Photo by Ben Bulkeley.
Enlarge photo.
Joe Rukavina, of Grand Junction, tees off Friday afternoon at Yampa Valley Golf Course. Rukavina is one of 183 golfers participating in the 42nd annual Cottonwood Classic golf tournament.
<p>42nd Annual Cottonwood Classic Golf Tournament first day results</p>
<p>name score</p>
<p>Seventh flight</p>
<p>Tony Aragon 102</p>
<p>Gary Baysinger 105</p>
<p>Butch Behrman 98</p>
<p>Fred Boss 101</p>
<p>David Brookshire 109</p>
<p>Randy Delay 99</p>
<p>Marv Draper 99</p>
<p>Phil Gallagher 95</p>
<p>Jack Giessinger 92</p>
<p>Bob Kelly 97</p>
<p>Bill Lee 104</p>
<p>Craig Madsen 106</p>
<p>Kirk McKey 91</p>
<p>Don Nadon 102</p>
<p>Jeff Nelson 94</p>
<p>Toby Romero 102</p>
<p>Don Smith 108</p>
<p>Ted Southerland 113</p>
<p>Six flight</p>
<p>Edwin Anderson 99</p>
<p>George Angelo 92</p>
<p>Bob Armantrout 91</p>
<p>Dave Dremel 90</p>
<p>Hector Flores 90</p>
<p>Fred Frei 94</p>
<p>Adam Hawkins 84</p>
<p>Bo Lyons 86</p>
<p>Dan Moore 90</p>
<p>Darren Olsen 92</p>
<p>Larry Payne 88</p>
<p>Gregg Pietak 97</p>
<p>Pete Pleasant 93</p>
<p>Dwayne Powell 87</p>
<p>Kyle Revell 91</p>
<p>Todd Ruckman 102</p>
<p>Jim Shepherd 89</p>
<p>Brian Skowronski 90</p>
<p>Brett Sperl 96</p>
<p>John Sullivan 96</p>
<p>John Svoboda 94</p>
<p>Rusty Wolfram</p>
<p>Fifth flight</p>
<p>Gary Anderson 89</p>
<p>John Bailey 95</p>
<p>Fred Bishop 85</p>
<p>Michael Chastain 82</p>
<p>Ricky Clark 94</p>
<p>Darrel Crawford 107</p>
<p>Richard Davis 86</p>
<p>Jerry Downing 90</p>
<p>Jim Farris 88</p>
<p>Curtis Gray 88</p>
<p>Berdean Jarman 90</p>
<p>Randy Larson 96</p>
<p>Ed Leech 92</p>
<p>Tony Lobato 88</p>
<p>Trini Loya 97</p>
<p>Mike Luppes 92</p>
<p>Anthony Noble 89</p>
<p>Wayne Rickaby 93</p>
<p>Chuck Sanford 85</p>
<p>Larry Seip 97</p>
<p>Doug Toole 86</p>
<p>Randy Winkler 99</p>
<p>Red Woolley 85</p>
<p>Gary Zulian 88</p>
<p>Fourth flight</p>
<p>Richard Barnhart 90</p>
<p>Bill Day 87</p>
<p>Brad Distel 93</p>
<p>Robert Gordon 95</p>
<p>Troy Gore 88</p>
<p>Bill Gotchey 87</p>
<p>Steve Hafey 92</p>
<p>Bill Hawkins 103</p>
<p>Darrel Irvin 83</p>
<p>Buddy King 89</p>
<p>Mike Kuberry 90</p>
<p>Dick Larsen 106</p>
<p>Jim Loughran 85</p>
<p>Ron Nadon 92</p>
<p>Glenn Navratil 89</p>
<p>Greg Neal 84</p>
<p>Michael Peterson 85</p>
<p>Rod Scott 95</p>
<p>Mike Smith 81</p>
<p>Joe Theis 99</p>
<p>Keith Ulibarri 93</p>
<p>Lee White 100</p>
<p>Dan Zulian 91</p>
<p>Third flight</p>
<p>Danny Adams 83</p>
<p>Barry Alford 83</p>
<p>William Barclay 79</p>
<p>Bud Bower 90</p>
<p>Rodney Branstetter 86</p>
<p>Dutch Denbleyker 82</p>
<p>John Doane 83</p>
<p>Bob Hensley 90</p>
<p>Chester Hinkle 93</p>
<p>Rick Holford 85</p>
<p>Rich Hornbeck 85</p>
<p>Doug Houg 79</p>
<p>Jim Liljedahl 86</p>
<p>Dee Mangnall 99</p>
<p>Nick Moyer 82</p>
<p>Rick Nelson 85</p>
<p>Dave O'Mailia 83</p>
<p>Rick Rayl 78</p>
<p>Jim Reider 85</p>
<p>John Savage 85</p>
<p>Mike Theis 90</p>
<p>Deems Utzinger 78</p>
<p>Scott Woog 79</p>
<p>Austin Zimmerman 86</p>
<p>Ben Landa 81</p>
<p>Wesley Cherry 86</p>
<p>Second flight</p>
<p>Chad Anson 81</p>
<p>Frank Ayala 82</p>
<p>Jon Burnett 80</p>
<p>Earl Cherry 80</p>
<p>B.C. Chong 87</p>
<p>Ronald Cromie 78</p>
<p>Greg Hamilton 80</p>
<p>Pete Heuer 80</p>
<p>Jim Houg 77</p>
<p>David Lawien 81</p>
<p>Robert Markham 83</p>
<p>Jamie McNally 83</p>
<p>Andy Meach 81</p>
<p>Richard Padon 80</p>
<p>Lowell Pearson 81</p>
<p>Eric Pocius 82</p>
<p>Dale Pyle 80</p>
<p>Dennis Shannahan 81</p>
<p>Sean Smith 94</p>
<p>Bob Steinberg 81</p>
<p>Dan Willson 80</p>
<p>Mike Wommack 82</p>
<p>Gary Wuster 85</p>
<p>First flight</p>
<p>Jason Back 81</p>
<p>Kent Bejceck 90</p>
<p>Scott Berry 79</p>
<p>Bob Campiglia 78</p>
<p>Marty Coleman 74</p>
<p>Shawn Cooney 82</p>
<p>Richard Distel 83</p>
<p>Lou Hahn 83</p>
<p>Nick Hensley 82</p>
<p>Rick Hensley 71</p>
<p>Jay Hoefling 86</p>
<p>Craig Horton 88</p>
<p>Mike Keating 84</p>
<p>Steve Kelley 85</p>
<p>Blake Nicholson 88</p>
<p>Bill O'Neill 87</p>
<p>Garrett Pastor 82</p>
<p>Nef Ramos 82</p>
<p>Joe Rukavina 76</p>
<p>Doug Spellman 88</p>
<p>Bob Stahl 77</p>
<p>Rich Woolley 85</p>
Photo by Ben Bulkeley
Scott Berry watches his shot sail on hole 10 at Yampa Valley Golf Course. Berry is competing in the 42nd annual Cottonwood Classic golf tournament, which runs through the weekend.
For golfer Gregg Pietak, of Montrose, it didn't look like the 42nd annual Cottonwood Classic golf tournament was going to start Friday morning.
"This morning, it rained like crazy," he said. "It didn't look like it was going to be a good day."
But as the day wore on, the clouds broke, and Yampa Valley Golf Course welcomed 183 golfers to the greens for the start of the three-day tournament.
Pietak, who has competed in the tournament for more than 16 years, the weekend gives him a chance to return to one of his favorite courses.
"The whole atmosphere is super laid-back," Pietak said. "The course is always good, and usually we don't have to fight the weather."
The weather has been good to the course for most of the summer, he said.
"It's been a good year for the course," he said. "It's been in good shape all year."
Pietak said the layout of the course added to its allure.
"It's in the river bottom, and it's short," he said. "The subtleness of the greens is crazy, and for what you pay, you get a lot."
The course's layout adds to its difficulty, Pietak said.
"You always have to shoot below the hole," he said. "It's still tough that way."
Yampa Valley Golf Course club pro Brett Etzler said attendence was down this year, because of the economy.
Usually the course can expect upwards of more than 200 people in the tournament, he said.
But, the people who did come to Craig to golf were in for a treat, he said.
"It's kind of a hidden gem," Etzler said. "I know people enjoy it here, and $150 for three days of golf is a bargain.
"I know people like it here because of the quality of the course, and it's affordable."
Kirck McKey led the seventh flight with a 91, Adam Hawkins leads the sixth flight with an 84, and Michael Chastain leads the fifth flight with an 82.
In the fourth flight, it was Mike Smith leading the way with an 81. In the third flight, Deems Utzinger and Rick Rayl were knotted at 78.
Jime Houg was leading the second flight with a 77.
Rick Hensley had the lowest score on the par-72 course, shooting a 71 on the first day.
The tournament will start today at 7 a.m., at Yampa Valley Golf Course.
Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 875-1795, or bbulkeley@craigdailypress.com.
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