Branch 5 plays Golf with Branch 16 Each Thursday
To join, Contact Phil Yurtis at 650 508 9651, Send Email
Branch 16 Joint Golf Schedule for 2025 – (Click Here to see in Google Calendar)
2025 Season Finals for NCGA Senior Series
The finals took place on Nov. 10, 2025 at Diablo Country Club in Danville, CA at the foot of Mt. Diablo. Out of 180+ golfers only 20 qualified for the Championship. Richard McGrath qualified on points in fourth place. In the finals, Richard shot 84, net 73, to place seventh in the event and tied for third in the overall season Championship. He stated that Diablo was probably the most challenging greens he has ever played with 5 three putts and a 4 putt. The good news is that he didn’t lose a golf ball! One opponent stated that the only thing missing on the Diablo greens was a windmill and a clown’s mouth!
McGrath and Virelas Win Club Championship
(from Branch35 Newsletter – TrailTips 11/25)
The Club Championship at Baylands was shortened from three rounds to two this year because of rain. After Round 1 the eventual top three finishers in the Los Gross contest were all tied at 80, but Round 2 resulted in victory for Richard McGrath (80-86), followed by Joe Cioni (80-88) and Scott Hiller (80-89). Larry Low had an outstanding second round to finish fourth (90-80).There was an even bigger logjam at the top after the first day of the Low Net contest. Five players were tied for the lead at 70 and eight men (not including the eventual winner!) were within twostrokes. First-day co-leaders were Larry Baugher, Sam Im, Joe Cioni, Scott Hiller, and Richard McGrath. Thanks to his stellar second round, Martin Virelsas (73-67) won the Low Net contest. Larry Low (78-68) and RichardMcGrath (70-76) tied for second and Les Miles (72-75) finished fourth.
McGrath’s in 4th Place in NCGA Super Seniors
The year-long series of NCGA Super Seniors tournaments will wrap up on November 10 with a Championship event at the posh Diablo Country Club. More than 180 men age 65 and above haveparticipated in the series and Rich McGrath is in 4th place basedon total points earned in 2025. Rich is 76 and most of the otherleaders are still in their sixties. Rich entered twelve events andplaced in the top ten six times, finishing as high as second place.Only the 20 best Seniors and 20 best Super Seniors are invitedto the Championship, and the $195 entry fee is waived for the top4 players in each category. Rich will be in the final foursome withthe top 3 Super Seniors. In next month’s Trail Tips we’ll let you\know the results of the Championship. If you want to cheer Rich on you can follow him around the course, but you’ll have to walk it – NCGA’s rules prohibit spectators from riding in carts!
Gerry DeLisle chipping after tee shot ended up 3 feet over green…
2024 Highlights
Cioni and McGrath Have a Great Day in NCGA Senior Final (from Branch35 Newsletter) – December 2024
Rich McGrath and Joe Cioni were among the top 20 teams invited to the NCGA Senior Series Team Final at the Green Valley Country Club in Fairfield on October 28. Players were all 55 or older, which made the youngest of them young enough to be Joe’s (age 85) or Rich’s (age 75) kids.
Joe writes: “At a combined age of 160, we were the oldest team in the tournament. We were also among the shortest hitters — maybe the shortest — in the tournament. One competitor we were paired with was hitting his drives 90-100 yards past us.” “In any case, we managed to post a net score of 3 under par which put us in 6th place, 5 shots behind the leaders.
Among the highlights were a 40-foot putt by Rich on the 18th hole for net birdie and me making birdie putts on two par 3 holes for net eagles (also known as a net hole in one). We won’t discuss the lowlights of the round.”
McGrath Prevails in Wind and Rain, and Places Second
Richard McGrath (a former Branch 35 Club Champion) competed in the NCGA Senior Series Championship on Monday, November 11 at the exclusive Claremont Country Club in Oakland. It was built in 1897 and redesigned by Alister Mackenzie in 1929 to create a challenging golf course. Nearly 200 golfers entered the multiple events that made up the qualifying rounds. The top 20 seniors (55-64) and top 20 super seniors (65+) qualified for the Championship at the Claremont. Richard placed 16th among the super seniors to earn his berth. At Claremont, Richard and his competitors faced windy and rainy conditions along with bunkers that required a periscope to see the flag stick. Several golfers got so frustrated by the weather that they walked off the course. As Joe Cioni would say, “Champions adjust.” Undaunted by the weather, Richard finished second and if only a pesky putt or two had dropped he would have won the tournament. Richard’s second-place finish in the final event bumped his season-ending standing from sixteenth to seventh place in the NCGA Senior Series Championship.
Congratulations to SIR Richard McGrath for garnering recognition for Branch 35!