Ralph Moe Memorial – Gunar Meneks
Eastmoreland was under COVID-19 precautions as transactions were taken from a window in the back of the building and only 4 persons were allowed inside the clubhouse at a time. The outdoor area was available for use with staff that sanitized tables and chairs after each occupation. The biggest change we saw was that the golf course was flipped as we started on the Back Nine (which of course is the more challenging side). Carl Louie managed to win the “sudden death” match with a par at Hole #12 against the bogey by Shane Starr. Carl took a 2 up lead into the last nine and ran into a “red hot” Tim Rodrigues who went on to win 3 & 2 to move to the Championship. In the other match Rian Kindig blistered the 1st nine holes with a gross 39 and a 5 up lead to take down the defending champion Forrest Denno 5 & 4 to meet Tim in the Finals.
Waimun Yee was the leader in the clubhouse with a net 70 and felt he left quite a few shots out on the course and could have shot better. It appears Gunar Meneks benefited from those “uh oh” moments and posted a net 68 to have his name etched on the Ralph Moe Memorial trophy.
Ron Eng Memorial Trophy – Tim Rodrigues
Stone Creek welcomed us with overcast skies that turned into a sunny afternoon to compete for the Ron Eng Memorial Trophy. In past years this would have been a perfect day to sit on the deck to enjoy a club sponsored burger while watching the groups roll into the 18th hole. Due to COVID – 19 we had to cancel the burger social and settle for a “rain check”. Terry Emard was all smiles as he won the Hit the Green raffle earlier in the day for the Pumpkin Ridge outing and also beat his buddy Bobby Lee (as we all know Bobby money spends the best). His net 68 was the leader in the clubhouse and seemed pretty safe as the current trend of the WHS system shows that is one of the best scores posted by the club to date. Tim Rodrigues came strolling in with the final group and posted a net 63 to reset the season low number and also become the first member to trigger the “Exceptional Score Reduction” (as he scored more than 7 below his handicap). Good job Tim Rodrigues as your new “potential” can be making your next Match Play opponent a little nervous.
2020 NW Intercity Tournament – CANCELLED
The Vancouver Chinese Golf Club has made the decision to cancel the NW InterCity Tournament for 2020 due to uncertainties the COVID-19 crisis poses for the planning of the event. Our club supports having Vancouver BC host in 2021 to keep the 4 City rotation intact and Portland will assume the hosting duties in 2022. Hopefully those wonderful restaurants will still be open to delight our taste buds.
Rose City – Match Play Qualifier
The forecast for “scattered showers” meant we could get lucky and not see any rain clouds in the area. Unfortunately that was not the case as “pure rain” came down on us for a few holes as we made the turn that brought out umbrellas and rain gear. How did this effect the 19 golfers that signed up for Match Play? Well 8 players netted 80 or worse as only 3 players were destined to miss the cut … there was a glimmer of hope for the 80’s club. Congratulations to Celia Chan as her Net 71 earned her the #1 seed.
The Hit the Green drawing for The Reserve North Course was conducted by Dave Oliver and he rewarded Eric Dold for A-Flight and Rian Kindig for B-Flight. Mike Parsons played the Blue Tees and didn’t hit a green until Hole #15 and it barely hung on to qualify for a ticket as he said in his third person voice “Mike finally got a ticket”.
Founder’s Cup Champion – Rian Kindig
Amazing weather on Sunday brought out golfers to The Reserve North Course to compete for the Founder’s Cup. Low scores were possible as proven by Skylar Felton (pending new member) who posted a net 64 and Darryl Inouye with a net 67 (but missed the 1st round). Rian Kindig used a brilliant back nine of gross 39 to help him net a 69 to take home the Founder’s Cup trophy. Lek Vongthongthip chose to play from the Black Tees to garner a couple of extra strokes, but that may have cost him as he came up short of expectations trying to stay ahead of the pack chasing him.
Clark “Houdini” Louie gets into many awkward situations on the golf course, but somehow finds a way to bail himself out. At Hole #17 he found the woods on the right side on his second shot and somehow hit an impossible shot that found the front mound of the green and disappear into the hole for a “Birdie”.
In the Hit the Green raffle for the Salem outing we have Carl Louie drawn for the A-Flight and Cherie Anderson drawn for the B-Flight.
Founders Cup – Salem Golf Club – Round One
We had 28 players take the opportunity to golf at Salem Golf Club to enjoy the outdoors after weeks of staying at home. Carl Louie drew for the Hit the Green raffle for Glendoveer , and Hank Lawrence and Dave Oliver were the lucky winners. This was the first round for the Founders Cup and Lek Vongthongthip leads the field with a net 71. The next round will be at The Reserve North Course and we will see how Lek handles the lead this time around, as he disappointed when he had the lead for the Club Championship. Check the results to see if you won a “Skin”, of which you can collect at the next outing and also if you Hit the Green you may get lucky at the next raffle.
PCGC tee it up for Glendoveer East before “Stay Home, Stay Safe”
We had 27 players come out for what may be the last chance for golf before we all go under “house arrest”. Due to the COVID-19 situation Three Rivers Golf Course is closed and our outing next week is CANCELLED. With hopes of things getting back to normal in the near future we anticipate getting together for our next outing on April 19th at Salem Golf Course (stay tuned for updates).
With no tables and chairs available to us, the check in process was held over a barrel as Carl Louie’s office. Awareness of “Social Distancing” was the topic for the office cooler as we awaited our tee times and warmed up. Lek Vongthongthip showed off his new golf cart as we wondered if his grandmother was missing her shopping cart. The youth of our club mainly Rian, Brandon and Kay rented Golf Boards and channeled their inner “Tony Hawk” up and down the slopes of Glendoveer. Precautions on the course limited one rider per cart and they were probably not fully charged before being turned around as Hank Lawrence needed to call for “Road Assistance” in the back nine. One thing we notice about his new cart was the number was hand written and we nicknamed it the “ghetto cart”, but Hank argued that it was supporting local artist. At the end of the round we had no place to hang out and improvised with loosely spacing ourselves by the wall at the first tee. The Von Ebert Brewing (formerly Ringside) was popular for their $5.00 32 oz. canned beer as we saw Dale Okazaki stock up for his anticipated “hibernation”. Carl Louie decided to do the payouts and “Hit the Green” drawing at our next outing. Go to the event results page to see if you made the top 5 or if your KP held up.
2020 Awards & Election Banquet
We had 40 members and guests attend the banquet with suggested “social distancing” of one club length. Many were more trusting and meandered into the “gimme range”. President John Sturges opened the evening with acknowledgement of the 2019 Board and recap of 2019 events. PCGC showed support to the community with a donation to the Portland Chinese Scholarship Foundation (Mr. Scott Wong) and Ikoi No Kai (Mr. Don Matsuda). Last year’s recipient of the Scholarship award was Ms. Cindy Wu who wrote a nice thank you note stating we helped her with her goal of attending University of Portland to study Nursing. Mr. Don Matsuda thanked our club as with the current situation every dollar helps in keeping the Senior food service operational.
The staff of The Stockpot Broiler was very accommodating in serving our Braised Beef Brisket and Mediterranean Breast of Chicken dinner. Then VP Darryl Inouye and Rian Kindig gave away door prizes. The first ticket drawn drew “crickets” only to go to the one who misplaced his ticket – Pai Vongthongthip. The top prizes included a Sun Mountain golf bag, TaylorMade M2 hybrid, Calloway Mack Daddy wedge, Odyssey White Hot Pro putter and a dozen Pro V1 golf balls. Our “Mystery Prize” of the evening was claimed by Eric Dold which included 2 sleeves of golf balls, $30.00 gift card to Par West Golf and a roll of premium Toilet Paper (3 layer, low compression).
The entry for the NW Intercity (Vancouver BC) was awarded to John Sturges after Eric Dold had declined the prize due to a commitment to attend a Nebraska Cornhusker game. (Now we know why his eyes lit up for the TP as corn cobs can be a rough ride)
2019 Trophy Tournament Winners
2019 Ron Eng Memorial Trophy – Lek Vongthongthip
We had 32 golfers at Stone Creek GC to compete for the Ron Eng Memorial Trophy and enjoy a BBQ Burger social after golf. Darryl Inouye set the front nine on fire by posting a 41 (net 26.5) to be the heavy favorite to add another trophy next to the Club Championship hardware he got last year. The back nine became a reality check and a brutal 5 putt at #16 proved costly. Laville Fendors was having a good day also, but overthinking the firming greens took away the confidence of playing for the back of the cup; resulting in some heartbreaking misses on some easy putts. This opened the door for Lek Vongthongthip who rallied in the back nine to card a 38 with a birdie – birdie finish to have his name etched on the trophy. A comment was made on how his ugly swing can get him a career of 3 Hole in One’s and a Ron Eng Memorial Trophy. He said this was his first win since he joined the club and relived each of his Hole in One’s. This brought up the debate of which is more memorable, winning the Club Championship or getting a Hole in One?? Clark Louie couldn’t remember too many trophies that Ron Eng won, but sure appreciates that Ron got a Hole in One at Forest Hills Hole #17 that was about 185 yards.
