Congratulations to Steve Sorrell for his hole in one on #14 on Thursday afternoon March 17. The hole measured at 137yds.
2022 MGA Season Premier Dogfight Recap
We had 44 members to play in the dogfight. The players were divided into four divisions based on their dogfight points. A golfer from each division was placed on each group of four. The four golfer teams were drawn randomly, one from each division.
The MGA provided a breakfast buffet for all the golfers. The kitchen staff did a wonderful job and the food was mighty good. The dogfight was to begin at 9am but there was a 30 min delay due to frost. The dogfight was a shotgun start and the pace of play was pretty good.
The results are as follows:
Closest to the pin awards went to (#4 B G Simmons) (#8 B G Simmons)(#14 Jan Sweatman)(#17 Jeff Bullen)(Closest 2nd shot on #7 Chuck Woodard)(Longest put on #18 Eric Smith). Each of these awards was $50. There was a tie for most over their points. Matt Osborne, Tommy Vines and Andy Payant each received $33.
The MGA put up an additional $200.00 toward the skins pot also, making the skins pot worth $420.00. For the 1st time since we have reopened there was no skins won. The $220.00 that was taken in will be applied to the MGA bonus money that will be paid out in the Club Championship.
We had a tie for 1st place in the team portion of the dogfight. The team of Mike Sweatman, Jan Sweatman, Paul Baker and Tommy Vines tied with Max Whitfield,Eric Smith, Randy Martin and Don Carrol. The team of Jeff Bullen, Chuck Woodard, Don Hopton-Jones and Andy Payant finished in 3rd place.
After a frosty start, the weather was wonderful for a mid February day of golf. Congratulations to all the prize winners and a special thanks to all the members that chose to play in this dogfight. It gets our season started on a good note.
With the $220.00 that went to the bonus pot, the total as of this letter is $1415.00. This money will be paid out during the 2022 Club Championship. You must be a MGA member and participate in a minimum of 24 dogfight events prior to the Club Championship to be eligible for this bonus pot.
Monday, Nov 8 was a special day at Alpine Bay Golf. Golf Week is paying tribute to Robert Trent Jones Sr. during the month of November. Alpine Bay was on the list with some very fine Trent Jones courses that the Golf Week course raters was scheduled to play. The other courses were Ross Bridge, Country Club of Birmingham (West Course), Turtle Point Golf and Yacht Club in Killen AL and Oxmoor Valley. All of these are courses designed by The Trent Jones family.
The person responsible for setting up this event was Mr. James R Hansen. Mr. Hansen is the author of the New York Times Bestselling book (First Man) The life of Neil A Armstrong. He also authored the bestselling book (A Difficult Par) The history of Robert Trent Jones Sr and the Making of Modern Golf. A special thanks to Mr. Hansen for making this happen.
There were 44 golfers here along with Robert Trent Jones Jr and his son Trent. The golfers were aware of the recent history of our course and at the end of the day we received so many accolades and handshakes of approval that it was very gratifying. The golfers were from as far away as Northern Ireland, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Pittsburg PA, Boston, Chicago, Hilton Head SC, Las Vegas NV, Tucson AZ. At least 10 golfers traveled over 1000 miles to be a part of this event.
This was the first time for either of the Jones to visit the course that Jones Sr. designed in the late 60s. As we went around the course they were constantly reminded of the course characteristics that are typical of a Jones Sr design. They went into detail as to why certain features of the course are set up the way that they are. It was such a treat for me to experience the trip around the course with them.
After the dinner, Robert Trent Jones Jr took the time to speak with us about course design and he also took questions from the course raters.
I want to thank all of our staff here at Alpine Bay for the extra time that each of them put in to make this a successful and memorable day.
Myself and RTJ Jr on hole #12. Such a blessing to play Alpine Bay with Mr. Jones and Trent
Robert Trent Jones Jr addresses the group after dinner. He discussed and answered questions concerning course design.
I had the pleasure of playing with Kevin & Jan Vail, Robert Trent Jones Jr and Trent Jones