The winning team for the 2020 Unit 8A Rick Dahlin Memorial Tournament, at nine-under par, just one stroke better than the second place team, was: (left to right) Dave Blaess, Guy Shelton, and Brian Cowman.
Winner of the long drive was Rich Osterlund (left) and winner of the closest to the pin was Bill Oprish. Each winner received a golf towel with the new Unit 8A logo embroidered on it.
Bob Authur
For the fourth year in a row, the Unit 8A men held their annual golf tournament on Nov. 4 at the SaddleBrooke Ranch golf course. Five teams, consisting of 18 men in total, played in the tournament this year, squeezed between the very end of reseed operations and before the rescheduled Club Championship. As a result, players had to contend with cart path only rules but did enjoy great weather. There was little wind, a first for the tournament, and sunny conditions which brought out good competition and lower scores.
After the tournament, all players met at the Ranch House Event Patio. Everyone from the unit is typically invited to the after-golf event but this year’s event, unfortunately, was limited to players only due to COVID-19 considerations. Prizes were awarded to the first, second, and third place teams and for closest to the pin and longest drive. The first-place team also carried away the highly-regarded Unit 8A Men’s Team Trophy.
At nine under par, three lower than last year’s winning team, the top team of Guy Shelton, Dave Blaess, and Brian Cowman took home the grand prize trophy, first place winnings and this year’s bragging rights. Second place, close behind the first team at eight-under par, was won by Bill Oprish, Lee Stastny and Marty Knezovich. The third-place team, at six-under par, consisted of John Whitehead, Tom Tossey, Ernie Nedder, and Larry Burchfield. It was clear from these scores that competition for the coveted team trophy continues to heat up. Nonetheless, everyone agreed they had a good time.
Bill Oprish won closest to the pin and initially held the spot for longest drive as well. Tournament rules, however, require that no single person can win both. So, Rich Osterlund who had the next longest drive took that prize. Both winners received a golf towel with the new Unit 8A logo embroidered on it.
Special thanks go to Kathy Dahlin for her continued support of the men’s tournament and for donating a starting sleeve of golf balls to each player. Thanks also to Rich Osterlund for putting together the team composition and to Stan Doepke for distributing golf balls to all players.
Planning for the next tournament is already underway. To keep things fresh, and introduce some new ideas for the tournament, leadership of the annual event is changing. Bob Authur, who directed the past three tournaments, is passing the responsibilities to Bob Townsend. Townsend has been active in past golf tournaments at other communities and has several ideas about how to continue to stimulate competition and interest in the tournament.