News

Senior Cup Series A Success

The AGA established a Senior Cup Series in 2006 to expand opportunities for member participation in tournaments. The intent was to create a fun, low-stress environment for senior golfers of all handicaps.
It was launched with the objective of making quality private courses available to senior AGA members at a reasonable cost. A Senior Series Committee was created and co-chaired by John Ranslem, AGA Executive Committee member and Bob Turell, a member of Desert Mountain Club. According to Turell, “This whole series hinges on getting quality courses, in good condition, at reasonable rates.”
Ranslem agrees. However, as a member of the AGA’s Executive Committee, Ranslem’s vision is more along the lines of creating opportunities for AGA members. “It’s great to provide a product to our senior players who make up a sizeable portion of the AGA membership.”
These one-day net events are open to AGA members 55 years of age and over with a USGA Handicap index of 36.4 or under. The format is Four Ball Stroke Play, more commonly referred to as better ball of partners. Each event is flighted with approximately ten teams per flight. Points are awarded based on the team’s net finish within each flight. Although each tournament has a team format, points accumulate to the individual. This allows golfers to compete with different partners throughout the series. Those golfers accumulating the most points over the series earn an invitation to the season-ending championship.
The series was an immediate success. In its inaugural year, there were six events in which 270 individuals participated. In 2007, the Senior Cup Series expanded to include 15 events; eight in the Greater Phoenix Series, three in the Tucson Satellite Series and three in the Sun City West Satellite Series and a championship at Royal Dunes in Maricopa, AZ. The number of participants grew to 350 senior golfers. Each series was independent of one another and qualified a proportionate number of individuals to attend the seasonending championship.
Tournaments were played between May and September in Phoenix and Tucson and January through April in Sun City West. Sites for the Phoenix series included Desert Forest GC, Desert Highlands, Desert Mountain GC, Talking Rock, Cottonwood GC, Pinnacle Peak CC, Mesa CC and Moon Valley CC. The Tucson Satellite included La Paloma GC, The Gallery GC and Oro Valley CC, and the Sun City West Satellite included Pebblebrook GC, Grandview GC and Corta Belle CC.
The top 60 golfers on the points list met for the Senor Series Championship at the prestigious Royal Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz. Although each series event consisted of a team format, the final championship was played in the Individual Stableford format.
All in attendance received a generous tee prize and also competed for hole-in-one and closest-to-the-hole prizes. This year’s championship required a one-hole playoff to determine the winner. The top three golfers will be invited to the 2008 AGA Spring Awards Banquet, where the overall winner will receive the Gerald D. Graham, Sr. Cup Series trophy. Congratulations to Jon Rainsberger, (champion), Rich Tamburro and Dave Slojkowski.
As the 2008 season approaches, the AGA looks forward to expanding the Sr. Cup Series yet again. The goal is to host eight to ten events in the Greater Phoenix area, four in a Tucson/Southern Arizona Satellite series, three to six events in a Sun City/Sun City West satellite series and a new threeevent Satellite Series in the western river region of Arizona.
The AGA would like to thank the Senior Cup Series Committee for their work in developing and promoting these events: John Ranslem and Bob Turell, co-chairmen, Elliott Bond, Dick Gardiner,
Cecil Morris and Bill Lich.
Congratulations to all for making the Senor Cup Series a success. If you have any questions, would like to add your golf course to the venue or would like to volunteer your services, contact Mark Hennie at 602-944-3035.