LOBO CARAVAN

The 2007 edition of the "Lobo Caravan Tournament", which travels from town to town every year, was hosted by Gallup this year.. and did they have some fun! Sponsored by First Community Bank of New Mexico, we hosted over 70 players for an afternoon of golf and building relationships. To start, players were given a "goody bag" that included a nice bank hat, a sleeve or Titleist Pro V balls, a towel and a small sample of a favorite adult beverage, which, by the scores we saw, no one sampled until after scores were posted. Later, all golfers were invited to a nice dinner at the Elks Lodge where they were able to meet, talk to and take pictures with the likes of Rocky Long, Craig Neal, Don Flanagan and, my favorite of all Lobo Coaches, Jill Trujillo, the newly named Lady Lobo Golf Coach.

Locally, the event was hosted by George Munoz, a board member at First Community Bank. Statewide, it was put together by Paul DiPaola (and former Lobo Booster Club President), president of FCB Albuquerque and his staff of Melissa, Stephanie, Beth, and a host of many other volunteers.

And just to show you how much the Lobos are liked in our area, our Sheriff (Frank Gonzales), a City Councilman (Bill Nechero), two sitting mayors and a former mayor attended the event as well: Gallup Mayor Harry Mendoza, who had not played in 14 years joined a couple of avid golfer-mayors: Grants Mayor Joe Murrietta and Grants former Mayor Ron Ortiz. The fourth member of their team was local businessman Brian Dominguez. Mayor Mendoza though, had to leave after nine holes of play due to a previous family engagement so we did not have the opportunity to take a "team picture" as planned (picture above). Mayor Murietta admitted, half jokingly, half seriously and factually coincidental, that after Mayor Mendoza left, it took them 4 holes to make their next birdie, after having had 5 on the front nine! The results of the tournament (all net) are as follows:

1st - 60.3: Scott Hamilton, Donald Jaramillo, J.C. Whiitehorse & Mark Koson; 2nd - 60.9: Alan Pearson, Mike Silva, Anthony Silva & Mike Thompson; 3rd - 61.0: Larry Serna, Judy Fernando, Brett Rayll & Dave Hardy.

COME BACK AND VISIT US AGAIN!!!