CCMGA NEWSLETTER
May, 2002                                               Newsletter Archives
   
Published by the Cave Creek Men's Golf Association 

Snail mail coming

As promised, a mailing containing applications for the remaining 2002 tournaments 
should be in your mailbox in the next few days.   Watch for it.

Finally..

Please note that a “Super Seniors” flight has been added to the Club Championship 
and Eclectic Tournaments. Here’s an opportunity for all those 65 and over members 
to have their best chance ever to put their names on the winner’s list. The number 
of members who sign up for this flight will determine if it will become a regular 
part of our tournaments.

Patience, please

Remember the old children’s tale of the ugly duckling, and how it changed into a 
gorgeous swan?  Well, Arizona golf courses have their transition periods, too, and 
Cave Creek is in one right now.  It’s spring and the rye grass is dying out.  
Meantime, as the early morning temperatures begin rising above 60 degrees, the 
dormant Bermuda is starting to grow again. Trouble is, Mother Nature is fickle, 
and this can be and on and off affair.  And keeping up with the uneven growth 
patterns is a major challenge to every golf course superintendent in the Valley.  
So when our course begins to look a bit shaggy here and there, just be patient.  
Our transition period will be over soon.  Bob Lytle and his crew are doing their 
best to stay ahead of Mother Nature, but that’s no easy task.  Another spring chore 
is aerating the greens.  Ours will be done on May l3th and l4th, so be prepared for 
less than true putts until they heal.
  
Overall, considering the lack of rain we’ve had, and the amount of play we get, 
Bob and his greens keepers have done an excellent job of keeping our course in 
very playable shape.  If you agree, let him know.

End handicap confusion

Two booklets designed to help take the mystery out of handicap procedures are now 
available in the Pro Shop free for the asking.  One is 'Uncle Snoopy Wants You To 
Know How To Use Your Handicap.'  The other one, very similar in content and published 
by the AGA is titled,  'USGA Handicap System Made Simple.'  Either one is well worth 
your reading time.

We’ll miss you, Terry

Your Board of Governors lost a valuable member with the resignation of Terry Kennealy 
who said he needed a break after five years of board service.  Terry is a past Board 
president, an active supporter of Junior Golf and was this year’s Tournament Chairman. 
Craig Munsey will now head this important committee assisted by Peter Barnett, Don Henkel, 
Dick Higgins, and Tom McConnell.

Looking ahead

For all you flat blade wizards, every year your Association hosts a Putting Championship 
to benefit Junior Golf.  This year’s event will be held on Friday, June 7th beginning at 
4:00 p.m. The putting green adjacent to the Pro Shop will be the tournament site. The 
entry fee is $2.00 with replays going for just one buck.

Visit our web site

With postal costs going up again, we will be using www.ccmga.net as our major method of 
communication with Association members. Our aim is to keep you informed about Association 
activities as quickly as possible without sacrificing accuracy.  While we will try to 
respond to answerable queries, please remember this is a volunteer effort so the response 
may not be as quick as you, or we, would like.  And it does help when we know whom we are 
writing to.

Why slow play is always someone else.

If death and taxes are sure things, so are complaints about slow play.  And that’s 
true on any course I’ve ever played from Pebble Beach to a nine-hole cow pasture somewhere 
in Oregon. 
 
The point is that you can help the cause of a four-hour round or less if you do the 
things you  know will help maintain the pace of play.  And, if necessary, insist that 
those you play with do the same. For example...

(1) Observe the five-minute rule when looking for a lost ball.  And if you 
know your ball is hopelessly lost  (say somewhere deep in Cave Creek Wash) put another 
ball in play right away.  
(2) Line up your putt before it’s your turn to play. 
(3) Take your cart directly to the nearest ball, take a club and let your cart partner 
go to his.  
(4) Play ready golf unless it’s prohibited by tournament rules.  
(5) Put your score on the card on the next tee, not before leaving the green. 
(6) Always keep up with the group in front of yours. And I’m sure you can come with other 
tips that will help make a dent in slow play.  It’s worth a shot even if we all know it 
will never be entirely eliminated.

No spam here

We can only E-mail you direct if you are listed on our Web-Site Directory.  If you 
haven’t done it because you’re afraid you will get a lot of junk e-mail, don’t be.  
You won’t get any, and you’re e-mail address, or any other in the directory, won’t be 
sold.  So, if you haven’t already signed up, do it today.

Tournament date selection process
Preparation of the 2003 Tournament Schedule will begin in October because that’s about 
the time the Parks and Recreation Department releases the available tournament dates to 
all Phoenix municipal courses.  Each course is assigned two tournament days a month 
However, only one may be allocated to a course’s men’s group.  Assigned dates may not 
be traded among the Phoenix courses.  This means we have very little flexibility in 
date selection.  Arizona’s weather also is a factor in this process, as are holiday 
weekends that tend to limit the size of the field.  Within these parameters, our aim 
is to try to schedule the most important and popular tournaments when the temperatures 
are tolerable and the course in the best possible condition.  Where there appears to 
be a conflict with one of the myriad amateur tournaments held in the Phoenix area 
annually, we try to find a date that will allow maximum participation by Association 
members. Will the Tournament Committee come up with a 2003 Tournament Schedule that 
will please every member of CCMGA?  Probably not.  But you can be sure they will give 
it their best efforts.

One of ours once?

Steven Sprong of Oceanside, Calif. may be a golf nut, or perhaps a little nuts.  
The 33-year-old was apprehended in mid-February by Secret Service agents protecting 
Vice President Dick Cheney while he vacationed at the Aviara Four Seasons Resort in 
Carlsbad, Calif. Sprong raised suspicion when he was spotted wearing night-vision goggles 
on the resort’s course at 3 a.m.  After it was determined that he was using the goggles 
to play a round without having to pay or endure slow play, he was cited for misdemeanor 
trespassing and released. (Golf Journal, May 2002)  
 

CCMGA
15202 N. l9th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85023