SunBird Men’s Golf Association

Norm Ott

The month of February means that the Men’s Golf Club has reached the mid-point of its 2017-2018 winter season. It also means that most of SunBird’s winter residents, both owners and renters, have arrived and are settled in. If you are a returning or new owner or renter and are a golfer, the Men’s Club would like to invite you to consider joining the club.

Membership in the Men’s Club provides a membership in the Arizona Golf Association’s GHIN handicap system and the opportunity to participate in the weekly tournaments and special events that are scheduled throughout the season. A registered handicap also allows you to play in other groups that are not part of the Men’s Club, such as the Friday Couples events and other special tournaments. Players of all skill levels are always welcome to join the club. Weekly tournaments that are held on Thursday mornings are set up so that foursomes are made up of players with similar handicaps or, in the case of scrambles, the foursomes have balanced handicaps. All players have a chance to win! For more information on membership, you may contact Fred Garmeson, membership chairman, at 480-895-9363 or you are welcome to attend the club meeting on Tuesday, February 6, at 9:00 a.m. in the clubhouse ballroom or any future monthly meeting held on the first Tuesday of the month.

On the news front, December saw the first of the Men’s Club special tournaments. The annual SunBird Cup, a two-week event, was held on the 7th and on the 14th. A total of 53 players entered the tournament and were divided into four flights according to their handicaps. The format was each player’s total net score over the two-week period. The following are the top three finishers in each flight: Flight 1 – Gary Hodges -(under par)11, Glen Ketchum -11 and Gerry Tomlinson -9; Flight 2 – Gary Hall -16, Richard Craig -12 and Ron Jarvis -10; Flight 3 – Norm Ott -11, George Richardson -10 and Al Dannheim -7; Flight 4 – Gary Whistler -21, Earl Ferguson -11 and John Walker -7.

The second of the club special tournaments started in January. This tournament was the Match Play Challenge. Due to the required date for submitting articles for the paper, the results of this tournament were not yet available. They will be reported at a later date. Events for February include the third and final round of the match play challenge on February 1, gross/net and the net shoot out qualification on February 8, two-person, low net on February 15, men’s net shoot out on February 18 and gross/net plus gross score qualification for the mixed gross shoot out on February 22. v