2001 Newsletter

"Time To Roll"

Ryder Cup V

Be it putts or dice, it is that time of year where luck plays a major role in Ronin Ryder Cup players’ lives. After numerous conversations and e-mails, we figure out the details and get together for the golf marathon. Three days of grueling golf competition, trash talking, and of course, gambling. While the ultimate goal is to win the Cup and go home with more cash from gambling, you may find it a hard choice to ask some of these guys which they value more. Just as a hand could change with a flip of an ace, the Cup could turn on a gust of wind. It is always a challenge and an indelible memory to see how the Cup is decided. With that, it is time to roll for Ryder Cup V on June 23, 2001.

The boys of blue, otherwise known as the Los Angeles team, are the defending champions by virtue of the mind-altering putt by their previous captain, Russ. LA scored a narrow margin of victory to continue the trend of even year victories for blue. The LA squad will definitely try to reverse the trend to become the first team to defend successfully. To do so, their new captain, Dr. Grant Uba will have to diagnose a successful cure.

On the other side, Orange County will counter with Norm Sakai as their captain. Norm's reputation of "taking one for his team" will definitely be tested again as he will be making the lineup for the Orange side. As a newlywed and a new homeowner, has there been any focus on the golf game?? Time will tell this tale.

Our venue for Ryder Cup V is again Las Vegas, NV. For only the second time in Ryder Cup history, Paiute Golf Resort is not a hosting facility. Thus, we are playing three courses that have never hosted a Ryder Cup event. The new courses are Revere at Anthem and the Silverstone Golf Resort. Not much is known about these two courses. According to the website, the Revere at Anthem course will have elevation changes that may affect everyone's perception. Time to make sure that your eyes have been checked recently. It should make an interesting first day of competition, as the course slope is a tough 121. The other mysterious course that will host the 2-man scramble and the all important individual matches will be the new Silverstone Golf Resort. Silverstone is a 27-hole layout that we will play in a different nine hole rotation over the two days. We all remember back when Paiute Golf resort was nothing more than an open area with a trailer park pro shop. Here is hoping that we are again pleasantly surprised. In addition to the new courses, we have never tempted the weather this late into the summer as we are this year. More so than any other year, we expect the heat index to play a major role in the outcome.

Another change this year is the total number of players. We are now up to a total of 20 players. Although it was a stretch to get to the 20, we are now finally committed to this number. Joining us this year are Warren Higa and Randy Murai for the Orange County team. Lincoln Tadios is the new member for the LA boys with Dr. Grant Uba returning after a 2 year sabbatical leave to work on his handicap.

With 10 man teams, the golden numbers are 20 points for LA and 20 ½ points for Orange County to walk away with the Ryder Cup. It should make for exciting times. We will see whether the defending champs, LA, can break the odd year curse and roll to a victory. Orange County will be playing the "Don't" on this roll and look to collect the Cup back. One more month until we see what comes up on the face of the dice!!