This is the third SCGA tournament of my 2025 season. If you’re new here — I’m Marino, 56 years old, a competitive amateur golfer chasing 115 mph swing speed using the Stack System. This is my @115at56 journey.
The Soboba Springs golf tournament had unfinished business written all over it. Last year I walked off 18 with an 81, seven three-putts, and a 12th place finish out of 37 players. That round lived in my head for twelve months. Not as regret — as motivation.
This year I came back to settle the score.
Pre-Round: Keeping the Routine
The drive from San Diego to Soboba is only an hour and forty-five minutes, and my Tesla could make the round trip without charging. But routine is routine. I stopped at a nearby Tesla Supercharger, rolled out my puzzle mat, and went through my full 15 minute yoga stretching sequence. Plantar fasciitis has been making its presence known lately, and I wasn’t about to skip the one thing that keeps my body functional on a golf course.
Starbucks oatmeal. Water. Car loaded and ready.
I arrived at the course, got 30 minutes on the range and 20 minutes on the putting green, and was in Group 1A teeing off at 8:00 AM on the dot. There is something I genuinely love about hitting the very first tee shot on a shotgun start. The course is quiet, the air is cool, and the round is still perfect.
At 8 AM it was 69 degrees. I also made a key decision before the round: no electric golf cart. I walked the full 6,497 yards with my MGI Zip Navigator AT (All Terrain) caddie doing the heavy lifting. Plantar fasciitis and all — I just had to grind it out.
The Soboba Springs Golf Tournament Setup
- Course: Soboba Springs, Black Tees
- Yardage: 6,497 yards
- Rating/Slope: 71.4 / 128
- Format: SCGA One Day Series, stroke play by flight
This is not a forgiving layout. At 128 slope from the blacks, Soboba rewards clean ballstriking and — as I discovered last year — ruthlessly punishes anyone who can’t read the greens.
The Round: How a 73 Happened
- Final score: 73 gross / 69 net (-3)
- Result: 1st Place, Flight — Low Gross AND Low Net
- Breakdown: 1 Eagle · 3 Birdies · 9 Pars · 4 Bogeys · 1 Double Bogey
- Stats: 43% fairways · 61% GIR · 29 putts · 1 three-putt · 0 penalty strokes
Twenty-nine putts and one three-putt. Last year I had seven. That number alone tells the story of the Soboba Springs golf tournament redemption arc.
The Highlight Reel
Hole 5 — Par 5, 518 yards — EAGLE
This is my first eagle in competition. I want to document it properly.
I hit my drive in the fairway at 283 yards. That left me 235 yards uphill to a front pin, so I played for 250 to account for the elevation. I hit my 3-wood slightly left of the flag — not perfect — but the ball kicked right and rolled up to 12 feet below the hole.
The putt was straight and uphill. Clean read. I told myself: make a good stroke. Speed was perfect. Line was perfect. The ball rolled into the center of the cup.
I’ve been chasing that moment for a long time. Worth writing down.
Hole 6 — Par 5, 490 yards — BIRDIE
This hole required a shot I’ll remember — I hit my drive right into the trees. I was in the rough with 200 yards to the flag and a tall umbrella tree blocking my direct line about 150 yards out. To the right of the tree there was a gap, maybe 20 yards wide, but a smaller tree closer to the green complicated things further.
The only play was a draw/hook, aimed at that gap, and hope for some cooperation. I hit it exactly where I was looking. My ball clipped the smaller tree — just barely — and left me just off the fringe at 24 feet. I got up and down for birdie 4.
That scrambling ability is what separates a 73 from an 81.
Hole 15 — Par 5, 565 yards — BIRDIE
Middle of the fairway off the tee at 275 yards. I had 290 left, so I laid up with my 3-wood to about 40 yards. Hit a pitch shot that trickled uphill to 3 feet. Made it. Birdie 4 — about as clean as it gets.
Hole 17 — Par 4, 347 yards — BIRDIE (the craftiest of the day)
Drive went right into the trees. I had 70 yards to the flag with a tree and overhanging branches directly in my line. The window was small — I had to fly it low, five feet from the trunk, and avoid a front bunker to my left.
I hit my 50-degree wedge, landed it perfect, avoided the bunker — and watched it roll 24 feet past the flag. That’s not ideal. But the putt? Extremely downhill. I read it, told myself to make an 18-foot stroke on a 24-foot putt, trusted the speed, and the ball fell in.
Unexpected birdie. The best kind.
The Honest Bad
Hole 3 — Par 4, 421 yards — DOUBLE BOGEY
The number one handicap hole at Soboba Springs golf tournament does not forgive mistakes. I topped my tee shot 70 yards straight into the rough. Three-wood from the rough — club grabbed at impact — ball went left, 140 yards out. Pitching wedge again got grabbed by the rough. Long chip, two putts. Double bogey 6.
I took my medicine, moved on, and made birdie on the next Par 5. That’s the game.
Hole 9 — Par 4, 388 yards — BOGEY
Water left the entire hole and water in front of the tee. I topped my 3-wood 60 yards, just missing the front water hazard. Couldn’t go for the green. Laid up, hit a 9-iron to the right fringe, chip and one putt for bogey. Damage limitation done.
Hole 18 — Par 5, 505 yards — THREE-PUTT
After everything I’d done to avenge last year’s putting disaster, the final hole gave me one. Hit it in the trees off the tee, laid up, left myself 24 feet uphill right-to-left for birdie. Hit the putt short to 4 feet. Saw the line — inside right edge — and hit it with a touch too much speed. Lipped out 180 degrees. Three-putt.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about those seven three-putts from last year right at that moment. But one three-putt versus seven is still the redemption story I came to write.
What the Stack System Contributed
My swing speed has climbed from 89 mph to 107 mph through Stack System training, and the distance gains showed up clearly today. Drives of 283 and 275 yards on Par 5s set up eagle and birdie looks that simply weren’t available to me a year ago. The driver was inconsistent in direction — I need to keep improving there — but when I hit it, it went far.
The speed gains are real. If you’re serious about adding distance after 50, the Stack System is the most structured approach I’ve found.
Conditions & Physical Reality
Weather moved fast. Cool and beautiful at 8 AM, legitimately hot by the back nine. The round lasted 5.5 hours, it was 90 degrees when I reached my car, and I went through two Gatorades and water while snacking on apples and a banana.
Walking 18 holes with plantar fasciitis on a plush green course in that heat is not nothing. The foot hurt all day. I just decided early that discomfort wasn’t going to be the reason I didn’t compete. The MGI Zip Navigator handled the terrain and the bag — I just had to handle the golf.
The drive home was rough. Worth it.
Goals Check
I came into this Soboba Springs golf tournament with three goals for my 2026 SCGA season:
- Goal 1 — Win Low Net: ✅ Done. 69 net (-3).
- Goal 2 — Win Low Gross: ✅ Done. 73 gross. First Low Gross win of my competitive career.
- Goal 3 — Qualify for SCGA One Day Series Championship in November: In progress. Top 30 in points earn an invitation. This result puts me in strong position.
Last year, Goal 3 was my only target. I met it. This year, I stacked all three.
Takeaways Going Forward
The putting stroke was the difference today. Speed control and commitment on every read — that’s what 29 putts and one three-putt looks like. I want to carry that same process into the next tournament.
The driver needs to find more fairways. 43% isn’t competitive enough at the level I want to play. The distance is there — the direction needs work. More Stack System training, more deliberate practice.
And the mental game — forgetting each shot, good or bad, and moving on to the next one — that’s the whole game. I hit a double bogey on hole 3 and made birdie on hole 6. That’s only possible if you actually let go.
I’m Marino — 56 years old, competing in SCGA events, and training to hit 115 mph with the Stack System. Next tournament a SCGA One Day Series 2 person scramble on March 7 with my brother.