Bob Greene, MOGA Publicity

On January 24, the second round (18 holes) of the MOGA Club Championship was played on Oakwood’s Lakes/Sonoran Courses. At the same time, the “Super Seniors” (80+ years) were competing for their trophy. Douglas Stodgel is the new Club Champion, finishing with a 36-hole total of 156. Second place was Arthur Whitmore with 157. Larry Horner and Mark Heth were tied for third with 160 each, and Ray Hyden was 5th with 165. Mr. Stodgel was also closest to the pin on the Sonoran #8.

Mr. Stodgel has been playing for 35 years. He played professional baseball for several years with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. Has been married for 47 years, has two grown children (boy and girl) and moved to Sun Lakes from California this past December.

First in the Super Seniors was Leroy Hall, certainly one of our distinguished Seniors, shot a 175 for 36 holes (89-86). Rod Richmond was a close second with 177 (89-88). Buster Laughlin (87-95) and William Knack (88-94) were tied for third with 182, and Hans Naumann was fifth with a 184 (89-95). Mr. Hall is married, has been playing for 30 years, moved to Sun Lakes from Rochester, NY, 24 years ago and has two grown sons.

Congratulations to Doug Stodgel and Leroy Hall and to all the players in the Championship Tournament. For all scores, please refer to www.mogagolf.org.

Closest to the Pin: Lakes #6: John Skoworn, Lakes #2: Fred Smith, Sonoran #3: Roy Hyden, Sonoran #8: Doug Stodgel

Upcoming Schedule (game descriptions are on the MOGA website):

March 7 – 10:00 a.m. – Member/Member (Chapman)

March 14 – 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. – Ironwood Wealth Mgt (4-person Scramble)

March 21 – 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. – MOGA/Palo Verde H&H

March 23 (Saturday) – 8:00 a.m. – MOGA/Palo Verde H&H

March 28 – 8:00 a.m./1:00 p.m. – Member/Guest Low Net by Flights

Note: Thursday, April 11, at Oakwood and Saturday, April 13, at Cottonwood, the MOGA/ Cottonwood Home & Home will be played.

Special Note: The East Valley Marines 6th Annual Charity Golf Tournament will be held on Friday, April 5, at the Oakwood Country Club. Information is on the bulletin board in the Pro Shop. It is a fun event, so sign up early; “Helping Veterans in Need.” Register online at www.eastvalleymarinesgolf.org.

If you are new to the area and would like to meet other golfers, come to the Pro shop. You will be welcome! You don’t have to be a resident of IronOaks to join MOGA. We have over 350 members with golfers of every level. You will meet new friends while playing a variety of team and individual games each week. Membership application and more information are available on our website at www.mogagolf.org. Any time is a good time to join!

A question arose recently concerning the use of the “Handicap” Flag on the courses. It provides a privilege to the person/s riding in the cart to drive off the cart path into areas where, normally, carts are restricted. However, the Flag privilege does not permit a cart to be on the tee box or on the Green. Ross, the Grounds Manager, has done an outstanding job improving the conditions of all the fairways and Greens. Quoting the Tournament Director, Dan Muth, “We own this course and should be proud to see it in the condition it is in, and we need to keep it in this condition. Please remember to fill your divots and fix your ball marks on the Green; good luck and good golfing.”

For all MOGA information, results and future tournament dates, please visit the website at http://www.mogagolf.org.