Roger Roland does most of the behind-the-scenes work, yet he's always a little surprised and truly appreciative of the support given to the Chuck Gates Memorial golf tournament at Sun Valley.
The ninth annual one-day tournament raising money for Wood River Valley junior golf was staged Sunday afternoon at Sun Valley Golf Course. And there was another great turnout of 29 foursomes and 116 golfers for the scramble event.
This year's tournament was dedicated to longtime Sun Valley Golf Course head golf professional Bill Butterfield, who died last summer. Roland thanked Sun Valley for the use of its facility and the contributions of its golf course staff.
Roland estimated the tournament raised another $5,000 that could boost the Chuck Gates Youth Golf Endowment to nearly $60,000. He is working on applying for 501 charitable status for the endowment fund.
Gates, known to most locals as "C. Gates," was one of seven founders of the Idaho Mountain Express newspaper 32 years ago. He died Dec. 6, 1997 in Nevada at the age of 51. Gates also started Ketchum's first radio station, KRMR. Playing golf was his passion in later life.
Placing 1-2-3 in the "Chuck Flight," a championship flight for handicaps 14-and-below, were these foursomes:
1—Bob Buchanan, Ron Wentzell, Chris Perkins and Spyder Stevens. 2—Charles Evans, Joel Evans, Cam Faulds and Wray Farmin. 3—Bill Gehrke, Paul Spitzer, John Reinholt and Collin Giddings.
A tie for second place was settled in a scorecard playoff assessing how the deadlocked teams performed on the low handicap tougher holes.
The top three teams in the "Gates Flight," a first flight for handicaps 15-and-up, were:
1—Jeff Peterson, David Dredge, Peter Atkinson and Max Harris. 2—Doyle Corbett, Chance McCroskey, Daniel Sundali and Kyle VanDyck. 3—Roger Roland, Maurice Charlat, Mikie Geron and Alysia May.
Once again, the tie for second place in "Gates" was settled in a scorecard playoff.
Roland, the tournament organizer along with Mike Pirzynski, was grateful again this year that Sun Valley golf pros Jeff Peterson and Doyle Corbett teamed up with several talented junior players in the true spirit of the tournament.
Low gross foursome for the day consisted of "Chuck Flighters" Eric Huus, Rick Filkins, John Manocheo and Jim Taft.
Getting the most swings for their money and taking the most strokes were Claire Bailey, Jeanne Welch, Becky Smith and Adrian Norris.
Closest to the pin winners were Dillon Witmer on #3 and Happy Hawn on #17. Long drive winners on #16 and #8 were Barrett Molter and Marcia Rankin.
Here is the list of Sunday's Gates tournament teams:
"Chuck Flight" (13 teams):
Tom Hickey, King Lambert, Jeff Huber, Whit Atkinson
Bill Gehrke, Paul Spitzer, John Reinholt, Collin Giddings
Bob Buchanan, Ron Wentzell, Chris Perkins, Spyder Stevens
Charles Evans, Joel Evans, Cam Faulds, Wray Farmin
Rick Filkins, Eric Huus, John Manocheo, Jim Taft
Michael Bullis, Kery Holroyd, Mike Shanks, John Whisler
Duffy Witmer, Marcia Rankin, Dillon Witmer, Scott Lucas
Gary Goodenough, Rewk Warrum, Peter Caldara, Jack Sholtis
Steve Johns, Brian Collett, Ken Hills, Gile Williams
Mark Brown, Gary Grimes, Mike Hanley, Bruce Miller
Gerry Ryan, Roger Wilson, Bob Morrison, Edridge French
Dan Tucker, John Majors, Jim Bradford, Joe Bergl
Kevin Carey, Carl Geissinger, Dave Hennessy, Ryan Thompson
"Gates Flight" (16 teams):
Mike Pirzynski, Paige Griffith, James Young, Zach Venzon
Claire Bailey, Jeanne Welch, Becky Smith, Adrian Norris
Roger Roland, Maurice Charlat, Mikie Geron, Alysia May
Janet Appleton, Lisa Ferguson, Mark Anderson, Hank Minor
Terry Tracy, Jan Wygle, Janet Cantor, Jackie Damerel
Jill Roland, Jim McElveen, Charlie Wister, Jill Brennan
Steve Schmidt, Ben Hoff, K.C. Benson, John Kearney
John Kearney Jr., Kirk Mason, Patrick McMahon, Christian Cairncross
Barbara Gehrke, Mary Beth Brown, Kristi Peterson, Marilyn Baybutt
Barrett Molter, Tom Kennedy, Mike Marlow, Phil Hebert
Happy Hawn, Jill Rubin, P.K. Murphy, Jennifer Harper
Steve Bernauer, Mike Crawford, Steve Heffner, Nyal Pederssen
Joe Benz, Tina Benz, Dennis Wheeler, Charlie Pomeroy
Jeff Peterson, David Dredge, Peter Atkinson, Max Harris
Doyle Corbett, Chance McCroskey, Daniel Sundali, Kyle VanDyck
Karen Shorts, Norm Shorts, Marion Monge, Doug D'Andrea
