Delta Breeze at 2025 Cup Finals

(Bottom to top left to right:  Pam Katros, Vicki Philpott, Marcia Whiting, Lori Lucius)

Shout out to our chapter members -- Sunny Shimabukuro and Margie Longo - who recently played, and played well, in the PWGA Legacy Helen Lengfeld Tournament.  The competition was held over two days at Del Monte and Poppy Hills in Monterey.  Battling some fog and overcast sky, alternating with sunny and clear, our players did great!

Margie tied for 11th low gross on these two challenging courses.

Sunny was first low net in her flight and 8th net overall. 

Congratulations to both players!  Way to represent.

Chapter members Pam Katros, Vicki Philpott, Lori Lucius and Marcia Whiting are packing for Florida!  The will be competing in the LPGA Cup Finals event in Miramar Beach on October 24 and 25.  

You are invited to follow the action using the GGID:  25CUPFINALS

Our Chapter enjoyed a great day at Empire Ranch on October 18.  Match play fourball was the format for the day.  Pairings were arranged by handicap which resulted in some very tight matches which were reflected in scoring.  One match resulted in a tie and the rest were not decided until the final couple of holes.   Lots of pressure filled putts!

By her stellar play, Doreen Freund has slightly increased her first place spot on the leaderboard.  After all, she did score 10 net birdies!!   This resulted in an extra leaderboard point for the day.  We had lots of good scores with 10 players below net 72.  Esther Garcia lead the way with a net 66!  Wow.  Right behind her, with net 67, we had Marina Armbruster, Sonya Bradley, and Doreen Freund.  (Remember, individual scores are also a way to earn CCT leaderboard points – all 10 of those who shot net 72 or better were guaranteed to get 5 points.)

Match Scores

Jen Gregory and Ramona Marshall TIED Jeri Paik and Yolanda Goff

Sunny Shimabukuro and Tyra Jarvis 2 up over Karen Graser and Susan Esposito

Ellie Jones and Nanci Smith 2 and 1 over Kas Khachadourian and Lori Lucius

Jan Richmond and Esther Garcia 1 up over Marian Kubiak and Sonya Bradley

Marcia Whiting and Vicki Philpott 1 up over Andi Saxe and Pam Katros

Doreen Freund and Marina Armbruster 4 and 2 over Tracy Starkey and Lynda Lapp

Our hot players of the day - Doreen and Esther!

Fun day with friends!  Thanks for the laughs. 

We played The Ridge in June and October.  The course won both times!  Only 5 golfers were able to score in the net 70’s.  It was an 18 hole battle, but we were up for the challenge.  Although the task was increased due to cart path only. (A result of our first Fall rain storm earlier in the week.)  In addition to golf everyone was able to get their 10,000 steps in!

We played Cha, Cha, Cha in foursomes.  First hole, only 1 net ball counted (cha), second hole, 2 net balls counted (cha, cha) and third hole, 3 net balls counted (cha, cha, cha).  And repeat. 

There was a lot of hard work and some very close results.  I appreciate everyone showing up and playing hard.  It turned into perfect fall weather and a fun day with friends.

6 point teams

134 score:  Lori Lucius, Nanci Smith, Jeri Paik, Jen Gregory

135 score:  Andi Saxe, Pam Katros, Tyra Jarvis, Lynda Lapp

4 point teams

137 score:  Paula Plesha, Marcia Whiting, Karen Graser, Doreen Freund

139 score:  Tammy Beckman, Vicki Philpott, Ramona Marshall, Marian Kubiak

2 point teams

145 score:  Ellie Jones, Theresa Garcia, Sonya Bradley, Susan Esposito

Was it the weather, the course, or playing with friends??  Whatever the reason it turned out to be a fun event at Teal Bend on Sunday.  We had several players make their first CCT event along with one guest and two golfers playing for the first time with our group.  It was a great day of golf.  Thanks to everyone who came out and played.

Game of the day was Fourball – best net ball between two players.  The scoring was tight.  The lowest six teams scored 6 points, next six scored 4 points, and everyone else scored 2 points.  Remember, we still score .1 for net birdies by individual golfers. 

Our winning team, shot a combined 60!  Congratulations to Jeri and Ramona!

Low six teams (6 points)

60 = Jeri Paik and Ramona Marshall

61 = Karen Zamarripa and Sharon Blume

62 = Marian Kubiak and Pam Katros

63 = Margie Longo and Linda Reid

64 = Paula Plesha and Kas Khachadourian

65 = Tammy Beckman and Cheryl Warner

Next six teams (4 points)

66 = Rita Langolias and Ellie Jones

68 = Theresa Garcia and Jen Gregory

69 = Laurie Hochmuth and Chao Chen

70 = Nanci Smith and Rosie Ho

71 = Doreen Freund and Jan Richmond

71 = Kristine Burke and Moe Hannan

And the rest of the players scored 2 points in the CCT. Check out the updated leaderboard under “quick links” on the website.  Paula Plesha moved up 3 spots and jumped back into first place in Flight A.  There are a lot of golfers close behind her. 

In Flight B, Doreen Freund continues her grip on the top spot holding onto a 4 point lead.  We have three events left in the CCT so anything can happen.  In confirmation that anything can happen, four players in their first CCT event scored 6 points!  Nice.   Some times it just comes down to getting the right partner!

Congratulations to Rita Langolias who made a Hole-In-One on hole #4.  She is shown here counting her $$ to determine if she has enough to buy the celebration drinks!  Thanks Rita!  We stayed until all the beer was gone!

And, one of the foursomes celebrates early with birdie juice....this might be a reason all four scored 6 CCT points!  Nice!

(Pam Katros, Marian Kubiak, Cheryl Warner, Tammy Beckman)

Rita got a hole in one on Hole 4 at Teal Bend. She used a 9 wood for the 113 yard par 3.

Congratulations Rita!!!

It was another fun round with follow up chatter in the clubhouse after golf at Wildhawk.  Awesome scores turned in by Andra Saxe (gross 77) and Jen Gregory (net 69).  Wow.  I guess I can’t blame my score on course conditions. 

Points were awarded for low gross and low net winners by Flight. 

Those earning 6 points:  Andi Saxe, Vicki Philpott, Karen Graser, Ellie Jones, Jen Gregory, Doreen Freund, Marian Kubiak, Marina Armbruster

Those earning 4 points:  Margie Longo, Paula Plesha, Lori Lucius, Nanci Smith, Karen Zamarripa, Pam Wess, Sonya Bradley and Maggie Raybourn.

Everyone else got participation points!   The leaderboard reflects an upcoming close race to the finish.

Members shown below --Ellie Jones, warmed up and ready to play; Jen Gregory, practicing dance moves for balance, and Marian Kubiak, demonstrating complete focus on the ball.

The NCGA/PWGA Legacy Team Play Championship was held Sept 15/16 at The Reserve at Spanos Park.  Our Chapter had two teams qualify to represent us in the Championship.  (Our Chapter qualifying tournament was June 29 at Whitney Oaks.  The Regional Qualifier was July 14 at Whitney Oaks. ) The two teams who advanced were: 

LPGA Amateurs 1:  Nanci Smith, Lori Lucius, Marcia Whiting, and Kristine Burke (replacing injured Kris Corbridge)

LPGA Amateurs 2:  Pam Katros, Marian Kubiak, Jan Richmond and Paula Plesha

After a difficult day one, both teams rebounded to move up the leaderboard finishing at -12  and -11.  The winning team from Ukiah finished at -24. 

Shout out to the Whitney Oaks team which finished in second place, one shot from winning, at -23.  Our chapter members Vicki Philpott and Deb Adell played for Whitney Oaks.  And the 3^rd place team, Sacramento Chinese, included our very own Sunny Shimabukuro.  (We still love them!)  Congratulations!

And, for all of you who think your handicap is “too high” to compete in these events, the average handicap for the Ukiah team was 34.  (The average handicap for LPGA Amateurs #1 was 12.6.)  We would love to have handicaps of all ranges compete to represent our Chapter next year.  Those “pops” really help in scoring!

Below are pics of a few team members getting prepared for play. 

Three Sacramento teams competed this past weekend at the LPGA Amateurs Western Regional Team Cup Qualifier at Blue Rock Springs.  It was competitive and fun match play.  Two teams qualified to advance to Cup Finals.  Congratulations to:

Fore Positrons:  Nanci Smith, Rebecca Birch, Kathleen Gallup (and honorary injured teammate and volunteer, Kris Corbridge)

Birdie Chasers:  Marian Kubiak, Paula Plesha, Kristine Burke, Esther Garcia 

And shown below, several members of our chapter came home with prize money after taking on Winchester Country Club - a challenging course.  Golfing weather was perfect. 

Ellie Jones - our latest one shot wonder occurred on Saturday, August 30 at Cherry Island. 

Remember Hole #3….through a narrow opening of trees, across the barranca, uphill to a sloped green.  Ellie closed her eyes and made a spectacular shot which finished in the bottom of the cup.  Congratulations!

Andi Saxe shown here celebrating her birdie on the hole.  And Marian shown tending the flag….

What a weekend!  Your very own Sacramento Chapter team won the 2025 Cal Cup competition.  And it was a nailbiter.  A great event from start to finish.  Our Chapter was represented by a great team and a long list of smiling volunteer helpers.  We truly proved, once again, we have the membership who will step forward to make an event awesome. 

Sacramento was able to snatch victory over Northern Nevada by a slim .49 margin.   Final score:  Sacramento 14.60 and Northern Nevada 14.11.  The rest of the teams ranged from 10.93 to 4.73.  Every member of our team contributed points and we needed all of them to retain the trophy here in Sacramento.   It was a fun event from the Friday night welcome reception to the Sunday afternoon trophy presentation. 

“Thank You!” is owed to too many chapter members to name.  At check in, raffle tables, spotters, scoring, you name it – I saw members of our chapter giving a helping hand.   I’ve included a few photos from the weekend but could not capture all of our volunteers and behind the scenes elves.  Included in those who stepped up, a big thank you to the staff at Haggin Oaks (Morton Golf).  From the exclusive Friday night shopping experience (thank you Tammy Beckman) to the course painting (thank you Soleil Gutchess) and all the other staff who worked hard to make it enjoyable for all, thank you!   I could not be more proud of what we pulled together here in Sacramento.   Already looking forward to a three-peat in Orange County 2026.

(Many more pictures available on the Cal Cup portal at GGID:  2025calcup)

From the NCGA Golf April 2025 Magazine:

Karen Garcia, member of the LPGA Amateurs - Sacramento Chapter remembers her win at the 2015 U. S. Senior Women's Championship with NCGA as they get ready to host the U. S. Women's Mid-Amateur on October 4-9.

Read the article HERE...