Torrey Pines Men's Golf Club P.O. Box 722667 San Diego, CA 92172-2667 MEMBER: U.S.G.A - C.G.A. - S.C.G.A.

TORREY PINES NEWS Edited by Martin "Rick" Olivera
DECEMBER 2004 Thursday On-line Sign-up RAW Files --- The raw files showing the list of entries for a specific Thursday tournament are now viewable on line. These are the files that are "collected" by the Thursday tournament organizers to determine tee times. You will be able to verify your entry by just checking the list. The file naming convention is plain to see. The link will take you into a directory with all the files currently open (http://www.golfsd.com/tpmgc/SIGNUP). You'll be able to view each file's contents by just clicking on its name. A link to this directory is available from the club's home page. Club Officers --- In a recent Board meeting, the following members were elected officers for 2005: Art Stromberg, President; Steve Roberts, Vice President; Bill Lovell, Secretary; and Hank Johnson, Treasurer. Next General Meeting --- Since the TP lounge will be closed to the public from January 7th through 24th due to the Buick Invitational, the January General Meeting has been moved to Tuesday, February 15th, 7pm. Tournament Schedule for 2005 --- The only part of the schedule that is final is the January events. The Sunday tournament will take place on the North course on January 30th. Sign-up date and location is still to be determined. As a reminder: the Buick Invitational this year is the week of January 17-23, so the courses will be closed to the public earlier in January in preparation for that event. The Thursday tournaments will be on January 6th and 27th, with golf courses yet to be determined. We are still waiting for the 12/7/04 City Council vote on the North course renovation to finalize with the T.P. Tournament Coordination office the 2005 tournament schedule. As you know, the schedule is always TENTATIVE since we try to accomodate the City and other parties to optimize the use of the golf courses ... because we are nice people.
NOVEMBER 2004 Leonard Anthony Pollak - Nov. 24 1928 - Nov. 27th 2004 To TPMGC: My father loved the game of golf. Born in Cleveland, OH in 1928, he was a multi-sport talent in his younger days. He received a football scholarship to John Carroll University and played professional baseball for the Boston Red Sox minor league club. He loved sports, but golf held a special place in his heart. Some of his happiest times were when he was playing with the men from the TPMGC. Thursday or Sunday group, it did not matter to him. He truly loved playing the game of golf. I had the great fortune of being his playing partner (as many of you have) on Sunday tournaments for many years and experienced first hand the joy the game brought him. Although he stopped playing golf 4 years ago due to his illness, he often spoke of his hay days with the TPMGC. In case some of you were wondering what he had been up to since then, he spent his last years devoting time to his wife, son and his three grandchildren. Thank you, TPMGC for the lasting memories. He will be missed. Len Pollak Jr Note:The Funeral service for Len Pollak Sr will be held at Fort Rosecrans Cemetery on Wednesday, Dec 8th at 10am. The family would like to invite those that knew him at TPMGC over the years. ================ TP North "Upgrade" - FYI-- You may want to read this article in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the upcoming work to be done on the North course. This SDU-T article is a follow up. And this article (11/30) by Tod Leonard hits the spot and pretty much fuels some common sense to this ongoing saga. ================ (Sunday) Christmas Tournament-- The deadline to submit entries is November 20th. All participants must have their membership for 2004-2005 renewed. Those not up-to-date will not be accepted in the field.
OCTOBER 2004 (Thursday) November 18 Sign-Up (Turkey Shoot)-- Due to an operational error on my part, ALL the signed up names for November 18 were wiped out. If you signed up before 9am this morning (Friday, 10/29), you MUST re-enter your group through the on-line form. I apologize for the inconvenience. Sh?t happens sometimes. R. Olivera (Web Page Mgr) ================ (Sunday) Christmas Tournament-- This year we get to have a shotgun again in December, so the traditional Christmas Tournament is back (on 12/12), and it'll be followed by a luncheon at the Hilton. The format will be Two-Man Better Ball. Tournament Chairman John Hoffman is taking entries per form included in the October Newsletter, which was also mailed to all members. Ah! Remember to renew your membership before submitting your entry for the December tournament! ================ Membership Renewal Time !!-- It's that time of the year again. You can use the on-line form to do it. Print it out and mail it with your check to Ron Bruck at the address indicated on the form. General Meeting-- The November General Meeting will take place on November 17th, at 7pm at the TP lounge. There will be election of board members ... and the usual raffle of golf equipment and merchandise, as well as free refreshments. Thursday Group - Fall Frolic-- IF IT IS RAINING OR THERE IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY OF RAIN, THE FIRST ROUND OF THE FALL FROLIC WILL BE CANCELLED. THE TOURNAMENT WILL THEN BECOME A ONE DAY EVENT TO BE PLAYED OCTOBER 28. IF IT IS NOT RAINING OR THERE IS JUST A MINIMAL CHANCE OF RAIN, THE TOURNAMENT WILL BE PLAYED AS SCHEDULED SO PLEASE SHOW UP AT THE COURSE. IF THE TOURNAMENT IS CANCELLED AND YOU WISH TO PLAY ANYWAY, YOU MAY DO SO. Joe Burwell and Claude Gigoux Thursday Tournament Chairmen ================ Sunday Group: Turkey Shoot Sign-Up-- November's Sunday Tournament Chairman Steve Roberts will conduct the corresponding sign-up on October 30, 6:00 am, at the TP lounge. Thursday Group: Fall Frolic-- There are several spots left for this tournament. Contact Joe Burwell and sign up via email. It's a two-day tournament (10/21 and 10/28).
SEPTEMBER 2004 9/16: Thursday SCHEDULE CHANGES ... AGAIN!!-- The 9/23 tournament that had been moved from the North course to the South course (see paragraph below) has been moved back to the North course. The original tee times are back. ================ 9/15: Thursday SCHEDULE CHANGES!!-- Tournaments scheduled to take place on the North course on 9/16, 9/23, and 9/30 will take place on the South course instead. Tee times have been revised for 9/23 (8-minute intervals). There may be changes (a day prior to the event!) to the 9/16 tournament as well. Stay tuned! Sunday Stableford-- The results are posted. For those of you who forgot to post your adjusted score (as a REGULAR post), or misunderstood the instructions (I told people there was no need to calculate the POINTS, but you WERE still responsible for posting the adjusted gross), I also have on line the complete results which include, among other, the adjusted gross score (AGS). You should be able to find your AGS and do an Internet posting, if you didn't post after the tournament on 9/12. Rick Olivera September Sunday Trmnt Chmn.
AUGUST 2004 Torrey Pines Issues - FYI-- You may want to read this article by Tim Sullivan (San Diego Union-Tribune.)
JULY 2004 (Sunday) Schedule Changes-- September's Stableford (individual, not team, competition) will be a shotgun start on the North Course, but will NOT be followed by a luncheon. Sign-up for the Stableford will take place at the TP lounge, 6am on August 28th. If you cannot make it on that day and time, please send me email AFTER the sign-up to tpmgc@golfsd.com to be put on the waiting list (emails received BEFORE the sign-up will not get to me and will be lost.) You can also leave a message on my answering machine, but I check my email more often than I check phone messages ... It's a "first-come-first-served" basis (both, the sign-up and the waiting list). Now the good news: the Christmas (shotgun) tournament is back! Sign-up details and format are still to be confirmed, but the TP Tournament Coordinator has given us the ok for a morning shotgun on December 12th. This also means that there WILL be a luncheon at the Hilton after completion of play, and that the traditional end-of-the-year event is back. Martin "Rick" Olivera September Tournament Chairman ================ Member-Guest Openings-- As of this writing (7/7/04) there are four openings (twosomes) available for the Member-Guest. Contact Jack Petrick if interested. Volunteer Work-- If you are doing any kind of golf-related volunteer work at Torrey Pines or other City golf facility, or in connection to any City golf-related event, please inform club president Art Stromberg. The club needs to log these volunteer hours in order to comply with the City requirements to secure our usage permit for Torrey Pines.
JUNE 2004 SCGA Better Ball-- The playoff between the SCGA Better Ball Sunday and Thursday winners was won by Duane Admire and Glen Miller whose net 64 narrowly defeated Sunday winners Mike Cooney and Kevin Herde (65). The tight match played on the North course included an ace by Kevin Herde on the 6th hole. Admire and Miller will go on to the qualifying event in August at Cottonwood and hopefully, to the SCGA final event in September at Landmark in Hemet. Congratulations to the winners, and good luck to them in the next stages of this event. Club Championships-- There are still openings for this tournament. If you are interested in playing, send your entry (name and SCGA# and $30 fee) to tournament chairman Art Stromberg. The entry form was included in the last newsletter. ================ Torrey South Public Shotgun-- There will be a Public Shotgun at Torrey Pines South on Monday, June 14th, 6:30am. You can sign up for it at the Starter's Booth right now, or call 866-877-Golf (866-877-4653). View the information page for more details (fees, etc).
MAY 2004 Charlie Todd-- Long time club member and past Tournament Awards Chairman Charlie Todd passed away last Saturday, May 22nd. Charlie fought in World War II. He spent a lot of time as a POW in a Japanese camp. All those who had the pleasure of knowing him will always remember his kind ways. He was a true gentleman. He'll be buried in Fort Rosecrans on Saturday, May 29th, with ceremonies starting at 10:30am. A reception will be held at the Westly Palms retirement home in Pac Beach also on May 29th, at 4:00pm. ================ Junior World Championships - Volunteers Needed-- Here's a good opportunity to watch the swing of future golf stars. The Junior World Championship is looking for volunteers to help in the following areas: Marshall, Hole Marshall, Opening Ceremony, Player Registration, Runner, Scorer, Scoring Tents, Shuttle Driver, Starter, and Welcome Party. There is no need to commit your time to the entire tournament. Even if you can only help for a day would make a huge difference. For more details on the work involved in each particular area take a look at the Volunteer Description sheet. And to sign up as a volunteer, print, fill out, and submit the Volunteer Registration Form. Don't forget that our club needs to volunteer a certain amount of hours per year in order to be able to keep its permit to use Torrey Pines. Not only you'll be doing something for the club, but also for junior golfers from all over the world. If you haven't seen these kids play, I highly recommend you do. No matter what age, even though they're learning they can still teach you a thing or two about the game.
APRIL 2004 New Club President-- The Board of Directors elected Art Stromberg as the new club president, replacing Dale Peterson who resigned his position a few weeks ago. Art was the club's Vice-President, and also served as Secretary and Handicap Chairman in the past. Election of a new Vice-President was deferred until the next Board Meeting (in May). Membership-- According to Membership Chairman Ron Bruck, the club has now 1,192 members, 392 of which are new members this year. Shooting Your Age-- During the Spring Fiesta tournament that took place on the South Course a few days ago, 83-year-old and 20-handicapper Steve Molnar shot his age from the green tees. He and his partner, Claude Gigoux, won their respective flight. Nice going, Steve! May General Meeting-- Next General Meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 19th, at 7pm at the T.P. lounge. There will be a putting contest prior to the meeting, starting at 6pm. As usual, there will be free refreshments and a raffle of golf equipment and apparel.
MARCH 2004 (Sunday) March Tournament Sign-Up-- Tournament Chairman Bill Pultz will be conducting the sign-up for this month's Sunday event. It'll be at the Torrey Pines lounge, Saturday March 6th, 6:00am SCGA Membership Cards-- Handicap Chairman Michael Berg informs that if any member has not yet received his/her 2004 SCGA Membership card, he has placed them in the box at the Torrey Pines lounge. Bill Pultz with SDJGA-- TPMGC board member and former SCGA President Bill Pultz has joined the Board of Directors of the San Diego Junior Golf Association. He joins another TPMGC board member, Mark Doyle in that leadership position.
FEBRUARY 2004 (Sunday) February Sign-Up-- The sign-up for the Sunday, February 29th tournament will be held by Tournament Chairman Mark Doyle on Saturday, February 14th, 6:00am at the large Balboa GC parking lot. The event is a Low Gross/Low Net on the South course. Buick Monday-After Lottery-- For those interested in playing Torrey the day after the Buick Invitational, here's the scoop to get in the lottery for tee-assignments (South) or tee times (North). They will use the same procedure as last year. They'll hand out a number at North end by the parking lot between Noon and 1pm. You then return for drawing at 4pm (approximately, because of the tournament ending.) If there is rain, or the PGA TOUR needs the course on Monday, then there is no day after.   All players receiving a number MUST PRESENT A PICTURE ID, they will then match that ID to the tee time. Resident info will be a "must have" situation. South will be Shotgun, and North will be continuous tee times beginning at 6:30am, with Back-9 also going off for one hour.
JANUARY 2004 Courses Closed for Buick-- Both Torrey Pines golf courses will close to the public on 1/31/04 in preparation for the Buick Invitational. They'll re-open on 2/16 with the now famous lottery to play on the day after the tournament. Play By The Rules-- This is to remind all members that the club plays by USGA rules. It's been noticed that some members play with some "friendly" rules. If you see a member breaking a rule during a tournament, it's your duty to call him on it. If you don't, you too are breaking a rule. Check your rules book, and carry it in your bag. Handicap Issues-- Handicap Chairman Michael Berg will be posting announcements on the web whenever deemed appropriate. You will find his entries in the Handicap link off the club's web page. Slow Players Listed-- The Thursday Group Tournament Committee has decided to take a more aggressive approach in an attempt to curb slow play and has instructed Joe Burwell to set up a Slow Play List similar to the No Show List. The Committee does not want to be especially punitive but little attention is being paid by some players to the marshal's requests to pick up the pace of play and to many of our other attempts to discourage slow play. The guidelines established by the Thursday Group Tournament Chairman's Manual, Section 5.0, are being implemented to the full extent from this point forward and the penalties handed out accordingly. The list will be posted in the lounge, and also on the web as menu option Slow Players. ================ Thursday Group -- Fees Increase-- The Thursday Group event fees will be increased starting Jan 22. The increase in fees is such that Regular Sweeps will cost $5.00, and Monthly Tournaments will be up to $10.00. ================ Sunday Tournament-- Sunday Tournament Chairman Walt Block still have openings for this month's Sunday event. Call him at 858-549-1808 if you want to participate. The format is Two Best-Ball of Foursome. Tony Perez - Pro Kids Academy-- Long time club member Tony Perez, father of former members and current touring professionals Pat and Mike Perez, has moved to Las Vegas (Henderson) to take a position as Director of Development for the First Tee of Southern Nevada. His past as co-founder of Pro Kids prompted the Board of Directors here to recruit him as their "money man" to raise $1 million a year to keep the program going. Although he has moved, he will still be traveling to San Diego to continue his duties as Chief Starter for the Buick Invitational. Good luck Tony on your new endeavour! January General Meeting - CORRECTION The January 2004 General Meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 21th, at 7pm at the TP lounge. As usual, there will be free drinks and a raffle of golf items.