Handover of Oakwood/Cottonwood Traveling Trophy
Aki Yasuda, Director of Tournaments
Bob Greene, Publicity
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Director of Tournaments for MOGA, Mr. Aki Yasuda.
Aki and his wife have lived in Sun Lakes for the past six years, and he has been the director for the past five years. He says he’s been playing golf “for a long time,” and his handicap is classified information.
He’s a soft-spoken guy who devotes four to six hours a week to produce the major tournaments, and Carol Russell of the Pro Shop devotes several hours to prepare the weekly tournaments. Aki has two cohorts, Rich Castro and Dan Muth, who assist in tournament planning, preparation and results. There is at least one tournament per week, excluding the three weeks of overseeding. Along with preparing the player list, there is also the logistics of coordinating after-play functions, i.e., dinners. Fifty-four tournaments are planned for 2018.
I believe it would be fair to say that we all owe Aki, Carol, Rich and Dan a debt of gratitude; a sincere thank you for all the time and effort they devote for our pleasure and to the success of MOGA.
On April 20, the last Member/Member Tournament was played for the spring/summer season. Ninety-eight players participated in the Two-Man Chapman. John Kiehl and Bob Etheridge won closest-to-the-pin awards, and in a special closest-to-the-pin contest on the Lakes No. 2, sponsored by Classic Car, Gary Leath won a “misting system” for a golf cart.
There were a number of raffle prizes awarded from Stone & Barrel, Chop, DC Steak House, Raven Golf Course, Legacy Golf Resort, Lone Tree Golf Course and Arizona Grand Golf Resort.
With the closing of the Sonoran course on May 10 through overseeding, there will have to be sharing between usage of the Palms/Lakes courses between the Niners and MOGA players. MOGA will start play at 7:00 a.m., and the Niners at 8:30 a.m. MOGA will cancel play on days that maintenance requires use of the courses.
A special note: The Oakwood courses will be closed for overseeding on October 16 and will reopen on November 9.
If you are new to Sun Lakes and have not joined MOGA, you might give it a try. You do not have to be a low handicapper; I’m not! There are players with handicaps that range from 2 to 35 and ages from 50s to 90s. Most importantly, you will make new friends, enjoy the game and get out of the house. Check at the Pro Shop for more information.
For all MOGA information, results and future tournament dates, please visit the website at: http://www.mogagolf.org.