Nineteenth Hole News from the Links of La Cañada

La Cañada Flintridge Country Club revealed a portion of its recently purchased golf course maintenance equipment on its 1st tee last Wednesday, as it continued preparing for its Annual Canyon Classic Golf Tournament that was held last weekend.

On Wednesday, May 10, late in the afternoon, LCFCC revealed a portion of its recent acquisition of $250,000 of new golf course maintenance equipment the club will use to groom its challenging golf course.

For the golf course maintenance equipment aficionado, the country club purchased four Jacobsen Walking Greens mowers, four Jacobsen Walking Greens mower trailers, two Jacobsen TriKing Riding Triplex mowers, two Jacobsen LF3400 fairway mowers,a Jacobsen AR5 Rotary Rough mower, a Jacobsen Greens Groomer brush, and a Jacobsen G-Plex III Riding Greens mower.

Also purchased were a Buffalo fairway blower, four EZ-GO MPT1200g utility carts, an EZ-GO 4x4 utility cart, a Kubota skip loader/backhoe tractor, a Bear Cat Chipper -- Model # 7260, and a Herd Fertilizer Spreader -- Model 3-PT-750.

The equipment unveiling, scheduled just before the weekly Wednesday Night Men’s League Game, was set up on the first tee. Larry Garcia, golf course superintendent, labeled all of the machinery and it was an impressive display. The newly purchased inventory was not totally displayed; room was left on the tee so that golfers could tee off.

What better time to display the new equipment than right before the 42nd Canyon Classic, the club’s signature golf tournament. Held last Friday and Saturday, May 12 and 13, the golf tournament consisted of 42 teams of an LCFCC member and a guest. The golf course was in beautiful condition and the players golfed in spectacular weather for the two-day tournament. The dinner and awards ceremony was held at the Country Club’s pool area on Saturday night. Participants and their guests enjoyed the beautiful evening with a barbecue dinner and dancing.

Unlike previous Classics where the format was Partner’s Best Ball, this year’s Canyon Classic had four different formats: scramble, scotch, better ball, and aggregate.

Congratulations to Joe Harb and his partner Bob Merette from Oakmont Country Club who won the overall championship by almost 8 strokes. They shot a combined score of 158.2. This was their 2nd Canyon Classic Championship victory. They also won in 2004.

Gross Champions were Dave Pearson and his guest Harry Thomas from Porter Valley with a score of 182. In second place were Gene Buchanan and his guest, Tom Kostos from Brookside with a score of 183. Thomas Roberto, and his guest Rich Sims from Sandpiper, came in 3rd with a score of 190.

Canyon Flight winners in first place were Tom Lilly and his guest, former LCFCC member Don Davis, now from Simsbury Farms, with a score of 166. In second place were Doug Schell and his guest from La Costa, Frank Masuhara, with a score of 167.6. David Foos and his guest from Crystalaire, Mark Kurtik came in 3rd place with a score of 172.2. Coming in at 4th place was Elliot Sainer and his guest Greg Shamlian from Oakmont. Their score was 175.

In the Classic Flight category, Tim Apple came in first place with Sean O’Conner from Los Verdes with a score of 172.6. Coming in second were Steve Gupta and, from Spanish Hills, Sanjiv Verma. They came in with a score of 173. In 3rd place was Tony Coelho with Allen Murakoshi from Long Beach Rec. with a score of 175.4. Bill Chapman, and Ted Greene from Alisal finished in 4th place with a score of 176.6.

The Horserace had three winning teams. Coming in first were Tom Roberto and Rich Sims. In 2nd place were Tim Apple and Sean O’Connor. In 3rd were Ray Welch and Greg O’Connor. Wendell McCullough was the Canyon Classic chairman.