CLUB NEWS
6.28.2011
CLOSER BUT STILL NO CIGARS FOR THE DRAGONS AT THE BOB
BRENTWOOD, Calif. - The Dragons Golf Club hosted the 10th Annual Battle of the Bay, a 12-person team match competition against our rivals from San Francisco CGC, Oakland CGC and Marin CGC. After finishing second last year at Chardonnay, 25.5 to 22.5 to Oakland CGC, the Dragons were looking to win it on the same Deer Ridge course where the club contested its June monthly tournament.
But once again, Oakland CGC was victorious, edging the Dragons 24 to 23 points. The net total competition awarded three points to the competitor in each foursome with the lowest net score, two points to the second lowest net score, 1 point to the third lowest, and zero to the worst net score. All twelve Dragons scored at least a point, and in the end, it came down to a couple of card-offs that went the wrong way.
Wes Chong led the charge with a Field Low Gross 3-under 69 (net 68), putting three points on the board right off the bat. The Captain laid the wood down early on his group, starting with two birdies and an outward 33 -- thank you and good night. Jim Hwang (84/net 68) followed up his PB round two weeks ago with another good one, easily defeating his group and putting up a 3-pointer. Lawrence Ma (80/net 70) was 4-over through 7 holes, but chipped it in on the 13th for birdie and made another bird on 16th to go 38 on the back nine to pull away for the third 3-pointer for the club.
A.T. (104/net 76) stepped in at the last-minute for Judy Wu, who had her clubs stolen just days before the competition. He ran into the field low net winner from Oakland, a certain Alan Whiteside, who shot 81/net 59 -- Yeah, that's right, a "22"-handicpper matched Lawrence's 38 on the back nine and shot 81. A trail of sand was seen all over the property, on Lone Tree, on Highway 4, on the 80, and somewhere on Hegenberger.
Other 2-pointers were put up by Chris Chong (84/net 76, against AJGA star Andrea Wong of SFCGC, who shot 74/net 67 from the same blue tees), Howard Choy (83/net 73), and Jonathan Wong (94/net 80). None of the 2-pointers were as excruciating as Alex Chong's, whose 94/net 74 included a 10 on the 304-yard first hole (his 15th hole during the shotgun round) and allowed the Oakland competitor in the group, who shot net 68, to scratch out a 3-pointer. Alex said he a case of the hooks, and it was a heck of 10, with three foul balls to the third-base cheap seats, if we want to look at the bright side of it.
Oy.
These things happen, just ask Phil Mickelson at the US Open, Jean Van de Velde at the British, and Rory McIlroy at Augusta. The card-wrecker also got Angie Wong (97/net 83) and Karen Fong (103/net 76), who both scored one point. Karen and Steve Tsang (88/75) both had to go through the card-off and it wasn't meant to be. Both of them could've gotten 2 points had they drew Jonathan's lousy group. The Dragon Cup points leader Jon Chong also went through a cruel reversal of fortunes, going from a 79/net 65 two weeks ago, to 93/net 79 on Sunday -- the numerical symmetry of those "79s" is maddening, isn't it?
Oh well. Lessons learned, let's get 'em next year.
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The Dragons, nevertheless, have advanced again to the NorCal Cup, where we are the defending champions. We will join Oakland CGC on September 25 in the four-team competition against the winners of the Valley Cup of the South Bay and the Challenge Cup of Sacramento. The site will be the magnificent DarkHorse in Auburn (www.darkhorsegolf.com), a Top 100 You Can Play and the No. 10 public/resort course in all of California according to GolfWeek's recent course rankings.
It was a classy tournament luncheon back at the Shadow Lakes restaurant across the street. A BBQ lunch was served, while the Dragons' tournament team scored the tournament and assembled the prizes. Many thanks to the Dragons team of Angie, Jonathan, Alex, A.T., and Martin Chang (who was unable to attend), led by Wes, for a great time. It would have been nice to keep those wonderful crystals that Martin had commissioned for the winning team, but at least Wes was able to keep the Field Low Gross where it belongs -- between Uncle Loui and Wes, a Dragon has won the field low gross in the last three BOBs.
Each of the 12 BOB Dragons have earned 25 points, meanwhile, for their efforts. The effect is that many of the top 15 on the points list weren't able to separate from the rest of the club -- 100 points would have been awarded to each team member had they won the BOB. Those who couldn't play the BOB (Paul Loui, Song-Min Wang, Greg DeForest, Bobby Yu, and Judy Wu) are basically right where they were before the BOB. Three double points events remain on the calendar (Reno Invitational, the Weekender, and Seattle Invitational), not to mention three monthly club tournaments. Registration is set to close on the Reno Invite on the 30th, while the Lake Merced tournament and the Weekender are closing days thereafter.
