RIP Don Bonnel: A Popular Seascape Ambassador, ASMC Stalwart and Great Gentleman

Services for Don Bonnel, a longtime ambassador and active ASMC member, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Community in Capitola.

Bonnel, 80, whose passion for golf was matched only by his love of fishing, gardening and his beloved wife Helen, died Friday, Aug. 22, at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, surrounded by his family. It was the 55^th anniversary of his marriage to Helen on Aug. 22, 1959.

Born in Martinez, Dec. 11, 1933, Donald Thomas Bonnel was the youngest of three sons of Albert and Mildred McNamara Bonnel. He was a graduate of Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, where he played basketball, and attended the University of San Francisco.

Bonnel joined the U.S. Air Force in 1956, serving for a time in Morocco, until his assignment to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City. It was there, in 1958, at the Lakeside Lounge that he met 19-year-old Oklahoma native Helen Dutton, who had gone out dancing.

Don and Helen were engaged in December of that year and married the following August. They lived for a while in Clovis, N.M., while Don finished his service and then moved to Martinez. Don worked in purchasing at Philco-Ford and Avnet Electronics in Mountain View and they moved to Palo Alto, Mountain View and then Santa Clara.

In 1965, Bonnel took a job as purchasing manager at Plantronics in Santa Cruz and in 1968 the young family moved over the hill to Santa Cruz, right by the Capitola border. Don coached Little League and served for a while as president of the Live Oak Little League, helping to get the first snack shack built for the Little League ball field.

Bonnel played basketball on the Plantronics team in the city league and coached basketball for juniors. He was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Community and a member of the Italian Catholic Federation, of which he was president for two years. He retired from Plantronics in June of 1998.

He was an ambassador at Seascape for more than 14 years, a dedicated 49ers and Giants fan, a weed-destroying gardener and an avid trout fisherman, especially in the streams around Lake Tahoe, where he and Helen rented and then owed a summer retreat.

“He loved being an ambassador at Seascape,” Helen said. “He got to know everyone who’d play on Monday when he was the greeter.”

In recent years, Bonnel struggled with health issues, including a quadruple bypass in 2003, prostate cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). But practically nothing could keep him from showing up for his job at Seascape.

Besides Helen, he is survived by four children: Donna, Steve and John Bonnel and Karen Nelson.

“We lost a true friend, a dear gentleman and a devoted member of the ASMC,” club president Danny Braga said in an email to members. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Helen and the family.”

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Italian Catholic Federation Branch 227 Scholarship Fund, c/o St. Joseph's Catholic Community, 435 Monterey Ave., Capitola, CA 95010.

Davis, Porfido, Stanga, Miller and McGillicuddy are Flight Winners in July Stableford

Kyle Davis, Peter Porfido, Jeff Stanga, William Miller and Paul McGillicuddy were the winners in their flights in the July Stableford tournament, in which players sought points for net pars, birdies and eagles.

The top scorer overall was Davis in the first flight with 41 points, followed by Stanga in the third flight with 40 points and two players at 38 points: Terry Reigelsperger, second in the third flight and Mike Howley who came in second in a card-off to Miller in the fourth flight.

Other winners were:

Flight 1: Brad Ryno, Jeff De Roza and Bobby Sayous.

Flight 2: Pete Pappas, Phil Trounstine and Jim Geesman

Flight 3: Joe Guttadauro and Terry Forsberg.

Flight 4: Greg Brougham and Ray Geisick 

Flight 5: Steve Olson, Dave Moore and Charlie May.

Closest to the pin winners on  #8 were Bob McCormick, Jorgen Haggloff, Jim Boulware and Mike Cloward. On #12 CTP winners were Bruce Driggs, Paul Sanders, Jeff Collins and Phil Trounstine.

Once again, ASMC is indebted to Steve Olsen and Breese White for their fine work as chairmen of the Tournament Committee.

Geesman & Riccabona are the Big Winners in the Spring ("Dave Webb") Team Match Play Tournament

Jim Geesman and Tony Riccabona won the Spring Team Match Play Tournament, defeating Paul Sanders and Fred O’Hara 3 and 2.

Geesman and Riccabona made it to the finals by beating Bill Daitchman and Franz Vairello 5 and 3, in what most members know as the Dave Webb Match Play Tournament, after the popular member who first organized and who runs the matches. Sanders and O’Hara made it into the finals by walking over Tom McNary and Matt Ryan.

It’s not one of the Aptos Seascape Men’s Club’s monthly tournaments, but it’s become a fixture among players.

Gary Lovell and John Reisdorf won the consolation bracket, defeating Richard Lakely and Richard Wameling 5 and 3. These are players who lost their first match back in February and then went on to make it to the finals in the “losers” bracket.

Lovell and Reisdorf made the finals by beating Dick Staniford and Ray Geisick 2 up. Lakely and Wameling had defeated Paul McGillicuddy and Jim Boulware 2 and 1.

GOLF RULES! What Happens When You Hit Your Tee Shot From the Wrong Place?

It recently came to Seascaper’s attention that in a four-ball match, a player teed off from outside of the proper markers. His opponent flatly declared that the player had violated the rules and had lost the match.

This is absolutely wrong.

In match play, if you tee off from outside of the teeing ground – either to the side, in front or more than two club-lengths behind the proper markers – your opponent has the option of making you replay your tee shot. Or not. It’s his choice.

Here’s the rule:

11-4. Playing From Outside Teeing Ground

a. Match Play

If a player, when starting a hole, plays a ball from outside the teeing ground, there is no penalty, but the opponent may immediately require the player to cancel the stroke and play a ball from within the teeing ground.

If you make this mistake in match play and your opponent does not immediately require you to replay the tee shot, there is no penalty.

The rule is different for stroke play. In this case, you must replay the tee shot from the proper teeing ground and you incur a two-stroke penalty. If you don’t re-tee from the proper area before making a stroke from the next teeing ground (or before leaving the green on the last hole), then you are disqualified.

Here’s the rule:

b. Stroke Play

If a competitor, when starting a hole, plays a ball from outside the teeing ground, he incurs a penalty of two strokes and must then play a ball from within the teeing ground.

If the competitor makes a stroke from the next teeing ground without first correcting his mistake or, in the case of the last hole of the round, leaves the putting green without first declaring his intention to correct his mistake, he is disqualified.

Opportunity to Help Coordinate Men's Club Tournaments; New Hats Will be On Sale Too

If you'd like to participate in running the Men's Club, there's a terrific opportunity available.

The Tournament Committee is looking for a few good men to help work for a few hours at a time checking in players when we're holding our monthly tournaments.

Duties include making sure players pay the fee; get their score cards, rules sheets and any announcements; collecting score cards, and selling any ASMC gear that we have to offer. Right now, that includes our new club golf hat as shown here. These go on sale this month for just $10 each.

If you're interested, you can contact either co-chairman of the Tournament Committee: Steve Olson, 831-768-0471,  olsosa503@msn.com or Breese White at 831-662-0560, beach.street@mac.com.

Sayous and Babin; Morris and Gosciminski; Taylor and Schwartz Win Flights in May Best-Ball Shoot-out

Bobby Sayous and Leo Babin won the first flight in ASMC's May two-man, best ball tournament, shooting 62, while Jim Morris and Jim Gosciminski won the second flight with a sizzling 60 and Glenn Taylor and Don Schwartz took the third flight with 64.

The tournament was also a qualifier for the NCGA senior two-man, best ball tournament and the qualifiers were Morris and Gosciminski along with Steve Goldstein and Dave Moultan who shot 63 to take third in the second flight. Bob McCormick and Mark Darrow, who shot 64 and took second in the first flight are the alternates for the NCGA tourney.

The Tournament Committee penalized two teams two strokes each for slow play -- a generous policy compared to the NCGA's policy of disqualifying teams that hold up the rest the tournament.

Here are the results for the top finishers by flight:

First Flight: Sayous and Labin, McCormick and Darrow, David Tavarez and Derek Nagamine, Gary Bruckner and Matt Kluger, Matt Ryan and Tom McNary, Brent Mays and Garth Watrous.

Second Flight: Morris and Gosciminski, Bill Daitchman and Franz Vaiarello, Goldstein and Moultan, Joe Guttardauro and Ray Apolskis, Tim Carl and Don Urfer, Bob Tomasi and Jim Walt.

Third Flight: Taylor and Schwartz, Rich Wameling and Rich Lakely, Dave Moore and Bob Postle, Paul McGillicudy and Michael Banks, Rodd Doerr and John Cranston, Dave Webb and Charlie May.

All ties settled by ASMC's card-off procedure.

Winners of closest-to-the-pin were:

No. 8: McNary, Sayous, Breese White, Brad Ryno, Derek Nagamine and Jerry Woods (tie).

No. 12: Mike Coyle, Mike Howley, Walt, Urfer and Steve Arkley.

To qualify for the NCGA Senior Best Ball Net on August 20, players had to be 55 or older as of 2/22/2014 with a maximum handicap index of 18.4. In addition, the difference between team member's course handicap could not exceed 8 strokes.

Reigelsperger Wins Spring Medal

Terry Reigelsperger, a 20 handicapper playing in the Fourth Flight, shot a sizzling net 133 -- 9 below par! -- to win the two-day Spring Medal Tournament April 16 and 23.

Winners in the other flights were Scott Humphries (141) in the First Flight, Bruce Driggs (137) in the Second Flight, Jorgen Hagglof (146) in the Third Flight and Bob Postle (143) in the Fifth Flight.

Here are the top-finishers by flight:

First:  Scott Humphreys - 141; Gary Bruckner - 141; Jeff DeRosa - 146; Derek Nagamine - 147; Bob Leininger - 148; Fred O’Hara - 148

Second: Bruce Driggs - 137; Jim Gosciminski - 140; Gary Paul - 143; Don Urrfer - 148; Jon Twaddle - 149; Jim Geesman - 149.

Third: Jorgen Hagglof - 146; Bill Campbell - 147; Jim Morris - 150; Terry Forsberg - 152; Jeff Stanga - 152; Mike Howley - 153

Fourth: Terry Reigelsperger - 133; Gary Lovell - 143; Glenn Taylor - 143; Dick Staniford - 144; Jay O’Gorman - 147; Greg Brougham - 149

Fifth: Bob Postle - 143; Tony Riccabona - 146; Fred LaRocca - 148; Steve Olson - 148; Bob Twaddle - 149; Bill White - 153

Closest to the Hole

Round #1 (4/16)

 #8:  Jim Gosciminski, Dick Staniford, Bruce Driggs, Marc Darrow

#12: Fred O'Hara, Ray Apolskis, Don Schwartz, Jay Karafa

Round #2 (4/23)

#8: Bob Halbauer, Bob Twaddle, Scott Humphreys, Don Schwartz

#12: Terry Reigelsperger, Steve Rodriguez, Paul Ciraulo, Fred O'Hara