TOURNAMENT SEASON AT THE GOLF CLUB

TOURNAMENT SEASON

at the Golf Club

Spring and early summer are busy at the Golf Club with a number of tournaments and other events. Fortunately, we got lucky with the weather and dodged the rain on most days. Thanks to all that participated and congratulations to this year’s champions.

By Corey Roberson

Top, Jeff Smith and Vance Smith. Bottom, Steve Cruse and Tyler Hersperger.

C-STAR MEMBER-GUEST

April 22-24

This annual event kicked off with an optional practice round followed by an 18hole putting contest and finished with five 9-hole matches and the Lonestar Shootout. The Stag Party on Thursday night is a fun tradition for the guys and this year it was a big hit — we partnered with USA Boxing to host six sanctioned amateur boxing matches. Our very own James Sherwood called all the fights, and the men and women fighting put on a fantastic show! On Friday morning the tournament officially started with three of the 9-hole matches being played and the last two matches on Saturday. All flight winners advanced to the Lonestar Shootout on Saturday afternoon. Two teams were eliminated on each of the first three holes leaving us with the reigning champions Jeff Smith and Vance Smith vs. Steve Cruse and Tyler Hersperger. Jeff and Vance made C-Star history by winning the Lonestar Shootout for a second time and were crowned the 2021 C-Star Champions.

Glenn Emery and Nick Vanderpool

EL COMPADRE MEMBER-MEMBER

May 7-8

We had 36 teams (72 players) competing this year. The teams were broken into six flights and played four formats over the course of 36 holes (best ball, shamble, scramble, alternate shot). It all really came down to the Alternate Shot round where scores ranged from 37 to 52. Flight winners advanced to the Shootout where we started on hole #16 and eliminated two teams on #16 and #17. The teams of Emery/Vanderpool and Harkness/Story made it to #18 to battle for the highly coveted Championship Belts. Vanderpool smoked a driver right down the middle to leave his partner 125 yards away from the green. Story also hit a good drive down the right side that got an unfortunate bounce and hung on the hill leaving his partner with a tough shot. Harkness grabbed a 9-iron and attempted to hit a cut with the ball above his feet to a tucked right hole location — he clipped it great, but needed one more stick and ended up in the bunker. Emery hit a conservative wedge shot to the front edge of the green leaving his partner easy work for par. Harkness/Story drew a poor lie in the bunker which led to a low stress victory for Emery/Vanderpool. Congratulations to our 2021 El Compadre Champions, Glenn Emery and Nick Vanderpool.

RANCH ROUND-UP LADIES MEMBER-GUEST

May 11-13

This year we had 22 teams (44 players) that competed in a Net Best Ball Stableford format over 36 holes. We intended to

have a 9-hole Putting Contest on Tuesday afternoon but Mother Nature interrupted our plans. The ladies faced some tough conditions on Wednesday after we received almost two inches of rain the night before. Thankfully, our Agronomy team was able to rebuild the bunkers and get the golf course back in great shape. The field was broken into four flights and the flight winners advanced to the Shootout that started on #16. The Reardon/Schuster team was eliminated on #16 after the Mariachi band distracted Schuster on a tough putt. Hole #17 came strong with the drama — Brazil/Matuszak had an 8-footer that was a must make while Dommert/ Smith had a 4-footer to tie them and force a chip-off. Brazil drained the 8-footer and Smith narrowly missed the 4-footer. The last two teams standing on #18 were Long/Helms and Brazil/Matuszak. It all came down to another must-make putt for Brazil — this time it was a downhill 3-footer with a little bend to the right. Brazil hit a great putt that caught the left lip and dropped for the victory! Congratulations to our 2021 Ranch Round-Up Champions, Janice Brazil and Lesley Matuszak.

Phillip Earnest and Yana Yommert From top: Everett Cook and Hayes Hutton Counterclockwise from top left: Nick Mumford, Paul Hester, Jerry Merk and Doug Bird.

MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, MEN’S AND LADIES’

Played over the months of March, April and May, the field was divided into brackets of eight, with players scheduling their own matches within defined windows. This year, we introduced a ladies’ division. Congratulations to our Champions, Phillip Earnest and Yana Dommert. Men’s Match Play Champion – Phillip Earnest Men’s First Flight – David Cottrell Men’s Second Flight – Steve Stroud Men’s Third Flight – Jay Harpole Men’s Fourth Flight – Richard Jackson

Ladies’ Match Play Champion – Yana Dommert Ladies’ First Flight – Crystal Watts Ladies’ Second Flight – Lisa E. Miller

JUNIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

June 12-13

We had four players in the 13 & Under Division that was contested over 36-holes from the Teal tees. Everett Cook claimed the championship with rounds of 101 and 98. Tommy Turturro rallied on the second day with a 10-shot improvement to finish second and Harlen Mangum came in third. Walker West finished fourth but his second round was 15 shots lower than his first! In the 14 & Over Division, we had four young men competing for their name on the rock in the Champions Gallery. Price Hill had a 1-shot lead over Hayes Hutton after the first round, but the two found themselves tied through 9-holes on day two. Hayes made birdie on #11 to gain a 1-shot lead then his tee shot found the penalty area on #12 and he saved bogey. Meanwhile, Price found the penalty area with his second shot on #12 and made double bogey. After birdies on #13 and #14, Hayes found himself with a 4-shot lead over Price. Hayes almost got into some trouble on #16 but made an incredible up-and-down from over the green on his way to claiming his first Junior Club Championship. This will also be his last as Hayes will be attending Texas State this fall to continue his golf career.

SENIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

June 12-13

In the Super Senior Division (65+), Jerry Merck captured the gross title for the second year in a row with rounds of 87-82 for a two-day total of 25-over par. He bested Bill Haywood by 3 shots. On the net side, Paul “General” Hester was victorious over John Iacuone by 5 shots. The General fired a second-round net 63! In the Senior Division, 21 men competed for the overall championship and to have their name carved in the Champions Gallery. Doug Bird won the net competition and was in contention for gross. He beat Scott Weisberg (2nd Place) by 1 shot and Jack Dempsey (3rd) by 4 shots. All three of these gentlemen joined the Club within the last year! On the gross side, Jeff Smith carded a 75 in the first round to sleep on a 1-shot lead over Nick Mumford and 2-shot lead over Doug Bird. On day two, Mumford got it going early with a 1-under par 35 on the front nine while Smith and Bird lagged behind with 41 each. Mumford managed to extend his lead through the back nine to 10 shots over Jeff Smith and won his second Senior Club Championship.

THE ONES TO WATCH

Cordillera Ranch junior golfers lead their high school golf teams to victories.

By Corey Roberson, Director of Golf

Cordillera Ranch is uniquely positioned within the Boerne Independent School District so that high school students can choose to attend either Boerne High or Boerne Champion, in addition to private school options like TMI and Geneva. Over the years, many of our youth have contributed to the sports teams at these schools and this year was a big one for golf. All of the juniors highlighted below are members at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch.

Daniel Stripling Jacob King Zach Heffernan

Before we dive into the highlights, it’s important to understand how team golf works in high school. A high school golf team may have any number of players determined by the school, but only five players play as a team in each tournament. Of those five, only the four lowest scores are combined to create the team score. Additionally, there is an individual competition in each event.

We’ll start with the Boerne Champion Charger Boys Golf Team who won District and Regionals this year which qualified them for the UIL 5A State Championship. Cordillera Ranch members Daniel Stripling, Jacob King and Zach Heffernan represented three out of the five players on the team. All three young men were seniors this year and contributed heavily to the success of the team. Daniel Stripling fired a final round 68 at State, but unfortunately the team finished in 2nd Place by one shot. Daniel plans to study finance and business and will be a part of the McFerrin Entrepreneurship program at A&M while attending Blinn. Jacob King finished 2nd individually at District and Regionals, and won the individual title at the Stampede Invitational. Last fall, Jacob committed to the University of New Mexico to play golf and further his education. Zach Heffernan is a very accomplished junior player as he’s won the Texas Junior Amateur (back-to-back years), the AJGA KJ Choi Championship and is a 3-time Cordillera Ranch Junior Club Champion. Zach individually won District and Regionals this year, and finished T-6 at the State tournament. To further his golf career and education, Zach will be attending Baylor University this fall.

Bridgett Joeris

On the girls’ side for Boerne Champion, new Club member Bridgett Joeris was a welcomed new addition to the team. This was her first and last year at Boerne Champion as she just moved to the area and graduated this year. Bridgett helped the team finish 2nd at District, 2nd at Regionals and 3rd at State. This marked the highest finish in the State Championship for the Lady Chargers in program history! Bridgett will be attending Tarleton State this fall to continue her golf career and advance her education.

The Boerne High boys team had a great year as well. They finished 3rd at District and Regionals which qualified them for the UIL 4A State Championship where they placed 9th. The Boys Greyhound Golf Team was led by Cordillera Ranch members Colton Hoegemeyer and Braden Baize. Colton, who is 16 years old and will be a junior next year, summed up the year by saying, “The opportunity to compete with my teammates at the State Tournament was the highlight of the year.” This summer, Colton will be competing in several regional STPGA junior golf tournaments and is looking forward to another two years with the Greyhound Golf Team. Braden is also 16 years old and assisted the team by finishing 3rd at District and 5th at Regionals individually. Braden is a multi-sport athlete but will put a heavy focus on golf this summer by competing in STPGA, TJGT and AJGA events. The Boys Golf Team is young as three sophomores and one freshman made up four of the five-player team. Look for big things to come out of this squad over the next couple of years.

Colton Hoegemeyer Braden Baize

Hayes Hutton Price Hill

On the private school side, Geneva School of Boerne also had a stand-out year. The team finished 2nd at the TAPPS 5A State Championship and were led by Cordillera Ranch members Hayes Hutton and Price Hill. Hayes was a senior this year and capped off his high school career by winning the District tournament individually. He will be attending Texas State in the fall to further his golf career and education. Price is 16 years old and just completed his sophomore year. The highlight of Price’s year was a Holein-One on #16 at Cordillera Ranch and shooting a final round 66 at the Texas Masters. He’s looking forward to a lot of tournament golf this summer — especially the Texas Father-Son Tournament at Crown Colony. Everett Cook

One of our younger members, Everett Cook, is 12 years old and attends TMI. Everett is at the very beginning of his golf career and the future looks bright as he finished 2nd in his first two tournaments and then won the District Championship.

Christopher Robishaw

Outside of the Boerne area, Christopher Robishaw plays high school golf for Houston Memorial High School. The Robishaw family lives primarily in Houston but spends some time at Cordillera Ranch as well. Christopher is 17 years old, will be a senior next year and is a National Honors Society member. The Boys Mustang High School Golf Team won a couple events this season and Christopher finished runner-up individually at both. He’s got an active summer coming up with golf tournaments, service work and a mission trip.

Boerne Champion Charger Girls Varsity Golf Team,

L-R: Savannah Dupre, Bridgett Joeris, Emma Finger, Mason Rawls, Halle Vandersloot

Boerne High Greyhound Boys Varsity Golf Team,

L-R: Derek Nasis, Cole Gentry, Colton Hoegemeyer, Braden Baize, Jordan Smith

Boerne Champion Charger Boys Varsity Golf Team,

L-R: Coach Alamillo, Will Williamson, Zach Heffernan, Daniel Stripling, Jacob King, Coach Sweatman

Congratulations to our junior golfers for leading their teams in a successful school year. Keep these kids on your radar – they are all ones to watch.

Corey Roberson is the Director of Golf at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at croberson@ cordilleraranch.com or 830.336.4653.