By Dave Schroder, Golf Committee Chairman
Our 26th Annual AZ Troopers Classic Golf Tournament was held on May 6, 2017 at The McCormick Ranch Golf Club located at 7505 McCormick Parkway in Scottsdale, AZ. We partnered with Gateway Golf Group again this year, increasing their involvement and again, they did an outstanding job.
I want to personally thank our AZSTA Golf Committee members; Tim Kvochick, Pat Eagan, Greg Girard, Ken Nelson, Tim Case and our newest member Dave Dubner 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 itās all about our supporters/participants having a good time, as well as raising funds for our charity involvement.
This year we rolled out a new online advertising, register and pay system created/designed by Craig Fernandez, President/CEO of Rally Point Alpha. Along with the online system golf specific merchandise could be purchased, which resulted in significant sales.
This year we had the putting contest as players made the turn between hole # 9 and #10, then the final putt off took place during the luncheon/award ceremony. We also kept in place our ability to accept credit card payments for raffle tickets, mulligan and the Super-Ticket during check on the day of our event. The āSuper-Ticketā 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, 15% off at La Sala Tequila Cantina and The Living Room wine cafe & lounge, and the golf ball launcher. The ball launcher shot a golf ball onto the green from the tee box ā approximately 350 yards. Super Tickets sold for $60 during check in or $50 if purchased on line prior to our event. For an additional $40 participants received raffle tickets as long as their arm span.
All the winning tickets for raffle prizes were drawn while the tournament was being played. The winning numbers were 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. This year we had over 100 raffle prizes which included two official spring training baseballs autographed by Willie Mays with letters of authenticity.
We fielded 132 golfers this year, even though a few of our long time sponsors were not able to participate this year. Next year we will again hold our tournament at McCormick Ranch Golf Club and we anticipate having a full field of 144 participants. The date of our 2018 event will be on Saturday, May 5, 2018, so mark your calendars now as we expect the tournament to fill quickly. When available, there will be a link to register and pay on our website so be sure to visit www.aztroopers.org, starting in November or December of 2017.
As in all prior years we awarded team prizes for first, second and third in each of three flights ā A (US Open), B (British Open), and C (PGA Championship). Flight āAā = lowest team handicap, then āBā, then āCā. 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 yearās winning teams were:
A Flight___________________________________________________
First Place: Nate Scott, Nate Murphy, Mingo Franco, and Dower Dell ā Score-57
Second Place: Becky Rice, Kyle Peterson, Zach Johnson, and Melba Moeck ā Score-58
Third Place: Steve Babcock, Tom Elias, Kelly Sullivan, and Mark Brown ā Score-59
B Flight________________________________________________________
First Place: Brandon Hainke, Dave Arreguin, Rusty Walters, and Robert Florez ā Score-59
Second Place: Jim Stanton, Jim Bee, Trent Mortenson, and Kevin Claridge ā Score-62
Third Place: Adam Olceski, Alfredo Ibarra, Ivan Torralva, and Shane Travis ā Score-62
*2nd & 3rd ā Scorecard Playoff
C Flight______________________________________________________________
First Place: Dave Schroder, Tim Kvochick, Ron Reddic, and Bob Woodring ā Score-62
Second Place: Jeff Williams, Dennis Garrett, Steve McLaren, and Todd Korth ā Score-65
Third Place: Ron Schaub, Marc Daniels, Jack Berry, and Dan Daniels ā Score-68
*Each team member of the First, Second and Third Place winning teams received graduating sized (1st place being the largest) etched crystal tower.
Specialty hole winners for this yearās event were:
Closest to the Pin – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Kevin Watt
Longest Drive (Women) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Melba Moeck
Longest Drive (Men) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Andy Reed
Golf Ball Launcher – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Del Frower
Putting Contest – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Becky Rice
Beat the Pro – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Nate Murphy
Last but certainly not least our Golf Committee wishes to thank our sponsors (listed below), for if we didnāt have their support we would not be able to put on this quality event, fund our charities or scholarships.
Law Offices of Dale Norris California Casualty
Brent-Wyatt West ALC Transportation
Phoenix Law Enforcement Association Rally Point Alpha
Pepsi Beverage Co. Integrity Billing Solutions, LLC.
Arizona Diamondbacks Frito-Lay
Green Acres Mortuary & Cemetery Dignity Memorial
