May 2012

VOL XV No. 11

AND THE WINNERS WERE
BUENAVENTURA G.C.-04/05/2012: Apparently the lure of soft ocean

Mr. Oblak

breezes enticed our largest entry list in recent months, a big 7 group turnout that included Mr. Karl Grey all the way down from his San Francisco digs! Brian Oblak dominated the scoring with his Super Gross winning 79 and a stunning SEVEN stroke win in Low Putts at just 25 pops! The Crook family tandem of Gordon and Kevin were distant runners-up at 32 putts apiece while the rest of the Group's putting stats soared to an ugly 37.3 average due to the recently aerated & still sandy putting surfaces which certainly didn't bother Mr. Oblak. At least a dozen competitors in the healthy 25 player field pocketed some portion of the day's wager monies, ranging from 45 bucks down to $5 payouts. Among them was the Porter Gross winner, Dan Chambers, the Low Net winner Jim Raymond with his sizzling 68 Net score, and the birdie begetters, Marilou Miller and Mike Gannon who shared one of the three blind-draws, followed by solo tweeters from Jim Jacobs and Bruce Simon. SIMI HILLS G.C.-04/12/2012: Putting surfaces that hadn't quite recovered from their recent aeration & sanding along with several "punched" fairways did not faze Bruce Simon in the least. His round was highlighted by a stingy 26 Putt performance that led to wins in Porter Gross, Partner's & Putts plus a solo blind-drawn birdie award for a huge $84 payday! That figure more than doubled the take of runner-up Peter Stanford whose $40 was mostly accumulated from his own solo birdie. The final birdie drawn gave a $30 payout to Mike Gannon and the Low Net category featured a surprise win by Rich Marzella who tossed a nifty 64 Net up on the scoreboard. HANSEN DAM G.C.-04/19/2012: A half-hour tee time delay caused by the overbooked MGA Tournament ahead of us plus punched greens added to the sheer torture of a 5hr 40min round that took its toll in terms of frustrating delays and resultant high scores. Our 4-Handicapper Chuck Tamburro barely claimed the super Low Gross title with an 83, punctuated by a 40-Putt round! New member Mike Eptein carded an 84 to finish just one shot behind Chuck. The big news and the big winnings of this day went to John Moskoff who not only took the Porter Low Gross title but also marked in EVERY category, included his dramatic 29 Low Putts win and a solo birdie to pocket a humongous $114.00!! Other names atop the money list were Bob Planck with 52 bucks for his own solo birdie & places in Partners & Net followed by Peter Stanford's $42 award for the final solo tweeter. Special Note: These three gents posted the ONLY birdies of the day thus negating the usual suspenseful "blind-draw" and lastly we salute Jim Raymond who miraculously survived the less than ideal playing conditions to walk away with the Low Net prize by posting a nifty 68 Net score. LOS ROBLES GREENS G.C.-04/25/2012: Given the classic Shakespearean dilemma of "To play, or not to play?" in the face of intermittent rain showers our 22 player field opted "To play" and, would you believe, the precipitation actually only lasted for the first couple of holes. With the clearing conditions obviously to his liking "Cat" Ballou carded a one-putt EAGLE on Hole #1 (actually his 10th after starting on the back nine) on his way to a solid 79 Gross score and 61 Net that took the day's top dollar, 69 big ones, with FIRSTS in Low Net & Partners, 2nd in Low Putts and the blind-drawn eagle payout. Brian Oblak took home $48 from his own solo birdie along with 2nds in Super Gross, Partner's & Putts. Low round of the day was a sizzling 77 fired by Paul Venetos who claimed $46 for his Porter Low Gross title along with places in Net & Putts and a slice of the final birdie pie on Hole #9 that he shared with 5 other wonderful players, Kevin Crook, Mike Gannon, Jim Jacobs, Marilou Miller, and Bruce Simon.

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GIGS N'STUFF
Who says there is no adventure left in life? On the way to Los Robles, the old gray Winship Cadillac, carrying the foursome of Ted Winship, Val Mayer Jim Raymond & Mike Belson, decided it didn’t really want to go to Thousand Oaks and disengaged it’s transmission in the left lane of the 101 at Sepulveda, where it slowed to a stop. Luckily, a CHP deputy named Vaughn pulled up behind them and somehow was able to stop four lanes of traffic, before pushing the tired old Caddy off to the right shoulder. Needless to say, by the time a flatbed showed with room for the foursome, the roster at Los Robles was four short. The gray ghost is now in Goleta, hoping for another tranny. -- After an excruciating 5 hour 40 minute round at Hansen Dam following the city’s MGA team tournament, the scheduling staff armed with a MGA schedule for the rest of the year made sure we will not have to suffer the same fate again. -- We said goodbye to beloved member, Warren Stevens on April 28. A too select group of mourners from the DPTGG along with Warren’s family and non golfing friends gathered at the Church of the Chimes for a short service, and walked next door to the Aloha room at the Horace Height apartment complex where we were treated to a compilation of clips from Warren’s long and varied career. Old friends, Doris Roberts, Marsha Hunt and Jim Raymond spoke at the church, sharing some of their memories. A small memorial deposit may be left at the 17th hole water hazard at Camarillo Springs. -- Warren was a steady presence at the weekly Thursday get togethers, as well as the Hollywood Hacker gatherings who cannot be replaced. God rest you Warren, it won't be the same without you!

MORE SAD NEWS
We are saddened to announce the April 19th passing of former member Steve Bertelsen.

Steve Bertelsen

In his former career, Steve was known as Jim Bertelsen and played halfback for the University of Texas at Austin. He was a highly regarded Wisconsin high school football player, playing for the Hudson High School Raiders. He helped lead the Texas Longhorns to a National Championship in 1969, playing halfback in the famed Wishbone formation, alongside James Street, Steve Worster and Ted Koy. Jim Bertelsen was the team's leading ground gainer in 1971. In his career at Texas from 1969–1971, he rushed for 2,510 yards averaging 6.1 yards a carry and 33 touchdowns. He also had 9-100 yard rushing games. After his career with the Los Angeles Rams which spanned from 1972-1976 and included one pro bowl appearance, he worked in the insurance field among other fields and joined the DPTGG at the invitation of Gordon Crook. He will be missed!

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