1st "END OF THE YEAR SCRAMBLE" BIG SUCCESS....!!!

Thanks to the hard work of Ernie Abeita (Tournament Chairman) and his committee (Marleen Custer, Debbie Borbon, Elizabeth Barriga, Ricky Gonzales, Beverly Lovett, Marilyn Craig & Kitti Olguin), the first ever "END OF THE YEAR SCRAMBLE" was a sound success with 66 entries and many advertising sponsors. Players were organized in twenty two 3-Man teams, all of whom, winners and non winners alike (like Larry Sinnott, bottom right, who poses during his first tournament ever), enjoyed a sunny and warm day at the course that was followed by a steak dinner cooked by city employees and volunteers, a drawing for door prizes and a raffle. Being a "city employees" tournament, it was not surprising to see some of our city leadership, among them: City Manager Gerry Herrera and his wife, former City Councilor, Patty Herrera, and, Councilors Bill Nechero and Jay Azua (pictured below right with Ernie Abeita). On behalf of the City of Gallup City Employees, the tournament committee will donate a substantial portion of the proceeds to a local charity TBA, the rest will be used to subsidize the City of Gallup Employees Christmas Party, which will host all County Employees and guests as well. Thank you all!! The competition was tough. two teams shot 62's, one shot a 63, two shot 64's and several 65's, but since this was a "blind draw" and the teams were drawn in an "A,B,C" Format, all of the prizes were net. The results are as follow: Paul Dimas (above left) headed the 1st place team that ended up with a net 57.40 (gross 62). His two other teammates were Ronnie Pinto & Don Good; next in order were: 2nd (57.60) Kerri Allgood, Wallace Hanley & Jackie McKinney; 3rd (59.00) Emmett Francis, Marco Abeita & Juan Samaniego; 4th (59.15) Mike Silva, Anthony Silva & Jerry Parker; 5th (59.75) Thomas Martinez, Richard Madrid (who wishes there had been a long drive contest on #18 where his tee shot ended 180 yards from the green) & Mario Juarez. Key to the winning team, was a strong back nine, where their only score of above 4 was a 5 on #18. Their scores on the back nine were 3,3,4,3,3,3,4,2,5 for a strong 30 (and the best back nine of all teams), which they backed with a 32 on the front nine, never losing a shot to par. You could say that #14 cost Kerri's team the tournament... #14 was playing as long par 3 (245 yards), where they scored a 4. This was the last official tournament of the year.... THANK YOU ALL!! P.S. More posts will follow to end the season, two in the works are: Part 2 of "Gallup, the Land of Scrambles" and "Why Golf is Just a Game". We'll see you around!!