The Tournament took place at the Tracy Golf & Country Club, with several additional contests: 1) two super hole-in-ones; 2) closest to the pin; 3) longest drive; and 4) putting competitions. Afterwards, the players and guests enjoyed a delicious Italian Buffet followed by an award ceremony. Concluding this delightful day, participants had the opportunity to win great prizes in the raffle drawing.

Anticipation was in the air as the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce—San Francisco/Silicon Valley hosted the 7th annual Scandinavian Golf Tournament at the prestigious Tracy Golf & Country Club. This year there were two super hole-in-one contests, giving players a chance to arrive home in either a brand new Volvo XC60 or in a Skylark airplane from Skyview Aviation. All participants were excited about this opportunity and could not wait until the shotgun to start, as the golf carts were lined up for the players to challenge their abilities and good fortune. While waiting, competitors in each foursome received goodie bags, courtesy of IKEA, in order to cheer up the players and make their upcoming golf adventure so much sweeter.
The sun beamed upon the beautiful Tracy golf course, as all of the 11 teams started to play at different holes. Two holes, number four and six were the most challenging ones. At these holes, if they could only sink a hole-in-one, players had the chance to be the lucky winner of either a brand new Volvo or a Skylark airplane. But as luck would have it, none of the tournament’s players were that lucky, according to the Chamber’s interns who were monitoring these two winning holes during the entire tournament.
However, some impressive results and good scores were still made during the day.
Joseph McNeal ended up winning the competition for the longest drive, while Conchita Christensen was the winner in the closest-to-the-pin contest. The lucky winners had the option to choose between a case of Carlsberg and a bottle of Stockholm Krystal Vodka.
When it came down to the winning teams, first place went to SACC SF chairman Nils Welin’s team, with Jason Berckart, Tim Borque and Jeff Phairas playing. In second place came Joseph McNeal’s team with Jose Ramirez, Robert Quintana and Claudia Davis. Finally, the Kes Narbutas, Curtis Johnson, Russ Jensen and Steve Carlson team ended up taking third place.
As the tournament wrapped up, players and invited guests gathered around the Country Clubhouse for some time to exchange impressions about the Tournament, and prepared to attend the dinner that followed with its festive award ceremony and thrilling raffle drawing. Players also had some time before the dinner to mingle and discuss the game as the final scores of the playing teams were put up to the excitement of the lucky winners.
As everyone finally settled inside the clubhouse, raffle tickets were sold for the raffle drawing held later in the evening. The raffle featured some really great prizes, including a trip for two to Scandinavia, exclusive hotel stays and private wine & tasting tours. The raffle drawing began from lowest to highest value, to build up the excitement. The lucky winner of the round trip tickets to Scandinavia and one hotel night at Hotel Diplomat in Stockholm was Luis Allende.
To sum up the event, participants and players alike would agree that this 7th edition of the Scandinavian Golf Tournament was a great success for besides enjoying the exceptional weather, everyone had a wonderful time in great company.
More info, see http://www.sacc-usa.org/sf

By: Nadja Zakharova & Lydia Negusse
info@sacc-sf.org