Stockton Sports Commission Classic Pacific Invitational Golf Tournament
Pacific golf coach Brandon Goethals had a dream.
“I dreamed about putting on a golf tournament and inviting teams from all over the country,” he said. “Four days of fun and competition. Something that would be so special, that each year teams couldn’t wait to come back or to be invited. I dreamed it would be a showcase golf event.”
Dreams come true.
Brigham Young University may have walked away with the championship of the first annual Food4Less Pacific Invitational presented by Ron Berberian-Bank of Agriculture & Commerce, Berberian European Motors, but Pacific athletics and the city of Stockton were the big winners.
For an up-and-coming golf coach determined to bring his Pacific program to the forefront in a crowded golf world, it was a dream played out
in parts.
The tournament
Monday-Wednesday, medal competition.It was down to the final foursome, the next-to-the-last putt and it proved again that golf is a game of inches. After leading for the first two days, BYU’s Danny Summerhays missed a 10-foot putt by a whisker, and teammate Clay Ogden was medalist at 12-under par. But it didn’t make a lot of difference because BYU had three of the top four final scores. Only John Chin from UC-Irvine, in third, slowed the BYU express. Charlotte finished second in the team competition; Pacific was 11th. Top performer for the Tigers was Charlie Van Sicklen in 12th place at 2-under par.
“I knew I had to have a birdie on No. 18,” said Ogden. “I had been hitting a driver and 3-wood into the green. Today, with a big hit and some wind, I was able to hit a six iron in.” Two putts later, Ogden, a senior, had the birdie and simply had to wait to see if he would be going back to play No. 18 again in a playoff.
BYU led by one after Day 1, five after Day 2 and finished 11 in front. Seven rounds in the 60s was hard for anyone to match. So the school that gave us Johnny Miller, Mike Reid, Mike Weir and Bobby Clampett, has a few more ready to join the tour ranks. “But for now,” Ogden said, “I’m just going to enjoy the ride home.”
The College-Am
Sunday morning, 10 am. Under 24 hours before the official start.Players and teams of sponsors are working formally and informally--clinic style--on improving their game. It’s the showcase day for the tournament’s major sponsors—Food4Less, Berberian European Motors and Bank of Agriculture & Commerce—and it’s a showcase day for Stockton and Brookside Country Club with blue skies, flawless greens and lots of sunshine.
This is a warmup in real life for many of these college players who soon will be turning pro and playing and socializing in pro-ams at major golf events. For the participating sponsors, it was a huge day of fun, rubbing elbows with the stars of tomorrow. The winners:
FIRST PLACE: the team of Ernie Segale, Jeremy Purdy, Pete Troger, Jackie Cox and UC Irvine’s Brian Edick, with a net two-best ball of 117, 27-under par.
CLOSEST TO THE PIN: Walter Chang on both Nos. 3 and 14, Phil Herrera on No. 8, Jeremy Purdy on No. 12 and Ron Trengrove on No. 17.
LONGEST DRIVE: Ed Sprague Jr. on No. 9 and Joel McAuley on No. 15.
The pairing party
Saturday night, 7 p.m. Thirty six hours before the official tee-off.“Did you see that chocolate fountain?” asked a University of Northern Colorado golfer. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”
Forget the crab cakes, the gourmet cheeses, the buffet of a lifetime, and an evening of camaraderie between players, sponsors and college am players, stealing the attention for most of the college players was a three-foot-tall fountain of melted chocolate at the pairing party at Brookside Country Club.
This was the kickoff party, an event like few college golfers ever will see. Most of the time, these players are grabbing burgers on the run. This event, sponsored by Amerprise Financial Services, included 125 guests for an evening to remember.
The featured speaker was PGA pro Matt Hansen, who only three years ago, was playing at Pacific, the exact position of many of the listeners now in front of him. The players had questions for Hansen, who talked about training, about how golf now was so very different than golf in college. “If I knew then what I know now, no telling how good I could have been,” said Hansen. But his story about the final round of the 2006 New Orleans Open drew most attention. “Here I am, walking up the 18th fairway with Phil Mickelson,” he said. “It was like a dream, and I was part of it.”
The Clinic
Saturday morning, 48 hours before 12 college teams officially tee it up.Site: Van Buskirk Golf Course.
Pacific’s players are about to face something tougher than three days of competition. They are putting on a clinic, to help local kids learn about the game.
“Lookee over there, a squirrel,” shouted five-year-old Nico Hilliard of Stockton, who along with 11-year-old Octavius Fontenot of Stockton, were receiving lessons from Pacific golfer Charlie VanSicklen (from Stockton).
In all nearly 50 young golfers, girls and boys, turned out for a simply inspirational event which was sponsored by the Port of Stockton for The First Tee of San Joaquin County. Inspiration? All you had to do was see the eyes of the kids who were enthralled with their teachers. Or see the smiles on the players
faces, who enjoyed it just as much.
Mayor Ed Chavez showed up, and he beamed with pride.
There were high fives, oohs and ahs when one of the young kids drove a ball out of sight. It was a day of fun, a tremendous kickoff for a classic event.
For the kids it was a morning where they could dream of someday becoming a golfer just like the Pacific players who were teaching them.
For Brandon Goethals, who stood to the side and watched, it was also a dream. One he had envisioned when he came to Pacific.
