Photo courtesy of Tim Craggs
Golfers representing District 5 captured first place at the 62nd Annual Caltrans Invitational Golf Tournament Nevada.
By Tim Craggs
Retired Division Chief of Design
The 62nd Annual Caltrans Invitational Golf Tournament was held in Sparks, Nevada, on May 14 and 15. Six teams from Caltrans Golf Clubs from around the state participated in this event, competing for prizes, pride and bragging rights.
District 5 Golf Club earned top team honors, rocketing past second place Caltrans Capitol Golf Club (Headquarters) on the second day of the two-day event. District 6, with help from participants from District 5 and District 10, finished third. District 7 finished fourth; followed by Highway Operations and Bridge.
In addition to the team event, all players compete on an individual basis. Players are grouped into “flights” based on their handicaps, so each competes against players of similar skill levels. Victor Delacruz of District 5; Jeren Seibel, District 5; Sean Rivera, Operations; Patrick Stimson, District 5; and Diane Dostalek, District 5 (see a pattern here?) won their respective flights. Jeren Seibel and Patrick Stimson took the honors for Low Gross (without handicap factored in).
Red Hawk Golf and Resort provided two beautiful, and distinctly different tracks for the two-day event. The Lakes Course is relatively flat, and as advertised, riddled with numerous lakes, while the Hills course has significant elevation changes and narrow fairways. Both courses sported huge undulating greens, providing significant challenges for the field, but both courses were praised by those who participated.
An awards banquet was held after golf on the second day. Individual and team awards were distributed, along with a raffle for prizes which were donated by the various participating Clubs. All in all, this tournament was a great success, providing the opportunity for a large cross section of Caltrans employees, retirees and friends to build new relationships, revisit longtime friendships and working partnerships, have some fun, and of course engage in some much-needed stress relief.
The 63rd Annual Caltrans Invitational Golf Tournament is targeted for mid-May 2027. District 5 will be the host Club and will be investigating possible locations up and down the Central Coast. Participation in the Caltrans Invitational is open to all current and former Caltrans employees and members of the various Caltrans golf clubs around the state.
The northern California version of this tournament, the Caltrans Fall Classic, is a one-day event held each year in October. Contact Larry Orcutt for more information at larryorcutt@gmail.com.
Please watch for future announcements regarding upcoming tournaments or contact your local golf club representative for more information. We are always looking for more participation in these events. In the recent past, Districts 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10 have sent teams and it would be great to see them again! If you are in search of a Caltrans Golf Club representative in your area, contact me, Tim Craggs, at craggs57@hotmail.com, and I can put you in touch with somebody in your vicinity. You can also check out the Headquarters’ Golf Club website at www.ctcapitolgolfclub.com for more information.