FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Members:

As president of the Federation I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I would also like to thank all of you that supported the Federation events held in 2003 and look forward to the same support in 2004, the Year of the Monkey. Without your support the Federation would not be what it is today. Again have a safe and Happy Holiday Season. See you all in Sacramento on Memorial Day, May 29-30, Oakland Invitational on July 10-11, and Vancouver on September 4-5.

Steve Hiroshima, President

MAY 29-30    SACRAMENTO MEMORIAL DAY INVITATIONAL

JUL 10-11       OAKLAND INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

SEP 4-5          VANCOUVER LABOR DAY TOURNAMENT

SEP 20-21       FEDERATION SENIOR TOURNAMENT &emdash; RENO

FEDERATION MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

A meeting of the Federation was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Tucson, Arizona on April 30, 2003 and called to order by President Steve Hiroshima. There were members from 19 clubs present.

There was a balance of $3,850.03 in the treasury. The minutes of the October 13, 2002 meeting were approved as submitted. All member clubs had paid 2003 dues.

As a result of an inquiry from an outside charitable organization for approval to use the addresses from the Central Directory, it was unanimously approved that the addresses can only be used for Federation purposes with no exceptions.

It was proposed to have two Federation-sponsored tournaments a year. The tournaments may be hosted by two or more clubs and may be scheduled in the spring and fall so that they would not conflict with the schedules of any of the Federation clubs. The events may be on weekdays and overlap with weekends. Federation First Vice-President Victor Wong from Los Angeles will head up a committee to recommend possible dates and locations.

The Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles clubs made announcement of their upcoming events in 2003. A Federation Senior Tournament in Reno will be planned in 2004 for members over age 50.

Those present accepted the Victoria, Hawaii and Bay Area Asian clubs as new members.

At a committee follow-up meeting during the Labor Day Tournament in Monterey, it was proposed to plan for one event for 2005. Heading the committee to investigate will be Victor Wong from Los Angeles.

WEBSITES AVAILABLE

To learn about these clubs and what is happening with them, log on at your leisure to the following websites:

Federation www.geocities.com/chinesefedgolfclub/home.html

Cascade www.geocities.com/cascadegolfclub/index.html

Los Angeles http://www.lacg.com/

Oakland http://www.ocgcgolf/

San Francisco http://www.sfcgc.org/

Santa Clara http://www.scccgc.org/

Stockton www.geocities.com/stocktonchinese/welcomeSCGC.html.

Please let Hugh Lee know if any other clubs have a website or planning to have a website so club news can be shared with other member clubs. Future Federation newsletters will be forwarded to club’s webmaster for posting to the website. Phone (510) 530-9182, email [email protected]

Thanks to Jeff Goh from Marin who generously donated his time to set up the Federation website above. At a past Federation meeting, it was brought out that the geocities.com website allows at no charge space for outside entities like golf clubs to set up their own websites. Get you club gurus to check it out.

MEMBER CLUB UPDATES for 2004

If not already notified, all clubs should send to Secretary Velvet Chang their list of new officers. Email to [email protected] or mail to her at 7 Benedict Court, Alameda, CA 94502.

TUCSON FEDERATION INVITATIONAL 2003

The Tucson Club hosted their Fifth Federation Invitational on April 30 through May 3, 2003. The format was four rounds of golf including two fun rounds and two tournament rounds of stroke play. The field of 254 golfers included six men’s flights and two women’s flights with two flights on each of four courses. Each day, the flights would rotate to another course. The two stroke play rounds were played on days two and three with a scramble format the first day and a four-ball team event using two best balls on the fourth day.

The selected venues had something for everyone, but you had to bring the right game for some courses. Starr Pass required brave putting strokes, Arizona National required good course management, Vistoso required long and straight shots off the tee and to the greens and Dell Urich had long holes to contend with. All but the latter course was target golfing at its best!

The host club with President Jim Wong and a very experienced committee did an excellent job in setting up the logistics with the courses and social activities. The ever-popular welcome reception at the Sheraton Tucson was continuously filled with sounds of laughter and glee as the participants kept running into old acquaintances from the 20 or more Federation clubs with members attending.

A Chinese banquet dinner was scheduled at the Dragon’s View Restaurant after the first medal round. There were anxious people checking out the posted results to see if they were in the "hunt." It was time that the leader’s knees started to feel weak as they found their late tee times. The social activities ended with the awards dinner at the Skyline Country Club where a few participants were found scurrying around earlier at department stores to find the proper attire for the occasion. The over 300 dinner guests enjoyed a casual cocktail hour and witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets just before dinner.

As a tradition, the winners received the beautiful Nambe bowls that are only manufactured in Arizona. The flights received two gross and two net prizes and prizes were given for men and women’s field low gross and field low net. There were also net prizes for senior men and women.

FIELD LOW GROSS: Wes Chong, GG and Charlene Yuke,Tuc

FIELD LOW NET : Ken Hong, SF and Jeanne Yip, Oak

SENIOR LOW NET : Citron Toy, Bak and Dolly Hom, SW

LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL DAY 2003

The host club, playing their two home courses, presented another fine program for about 100 players. Los Angeles President and General Chairman David Thom and his incredibly efficient committee made all of the out of towners feel at home with their unsurpassed hospitality.

This event followed on the heels of an earlier May Federation tournament and the host club prepared accordingly. The positive support from the visiting clubs helped meet expectations and may have exceeded them.

Those who could remember past events when this event was played during Labor Day weekend welcomed the Chamber of Commerce weather. The approximately 40 out of towners were centrally located at the Best Western Executive Inn where there was a choice of California or Chinese breakfasts. Imagine having soy bean juice, rice porridge, sweet buns, pickles and more for breakfast!

Saturday golf was at Los Serranos Golf Course in Chino Hills using both North and South courses. Following the Saturday round of golf, a buffet dinner was served and participants were encouraged to play the Horse Race. The LA Royal Vista Golf Course was the site of the final round. The Awards Dinner was held at Ruby’s Restaurant.

The first day’s round yielded few low scores as the course played long. Most of the leaders came back on the second day to wind up as winners of the beautiful Chinese vases. The Field Low Gross and Low Net winners were Jeff Rudi, Tucson and Allen Mar, Los Angeles respectively.

SAN FRANCISCO INVITATIONAL 2003

The host club presented their 30^th Biennial Labor Day Golf Invitational on August 30-31, 2003. The beautiful Monterey Bay Area has been their home since the 1970s and has been one of the premier locations for any Federation event. With the many courses available in this area many participants take additional time to visit and play other popular courses. Special $40.00 rates were made available to all participants from Monday through Friday before the tournament.

The San Francisco club is about 100 members strong and the wealth of experience was evident this weekend. The two courses, Rancho Canada West Course and Laguna Seca Golf Course were the sites for the 36-hole medal play event. The players numbered about 176 with half of the field on each course on Saturday and the flights switching courses on Sunday. On Friday, preceding the tournament, the Federation Team Matches were played at Rancho Canada West with the team from the host club nosing out the Good Guys Club shooting combined nets of 749 and 751 respectively.

General Chairman Tom Gee and his hard working committee included an Open House Cocktail Party after the Saturday round where golfers and guests were treated to a wide selection of local delicacies. The Awards Dinner was held after the Sunday round, both socials were held in the Fiesta Room at the Rancho Canada Clubhouse. The steak and salmon combination suited most everyone’s taste. The winners took home beautiful engraved figurine trophies. The Field Low Gross and Field Low Net prizes were captured by James McGilley from Los Angeles and Ashlee Yee from Sacramento shooting 76-72-148 and 69-61-130 respectively.

CASCADE’S LABOR DAY EVENT 2003

Seattle’s Cascade Golf Club that was organized in 1951 played host to the annual Inter-City Labor Day Invitational Tournament. The Pacific Northwest clubs consisting of Cascade, Vancouver, Portland and Victoria take turns hosting the Labor Day tournament.

The 36-hole medal play format was played under nice sunny skies for both days with shotgun starts at 12:30p.m. on Saturday and an early morning shotgun start on Sunday. For Druids Glen’s Course on Saturday, the play conditions were a warm 80 degree and dry with hard and bumpy greens. Due to an unheard of drought, the lakes were nearly dry. On Sunday at Washington National it was a perfect 70 degrees with excellent course conditions.

President Brad Wong and his hard working committee provided an excellent program for the 136 players and 150 dinner guests. There was a Friday night social and registration welcoming at the Peppertree Inn in Auburn while the Awards Dinner on Sunday was held at the Muckleshoot Casino.

Highlights for this weekend event included a group from Vancouver splitting $1,000.00 at the 50-50 raffle and a hole in one by Danny Thong from Vancouver on the 150 yard Par 3 - 11^th hole at Washington National. "Lucky" Danny won himself a mini-vacation from the host club and $50.00 from the Federation.

The four city Team Tournament was won by Victoria with a Net 303 with the Seattle and Vancouver clubs coming in closely behind for Second and Third Nets with Nets of 304 and 306 respectively. The flight winners:

2004 INVITATIONAL EVENTS

The Sacramento Chinese Golf Club will be hosting their Memorial Day Invitational on May 29-30, 2004. The host club each year, alternates this holiday weekend with the Los Angeles Club. The 36-hole medal play event will be played at Teal Bend in Sacramento, which was the venue in a previous Sacramento invitational, and the Lincoln Hills Club in Lincoln, which was the site of a recent LPGA event. Teal Bend will be scheduled on the first day and will test the playing field for accuracy! Lincoln Hills, which is a short drive from Sacramento, is more forgiving, but the course can sneak up on you if you’re not careful? President Howard Yee promises a fun time, so mark your calendars to join in on the fun. For more current information, contact Howard at [email protected].

A treat is in store for the Federation members as the Oakland Chinese Golf Club was able to tie down the Chardonnay Golf Club courses for their Twenty-Third Invitational Golf Tournament. The Napa Valley Wine Country has a lot to offer, but the host club thinks players will have their hands full enjoying the Vineyard Course on Saturday, July 10, 2004 and the private Shakespeare Course the next day. Both rounds will be shotgun starts, Saturday at 8:00am, and Sunday at 1:00pm. Socials will be at the Chardonnay Golf Club where an outdoor BBQ lunch will be served on Saturday and the Awards Dinner following the Sunday round at Chardonnay’s Trophy Room. General Chairman Warren Dang can be reached at [email protected] for additional information.

The Vancouver Chinese Golf Club will host the Labor Day Invitational on September 4-5. The four Federation member clubs up north, Victoria, Seattle (Cascade) and Portland take turns hosting the Labor Day event each year. With Vancouver as host this year, they have planned for two shotguns starts playing the Ridge Course at Northview on Saturday and Morgan Creek on Sunday. The shotguns are scheduled at 1:30 pm on Saturday and at 7:30 am for Sunday. The host club says you won’t be disappointed with the 10 course Chinese banquet Awards Dinner on Sunday evening! The Awards Dinner will be at the Kirin Seafood Restaurant located kitty corner from the Marriotts. The hotel central will be at the Marriott Airport Hotel in Richmond. Other hotel options are the Radisson President Hotel in Richmond. To get the tournament rate, you must book through Linda Ma of Grandfair Travel at (604) 263-8985 or her cell phone (604) 263-1378. If all else fails her email is [email protected]. This year’s traditional reverse draw features a round trip business class ticket for two to Hong Kong! Watch for further information.

SHORT SHOTS

From Oakland, newsletter excerpts: On the list of life long accomplishments for golfers, everyone dreams of each of the milestones of breaking 100, 90, 80, and 70! I’m sure there are many more stories of these milestones, but senior member Ed Jang recently surpassed another milestone by shooting his age! At the Santa Clara Golf & Tennis Club he shot an 83 and topped that with an 82 a couple of weeks later!

Speaking of milestones, Laurie Saemanne from Los Angeles shot her best round and something about playing with lower handicappers rubbed off on Shirley Lee from Oakland who broke 90 for the first time with an 85. They were playing at Trilogy in La Quinta, the home of the Skins Game. Watch out Annika! Congrats to Nancy Yuke from San Francisco and Laura Leong from Bakersfield who had eagles in Tucson.

More notable records with Secretary-Treasurer Velvet Chang shooting 76 and also her best score, but she was more excited with her first hole in one early last year! She’s still buying drinks? This was the year for Oakland members as Judy Lim and Mike Chee also had aces.

Make your reservations early for the Vancouver Labor Day event. Vancouver gets really busy during that weekend in the city and lodgings may be scarce in the outlying areas. There is a fantastic shopping center close by the Marriott Hotel that goes on for blocks of enclosed mall shopping. Bring lots of money.

For those clubs in Northern California who are Northern California Golf Association members, check out the Blue Book for the list of Federation clubs with their current officers. Many thanks to Brad Chin from Sacramento who lobbied to get our group on the NCGA map.

The Battle of the Bay (BOB) this year was won by the San Francisco Club. A friendly format between the Marin, Oakland and San Francisco clubs was started in 2001. The team format for the first two years was head to head matches of two person teams from each club with team points awarded for each foursome. Oakland won the first two years. In 2003, the Good Guys Club was invited and the format was total net balls for each club at full handicap. With 24 players from each club, it was a mini-tournament that was played at Rancho Canada in Carmel. The shotgun event included an awards dinner. The San Francisco club nosed out the Good Guys club by two strokes to gain possession of the rotating trophy.

"Challenge Cup?" Word has it that the Sacramento clubs who have a team match format called the "Challenge Cup," which is similar to the BOB, has proposed a format for the winners of each to go head to head to determine a Northern California Federation Cup champion. For whatever reason, this challenge did not materialize in 2003, but the offer is still open for 2004. Team captains from the 2004 host clubs in each group should make plans accordingly!

Taken from the Wedge, Los Angeles’ newsletter. Why 18 holes in golf and not more or less? During a discussion among the club’s membership board at Saint Andrews in 1858, one of the members pointed out that it takes exactly 18 shots to polish off a fifth of Scotch. By limiting himself to only one shot of Scotch per hole, the Scot figured a round of golf was finished when the Scotch ran out. And now you know!

The Stockton club’s Columbus Day tournament in 2003 was cancelled due to the low turnout. The one-day 18-hole medal play event that included a fantastic Chinese banquet dinner was enjoyed by all participants. There may be future plans, however, for other invitational events.