Home-course advantage not enough as Silicon Valley Drivers
finish fourth; Davis Zone prevails as fan-friendly National Golf
League kicks off second season at Ridgemark
n By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer
Hollister – Their home tournament didn’t go as planned for the Silicon Valley Drivers as they finished a middle-of-the-pack fourth in the National Golf League season opener Saturday. But as the season progresses, they’re hoping to improve their game to challenge the league’s five other teams.
The fan-friendly NGL kicked off its second season at Ridgemark Golf & Country Club where the thought was that the Drivers had the home-course advantage. But things didn’t go as planned for the locals as the team earned only 18 points, enough to top just two teams.
The Davis Zone won the tournament with 31 points.
“It’s been fun,” said Drivers player Sal Felice, a Hollister resident. “That’s how you have to think of it. I don’t do this for a living. It’s a golf shot. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Felice and his partner, local golf professional Mitch Thomas, were the obvious fan favorites as about 40 golf carts followed the pair around for its first two rounds of play. The NGL has moved away from PGA-style rules where fans are roped off and asked to keep quiet. Spectators are encouraged to go up to players and talk to them as they’re moving from hole to hole, and there are no ropes to hold the fans back.
The fans, however, are asked to keep some type of etiquette so as to not completely disrespect the game of golf. As the day progressed, the fans did give the players room to breathe and didn’t cheer if an opponent made a bad shot.
The spectators made good use of their ability to scream and cheer when their team favorite made a good shot. One spectator could be heard screaming, “Who’s your daddy!” whenever Felice or Thomas made a great shot.
“I think this is great,” said Roger Howard, a Hollister resident in attendance. “This is the first time I’ve been out here. This is great. It allows you to get closer to the players to ask them questions or give them advice.”
Each of the six teams in attendance broke up into three two-man teams. With the tournament consisting of three stages – “Best Ball,” “Alternate Ball” and “Scramble” – the team with the most points at the end of the day won.
As the first round wore on, the Drivers held their own in the “Best Ball” competition – in which each player played his own ball with the lowest score counting for the team – even though inconsistent play marred their chances to take the early lead.
The second round didn’t go much better for them. In the “Alternate Ball” set-up, each player rotated hitting the same ball, a type of scoring that brought some extra pressure, Drivers player Greg Galasso said.
“It’s much harder,” Galasso said before the “Alternate Ball” round started. “You don’t really get much of a rhythm going. There’s also much more pressure. You don’t want to mess up for your partner.”
It could have been a lack of rhythm that lost it for the Drivers.
On the first hole of the second round, the Felice-Thomas team ran into some good luck as the East Bay Power missed a close putt that would have won them the point. Instead, the teams left the hole with a push, meaning neither team received a point.
The Drivers then returned the favor on the next hole as Felice missed a 5-foot putt that paved the way for inconsistent play throughout the rest of the round.
Bob Henderson, owner of the Drivers, watched the second round unfold as his team alternately made great plays and then missed an easy shots.
“In golf, you’re playing against yourself,” Henderson said. “The challenge is to not over-think (the shot). That’s what makes it so frustrating, but also rewarding when you hit that good shot.”
After the second round ended, the Drivers were down by seven points as three teams, the Sonoma-Marin Breakers, Sacramento Eagles and Davis Zone, were tied for the lead with 16 points.
In the third round, Eric Jones, the 2003
RE/MAX Senior World Long Drive champion, entered in place of Felice. For the “Scramble” round, each team was given the option to choose which ball the players wanted to hit for the score. For example, if Jones launched the ball almost to the green off his tee while Thomas only hit the ball halfway down the fairway, the two could opt to hit from where Jones’ ball landed.
But bringing in Jones didn’t help matters as Silicon Valley ended in fourth place.
Ray Otis, Bob Swinerton and Gilroy’s Darryl Donovan also competed for the Drivers.The Davis Zone’s victory marked the second year in a row that the team finished atop the chart. The players split the first-place prize of $2400.
“We’re a team,” Zone coach Dan Scott said. “I haven’t changed one player (from last year). I have a lot of faith in them.”
Scott said the Zone team goes out and practices on the course the day before to make sure the players aren’t going in blind.
As for the Drivers, each player said the tournament was “a lot of fun” and didn’t give much thought to the fact that the team lost. Although they would have liked to win they weren’t going to read too much into the loss.
So, did the fans affect their play?
“No, not at all,” Felice said. “If I blame them, then there’s something wrong with myself.”The Drivers continue the NGL’s six-tournament season at the Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland on Aug. 19.
