the elders of the clan know of the genesis of our brilliant "Local Rule," but nonetheless, this "policy of ours" prevents even the possibility of this type of shaming stroll in the wrong direction up a fairway. We simply determine the spot at which the ball went out of bounds, or most likely "went lost," drop a ball within 2 club lengths, add 2 strokes to the scorecard, and proceed on toward the 19th hole...