Mulligans Golf Association has concluded its 2004 season with the exciting Masters Tournament. The annual event took place at the beautiful Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore. What started out to be a sunny day only grew brighter with everyone's anticipation to teeing off. Windy conditions made scoring extremely difficult. Eight players shot in the 40's on the front nine holes (Chardonnay course) while only seven performed as well in the back nine (Zinfandel course). The back nine averaged two (2) strokes higher than the front nine proving how tough it was to score on this day.

There were definitely some early favorites heading into the tournament. With Clint Dickson unable to attend, E-ming Saung, Jack Chin and Mark Farrier were amongst the contenders for the gross scoring title. Saung came out hot early on with a 2-under par score after just four holes. Chin tried to stay close with consistent pars in the first few holes. On the other hand, Farrier and Huang were both misfortuned with bad lies and lost balls leaving them behind early in the round. Saung closed out the front nine with an impressive score of 40 with Chin just one stroke behind with a score of 41.

As the players made the turn, so did the weather. The earlier gusts had grown into howling winds that made it even more difficult to score on the Zinfandel course. A quick two-shot birdie gave Chin a one-stroke lead only to have Saung erase that lead with a birdie answer on the next hole. Farrier couldn't stop the bogey train as he ran into one bad break after another. Huang continued his steady play throughout the entire round. Saung made a crucial mistake on the 14th hole by hitting his tee shot out-of-bounds. Chin capitalized on this by making par and winning the next two holes taking a five-stroke lead heading into the 17th hole. Amazingly, all four players in the group played the 17th as poorly as it was possible for each of them by shooting a combined 12 over. Leading by two, Chin closes the door on the last hole when Saung fails to convert his par putt. In the end, Chin's victory marks the second consecutive year that he has raised the Masters Cup over his head.

The best net score was an open race but it, too, had its favorites. James Yong, winner of the last tournament (Fall Classic) and placing in the event prior to that (Best Ball Battle), had some momentum that deemed him to be heavy favorite. Other past low net shooters included Harsha Kapre, Dennis Yang and E-ming Saung. Of course, you can never count out Marcus Kong, a member who has captured fair share of titles last year. It was a close battle with Saung leading much of the way until John Yong turned up a lower score from the last foursome. John Yong shot an astonishing score of 48 in the front nine to set himself up for a strong finish. With a net score of 64, John Yong was the only player to shoot below 70 on this tough day. Other notable scores include Christina Tran shooting an impressive net 73 which would have placed her in 2nd Place had she been eligible for the Masters prizes. John Yong took home 1st Place Net prize, a brand new Titleist carry bag, and Saung won 2nd Place Net with a box of Pro-V1 balls.

What a way to end an outstanding season.

- Jack Chin