The SNGA’s 4th major of 2009, the Las Vegas City Amateur sponsored by Cleveland/Srixon, was held at the Las Vegas Golf Club from October 8th through October 11th. Las Vegas Golf Club, being the oldest golf club in the Las Vegas Valley,

annually hosts the fall tournament. The weather was ideal for scoring with temperatures peaking out in the low 80s and very calm winds for all 4 days of competition. With 5 divisions compet-ing, including the brand new Super Senior Division for members 60 years of age and older, there were lots of birdies and great memories made by all competitors involved.

In the scratch division, it was Steve Fink who wound up holding the trophy as 2009 champion. Fink defeated Josh Vornsand on the first playoff hole by knocking his wedge shot on the par 4 1st hole to 5 feet and draining the birdie putt just inside the right edge. Fink’s first round rol-lercoaster 66 included a disastrous triple bogey 8 on hole #2 but was offset with an incredible 5 deuces on the scorecard. The 2nd place finish moved Vornsand to the top of the 2009 Scratch Division Player of the Year Points standings where he holds a 36 point lead over Richard McIntosh (T-11, 139). Fink and Vornsand both shared the 36 hole lead with 2 day totals of 134. In solo 3rd place was Steve Kern, who backed up his opening round of 2 under par 70 with a tour-nament low 65 on Sunday (total 135). Rounding out the top 5 were Kevin Noto (2009 Nevada State Match Play Champion) and 16 year old AJ McInerney who both carded 2 day totals of 136. When the dust settled, 22 of the 80 players in the scratch division finished under par. Continued on page 5

Issue Oct.

2009 Las Vegas City Amateur In This Issue >>>

Steve Fink caps his impressive tournament with a playoff win.

The Official Newsletter of the Southern Nevada Golf Association

1. Las Vegas City Amateur 2. Misunderstood Rules 3. Pebble Beach Resorts 4. MetLife Auto and Home® 5. SNGA Grand Finale 6. What's on Tap?

The Grind

Page 1

Misunderstood Rules by Casey Mersch >>> Taking Proper Relief From a Cart Path

How many times have you been playing a round of golf and you hit a big drive off the tee, only to find it has come to rest directly on the cart path? This situation often occurs on the golf course, and it is important to know the proper way to proceed when your ball finds it’s way onto a paved path. The most important point to consider is: Has the path or road been declared an ‘immovable obstruction’? Most paved roads, gravel paths, etc. will fall under the category of immovable ob-structions, entitling the player to free relief. However, there are unique situations like Hole #17 at The Old Course at St. Andrews, deemed the “Road Hole,” where the road is declared an integral part of the course and no free relief may be taken.

Secondly, you always have the option to play the ball as it lies when resting on a cart path or road, but if you wish to take relief from the immovable obstruction, under RULE 24-2, you must determine the nearest point of relief. This is where many play-ers make mistakes: your nearest point of relief is the point on the golf course where the immovable obstruction you are taking relief from no longer interferes with your stance, lie, or area of intended swing. Often times players will only take relief for lie of the ball, they drop and play their next shot while still standing on the cart path. The penalty for this common breach of Rule 24-2 is 2 strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play. Lastly, once the nearest point of full relief has been determined, you must drop the ball properly. The ball must be dropped within one club length of the nearest point of relief and must not be closer to the hole than the nearest point of relief. The ball must also be dropped on a part of the golf course that is neither in a hazard nor on a putting green (assuming the ball lies through the green.) Finally, if the ball comes to rest nearer to the hole than the nearest point of relief after dropping, the ball must be re-dropped. Or if the ball rolls more than 2 club lengths after dropping, it must be re-dropped. If either of these conditions occur on the 2nd drop, the ball is placed at the point it first struck the golf course on the 2nd drop. Now your ball is in play, and you have taken proper relief from the cart path.

Page 2

H O F F M A N L E W I S

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Page 4

SNGA Mojave Amateur (Continued from page 1) >>>

In the net division, it was Jim Guy who stepped up and claimed the win. Playing in only his 3rd SNGA event of 2009, Guy fired back-to-back sub par rounds of 71, 66 respectively and claimed 1st place by 1 stroke. Finishing in 2nd place was Christian Pate, the 16 year old also fired back to back rounds in red fig-ures 71, 67 and finished at 6-under par 138. Finishing another shot back in 3rd place was Paudie O’Connor (139) and right on his heels was Joe Rada (140). Rounding out the top 5 were Jim LiCausi and Tom Seidl (141). Seidl’s solid 5th place finish moved him closer to the 2009 SNGA Net Player of the Year Points Leader George Yocum (T-7, 142). Only 20 points separate these players heading into the season’s final event.

In the senior division, it was Doug Pool who claimed his first senior division title of 2009. Pool, the 2009 SNGA Championship winner in the scratch division, posted back-to-back rounds of 68 to win by 2 strokes over Brady Exber (138). Other notable finishes were Steve Fink (145), Donald Clelland (145), and Tim Heffner and Wayne Barzekoff (146). In the senior net division, first place went to Danny Ga-

nier. Ganier 2-day net total of 138 was good enough for a 2 shot victory. In a 3 way tie for 3rd place; Paudie O’Connor, Bill Spencer, and Jimmy Tucker all ended up with 2 day totals of 141. Other notable finishes included: John Garrett (143) and Tim Heffner (144).

In the 2nd ever SNGA super senior division event, top prize of first place went to Joe VanRhyn. VanRhyn did what he had to do backing up his opening round net 67 with a Friday net 76 to win by 4 strokes over Randy Sears (147) and Leo May (147). Finishing in 4th place was Tom Khamis with a 2 day total of 6 over par 150. Be-hind Khamis was Severine Leoffler, the Arizona resident shot 75, 76 to take solo 5th place. Recog-nition was also given to Steve Johnson whose 2 day gross total of 149 topped the field.

The SNGA would like to extend warm apprecia-tion to all our volunteers who made it out to the event, also the Las Vegas Golf Club for hosting, and of course all 182 participants who competed. Also, the SNGA would like to extend a special thank you to the UNLV PGM Program students who worked tirelessly in pre-tournament course set-up as well as the 4 rounds of tournament play. Many of these future golf administrators are looking forward to careers within the great game of golf. The SNGA would like to extend another sincere thank you to Tim Shaver of Cleveland/Srixon who hosted a demo day on the driving range and provided prizes to the top winners. Another chapter was written in the long standing tradition of the Las Vegas City Amateur and in the end 6 great champions were crowned. Up next is the 2009 Clark County Amateur.

Page 5

“It takes hundreds of good golf shots to gain confidence, but only one bad one to lose it.” - Jack Nicklaus

thoughts... final

Las Vegas National Golf Club Site of the 2009 SNGA Season Opener

What’s on Tap >>>

2009 Clark County Amateur November Chills and Golf Thrills

Boulder Creek Golf Club is once again the site of the 2009 Clark County Amateur. Boulder Creek is a 27 hole facility with three challenging layouts and plenty of challenging features. The event is slated for November 12th - 15th for all 4 divisions: Scratch, Net, Senior and Super Seniors. If you would like more information or would like to register for the event please visit the SNGA website at www.snga.org and check out the tournament schedule page which will give you informa-tion on times, prices, tournament policies and more. You can also contact the SNGA at 702-458-4653 x. 214 for more information and to sign up.

Boulder Creek Golf ClubSite of the 2009 Clark County Amateur

Nov 8 Aliante 9:00 AM-3:00 P.M.

Nov 13 Rio Secco 8:00 A.M.-1:00 P.M.

Nov 14 Spanish Trail 9:00 AM-3:00 P.M.

Nov 15 The Legacy 9:00 AM-3:00 P.M.

Nov 22 Red Rock CC 9:00 AM-3:00 P.M.

Demo Days

Page 6