John Concannon, Publicity
The sole Home and Home event of 2015 was completed at Sun Lakes Country Club on Thursday, April 23. The IMGA winners included the following: 1st Duane Coking and Bud Derene, 2nd Bill Ranney and Gary Hatch, 3rd Frank Wellwerts and Jim Poole.
For those who plan ahead, be aware that Ironwood will be closed June 1–6, and July 20–25 for general maintenance.
Recently, I was cleaning out some boxes of old stuff and came across an article I wrote back in May 2000. (I can’t believe I am still doing this). In reading the article, which, in those days was entitled IMGA PLAYDAY RESULTS, I realized that there are a couple of significant differences between the IMGA of 2000 and today’s IMGA. While we just completed our only Home and Home tournament for 2015, we had similar events with Pebble Creek, Palo Verde, Cottonwood, SunBird, Sun Lakes Country Club and Mountain View at Saddlebrooke. I wondered why. Maybe it was due to the fact that we had over 400 members back then to draw from, or maybe it was because so many of us were relatively new to the area and wanted to see and play other courses. Then, again, maybe the concept of the Home and Home Tournament has just seen its day.
Speaking of membership, our current number of active golfers is around 257, a far cry from our 400 plus membership years. The most striking fact that hit me was the number of members who are no longer with us. A stark example of that is to look at the 20 IMGA winners of the Pebble Creek Home and Home, only four are current members. I started tallying up the winners of the various play day events for that month and realized that it would be easier to note the members who are still with us. Names like Maurice Striker, Gene McSweeney, Larry Kinnamon, Michael Leddy, Tom Johnson, Paul Sillars, David Cluseau and Bob Burke represent just a few of the members I golfed with and who no longer play golf, have moved from Sun Lakes, or who have just moved on. Someone recently coined the phrase, “The Graying of Ironwood.” Whatever you call it, the passage of time stops for no one, but, as a friend recently said, “It is better to be seen than viewed.” Enjoy every day you have.
If you are reading this piece on the IMGA website, you obviously have noticed the new and wonderfully redone format. Thanks to the work of our President Bill Beltz, we have a website that should encourage all members to read it frequently. Great job, Bill.