Canyon Lake golfers win Battle of the Cities

BY Ariana Shah

Canyon Lake was crowned winner of the Battle of the Cities tournament as its team defeated those from Menifee, Lake Elsinore and Wildomar. The event was the first of its kind and was held right after the annual City Golf Championship last week.

The winning Canyon Lake team was made up of players Johnny Guerrero, George Sauseda, Javier Torres and Greg Harris.

“It was an exciting event,” Joe Kamashian, one of the event coordinators, said. “It was the first time we have ever done something like this and was suggested by city councilman Larry Greene. It was a wonderful idea. Everyone had a great time.”

The Battle of the Cities was hosted at the Canyon Lake Golf & Country Club. The tournament was an 18-hole scramble event with the winning Canyon Lake team earning temporary ownership of the perpetual trophy, on which the city’s name will be engraved.

Pat Kemball, Jon Keigwin and Joe were the three event coordinators who pulled off not only the City Golf Championship, but also the Battle of the Cities Tournament.

“We absolutely plan on continuing this event,” Joe said. “We even have the dates set for next year (Oct. 2 and 3).”

The City Golf Championship final results were also released this week. As announced in The Friday Flyer last week, Mia Golovich with a score of 168, won the Women’s Championship and Robert Funk, with a score of 142, won the Men’s Championship.

The individual flight winners were:

Flight 1: 1st – Garrett True – 146 (won in 3 hole playoff); 2nd – Ryan Parkhouse – 146; 3rd – Daniel McGuigan – 148 (won in card off); 4th – Theo Delehanty – 148 (won in card off).

Flight 2: 1st – Brad McCord – 150; 2nd – Dan Rawlins – 153; 3rd – Gerardo Munoz – 156; 4th – Marcus Schonabaum – 159.

Flight 3: 1st – Steve Duggins – 152; 2nd – Frank Baracao – 155; 3rd – Alan Horst – 160; 4th – Theo Wyatt – 163.

Flight 4: 1st – Jesse Beecher – 153; 2nd – Alan Oman – 164; 3rd – Brett Hambright – 164; 4th – Thomas Scudieri – 167; 5th – Jason Jernigan – 168.

Flight 5: 1st – Joshua Besneatte – 168; 2nd – Bobby Gunter – 170; 3rd – Peter Slonicki – 180; 4th – Michael Pinto – 182; 5th – Tomas Rocha – 184.

Women’s Flight: 1st – KK Beecher – 181; 2nd – Laren Hambright – 189; 3rd – Jeannette Williams – 199; 4th – Kathy Homewood – 216.

The participants, unlike reported in last week’s newspaper, were not exclusively from Canyon Lake, but came from outside the city as well, Joe said. He said there were about 80 players, half of which came from Canyon Lake. Cash prizes were awarded to just the top four or five players in each flight.

“The committee would like to thank all our participants in the year’s event,” Pat, the head professional at the course and one of the tournament coordinators, said. “We truly appreciate you taking the time to play and hope you all had a great time at Canyon Lake Golf & Country Club.”

The City Golf Championship Tournament was sponsored by both the City of Canyon Lake and the Canyon Lake Property Owners Association.