Roseville, Calif.- Late Saturday afternoon, golfers from Sierra View Country Club and Diamond Oaks were peering closely at the scoreboard, trying to calculate how the tight finish in the 13th annual Rose Cup would transpire.
And much to the delight of Sierra View, the final recorded numbers mimicked the same thing that happened a year ago in this Ryder Cup-like tournament between four Roseville golf courses.
Once again it was Sierra View holding off a late second-day charge from Diamond Oaks and coming away with a 53-52 victory to secure its third consecutive Rose Cup. In the 2011 tournament, Sierra View edged Diamond Oaks by 11/2 points.
Playing on its home course Friday in two-man play, Sierra View earned 20 points and enjoyed a four-point lead over Woodcreek and was six points ahead of Diamond Oaks. Yet Sierra View head pro Jim Salazar knew with singles play the next day at Diamond Oaks, the lead would likely shrink.
Rose Cup Scoreboard
Sierra View ———- 20-33/ 53
Diamond Oaks —— 14-38/ 52
Woodcreek ——— 16-31.5/ 47.5
Timber Creek —— 10-17/ 27
"It's hard to win that second day on the road," said Salazar, who teamed with Doug Reid for a victory on Friday. "Diamond Oaks really came on strong Saturday. Fortunately we had a great first day – we got 20 of possible 24 points. But it still came down to literally one missed putt in order for us to win it."
The victory pulls Sierra View even with Woodcreek at five Rose Cup victories overall. Diamond Oaks has four wins and Timber Creek is still seeking its first victory.
"The Rose Cup is the highlight of my golf year," said Frank Luna, who was on the last two winning Sierra View teams and also helped the country club win the very first Rose Cup back in 1999. "It's a lot of fun and also a lot of pressure competing against the other Roseville courses and some of the best players in the City. Winning three straight is special, it doesn't happen too often."
Sierra View showed plenty of depth among its 12-player team. Reid had 8 points and David Deragisch had 71/2. Bill Hopper picked up 7 points, and both Luna and Bernie Church had 6. Subbing in for Salazar in singles, Sierra View assistant head pro Chris Galvin shot even-par 72 and earned 4 points.
"It doesn't get any better than wining the Rose Cup," Sierra View's Art Fink said. "It was my first Rose Cup and there's no doubt you are feeling pressure because you don't want to let the team down. You want to do your part."
A number of Diamond Oaks golfers certainly did their part. Paul Gonzalez accumulated 8 of 8 possible points and Ross Raymond had 7. Getting 6 points each for Diamond Oaks were Stuart Wakeman, Steve Hitchcock and Rafa Sierra.
Woodcreek held down second place heading into Saturday, but didn't fare as well on the Diamond Oaks course. Woodcreek did receive excellent play from Scott Marskell, who had 8 points. Michael Watson had 7 points and both Brian Arthur and Jay Lignell had 6.
It was a rough two days for Timber Creek, which never got going. Head pro Mark Gouger had 5 points, while Joe Hoban, Bill Aaberg, Bud Sylvia and Martin Wolf all had 4 points.