Peter Lopez received a nice belated Christmas gift on Dec. 26. Lopez aced the difficult 12th hole at Bidwell for his first career hole-in-one. Witnessing Lopez’s 173-yard perfect tee shot was his playing companion, Eddie Vela.
Sandy Huseth also achieved her first hole-in-one last week at Bidwell Park GC. Huseth selected her 11 wood for a perfect 104-yard tee shot on the second hole, as witnessed by her husband, Scott and their playing companions, Bob and Cindy Bell.
Several local tournaments scheduled for last week were thwarted thanks to Mother Nature’s hefty dose of rain, so instead, let’s take another look back, this time 19 years to Jan. 4, 2005.
End-of-the-Year Skins Games Highlight Local Golfing Activities
Inclement weather tended to lessen the number of participants in several local skins games on December 31, but those who braved the elements reaped the rewards. The annual end of the year skins game at Butte Creek has been held for many years, and was again spearheaded by Erin Jergentz. Only 19 players teed it up, which enhanced the odds and the payoffs for the eventual winners.
Ben Pollack was the overall low gross winner with a fine round of 74. He also posted the lowest score on the back nine playing under adverse conditions and, most of the time from the championship tees. He also won a skin on No. 18. J.J. Jakovac posted the low score on the front nine (36), and won a skin on No. 2. Other winners in the skins contest were: Aaron Gausemel on No. 6, Lauer on No. 5, Jim Wilson on No. 13, and Tim Beach on No. 17.
The Skins Game at the Bidwell Park Golf Course had a little larger field of players, featuring both net and gross winners. Brian Jones was the low gross winner with a round of 72, and my columnist colleague, Pat Goodwin, posted the low net score of 70.
Winning the skins were the following players: Brian Jones, gross skin on No. 4, and gross and net skins on No. 12; Pat Goodwin, gross skin on No. 7; Gary Pederson, net skin on No. 8; Phil Jones, gross skin on No. 9; Tom Pyeatt, gross skin on No. 10; Bill Ide, net skin on No. 14; Maury Ledoyen, gross and net skins on No. 15; John Jenswold, gross and net skins on No. 17.
Hide Kubo, PGA Professional at Bidwell, intends to conduct similar net and gross skins contests throughout the year, at approximately three-month intervals. Given better weather conditions, the field will undoubtedly be considerably larger.
Gary Bright, Capt. USMC retired, capped off his 366th round in 2004 just before Christmas and then took a couple of days off before finishing with a total of 373 rounds played during 2004. This will not break the Guinness Book of Records, but it is still a remarkable feat, considering that I only played 57 rounds in 2004 and I get accused of playing too much golf. Bright played 78 away rounds at courses other than Butte Creek, including courses in Mexico, Jamaica, Ireland, Scotland, Florida, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. His most memorable round was at the Old Course at St. Andrews, but that is probably because of the wonderful playing companions he had at the time (just saying). He calculates that he logged over 1,200 miles on his golf cart last year, little over 3.2 miles per round.. Amazing!
Note: The late Erin Jergentz, (aka, the Big “E”), noted above in the 2005 Looking Back article, has been credited with being the brain child of the Annual End-of-the-Year Skins Game at Butte Creek CC. Kim Jergentz wrote a well-documented and fitting letter to the editor of the Enterprise-Record last week recognizing all those who have helped to endow the Erin Jergentz Junior Golf Memorial Fund. Erin was a long-time participant in the Casa Munras Golf Tournaments as well as the Lake Almanor CC Invitational Tournament. I played a lot of golf with and against Erin. He definitely was a player. Through Kim’s efforts and some others, Erin’s love of the game of golf has been memorialized through his foundation. We have several very worthwhile golf foundations in Chico supporting junior golf. If you’re looking to make a charitable donation, one of these foundations, through the North Valley Community Foundation, is a good place to start.
