By Dave Schroder, Golf Committee Chairman
Our 25th Annual AHPA Classic Golf Tournament was held on May 7, 2016 at The Wigwam Resort located at 451 Old Litchfield Road in Litchfield Park. We partnered with Gateway Golf Group again this year, increasing their involvement and again, they did an outstanding job. Due to the fact that the Association is now doing business as the Arizona State Troopers Association (AZSTA), our annual golf tournament will be named the AZSTA Golf Classic.
I want to personally thank our AZSTA Golf Committee members; Tim Kvochick, Pat Eagan, Greg Girard, and Ken Nelson as well as the volunteers who helped with the event. Our golf committee is dedicated to improving our annual event each year and we will be trying different things from year to year as we want our event to stay innovative. After all it’s all about our supporters/participants having a good time, as well as raising funds for our charity involvement.
This year we again had a putting contest prior to the start of the tournament. We also kept in place our ability to accept credit card payments for raffle tickets, mulligan and the Super-Ticket. The “Super-Ticket” gives participants the option of making one single payment rather than digging in their pocket for each individual event they came upon during their round of golf. This year the Super-Ticket included two mulligans, 10 raffle tickets, Beat the Pro, Putting contest, $10,000 cash for a Hole-in-One, Skirt Hole (men could hit from one Ladies tee box of their choice, Women hit zero off one tee box of their choice), card for a free Humble Pie pizza, $10 Golf Smith card, and the golf ball launcher. The ball launcher shot a golf ball approximately 300 yards. Super Tickets sold for $60 or for $100 participants received the super ticket plus raffle tickets as long as their arm span. The feedback received regarding the Super-Ticket and arm span raffle tickets was very favorable so you will more than likely see them again at our 2017 event.
After receiving several favorable comments from last year, we continued the method of drawing the winning tickets while the tournament was being played with the winning numbers posted near the podium with lists on each table when the participants arrived for the awards luncheon. People with one or more of the winning tickets could then come up and claim their raffle prize(s) at their leisure.
We fielded 120 golfers again this year, even though, out of necessity, we were forced to raise the entry/sponsor fees. Next year we are hopeful of having a full field of 144 participants. Next year our golf tournament will be held at the McCormick Ranch Golf Club located at 7505 E. McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale, AZ 85258. The date of our event will be on Saturday, May 6, 2017, so mark your calendars now as we expect the tournament to fill quickly.
Starting with our 2017 event we plan on making the registration and sponsor forms available to be filled out, submitted and fees paid on-line. When available, there will be a link for the forms on our website so visit www.AHPA.Com or www.aztroopers.org, in November or December of 2016.
As in all prior years we awarded prizes for first, second and third in each of three flights – A, B, and C. Flight “A” = lowest team handicap, then “B”, then “C”. Teams are placed in each flight according to their team handicap. In the event of a team taking first place in their flight and returning with the same team the following year, that team will be moved up to the next higher flight.
This year’s winning teams were:
A Flight___________________________________________________
First Place: Ron Sowers, Zach Green, Jeff Davis, and Larry Bandura – Score-56
Second Place: Greg Robinson, Chris Robinson, Mark Carlson, and Heather Rogers – Score-58
ThirdPlace: Paul Dinerman, Colins Green, Jaff Van Norman, and Dennis Farrell – Score-60
B Flight________________________________________________________
First Place: Steve Babcock, Tom Elias, Kelly Sullivan, and Mark Brown – Score-58
Second Place: Brandon Hainke, Kevin Johnson, Michael Walter, David Arreguin – Score-58
Third Place: Tracey Miller, Gary Gombar, Dwain Pickens, and Mike Shipley – Score-58
*1st, 2nd & 3rd – Scorecard Playoff
C Flight______________________________________________________________
First Place: Ken Jones, Rick Androus, Phil Murphy, and Robert Sutter – Score-56
Second Place: Dave Schroder, Kelly Woodring, Ron Reddic, and Bob Woodring – Score-59
Third Place: Brian Turner, Todd Korth, Mike McLaren, and Lance McLaren – Score-64
*Each team member of the First, Second and Third Place winning teams received graduating sized (1st place being the largest) etched crystal tower with a golf ball near the top.
2016 AZSTA Golf Tournament
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Specialty hole winners for this year’s event were:
Closest to the Pin (ladies) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Tracey Miller
Closest to the Pin (Men) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Bill Heller
Longest Putt (Women) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Heather Rogers
Longest Putt (Men) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Kelly Sullivan
Closest to the Star – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Scott Halverson
Putting Contest – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Tim Kvochick
Last but certainly not least our Golf Committee wishes to thank our sponsors (listed below), for if we didn’t have their support we would not be able to put on this quality event or fund our charities.
Law Offices of Dale Norris California Casualty Greg Robinson
Brent-Wyatt West ALC Transportation DBSI Incorporated
Phoenix Law Enforcement Association Arizona Diamondbacks
Pepsi Beverage Co. Arizona Cardinals Rally Point Alpha
Superior Officer’s Association, Newark, NJ Police Department
Arbor Tech Tree & Landscape Services Edward Jones Investments
Integrity Billing Solutions, LLC. Southwest Airlines
