Tourney Years
1996	1997	1998	1999
Y2K	2001	2002	2003
2004

1996 - The Start

In 1996 three employees of the New Haven Unified School District and a very qualified electrician (but a kinda shaky golfer) went out on February 12th to Sunol Valley Golf Course.

The idea... To play golf on a school holiday and not have to fight the crowds.

Since the 4 players really enjoyed giving each other a hard time on the course (and at work), Jim McClelland decided to make this an all out bragging rights tournament...

So, he came up with tournament rules and made certificates for 1st through 4th place...

• Taking 1st Place, and holding his head high, was Al Gordillo
• 2nd Place went to Kevin "Stamp Collector" Madigan
• 3rd Place went to Jim "thank God Harvey played" McClelland
• 4th Place went to Harvey "Why am I out here" Scatena, Jr.

Thus began the NHGA and the rest is, as they say, history...



1997 - Tourney Doubles in Size

In 1997 the tournament doubled in size. Can you believe it? Two foursomes !! This year the tournament was held on February 10th (remember, a school holiday?) at the beautiful Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore.

This year, Jim McClelland had some help putting together the 2nd Annual NHGA Tournament of Champions. Long time employee and winner of the 1st TOC, Al Gordillo along with the new kid on the block, Rick Stearns stepped up to the plate, became the "Tournament Committee" and helped to get tee prizes and awards. On the day of the tournament, Rick decided to donate (from his garage) the prize to beat all prizes.. The highly coveted "Wheel". A 3' diameter ships wheel that had been in his garage "forever". It was quickly decided that this award needed to be presented to the player who finished out the day with the "Highest Gross" score.

• The winner of the "Low Net" award for this year (because we believe in the NCGA and the great handicap system!) was Jon Merrill
• The recipient of the "Coveted Wheel" was none other than Al Gordillo, last years champion...

1998 - Now We're Cooking !

Since so many people were upset about not being included in the 1997 T.O.C., the tournament committee had no other choice but to open the field and go for the gold...

So, with much apprehension, a contract was signed with Sunol Valley Golf Course that actually guaranteed 32 players. The date was set for February 9th. No one was prepared for what was going to happen next...

Suddenly, within one month of advertising for sponsors and players, the tournament had received 22 sponsors and 80 golfers. So before things got way out of hand, the committee decided that it would cut off the registrations. Then as most of you know, El Nino came to California for a little visit and on Feb. 9th the course was under water!! Well, we were not going to let a little flood dampen our spirits. The tournament was then rescheduled for Saturday, March 21st...

It was damp, cold and too early in the morning, but the golfers came, the volunteers came and the fun began. 18 holes of challenging golf, with special game holes and plenty of open commentary that could be heard across the course.

There were two formats, one for NCGA handicapped golfers and the other format was a Blind Bogey. The awards went something like this:

• Winner of the NCGA Format was "Fast" Freddie Chavez
• The winner of the Blind Bogey Format was Jim "Yoda" Dell
• The winner of the "Coveted Wheel" was Mike "Swing Away" Schmitt

Through the efforts of the tournament committee, the volunteers, the players and the sponsors, $2000.00 were raised for the New Haven Administrator's Association Scholarship Fund. Which distributes $1000.00 scholarships to graduating seniors from James Logan High School in Union City, CA.



1999 - The Direction Changes with The Name

Tragically, in August of 1998, Rick Stearns passed away suddenly, at the age of 31. This was a great shock to us all. He left behind his wife Suzanne, daughter Roxanne and son James. Al Gordillo, Jim McClelland and Carson Adams decided that the tournament would be renamed in Rick's memory and honor and that half of the proceeds of future tournaments would be donated to the Rick Stearns Children's Trust Fund to ensure that his children would have every opportunity to go to college.

With a new name and additional purpose, the 1st "Rick Stearns Memorial Golf Classic" was scheduled for Monday, February 8th. (Once again tempting the fates and mother nature). The response was unbelievable. This year found the tournament committee juggling 31 sponsors and 160 players. Also this year found the addition of a women's flight. All of the plans were set, the raffle prizes purchased, the registration packets collated and stapled and then it happened... at 4:00 in the morning the rain began and it didn't look like it was ever going to stop. But at the course, at 11:00 am, the rain subsided and 120 golfers showed up to play some "winter rules" golf. Shortly after the shotgun start the rain started up again and it didn't have any intention of stopping. But when it was all said and done, 81 brave (and soaked) souls washed up onto the clubhouse and turned in their illegibly wet scorecards.

After the cards were dried, and the volunteers and players too, the results were:

• Winner of the NCGA Format was Ernesto Panoringe
• The winner of the Men's Blind Bogey Format was Carlson Lundee
• The winner of the Women's Blind Bogey Format was Kristin Winters
• The winner of the "Coveted Wheel" was ONCE AGAIN - Mike "Still Swinging Away" Schmitt

This year the proceeds totaled over $6,000.00, with half going into the New Haven Administrator's Association Scholarship Fund and the other half into the new Trust Fund for Rick's Children.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU - Must go out to all of the volunteers who sat, stood and braved the horrible weather during the tournament. The tournament committee would not have been able to put on such a successful event without you and your support!!!!!



2000 - Y2K Brings Sun, Fun and Major Funds

A totally unbelievable year in everyone's judgment. After 2 attempts to lure mother nature into giving up a little sunshine in February, the tournament committee decided that the only logical thing to do would be to move the tournament to April, in hopes of a "No April Showers" type of day. Well believe it or not, mother nature was on our side and the weather was perfect. The tournament sold out again in record time. Once again, the tournament had 160 golfers registered, but the main difference was this year they all showed up! There were also 35 sponsors for the tournament. Another record !

So with sunscreen instead of umbrellas the tournament was underway at 1:00 PM, with the following results:

• Winning the NCGA Handicap Format was Julio "Sandbagger" Jimenez
• Winning the Men's Blind Bogey Format was Don Hickling
• Winning the Women's Blind Bogey Format was Roslyne Bivens
• And much to the total dismay of Mike "Whole Lotta Swingin' Going On" Schmitt, the "Coveted Wheel" was won by Lola Alderson

The proceeds for the Y2K Rick Stearns Memorial Golf Classic topped a whopping $8,000.00. Once again with half going to the New Haven Administrator's Association Scholarship Fund and the other half going to the Trust Fund for Rick's Children.

That $8,000.00 is going to be a tough number to beat.



2001 - Brings a Touch of Rain, Fun and Amazing Funds!

Ok, so it rained just a little... Everybody that stayed had a great time though!




2002

One of these days, Jim will remember to send me all the details since I was sick that day... From what I hear, it rained and was pretty darned cold too. There was lots of fun had and our charities benefited greatly.




2003

We had rain... We had wind... We even had some SUN! We also had a really good time. Almost $12,000 dollars was raised for our charities thanks to the efforts of everybody connected with the tournament. Special thanks goes out to the Sponsors, volunteers and the four Raiderettes that made sure everybody had enough raffle tickets in their hands.




2004

2004 marked the 9th year for the Tourney and it was an exceptional year to be sure - we had SUN!!! After the totals were in for 2004, the tourney had raised more than $50,000 for our charities over the years.