The post Northern California Scratch League Championship appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.
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Golfing News & Blog Articles
Stay up-to-date on golfing news, products, and trends from around the world.
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The post 2021 CGA/CIF Girls State Championship appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.
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October 31, 2021
PEBBLE BEACH – Merrill Grant and Jason Porto came out on top in the 2021 eClub Four-Ball Match Play Championship on Sunday at the Links at Spanish Bay. Grant of
eClub East Bay, and his partner Porto of eClub Sacramento, beat Abey Mullassery and Nitin Pai of eClub San Francisco 4 and 3. After losing the first hole and the third and fourth holes, Grant and Porto found themselves down two holes early in the match. However, from there the duo was able to rally and not lose another hole the rest of the day.
Porto made a net par on the fifth hole to cut the lead to one down and tied the match up three holes later on the eighth with a par. Starting on the back nine, his partner Grant got in the action by winning his first hole on the par 5 10th with a par. Porto then extended the lead to 2 up with a par on the long par 4 12th, and Grant put the duo 3 up with 4 to play with a bogey 6 on the par 5 14th. The next hole Grant closed out the match 4 and 3 with a par.
The 2021 eClub Four-Ball Match Play had 64 teams of two participate with three rounds of pod play followed by a single elimination bracket of the 16 pod winners.
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Spirit of the Game: Babe Zaharias
November 1, 2021
Olympic gold medal winner in track and field. All-American basketball player in college. Champion golfer. If there was a Jim Thorpe among women athletes, it was Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias.
As a professional golfer, she won 31 tournaments, including three U.S. Women’s Opens, and helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association. “Babe changed the game of golf for women,” said Patty Berg.
Didrikson didn’t even take up golf seriously until she was 21. She was introduced to the game by Grantland Rice in Los Angeles during the 1932 Olympics. Somewhere in between winning gold medals in the javelin and hurdles-she might have won the high jump, too, had she not been disqualified-Didrikson joined Rice and three other sportswriters for a round of golf at Brentwood C.C. According to Rice, the Babe shot 91 that day and regularly hit drives measuring 250 yards.
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Rule of the Month: Unplayable Ball
November 1, 2021
If you are in a situation where you don’t want to or don’t think you can play your ball, you always have the option of taking relief under the unplayable ball Rule. The player is the only person who can decide that their ball is unplayable, and this can be done anywhere on the golf course except when your ball lies in a penalty area. If your ball is in a penalty area, your only relief option is to take relief under the penalty area Rule.
When you decide that your ball is unplayable, you have three relief options, all for one penalty stroke. Your first option is to go back to the spot of your previous stroke and play again (stroke and distance relief). Your second option is to go back as far as you’d like and drop on the line from the hole through the spot where the ball lies (back-on-the-line relief). Your third option is to drop anywhere within two club-lengths of where your ball lies, no closer to the hole (lateral relief).
If your ball lies in a bunker, you must remain inside the bunker under options two and three. You also have a fourth option for an extra penalty stroke (two penalty strokes total) which allows you to go back on the line and drop your ball outside the bunker. Click here to learn more about these options in our video on bunkers.
FAQs:
I don’t think I can play my ball as it lies (unplayable) – what are my options?I don’t think I can play my ball as it lies in the bunker (unplayable) – what are my options?May I decide my ball is unplayable when it is in a penalty area?Ryan Smith drops his ball after an unplayable lie during the first round of stroke play at the 2020 U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)
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Golf’s New Rules of Amateur Status
November 1, 2021
Golf’s new Rules of Amateur Status have been published by the USGA and The R&A ahead of their January 1, 2022, effective date.
The work is the latest step by the governing bodies to make the Rules easier to understand and apply and follows the modernization process of the Rules of Golf in 2019. The new Rules were informed by golfer and golf industry feedback as a part of a comprehensive review, to ensure they continue to reflect how the modern game is played by millions of golfers around the world.
This review, along with the global feedback received when the proposals were publicly shared earlier this year, reaffirmed amateur golf’s important position in the game and the value in maintaining amateur status Rules.
The result is a set of Rules that removes many of the restrictions that previously applied to amateur golfers, while ensuring that the integrity of the game is protected by limiting the form and value of the prizes an amateur golfer can accept.
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2020-2021 NCGA Players of the Year
October 21, 2021
NCGA Men’s Player of the Year—Brett Viboch
In the past, Moraga resident Brett Viboch had never really focused on NCGA Player of the Year honors.
Instead, the 38-year-old E-Club Sacramento member had entered each season targeting exemptions and a roster spot on NCGA Cup teams.
In August 2020, however, that all changed when Viboch decided he wanted to be a Player of the Year.
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Spirit of the Game: Al Espinosa
October 19, 2021
Al Espinosa, a native of Monterey, was one of the earliest Hispanic golfers to play on the pro tour in the United States. He was active on the PGA Tour in the 1920s and 1930s, with multiple victories.
Among his most significant victories:
1924 Missouri Open1926 Oklahoma City Open1928 Florida West Coast Open1928 Mid-America Open1930 Houston Open1932 Ohio Open1933 Ohio Open1934 Miami International Four-Ball*1935 Indianapolis Open*with partner Denny Shute
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Highest and Lowest Courses
October 19, 2021
Our Course Raters spend time traveling to courses throughout Northern California rating courses for our members. A recent road trip really spoke to the diversity of golf courses we get to enjoy in our part of the world. The team visited Furnace Creek GC the world’s lowest elevation golf course at 214 feet below sea level, located in Death Valley. That same week the team made the trek to Mammoth to Sierra Star GC – at a full mile and a half (8,000 feet) above sea level it is the highest-elevation golf course in California.
The team rises early to get the job done and according to Jim Cowan, NCGA Director of Course Rating the Sunrises at Furnace Creek GC are pretty spectacular as the sun first hits the mountain peaks to the west and then descends to the valley floor where the golf course is located. Palm and tamarisk trees frame the fairways and majestic mountains are visible from all areas of the course. Playing and rating this course present unique challenges as you test your mettle against the low elevation and the low barometric pressure.
The rating team really has stayed focused at Sierra Star GC as they took in the rolling hills, the tree-lined fairways and some of the most breathtaking views of any course in North America. They also have to pay attention to their calculations, the course sits at an elevation of about 8,000 ft., meaning your ball can fly a long way.
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2021 NCGA Tournament Official of the Year–Drew Boyd
October 15, 2021
A general interest got Pleasanton resident Drew Boyd hooked.
Following retirement after a 43-year career managing corporate training and customer service operations, Boyd one fateful day in 2009 was perusing the NCGA Golf magazine when he noticed an article on becoming an NCGA volunteer.
Boyd went on to apply, and a year later joined the tournament official corps. Eleven years on, the 77-year-old Philadelphia native not only is a volunteer, but has numerous times been the tournament chairperson for NCGA qualifiers and major championships.
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NCGA Course Rater of the Year—Jerry Zavagno
October 15, 2021
Once a salesman himself, it was a friend who pitched the idea of becoming an NCGA course rater to Novato resident Jerry Zavagno.
“Russ Adamson, a longtime friend was an NCGA volunteer course rater. At the time, we both were members at Peacock Gap. We had qualified for a Zone Championship,” Zavagno said. “While at NCGA headquarters, I went ahead and filled out the form to become a course rater.”
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Football Hall Of Famer Ronnie Lott To Sponsor APGA Tour Member Michael Herrera
October 14, 2021
Ronnie Lott, the Hall of Fame defensive back for the San Francisco 49ers and the University of Southern California, will sponsor APGA Tour standout Michael Herrera going forward in a gesture of support for a new friend and for the APGA Tour’s mission of driving greater diversity in the sport of golf.
Herrera, who won one event earlier this year in APGA Tour competition, is a pro golfer with dreams of making the PGA Tour. In pursuit of that aspiration, Herrera plays the APGA Tour schedule and major regional tournaments while pursuing qualifying opportunities with other tours in professional golf. Lott will cover travel and competition-related expenses as Herrera works to advance his career.
The opportunity for Herrera came about in August at the Eighth Annual Cedric “The Entertainer” Celebrity Golf Classic Presented by Lexus at which Herrera was one of the participating pros. He met Lott on the second tee at Spanish Hills Country Club in Camarillo, California, and they had extra time to connect while Lott’s group waited to play the next hole. In those few minutes, they forged a bond that will now give Herrera his best chance of succeeding in the sport he loves.
Lott is the owner ofTracy Toyota, a prominent auto dealership 60 miles east of San Francisco. Herrera will wear Tracy Toyota logo identification on his attire while competing during the course of the sponsorship.
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Pairings/Results
The post NCGA Team Match Championship appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.
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24th NorCal Womens’ Cup
NorCal Cup Matches – History
This annual cup competition brings together the top twelve female competitors in the NCPGA/LPGA to compete against the top twelve WGANC/PWGA competitors in a Solheim Cup style format. The inaugural event began in 1997.
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Pairings/Results
The post NorCal Women’s Cup Matches appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.
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Oct. 6, 2021
Join the NCGA For Golf, Football and More!
Mark your calendar for Nov. 20!
Join fellow NCGA members for a fun pre-game event at Stanford!
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Spirit of the Game: Joe Louis Barrow, Jr.
October 1, 2021
Joe Louis Barrow Jr. didn’t have to look far for inspiration.
His father, Joe Louis (pictured, above), isn’t just regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, but was one the first African Americans to have a cultural impact in the United States.
Even on the golf course. In 1952, Louis, who was as passionate about golf as he was about boxing, was invited to play as an amateur in the San Diego Open. He’d become the first African American to play in a PGA Tour event.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Joe Louis Barrow Jr. has also left an impact, parlaying a successful business career into his role as CEO of The First Tee, a positive youth development organization that introduces the game of golf and its values, such as honesty perseverance and sportsmanship, to young people.
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