Club History

ALSRI – A Look Back Over 10 Years
by Dennis Murakami

 1990/1991

Back in the early 90’s when I was still in El Monte I got a call from Luis Zapata.  He had heard I was a golfer (just a rumor) and said a bunch of IRS guys were getting together to play on a Friday.  At that time, the only IRS sponsored event was the annual tournament down in Laguna.  Luis said that around 20 guys just wanted to get together, play some golf and have some fun.

We continued to play golf over the next year and 2 significant events impacted our little group in a way I could never have imagined.  First, the IRS softball league was an aging bunch and needed another outlet to display their awesome power (I’m still waiting to see that display).  They decided to give golf a try.  The second event was the arrival of 3 energetic Revenue Agents in the Mid-Wilshire POD by the names of Kirk Boswell, Larry Taylor, and Victor Vannukul.   This threesome took on the responsibility of organizing the events and became the impetus behind the formation of the actual club.

 1993 / 1994

Our initial board of directors had a vision of the group as an organized club and soon placed us under the welcomed umbrella of the Southern California Golf Association where we had official handicaps (besides our swings).  We started out as a small group of 30-35 members in 1994.

The club also needed a name.   Realizing that having the starter announce the “IRS Golf club” may not have been such a good idea, Victor and company simply reversed the acronym for IRS LA into the current name of the club – ALSRI.

 1995

Victor realized that the club needed a form of media to communicate tournament dates, tee times, and miscellaneous news to the members.  Thus our newsletter – Eagle, was born in 1995.  If I remember right it started out as two pages with no fancy graphics or pictures.  But it served the purpose of keeping the membership informed.  Soon after, Golfnut was born passing on gossip in the grand tradition of Rona Barrett.

 1996

The club established consistency in the scheduling by having one tournament every two months.  In 1996 ALSRI had its first Tournament of Champions at Rancho Park.  Jimmy Henson was our inaugural winner with no one having won it twice since its inception.

The club also began to venture outside the cozy confines of Los Angeles.  Around Memorial Day 12-14 members traveled south to Carlton Oaks in San Diego where we spent two days grinding out two rounds a day (we were very young back then) to settle who had the most endurance.  As it turned out, Wayne Nakama earned his nickname “The Negotiator” by setting his own terms for tees and handicaps and winning the two-day event by a mile. 

By June our membership reached 80 and we were still growing at an incredible rate.  Our turnout for each tournament was increasing also.  20 groups for a tournament was not unusual.

 1997

1997 saw ALSRI move into the computer age (well, sort of) by purchasing it’s first notebook computer that allowed for faster and easier tournament results (for which Mr. Taylor will be eternally grateful).  It also enabled us to use the SCGA’s EHS system of posting tournament scores electronically as a group rather than having each member post scores individually. 

That same year ALSRI began its tradition of special year-end tournaments which included a dinner and raffle after the round.  El Rancho Verde was the year-end tournament and we celebrated with a buffet dinner at The Country Harvest Buffet.  Crab legs were the specialty that night.  James Rhodes was our Tournament of Champions winner that year and the only board member ever to have won.

 1998

In 1998 Ben Hogan took over as President of ALSRI and continued the leadership Victor had started.  The annual Primm Tournament held near Las Vegas was initiated with the help of Golfing Guru Al Valentine.  It was a wonderful trip as we played two brand new challenging courses with great facilities.  My fondest memories lie with a slot machine at the Primma Donna Hotel.  (About 1600 memories to be exact).  Augusto Rodriguez was our Tournament of Champions Winner that year.

 1999

In 1999 Ben left for the cold weather of the East Coast and Stephen Klotz was elected President taking the club into the new millennium.  That year we caught Ryder Cup fever as we initiated the ALSRI Cup – a Ryder Cup type competition, which featured teams from each Post of Duty competing against one another.  The teams included Downtown, El Monte, Glendale, and Van Nuys/Woodland Hills.  El Monte and Downtown tied for the Cup in the inaugural year in a very spirited contest.  Tom Veatch took the last Tournament of Champions of the old millennium.

That same year saw ALSRI take significant steps toward “Customer Satisfaction”.  President Klotz initiated the first ALSRI member survey to determine whether the general membership was satisfied with the courses, prizes, fee rates, etc.  Based on the survey the club initiated several changes we hope were for the better. 

The Club made technological moves forward by taking the newsletter Eagle on-line allowing clearer graphics, type, and pictures.  It also enabled faster delivery times via E-mail.  It was also in this year that our website was created with the help of Earl Estrada and George Murphy.  ALSRI.COM continues to post relative information regarding tournament results, board meeting minutes, upcoming tournaments, past newsletters, and much more.

 2000

The year 2000 saw our membership top 3 digits with many members being non-IRS employees who saw our club as a great way to have fun.  This was the first year of “Monterey Madness” which saw 12 members and guests play a magnificent set of courses, which included the famous Poppy Hills.  Endurance was again the key as we played 4 courses in a 3-day stretch.  Jimmy Henson proved to be too tough as he ran away with the event.   Rod Ammari supplanted Tom Veatch as the Tournament of Champions Winner that year.

 Present / Future

As the year 2001 winds down we look for bigger and better things.  We experimented with a new type of event – The Survivor Series.  This allowed individuals to team up as partners in an exciting single elimination type event.  Chris Olson and James Rose outlasted 17 other teams and  were crowned champions for this year.  We are also planning another outing back to San Diego under the direction of Al Valentine, which should prove to be quite exciting.  Nick Castro is our reigning Tournament of Champions Winner and hopes to be the first back to back champion ever.

The ALSRI Golf Club continues to grow with a bright outlook toward the future.  IRS retirees continue to play to visit old acquaintances while our ladies membership is the largest and most competitive since our inception.  We are adding courses that are more scenic and challenging while maintaining many of the old favorites that we have come to enjoy so much.  As it was when we first started 10 years ago we just get together, play some golf and have some fun.