Tim Schaal
The West team, captained by Ed Robertson and led by the exceptional performances of Craig Leyburn, Mike McManus, and Patrick Fancher, emerged victorious in the SaddleBrooke Ranch Men’s Golf Association (SBRMGA) annual Ryder Cup. The team secured a 53.5 to 44.5 victory over the course of the three-day event held in mid-May.
The competition involved 102 members divided into two teams based on their “home” state. The dividing line was the Rocky Mountains. The East team, captained by Steve Thomson, opted to wear blue, while the West team donned red.
The Ryder Cup is inspired by the biennial competition that pits the top golfers from the United States against the best golfers from Europe in a series of Match Play rounds. In match play, golfers or twosomes compete hole by hole, with whoever gets the lowest score winning the hole. Whichever golfer or pair wins the most holes wins the match and earns a point for their team. If after 18 holes they have won an equal number of holes, the match is considered a tie and each team gets half a point.
On the first day, two-man teams from each squad engaged in an alternate shot format, with the West team securing a 15-10 lead in matches. The second day featured twosomes in a best ball format where each golfer plays their own ball, and the lowest score for each pair is used to determine who won the hole. By the end of the day the East team had made significant progress, earning 14.5 points out of 25 matches. This narrowed the West’s lead to just 1 point at 25.5 to 24.5.
The final day, which included 48 single matches, determined the overall outcome. The West team demonstrated remarkable consistency, winning 25 matches and tying six others and taking the day by a 28-20 score. This gave the West team the victory in the tournament by 9 points.
Leyburn, McManus, and Fancher achieved the remarkable feat of winning all three of their matches. John Green was the only participant from the East squad to win all three of his matches.
Other notable players for the West included Bill Penaluna, Bill Teasdale, Eric Taylor, Jeff Silver, and co-captain Mike Movius, who all secured two matches and tied their other contests. Wayne Adams, Dave Cacci, Dick Burrill, Greg Byrne, Jack Dyck, Jim Dyer, Jim Strachan, Larry Tipton, Mike Ewing, Phil Jelled, Scott Thordarson, and Tim Schaal each won two matches for the West.
The East, co-captained by Ed Cheszek and Paul Berry, also had several impressive performances despite their defeat. Bill Lockett, Bob Garbarino, and Sam Rossi all earned 2.5 points for their team by winning two matches and tying one other. Winning two matches for the East were Steve Schuster, Bob Ferguson, Bob Gibson, Bob Page, Dan Carter, Dave Gruca, Jeff Hansen, Jeff Pharr, Joe Cimo, Mick Borm, Rick Knapp, and Will Wells.
The event commenced with a pizza party at the Ranch House Grill on the eve of the competition, where Robertson and Berry delivered inspiring talks to their respective teams. Throughout the event, Captains Robertson and Thomson sent encouraging emails to their sides and actively roamed the course, providing support to their golfing corps.
A luncheon was held in the Sol Ballroom at the end of the event, featuring a presentation by Dr. Steve Watson of Chiropractic USA, a sponsor of the SBRMGA. Several individuals who made the event possible were honored, including tournament organizer Tim Schaal, rules official Rod Linville, Sam Rossi, who handled all the meal planning, President Tony Salerno and the SBRMGA board, Mike Jahaske and Ken Steinke of the SBR Pro Shop, as well as Jack Dyck and Mick Borm, who collaborated with Schaal on various event details.
Each participating golfer received a commemorative poker chip ball marker, specially designed for the 2025 Ryder Cup.