ELK CITY BOYS TEAM SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS WESTERN REGIONAL TITLE

Tim Ellison, Elk City Boys Golf Coach, must be a happy man!

Three of the top four golfers in Elk City played very well and very consistent, but in the end, Elk City needed team work help to squeeze a second win in a row in the Western Regional Tournament, as Brock Walker, playing with a hurt hand, finished with a 92 in the second round after an opening 78 in the morning. With Weatherford having scored only one shot higher in the morning round than  Elk City (294 to 295), and not all scores in the afternoon, and knowing that one of our top four players was having a hard time on the course, it made our fifth bag's score, a much important card to wait for....
Coach Ellison: Time to Rebuild

However, the worry was over when Cameron Marcum, our fifth man on the team, entered the scoring area with a confident smile. Cameron closed with a solid 77, to help Elk City clinch first over Weatheford by ten shots. In the afternoon, Weatherford  who could not sustain the consistent play of the morning. It was reassuring to know that you could count on team work in our team of four seniors and a 10th grader, which will brings me to the closing thoughts after the results.

Cameron Marcum: "Is there any other
way?" (when told that he always swings
100%)
With a 294, Elk City led the morning round by only one over Weatherford. In the morning round, Elk City's top 4 scores were: Logan Gore - 70; Joby Gray - 71; Berek Dyson - 75 and Brock Walker - 78. In contrast, Weatherford;s morning round was rounded by Quade Cummins - 71, Bryson Ridley - 71, Brock Bell - 75 and Sam Wollman -78. Now, if you had to count all five scores, it would have been a tie, as Cameron Marcum from Elk City finished with an 84 and Ryan Stark from Weatherford finished with an 83! How close can two teams be?

Berek Dyson: Quiet Confidence.
Good luck at OSU!!
Clinton High School, despite their #1, Garrison Mendoza's opening 68, were far back at 316, other morning scores from Clinton were: Blake Clanton-79, Zach Calfer-80, Grant Lee and Andrew Lantz with 89's.

The afternoon round brought a steady wind of 20 mph with gusts of up to 35 mph, which made scores go up in general, and made "patience" the number one requirement to stay in the hunt. Both, Elk City and Weatehrford should be happy for their team's play.

Brock Walker: Fiery!!
From Elk City, Joby Gray matched his morning score with another very solid 71; Berek Dyson came only two shots back at 73; Logan Gore shot 75, and Cameron Marcum came in with a 77.  From Weatherford, Bryson Ridley scored a 73, Quade Cummins-76, Brock Bell-74, Sam Wollman-81. When only three scores were in, it made the fourth score very important as only 6 shots separated the two teams, and in high winds, anything can happen. In the end, the fourth bag added 4 more shots to Elk City's margin of victory: Elk City scored 589 and Weatheford 599, making it the only two teams under 600. Next came Clinton, 38 shots behind 2nd with a 637. All three teams qualified for the State Tournament next week.

Logan Gore: Growing in the game!
The top four players in the field, regardless of whether their school qualified for the State Tournament or not, are recognized and invited to the State Tournament; these 4 players were:

1st Garrison Mendoza, Clinton-138 (68-70);
2nd Joby Gray, Elk City-142 (71-71);
3rd Bryson Ridley, Weatherford-144 (71-73)
4th Logan Gore, Elk City-144 (70-74) (*)

(*) Bryson won a sudden death playoff to win third place.

The last three individual qualifiers for the State Tournament (the top three golfers in the field whose team did not qualify for the State Tournament) were:
Jason Hogland, Tuttle-158 (77-81);
Jake Welch, Tuttle-166 (86-80) and
Sean Glass, Newcastle-169 (87-82).

I close this column by encouraging all of you to go watch and cheer for our kids (both, boys and girls) in the State Tournaments: girls will play May 1-2;, boys will play May 6-7. Coincidentally, both teams have more seniors than players that will remain on the team, so both teams will have to build from the ground up.

Joby Gray: We will miss your evening
visits to hit 100's of balls! Your 7:00am
rounds. Your invitations to watch you
"hit a few". Seriously! You know more
than anyone: "the secret's in the dirt!"
While the boys' team leaves a mark with their excellent play the last four years (with one first and never finishing worse than 4th in the previous three years, and once more qualifying for the State finals), and the girls having qualified for the finals the last two years, I can assure you that what I will remember the most, is their happy faces, their excitement, their camaraderie, their respect for the club and the game... the time they shared with us! We wish all seniors, boys and girls, a successful and productive life, wherever you do and go to, and we hope that we get to see you and hear from you often!

Kids.... THANK FOR THE MEMORIES!!!

Now, Logan, Carter (Muncrief) and Kelsi (Wilson), it will be your turn to take the baton an lead!

P.S. A special thanks to Bill Weatherly, Athletic Director at Elk City High School, Sara Peffer, Girls Golf Coach Ellison's wife, Shawna, Interbank, Ramona Alvarez, Al Carnes and the Elk City Golf & C.C. Board for their support and help during these Regional Tournaments, all turned out great for everyone!!

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT: HARD WORK PAYS OFF FOR ONE GIRL, CONSISTENT PLAY PAYS OFF FOR A TEAM



As you all know by now, due to weather, the recent Western Regional Tournament for girls was moved from Tuesday, April 23 to Wednesday April 24... the school's athletic district could not have made a better choice as the weather turned to be perfect for golf!

Sarah Peffer, golf coach for Elk City, and Bill Weatherly, Athletic Director, did a great job in the pairings and had perfect timing for the tee times, originally to start  at 10:00 a.m. As per our superintendent's suggestion, no play should be allowed until the temperature reaches 40 degrees. It was 39 degrees at 9:59 a.m., and yes, you guessed it: at 10:00 a.m. on the dot, it reached 40 degrees!

From each regional tournament, there are three teams who qualify for the State Tournament, May 1-2 at Hefner Lake G.C. in Oklahoma City. The top three qualifiers were Cache with a 374 who had a team that showed consistency; then came in Elk City with a 381, and also qualifying was our neighbor Clinton, with a 385.

In the individual part of the tournament, the top 4 players in the field, in any team, whether the team qualified for the State Tournament or not, also qualify as individuals, plus, the next three of any team who did not qualify for the State Tournament.

Kelsi Wilson from Elk City, not only was the low score of the day with a 76, but also scored her best round ever... good timing! Now, she is getting ready for the State Tournament with more confidence than ever. The usually quiet golfer, could not hide her joy.

The next six players were, 82 - Darby Morgan (Weatherford), 85 - Katlyn Davosky (Cache), 90 - Paige Neidy (Clinton), 96's Kelly Ward (Tuttle) & Kenedy Hansen (Bethany), and 98-Ashley Mayo (New Castle)

A special thanks to Interbank for providing the food for players, coaches and family. Interbank not only provides food for this event, but also the yearly High School Invitationals of boys and girls.

And last, but not least, to all of the members who graciously donated the use of their cart for the visiting coaches. Thank you, thank you! You all have no idea how much this really helps and how much it means to coaches and girls.!!

See you all on Monday the 29th for the Boys regional event. Elk City will put up a good team: Berek Dyson, Brock Walker, Joby Gray, Logan Gore & Cameron Marcum. Go Elks!!

"KOURAGE FOR KORBIN" RESULTS & OTHER UPDATES

Even though his short putt for birdie
on #7 was missed, Scott Hines' team
played well enough to win.
The Kourage for Korbin Tournament ended up being played in a cold, windy morning with ten teams showing up to support young 16 year old Korbin Perkey who has a brain tumor that holds him from doing things other teenagers do, such as baseball, which in his case, his favorite pastime. The better news is that several sponsors donated without sending a team.

With the high winds and low temperatures, low scores were hard to come and anything under 65 was truly earned. The low score of the day was from Scott Hines, Adam Lewellen, Coy Hines and Frank Mendez who managed a very nice 62 which must have felt like a 58!
Look at Aaron Music's jacket!!
It was windy!!

With 63's, we had two teams, Matt Brown, Keith Hulen, Justin Brown & Charlie Carr, and, Mike Carlucci, Mike Stout, Bob Miller & Terry Jordan who helped his team with a hole in one in hole #5. Terry's first hole in one came in front of pal Bob Miller who last year had two aces, the first one of which (#7) had been witnessed by Terry.

In fourth place came the Perry family, Gene, Dylan, Colin & Tyson.

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Rusty Hale... "you liked my shot?"
Coming up this week is the Western Regional Girls tournament. It was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 23rd, but DUE TO WEATHER FORECAST, THERE IS A HIGH PROBABILITY THAT WILL BE MOVED TO WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24! PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH WITH US!!

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Coming this Friday, April 26, will be our scheduled "Social Night" for members. The gathering starts at 6:00 p.m., and ends with a great steak dinner cookout. Chef for the night will be Brad Gilbert who is known to broil some of the best steaks anywhere north of the Rio Grande... with "Grande"' results. Price per person is $15.00... and who knows, maybe we'll have some fund games by the putting green! Please RSVP by Thursday by calling 225-5454!!
Robert Holder: "I thought it was going
to be sunny in the 70's!!"

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Congratulations to octogenarian Calvin Adkisson who, with a strong will, is fast recovering from his shoulder injury. Calvin actually played nine holes twice in the last month!

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Terry's Time: You never know when is your turn to make a hole in one!
Thank you to Kenny Schuelein who attended The Masters and brought me a pin from one of my favorite holes on TV... "Azalea", the 13th at Augusta National, a sharp right to left dog-leg par 5 of 510 yards that bends around Rae's Creek and that has been the place of many highlights (this year, Angel, the loser of the playoff bogeyed that hole, if he pars, there is no playoff! By the way, Adam birdied this hole.). It is the last hole of the three which are called "Amen Corner".... next year please bring a pin from "Firethorn", another one of my favorites!

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And last, but not least, SEE YOU AT THE GOLF COURSE!!!

TIGER AND THE RULES....

I had not even gotten to the pro-shop on Saturday morning, and I already had several calls asking me the describe what happened to Tiger, why was he assessed a two shot penalty, why wasn't he disqualified, etc., etc., etc.

At this moment I do not know the facts other that yes, it was an improper drop.

However, as I understand, the controversy came before Tiger signed his scorecard, and the committee told him "it is okay to sign your scorecard". Had he not been told to sign the scorecard, or if this rumor is wrong, then the penalty should have been disqualification under rule 6-6; and if the rumor is correct, then there should have been no penalty, as it states in the rules that a committee's decision is final.

To see the rule that provoked the controversy, see the drawing below:

Tiger hit his third shot from point "A", the ball hit the flagstick and bounced back in the hazard, which is marked with yellow, and last crossed the margin of the hazard on point "B".

Rule 26 states that if a ball is in a hazard, the player has three options a) play from the hazard without penalty, in this case not possible since the ball is under water; or, under penalty of one stroke, b) play from as close as possible as the last shot was played (in this case "A") or c) keeping the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard ("B") between the flagstick and where the ball will be dropped, not closer to the hole and as far back as the player wants to drop (in this case, the dotted line).

In this case, the Rules allow the committee to draw a "ball drop" which also carries a penalty of one shot.

In short, Tiger could have dropped on "A", anywhere in the dotted line as long as he drops in bounds, or the ball drop area, but Tiger, by his own account, dropped on "D", a few feet behind point "A", in other words, not under Rule 26.

Now, lets be clear: Rule 6 is clear: the player IS (and this is not a "Clintonesque IS" - you know, "it depends of what the word 'is' means") responsible for knowing the Rules of Golf and the rules of the competition. So Tiger, should have known where to drop, his caddy, who gets paid in the millions, the same. The rules official on the scene also knows the rules, however, no one knew that he had dropped a few feet behind until Tiger mentioned it in the press interview!! That is why I believe that Tiger did not realize he had broken a rule, and this is where the story begins:

In the past, Tiger has had some favorable rulings (who can forget the 3 ton loose impediment in Phoenix, or his shot over the clubhouse while playing in Akron which should have been out of bounds, but wasn't). However, in this case, a new rule was in effect that in essence takes the responsibility away from the player and leaves an option to the committee, and that is rule 33-7. To me, the interpretation was a bit of a stretch, but I'll live with it and so will Tiger.

The question that will remain in my mind (and probably others) is: if this happened to Tianlang Guan, the 14 year old from Taiwan who was penalized a stroke for slow play on Friday, would they have come to the same conclusion? Or would they have penalized Tiger for slow play? I seriously doubt it.

It is a sign of the times: Since golf is not a game anymore but a multimillion dollar business, for the sake of ratings, you are not responsible for your own actions anymore.

P.S. I am told that someone said that it is the same thing that Arnold Palmer did in 1958, when he won. That is not correct. Arnold had a doubt on how to proceed. He played a second ball after his ball was embedded on #12 and did not know if he could lift it and drop it or not. So, he played the embedded ball, then he played the second ball, he scored 5 and 3. On hole #14, the rules official came and said he had a drop, thus he could count the 3 scored with the second ball. FOR THE RECORD, ARNOLD DID NOT SIGN AN INCORRECT SCORECARD.

ELK CITY BOYS WIN LOCAL INVITATIONAL

Berek Dyson stares his
tee shot on #14
Berek Dyson, once more, showed that to end up with a good score, you need more than good shots: you need patience, determination, confidence and a way to enjoy the moment.  Berek was the only one among the Elks who managed to finish under par, with a round of 70.

Berek was followed by Joby Gray, who shot 72, Logan Gore had a 75 (with a triple on the last hole). Talented Brock Walker, who is coming off an injury, had a 76 and Carter Muncrief had a bad day with a 91. In the J.V. team, Cameron Marcum had a solid 73.

Brock Walker, despite little
practice, scratched out a 76
Elk City's team won the "big school" and overall tournament with a score of 293. Weatherford was next at 301 and Clinton next at 311.

In the "small school", the winner was Hinton with 343, and in second place was Burns Flat D.C. with 360.

In the individual standings, Garrison Mendoza from Clinton came in first place with a 68, he was followed by Quade Cummins with a 69, Berek Dyson with a 70 and Joby Gray with a 72.
Joby Gray admitted that it was
not a good day on the greens. 
In the small school, the winner was Elk City Golf & C.C. member, and Sayre resident, Mike Robinson who shot a 73. He was followed by Brian Wenninger with a 78 (Burns Flat) and Mark Fink (Hinton) who shot an 83.

The tournament was delayed one day due to weather conditions, and then delayed three more hours to 11:30 a.m. Thursday until the temperature reached a cold, but somewhat comfortable 40 degrees for the players, which with the breeze, was still a pretty cold day if you were not dressed appropriately and a tough day to play and concentrate, particularly when you can your breath when you are about to hit a shot.
Good natured Carter Muncrief, "Can you 
believe I had  bad hole on #17 again?" 
(yes, you were thinking about it before
the round!)
Elk City will host the Western Regional tournaments this year, both for boys and girls as well for 4-A schools, the girls regional will be played on April 23 and the boys regional will be played on April 29.... come and cheer for our teams!!!

A special thanks to Interbank for providing the meal for all participants, both, for the girls on the 8th and the boys on the 11th!

I will finish by mentioning Tiger Woods. I thank him for giving golf a much needed boost in the 90's and 2000's, but our young generation needs to learn a little (or much) about the game's history and learn not to act up on the course when things are not going their way.

Logan Gore walking down#14. Got
to keep that concentration to the end!
You have no idea how many kids I have seen in the last few years who idolize Tiger, truly admire his skills (in this area, I do too). Now that Rory is part of Nike, some of this kids wear every Nike outfit that they can think of, ask about how are Tiger and Rory  doing in every tournament they plays in -and of course, many have asked, "do you think Tiger will win The Masters?" (no, I don't think so). I really like that many of these kids took up golf because of Tiger, but remember that Tiger took up the game because of one Jack Nicklaus and that is his record he wants to beat. That is the same reason I took up the game, by watching Nicklaus,  Palmer and Player get at it together. But I also heard a lot of history of the game, and read a lot, and heard about Hogan, Nelson, Jones, Sarazen and Hagen.
Michael Robinson, had a
73, won the small school
individual and placed 5th
overall. Good going!
But what I don't like of many in the new generation is that they act as if they were players (Tiger Woods?) who should never miss a shot, ever. Please realize that Tiger and Rory and the pros play a different game than we do, but they DO miss shots, even if less frequently, if they didn't, they would hit every green, and make every putt and the game would be dull.

Garrison Mendoza from 
Clinton, is proving to be
a very good player and
difficult to beat under
any conditions.
So, to this young generation who think that missing a shot or having a bad round is "the end of the world" or think that we are going to think less of them because of it. Think twice. Golf is something you do, not who you are.Golf is a game and it is a privilege you have to be playing it. Golf will not help you build character unless you really pay attention to its roots, learn its history, and about the players who preceded Tiger. And, while golf does not build character without your help, golf and the way you approach the game WILL ALWAYS REVEAL YOUR CHARACTER, because it is a game of much honesty, of undeniable pleasure, that requires as much physical skill as it requires patience, determination and mental endurance. Never feel that you should get mad because a shot is not perfect, there are many things that you cannot control. You can't control the weather, a bad bounce, other players, not even your swing (if Tiger could control his swing, he would never miss a green or a putt). You can only control how you approach the game, your emotions, your reactions.

Think of this 14 year old kid who not only qualified for The Masters, and made the cut, but the way he handled the one shot penalty that could have cost him making the cut. Think about how Tiger got a really bad break on #15 by hitting what you would say a perfect shot, only to hit the flagstick sending his ball to the watery grave, a birdie turned into a bogey. But he did not slam clubs. IN SHORT, WATCH AND LEARN, AND LEARN WHAT YOU SHOULD IMITATE AND WHAT YOU SHOULD FORGET.

GIRLS INVITATIONAL

This is a very busy week for us in general. First, we had three local tournaments scheduled within 5 days (Boy Scouts last Saturday, Girls Invitational on Monday, Boys Invitational on Wednesday, which has now been moved to Thursday due to weather forecast); and second, this is Masters week, the first men's major of the year, and by far, the most anticipated week of international golf of the year, which takes away from the general interest in the results, unless of course, you are one of the players, the coach, family members or friends... or me.

Masters week in Elk City, started with a very nice day for golf, temperatures in the 70's most of the day, a little breeze, sunny and never uncomfortable. The team arrived early in the morning to help us set up the carts and range (THANK YOU!!) and then it was time to warm up and play... by tee time, no one was thinking of The Masters, or the Nabisco Championships. The tournament hosted 14 teams divided into 2 groups, "Small Schools" and "Big Schools".

Given the scores in recent tournaments, the results were not surprising in the "big" schools group, with Clinton, led by Paige Neidy (83) taking 1st place with a 366. Rounding up Clinton's scores were: Ashlyn Smith (90), Kelsi Rose (96), Reanna Reeves (97) and Mikaela Sandlin (105).

Cache took second place with a 375: Kaitlyn Davonosky (86), Katie Mae Taylor (89), Britney Altic (89), Jamie Bonnarens (111) and Emili Dodson (116).

Next was Elk City with 388: Kelsi Wilson (83), Katie Hutson (98), Paige Graham (99), Erin Hutchinson (103) and Ashley Dillard (115).

Taylor Chase, from Guymon, took 1st in the "big schools" with a 77. Paige Neidy and Kelsi Wilson tied for 2nd at 83.

In the "small schools" group, Hinton took first (and first overall) with a 357, individual team scores were: Maci Arrington (78), Nicole Lenaburg (85), Montana George (87), Kaily Kelly (107) and Dacia Boling (113).

In second of the small schools was Mooreland with 388: Erika Stubbs (93), Gaime Gomez (97), Courtney Noble (98), Jessica Snider (100) and Rylie Eller (105).

Maci Arrington won 1st in small schools with a 78.

Elk City will host the 4-a Western Regional on April 23rd.








RESULTS BOY SCOUTS TOURNAMENT


Another tournament in the books!

Forty eight players (12 teams) showed up to play in the annual Boy Scouts Scramble organized by Brad Harguess.

The tournament has a scoring "twist", instead of "mulligans", you get a 2 foot string which you use to get your ball in the hole in the following manner: if you hit your shot (chip or putt) a couple of inches from the cup, you can use the string to "hole out" by cutting off the distance to the hole. Each time you use the string, you must cut off whatever length you used to hole out. Better that a mulligan, if you ask me. And more fun for all of those, "almosts" that we have to live with day in and day out.

There were many very good scores, beginning with a 50 scored by Ricky Nagle, Jordan Williamson, Rusty Wilson and daughter Kelsi. Next came a 54 shot by Paul Gunkel who played with two of his daughters, Haley and Tori (Windsor) and son in law Tyler. This team "disqualified" themselves from the prize pool because their "kid" on the team, is already past 20 years old (you were supposed to have a kid of 18 years of age our younger in each team) and they only wanted to donate... and have fun together! (Paul, like myself, is happier when he gets to play with any of his daughters!)

Next came two teams at 55; Joby Gray, Keith Hulen, Donnie Bursom and Chris Coy who won the scorecard playoff against "dad" Rocky Andresen, with daughter Jill (Cowan), grandson Ryder and son in law Sean Cowan.

And, of all of the low scores, the most impressive one was a 56 by Ann Cowan, Charlie Kauk, Terry Anderson and Carter Muncrief, with Ann being the only player with a single digit handicap. Thanks to a long tee shot by Carter, and a great approach shot by Ann to 3 inches on #11, the team scored a rare 2 on a par 5 hole (the only 2 on any par 4 or 5 on Saturday).

In all, kids and adults had a great time!!! See you next year!

For complete results, click on the picture on your right.