By:
Corey Roberson
Spring and early summer are busy at the Golf Club with a number of tournaments and other events. Fortunately, we got lucky with the weather and dodged the rain on most days. Thanks to all that participated and congratulations to this year’s champions.
C-Star Member-Guest
April 22-24
This annual event kicked off with an optional practice round followed by an 18-hole putting contest and finished with five 9-hole matches and the Lonestar Shootout. The Stag Party on Thursday night is a fun tradition for the guys and this year it was a big hit — we partnered with USA Boxing to host six sanctioned amateur boxing matches. Our very own James Sherwood called all the fights, and the men and women fighting put on a fantastic show! On Friday morning the tournament officially started with three of the 9-hole matches being played and the last two matches on Saturday. All flight winners advanced to the Lonestar Shootout on Saturday afternoon. Two teams were eliminated on each of the first three holes leaving us with the reigning champions Jeff Smith and Vance Smith vs. Steve Cruse and Tyler Hersperger. Jeff and Vance made C-Star history by winning the Lonestar Shootout for a second time and were crowned the 2021 C-Star Champions.
El Compadre Member-Member
May 7-8
We had 36 teams (72 players) competing this year. The teams were broken into six flights and played four formats over the course of 36 holes (best ball, shamble, scramble, alternate shot). It all really came down to the Alternate Shot round where scores ranged from 37 to 52. Flight winners advanced to the Shootout where we started on hole #16 and eliminated two teams on #16 and #17. The teams of Emery/Vanderpool and Harkness/Story made it to #18 to battle for the highly coveted Championship Belts. Vanderpool smoked a driver right down the middle to leave his partner 125 yards away from the green. Story also hit a good drive down the right side that got an unfortunate bounce and hung on the hill leaving his partner with a tough shot. Harkness grabbed a 9-iron and attempted to hit a cut with the ball above his feet to a tucked right hole location — he clipped it great, but needed one more stick and ended up in the bunker. Emery hit a conservative wedge shot to the front edge of the green leaving his partner easy work for par. Harkness/Story drew a poor lie in the bunker which led to a low stress victory for Emery/Vanderpool. Congratulations to our 2021 El Compadre Champions, Glenn Emery and Nick Vanderpool.
Ranch Round-Up Ladies Member-Guest
May 11-13
This year we had 22 teams (44 players) that competed in a Net Best Ball Stableford format over 36 holes. We intended to have a 9-hole Putting Contest on Tuesday afternoon but Mother Nature interrupted our plans. The ladies faced some tough conditions on Wednesday after we received almost two inches of rain the night before. Thankfully, our Agronomy team was able to rebuild the bunkers and get the golf course back in great shape. The field was broken into four flights and the flight winners advanced to the Shootout that started on #16. The Reardon/Schuster team was eliminated on #16 after the Mariachi band distracted Schuster on a tough putt. Hole #17 came strong with the drama — Brazil/Matuszak had an 8-footer that was a must make while Dommert/Smith had a 4-footer to tie them and force a chip-off. Brazil drained the 8-footer and Smith narrowly missed the 4-footer. The last two teams standing on #18 were Long/Helms and Brazil/Matuszak. It all came down to another must-make putt for Brazil — this time it was a downhill 3-footer with a little bend to the right. Brazil hit a great putt that caught the left lip and dropped for the victory! Congratulations to our 2021 Ranch Round-Up Champions, Janice Brazil and Lesley Matuszak.
Match Play Championship, Men’s and Ladies’
Played over the months of March, April and May, the field was divided into brackets of eight, with players scheduling their own matches within defined windows. This year, we introduced a ladies’ division. Congratulations to our Champions, Phillip Earnest and Yana Dommert.
Men’s Match Play Champion – Phillip Earnest
Men’s First Flight – David Cottrell
Men’s Second Flight – Steve Stroud
Men’s Third Flight – Jay Harpole
Men’s Fourth Flight – Richard Jackson
Ladies’ Match Play Champion – Yana Dommert
Ladies’ First Flight – Crystal Watts
Ladies’ Second Flight – Lisa E. Miller
Junior Club Championship
June 12-13
We had four players in the 13 & Under Division that was contested over 36-holes from the Teal tees. Everett Cook claimed the championship with rounds of 101 and 98. Tommy Turturro rallied on the second day with a 10-shot improvement to finish second and Harlen Mangum came in third. Walker West finished fourth but his second round was 15 shots lower than his first! In the 14 & Over Division, we had four young men competing for their name on the rock in the Champions Gallery. Price Hill had a 1-shot lead over Hayes Hutton after the first round, but the two found themselves tied through 9-holes on day two. Hayes made birdie on #11 to gain a 1-shot lead then his tee shot found the penalty area on #12 and he saved bogey. Meanwhile, Price found the penalty area with his second shot on #12 and made double bogey. After birdies on #13 and #14, Hayes found himself with a 4-shot lead over Price. Hayes almost got into some trouble on #16 but made an incredible up-and-down from over the green on his way to claiming his first Junior Club Championship. This will also be his last as Hayes will be attending Texas State this fall to continue his golf career.
Senior Club Championship
June 12-13
In the Super Senior Division (65+), Jerry Merck captured the gross title for the second year in a row with rounds of 87-82 for a two-day total of 25-over par. He bested Bill Haywood by 3 shots. On the net side, Paul “General” Hester was victorious over John Iacuone by 5 shots. The General fired a second-round net 63! In the Senior Division, 21 men competed for the overall championship and to have their name carved in the Champions Gallery. Doug Bird won the net competition and was in contention for gross. He beat Scott Weisberg (2nd Place) by 1 shot and Jack Dempsey (3rd) by 4 shots. All three of these gentlemen joined the Club within the last year! On the gross side, Jeff Smith carded a 75 in the first round to sleep on a 1-shot lead over Nick Mumford and 2-shot lead over Doug Bird. On day two, Mumford got it going early with a 1-under par 35 on the front nine while Smith and Bird lagged behind with 41 each. Mumford managed to extend his lead through the back nine to 10 shots over Jeff Smith and won his second Senior Club Championship.
Top: Steve Cruse and Tyler Hersperger.
Phillip Earnest
Yana Yommert
Glenn Emery and Nick Vanderpool
Hayes Hutton
Everett Cook
Jerry Merk
Janice Brazil and Lesley Matuszak
Nick Mumford
Paul Hester
Doug Bird
Top, Jeff Smith and Vance Smith
