We returned to Granite Bay Golf Club in Granite Bay, California for the CPO Foundation’s 21ST ANNUAL “SURVIVORS’ GOLF TOURNAMENT” on Monday, April 14. The day began overcast and rather chilly and breezy, but the sun eventually did make an appearance and warmed up our FULL FIELD of 144 golfers

Registration began at 9:00, and by 11:45 just about everyone had checked in, shot a few balls on the practice green and boarded their golf carts which were supplied with box lunches and beverages. Our shotgun start began on time at 12:00 noon, and an excellent day of golf was underway!

The prize for a Hole In One on Par 3 Hole 7 was a brand new Yukon Denali from the Reliable Pontiac Cadillac Buick GMC dealership in nearby Folsom. We thank Mr. Walt Barnes at Reliable very much for providing the vehicle. Nobody made the winning shot on this or the other Par 3 Holes on which prizes could be won – curse ye, golf gods! – but we do keep hoping that one of these days we’ll finally celebrate a Hole In One at the West Coast CPO Foundation Survivors’ Golf Tournament.

In addition to the awards to be won on the Longest Drive and Closest to the Pin Holes, our golfers could win raffle tickets worth ten times their bet on the “Las Vegas Hole.” Here, on this Par 3 Hole, in order to win the player has to hit the ball so that it will land and stay within a 20-foot circle drawn around the pin. The chance to win a bunch of raffle tickets of course has a lot of appeal, but what our generous golfers like even better is the fact that the money they put out on the “Las Vegas Hole” goes toward activities and supplies for the Kids & Teens Room at the CPO Foundation’s Project 2000 gathering every year. Thanks to their deep pockets, the “Las Vegas Hole” this year brought in just over $1,000.00!! We thank everyone who made a donation on the “Las Vegas Hole” so much – and thus also had the privilege of being “handcuffed” by one of the lovely ladies who “manned” the hole.

That evening at the banquet, before heading to the buffet table our golfers and their guests were treated to a full screen slide show of photos of the Tournament taken throughout the day and edited into a cohesive presentation by Volunteer Denise Miller. Denise also was one of our on-course photographers, along with CPOF Research Analyst Kim Blakley.

After dinner, we presented the winners of the day, and our sponsors, with their awards and plaques. Congratulations and thanks to all! Finally, it was time for the raffle and the auctioning of a few special items. Raffle prizes were abundant and of great variety this year; and among the auction items were a three-day, two-night stay at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Reno, Nevada, courtesy of that fine establishment (that has long been a strong corporate supporter of the CPO Foundation); a limited edition, pen-and-ink tribute (framed) to the great Joe DiMaggio by and from renowned sports illustrator Dave Beronio; and a magnum of a very limited “edition” wine from Francis Ford Coppola’s winery in Sonoma County, California.

We sincerely thank our sponsors and donors, our players and supporters, and our staff and volunteers for their generosity, participation, time, effort and dedication to the CPO Foundation’s West Coast “Survivors’ Golf Tournament.”  We look forward, as always, to next year, when we hope, no, are sure to have an even more successful event than the one we just enjoyed.