Colony Men's Golf Club History 

The Colony Men’s Golf Club had its official beginning on April 4, 1990, when just over 50 guys - all original residents - held an organizational meeting across the street from the old Murrieta Fire Station.  At the time, the Clubhouse as well as half the golf course was still under construction.  Jim Christy, the Cal Oaks’ first pro, had encouraged players frequenting his temporary Pro Shop, to form an association. The general consensus among the attendees of that first meeting was that a men’s club would provide ample opportunities for members to augment their enjoyment of the game by participating in organized events.  The first order of business was to elect officers.  Subsequently, John Rowe and Cliff Gutting were voted president and vice president, respectively.  Norm Mettert was elected Tournament Chairman; Jim Atkinson, the Club’s present-day Historian, was named Treasurer. Ed Nicholls became the Handicap Chairman and Ralph Davidson the Secretary. 

Mettert promptly began orchestrating weekly tournaments, but health problems forced him to step aside, turning the duties over to Joe Rayo and Dick Brady.  By October, 1990, roughly 250 homes had been built and occupied in The Colony and 67 (26.8%) new residents had become members.  If that ratio were applied to our present-day count of 1,586 homes our membership tally would be 425.  We currently have 94 active members, which compute to approximately 5% of the population.  A disconcerting number of homes, it should be pointed out, are occupied by widows, many of whom were married to former members. 

Rowe wrote in an early Newsletter article that the Board’s goal was, to develop a club we could all be interested in and proud of.  Since many members had never had a handicap nor any knowledge of the SCGA’s index system, Nicholls had his work cut out.  Until the golf course expanded to 18 holes in late 1991, Nicholls kept records of nine-hole rounds played on the same day or, in most cases, on consecutive days.  Rowe noted in his Newsletter Message: Because of a fine team of officers and an enthusiastic membership, our first year was a success, we built a foundation that could serve the club for years to come. Rowe also set a standard that has been followed by 20 presidents, five of whom served two years.  It was determined in the early going that Wednesday would be the primary day for weekly tournaments.  Board meetings would be held on the second Wednesday of each month and, beginning in 1991, monthly lunches were held on the third Wednesday. The first Guys and Dolls Tournament, since renamed the Guys and Gals Tournament, was organized by Rayo and made its debut in May, 1991.  That same year the President’s Cup, featuring match-play, became a fixture on the schedule.  That June, the first Club Championship was played over four rounds.  Then, with Brady and Joe Garvey the driving forces, the first Member-Guest tournament materialized with 35 two-man teams competing.

The first Turkey Shoot was staged that November when Hal Halbeisen and Nicholls negotiated a bargain price of 49 cents a pound with Hughes Market (now Ralph’s).  The initial Ham Shoot was held a month later and Halbeisen again negotiated a bargain price. The 1991 variety of firsts was concluded by a classy Awards Dinner and Dance that featured music by Pure Platinum.  It was determined in early 1992 that the Club should have a logo, the design of which President Nicholls turned over to a committee that he appointed.  The committee, chaired by Van Sommer, included John McConnell, who fashioned a design that has remained the Club’s symbol. Growth in membership, a result of the continuing addition of residences, peaked in 2002 when Membership Director Harold Craig submitted a roster containing 150 names.  As the years started to go by, the average age of the Club’s membership steadily climbed, accordingly.   Health problems some of them terminal, have taken a toll.  Going into 2012, there were 108 active and 25 Social members.  As we head into 2013, the number of active members is 94.  Another 19 hold Social memberships. Several of the Club’s charter members appear on the Active or Social roster.  Their names are highlighted in bold type in the following list of the 54 charter members: James Atkinson, Joseph Benson, Don Borer, Stan Bowen, Richard Brady, Theodore Brady, Robert Brennan, Ed Bylund, Douglas Caldwell, Gene Courchaine, Thomas Crivello, Cliff Culley, Victor David, Ralph Davidson, Glen Erickson, John Foley, Joseph Garvey, Stan Graham, Cliff Gutting, Jess Hollins, Eldo Johnson, Joseph Keegan, David Lewis, Jim Mancuso, Frank March, John McAllister, Thomas McCarthy, John McConnell, Ernie Milina, Edward Nicholls, Walter Olson, Charles Ortiz, Jay Peters, Philip Phaneuf, Panteli Polikretis, Joseph Rayo, Howard Richter, John Rowe, Porter Saltus, Raymond Smith, Everett Snow, George Strutz, Alvin Still, Jr., William Thomas, Robert Timm, John Turbeville, John Vanderlinden, Dale Wilterink, Dudley Windes, Maury Winetrobe, Norman Withers, Charles Woodfill and Richard Wright.  After Frank March won the first Club Championship in 1990, Joe Rayo streaked to the next eight titles.  Mack Denney won the 1999 crown and Jerry Templeton took the 2000 trophy.  Denney reclaimed the prize in 2001.  Rayo (2002 and 2003) and Denney (2004 and 2005) then took turns collecting back-to-back titles.  The last seven championships have been won by Paul McKavic (2006), Fred Walther (2007 - 2009), David Bailey (2010), Bob Fulton (2008 - 2011) and Denney (2012).

The Newsletter has been the face of Men’s Club throughout its existence.  Distributed regularly to every member, it has chronicled special tournaments, apprised members of upcoming events and recognized weekly accomplishments. 

Nicholls turned out the first edition on Oct. 9, 1990, and about a year later Bob Brennan had a brief stint as editor before handing the job to Ed Bylund.  It was Bylund’s responsibility through 1995.  In 1996 Jim McGlashan took over and edited the publication for nine years before handing the reins to Dave Jordan in 2005.  Dave edited the Newsletters for both the Men’s and Women’s Clubs until his death September 16, 2011.  Sue Jordan, who had assisted her husband when his health started to decline, continued to put out both publications through the end of the year.  She continues to edit the Women’s Newsletter.  Dennis Murphy accepted the editing responsibility for the Men’s editions in 2012 and expanded the publication’s scope by electronically dispatching it via the Men’s Club Website.  Back when there were seven par-3 holes on the course,  holes-in-one were not uncommon.  That was before the golf course stretched a trio of the par-3 holes into par-4’s in December, 2009.  The Club’s first ace was recorded by Howard Richter on March 6, 1990, when he holed out on No. 5.  Eldo Johnson is the only member to have scored three aces, the last of which was on No. 15 on April 2, 1991, the day after the full course opened with 18 holes.   Joe Benson and Stan Graham accomplished the most difficult holes-in-one by acing No. 1.  That was when the present 10th hole was the starting hole. Benson’s feat occurred on May 5, 1990, and Graham’s on March 18, 1991.  Graham added his second ace on Aug. 12, 2009, holing out on the par-3 18th.Ches Chapman made the most unusual hole-in-one on March 14, 1995.  Course management had moved the 12th tee forward because of wet conditions and Chapman negotiated the 200 yards with one shot.Bill Stevens made two holes-in-one over the shortest period of time – three days.  He recorded his first-ever ace on No. 15 on Monday, Oct. 8, and two days later aced No. 2.Mike Arciniaga, at 94, became the most senior member of the Club to record a hole-in-one. He aced No. 15 with a 6-iron on Jan. 2, 2008.

Two Special Events, the Colony Cup and Resident Invitational, made debuts on the Club’s 2006 calendar.  In the first Colony Cup on April 12, the Women’s Club edged the Men by one point (24-1/2 to 23-1/2).  After tacking on victories in 2007 and 2008 and taking a 3-1-1 lead, the Women’s Club followed the lead of a handful of members who were uncomfortable playing against men, and voted to discontinue the event.The Men’s Club staged the Resident Invitational in an effort to attract new members, but it had an even shorter life. Twenty-two residents who were not members were paired with members in two-man, best-ball competition. The Men’s Club gained eight new members, but since the pool of resident non-members had been so significantly reduced, the event was dropped after 2007.The Murrieta Shootout, matching our club against the Murrieta Men’s Golf Club, made its debut in May of 2010.  The inaugural two-man, best-ball competition was won by the host Colony Men’s Club, 14-11.  The Murrieta team evened the series with a 10-6 win in 2011.  Citing a declining membership and the unpopularity of the Cal Oaks Course among its membership, MMGC Tournament Director Jim Tapley opted to cancel the event.  The Cal Oaks Golf Course has experienced three ownerships.  The Ryland Company was first.  The Ryland people tried to sell the course to the Colony HOA in 2003, but a vocal group of Colony residents – most of them non-golfers – rebelled and threatened legal action.  As a result, a community-wide vote fell short of the required tally.  Valley Golf purchased the layout in the Spring of 2005 and brought in Pacific Golf Enterprises to manage the property. 

On October 23, 2007, Majestic Asset Management, in concert with Wintech Development, Inc. as its managing team, obtained ownership.  On Nov. 2, 2007, a fire above the Oaks Grill delayed the expansion of the restaurant and resulted in a couple of make-shift pro shops and check-in counters.  The first was a kiosk located near the cart-storage entrance and then a large tent behind No. 1 tee.  When restoration of the building neared completion, the present-day Pro Shop opened for business on March 23, 2009.The upstairs restaurant and grill followed on July 7, 2009.With an eye on increasing non-resident play, course management expanded the par-65 layout to a par-70.         

The par-3 6th, 10th and 18th holes became par-4s and the par-4 7th and 17th were converted to par-5s.  After nearly 19 years as a par-65, the course officially became a par-70 on Dec. 1, 2009.While the conversion was underway, the SCGA sent a three-man course-rating team to measure and eventually re-rate the course. On July 1, 2010, the handicap for each hole was adjusted by Handicap Chairman John Murphy who had garnered statistical data from over 200 scorecards he had collected.