JOHN DE SANTIS
PERSONAL – John lives in Roseville, CA with his girlfriend, Vanessa, and daughters Gianna (14) and Lyla (12). He makes Montemar spending money selling software for Oracle and has been golfing for 15 years. I’m guessing he plays a good amount as he seems to show up at my golf course at least once per month, and we’re 30 minutes from his house. Either he really likes it here or he’s making the rounds.
TIE TO THE MONTEMAR – John comes to us by way of Drew McGhie. They met through Dan Velez – another Montemar rookie – back when they both lived in San Jose. I’m not sure why John moved to Roseville but more than likely it’s because he thought Drew was cool and wanted to golf with him at Whitney Oaks. This is fitting, because my first introduction to John came on the 10th hole at Whitney Oaks.
Tim Wat, myself, Holtzer, and Louie Louie, were dominating Drew’s annual scramble. The 10th hole at Whitney is a drivable par 4 although none of us put it on the green. We played Holtzer’s ball, which was short and right of the green and hidden from the tee box behind us. The carts at Whitney Oaks give the guys teeing off on this hole a warning to make sure all carts are out of the way before they hit. The screens on the cart even show where the other carts are. They don’t want golf balls to kill the people who are still playing the hole. In this case, we were the people playing the hole, and John’s group was the group missing the warning signs on their cart. While waiting to hit my ball, I heard a missile fly one inch from my ear. I yelled, probably kind of loud, so they would know we were down there and to stop trying to kill us. This worked out well and they quit hitting balls.
As we were leaving the 10th green, John and his buddy (I believe it was Dan) came up and apologized for hitting into us. They seemed like great guys and there was no ill feelings at all. Honest mistake. I then let them know that the next tee shot could potentially be a blind one too, and to check their carts to make sure we were out of the way before they hit. No problem at all.
Louie Louie is a puttin’ machine but he’s not real long off the tee. We needed one more of his drives and the 11th at Whitney is the perfect hole for this, as all 2nd shots funnel into the same general area anyway. As we were waiting to hit our second shot, I see a ball fly over our heads and past us. John’s group must have not understood the part about checking the screen to make sure our carts were gone. I yelled again. It was probably loud, again. Tim let me know that on the 11th hole at Whitney the cart screen doesn’t show where the carts are. I felt terrible, and wanted to apologize to these guys all round for my mistake. Only problem was, every time they would catch us – we were waiting on Luke McGhie all day – Simon would come chat and drink beer but John and Dan always hung back and waited until we were gone before they tee’d off. Simon laughed because he knows how tame I am these days and said “they weren’t too sure about the big guy.”
Luckily I’ve got to meet John many times since and he’s an absolutely fantastic guy. Hope him and dan know I was only yelling so I didn’t get killed. It’s a fun story looking back on it. John’s one of the first to do everything for this tournament and makes my life really easy. I’m excited to have him on board with the Montemar for many years to come.
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR – Nothing yet although I’ve got a feeling John’s the type to come through when it comes to helping out.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN – I think John plays golf 12 days a week and if he continues to do that his game should be in great shape come Idaho. I saw Dan swing at Whitney and the guy can play. If John locks up Dan for his scramble team, which I think is likely, they should be in good shape there. He’s got great payment points and seems like the type of guy who will get all the easy points. Like all of us, he’ll need a little luck in the draft and with the random pairings and if he gets it there’s no reason he can’t find a top 10 finish.
ODDS TO WIN – 76-1
FUN FACT – Dan got his first and only ace on #16 at Whitney in 2023. Drew McGhie witnessed the feat. If Dan’s second ace can come on #14 at Coeur D’Alene, he will be $2800 richer and have bragging rights for many years to come.
MONTEMARS PLAYED – 1st
MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 0
LIFETIME POINT TOTAL - 0
JACKETS WON – 0
TOP 3 FINISHES – 0
TOP 5 FINISHES – 0
TOP 10 FINISHES – 0
RECORDS –0
TOURNAMENT HANDICAP - 11
INVITED BY – Drew McGhie
PLAYERS INVITED - 0
PRIZES DONATED – None yet but I’ve got a good feeling about John.
