DE LAVEAGA EXPOSES DRAGONS SHORTCOMINGS
8.20.2018
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — One would figure that a 6,100-yard course from the tips down in laid-back Santa Cruz ought to be a lovely walk in the park for the Dragons.
But De Laveaga, which made its debut on the Dragons regualr season schedule last weekend, proved anything but. The treelined, target/placement course meandering through the Santa Cruz Mountains smacked the Dragons square in the face. Not a single score in the red, in either flight.
De Laveaga confronts all comers with massive discomfort. The claustrophobic tee shots, the small volcanic plateau greens, the false fronts, the sticky kikuyu rough, long forced carries, and deceptive dense marine air all contributed to a bloddy trainwreck for most. And that’s with a local rule allowing OB’s to be played as laterals in place.
Up in the A Flight, only three out of nine managed to break net 80 — yeah, NET EIGHTY, sad! Davis Lee must be “awfully” proud of his 94/net 78, which won the flight, over the 87/net 79 by Tom Yee. Paul Loui’s 81/net 79 was good for 3rd low net and field low gross — “gross!” Jeff Yee took fourth low net with 96/net 80.
The B Flight ought to be very proud of themselves, playing the same blue tees as the A Flight. Five guys in the lower division shot a better gross score than the high grosser up in the A Flight, who shall remain nameless. The ladies, however, were the standouts on this day. Karen Fong shot a net par 87/70 to win the flight, besting Mike Gui (90/net 71) and Fan Li (101/net 71). Mieko Sugimoto came in fourth, with 88/net 72.
With scores like these, shall we talk about the skins game? “I don’t really care, do u?” Bogeys, freaking bogeys, won gross skins.
Well, with that hot mess of a tournament in the bag, and appropriately a Korean BBQ dinner for 8 down at good ol’ Korean Spring to sooth the soul afterwards, here’s where we are on the Dragon Cup club championship race: Mike Gui is now at the pole position, with 567 points, a scant 7 point lead over Mother of Dragon, Dr. Fong (560 points). Just a point behind Karen is the 2016 champion, Davis Lee (559). John Park (534), Peter Lyu (523) and Fan Li (498) are all in contention, with Fan having a better than an outside shot at pulling off the Dragon Cup and Rookie of the Year double honors.
Davis Lee and Tom Yee (274) will be looking to pick up some big numbers as the Dragons’ representatives in the Labor Day Inter-City Invitational in Victoria, BC. In the Club Match Play Brackets, which also issues points to the participants, Mike Lum, XL Chen, Wyatt Lin, Tom Yee, Mike Gui (semifinalist), Mieko Sugimoto (semifinalist) are all still alive.
It should be another exciting fiinsh to the Dragons Cup race. Both San Juan Oaks (Sat. 9/15) and the season finale Wente Vineyard (10/14) are open for registration. If you haven’t played your two (2) minimum to qualify for discoutned renewal for 2019, now is the time to get back on the course. And if you know somebody who would be a worth fit for the Dragons (not a high bar, see scores from De Laveaga), why, bring ’em out as a guest!
