Saturday, April 23, 2005, 11:04am / San Geronimo, CA / scramble format

What a great day this turned out to be! What was forecasted as scattered showers all day became perfect conditions for golf - sunny and bright with breezy conditions. Anxious to start the first event of the 2005 MGA season, twenty-four players crossed their fingers hoping that the weather would hold up. The field was highly competitive behind masks of friendly smiles, and, in the end, there emerged a winner. The team comprised of E-ming Saung (ES), Eugene Hong (EH), Harsha Kapre (HK) and Jenny Hong (JH). We asked them a few candid questions about their 2005 Spring Scramble experience, and below are the answers.

What was the most memorable moment of the day?
EH: I'd have to say the convoy of carts on the 18th green - I don't know if it's meant to ice the groups or offer support, but it was certainly an eye-catcher.
ES: Coming into the 18th hole with a gallery watching/booing and the team making birdie.
HK: On the first par three i smacked my tee shot into the lake. While trying to fish it out, about 30 large frogs suddenly appeared out of nowhere (under/around my feet) and jumped into the water. I almost fell backwards trying to get out of there. The eagle on the 10th hole was pretty memorable as well.

What strength(s) do you think your team had that allowed you to capture the victory?
EH: a) Luck - at least 1 of the 4 hit a decent shot on every shot, so at worst we were putting for par on any hole, and the par putts were usually inside 10 feet.
b) Good teamwork - we all helped read the putts, and went with conservative, safe shots before bombing anything.
c) Ladies' tee advantage - came into play on a few holes, especially hole #10 - good tee shot by Jenny left us with about 175 to the hole for our second shot to the par 5.
d) Harsha was stellar with his driving, and E-ming with his irons, so it put us in pretty good shape just about every hole.
JH: Our team worked great together. There would always be at least one person that came through on each shot. It was great teamwork!
ES: An erasure.
HK: We were all really good looking.

What challenges did your team face? And, how did you address them?
EH: No real challenges - we didn't know how the other teams were doing, so we put some pressure on ourselves to score low - but we came through.
ES: None, we owned the course. I couldn't get a drive off the ground.
HK: We were just too good and had too many shots to choose from. It was frustrating trying to decide which shot to use.

Did you have a team strategy?
EH: Team strategy was 2-fold: a) Try to fulfill the minimum required tee shots as quickly as possible - I think that we actually had each person with 3 tee shots after 12 holes - this gave us the ability to do not worry about the rationing for the last 6 holes (I think we were 4 under for the last 6).
b) Get in a good, safe shot before going aggressive.
c) For putts, order it so that the first player gets it to the hole and gives the best read of the slope (not worrying so much about getting it into the hole) - we very seldomly required all four players to go on a makeable putt.
ES: Yes, don't lose.
HK: We didnt need one.

Did you have a personal goal walking up to the 1st tee box?
EH: Just win, baby.
JH: My personal goal was to not drag down my team!¸ Luckily, I contributed a few shots.
ES: Don't top it into the bushes (I did)...
HK: Hit the ball past the women's tee.

What did you think about San Geronimo Golf Course, and would you play it again?
EH: This was my third time playing San Geronimo - I enjoy it, it's interesting (especially the back 9), though a bit expensive and far from home to play regularly (there are online specials on occasion).
JH: It's a great course.¸Very well maintained with interesting holes.¸Would definately play there again.
ES: Yeah, not a bad course for a scramble, but a bit expensive for a team-play round.
HK: Good course. Yes.

Please write a haiku about your experience on Saturday.
I lost 6 balls to the bushes
8 birds 1 eagle
the ultimate scramble team
by E-ming Saung

We thought it would be closer
The first team was stacked
Just call us the sandbaggers
by Harsha Kapre

You've just won the 2005 MGA Spring Scramble, now what're you going to do (besides going to Disneyland)?
EH: $30 on hard eight in Vegas
JH: Work on getting a handicap under 30!
ES: Win again next year.
HK: Going to hit the driving range...I need the practice.

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