2000 Newsletter

Golfing and Gambling

We’re back for more. Another year for this intense competition is on the horizon. Arrangements are in order for fun in the sun and recovery in the casinos. Our old reliable representatives have made good on their obligations and we’re set for Ryder Cup 2000. The courses are booked below with our accommodations again with the Main Street Casino being our host site courtesy of Mitch and Mark. All that is left is the trash talk and showing up to play.

Orange County is the defending champ and looking to be the first team to go back to back. Again, OC will be receiving a large number of strokes that propelled them to their decisive victory last year, 19-11. An additional two members for each squad will be added this year to increase the number of participants to 16. The more, the merrier as we say.

Our new players consist of one with previous experience and three rookies. In an unusual twist, all three rookies will be playing for the OC squad. Captain Craig dug deep to pull his good buddy, Richard Murase and his brother-in-law, Ron Tanaka, to add depth to his group. With a little help from fellow OC’er Mark, Craig received a recruitment tip from the 50^th stat and captured a verbal commitment from Lance Mitsuda. With these guys, OC is confident that focusing on the competition will not be a problem. As always, nerves and the adapting to the trash talking is another story.

Russ also recruited from his family. He reeled in another brother-in-law, Dale Kurata. Dale is not a stranger to Ryder Cup. Hw was part of a growing list of people called to replace Dr. Grant Uba. He participated in Ryder Cup 2 in the 2 Man Scramble with his brother, Tom. In another first, Harlan Arita was the first member to switch sides. LA has longed for Harlan’s services since he lives well within its boundaries. LA always has felt that Orange reached into its back pocket to snag Harlan’s game. We’ll see if Harlan can bring the winning game across county lines.

So we have evolved into a true team competition. Each man’s game is still important, but he now has more tolerance for error as the number of participants has risen. LA is down in the competition 2 wins to 1 win. LA is hoping that the even year cycle will uphold tradition. However, Orange county brings in new blood and looks to be the first side to win back to back years. It didn’t work the year before, so Craig is really taking things into his own hands to accomplish this Ryder first.

So we are all set to renew this rivalry with som fantastic courses. They all seem to offer a familiar challenge for us. We’ll see who will raise their game to meet the demands of this annual competition. Good Luck to all!!

2000 Ryder Cup

Las Vegas, Nevada

JUNE 17 – 19, 2000

2000 Responsibilities Orange County Los Angeles

Captain Craig Russ

Courses Mitch

Rooms Mark

Historian Tom

Newsletter Donald