Admiral Baker Golf Course in San Diego, California, hosted an unprecedented three weeks of championship competition among the best military golfers in the world.

The first week consisted of active military competing to represent their service of 6 men and women. The second week was the Armed Forces Inter-Service Championship to represent Team USA. Finally, the third week was the 14th Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) World Military Golf Championships, a competition of teams and individuals among 17 nations.

The Admiral Baker facility is less than a mile from the first California Mission, San Diego de Alcala, and was named after a 3 star Admiral, Wilder Baker, who advocated the need to build a recreational facility to enhance the quality of life program for sailors and their families. It is only fitting that this military golf course, was center stage during the World Military Golf Championship.

The golf facility is under the command of Naval Base San Diego; the principal home port of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, basing over 50 Naval ships. Many active duty military members started their golf experience here because there are two golf courses, the North and the South, offering access to learn the game at an affordable rate for the military. The North golf course was renovated in 2012 and in preparations for both the tournaments, many new initiatives were developed such as building the new pavilion, adding more tee boxes to make the course more challenging, enhancing the driving range, and meticulously grooming the entire golf course to be championship ready.

TOURNAMENT #1: THE SERVICE CAMPS QUALIFIER

During the first week of competition, the service camps qualifier hosted 71 participants. Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force-Space Force, were represented competing for a spot of 6 men and 3 women for their service. Although the Coast Guard did not participate in the intra-service qualifier, for the first time in the history of the Armed Forces Golf Championship the Coast Guard had their own team to represent for the championships.

Service Member Qualifiers

Army: Joseph Cave, Melanie DeLeon, Thomas Fitzgerald, Brian King, Hansol Koo, Kimberly Liu, Robert Oxley, Austin Teal, and Lauren Thielen

Marine Corps: David Banks, Nicholas Brediger, Ben Deitz, Margaret Gross, Adam Kish, Meghan Reinwald, Brendan Roberts, and Greg Scott

Navy: Brandi Anger, Amie McCullum, Karen Griffith, Kenneth Leonard, Kiel Massong, Daniel Manferdini, Jacob Meloche, Albert Montalbo, and Robert Stochel (CAPT Heely, Commanding Officer Naval Base San Diego with Navy Coach Gerald Dremel, PGA)

Air Force and Space Force: Todd Berglund, Cayla Clark, Joseph Crisostomo, Michael Fan, Turner Howe, Linda Jeffery, Lincoln Jackson, Kimberly Liu, and Kyle Wesolowki

TOURNAMENT #2: U.S ARMED FORCES CHAMPIONSHIP

Coast Guard: Joshua Baer, Daniel Deaver, Nicholas Marshall, Laura Pirruccello, Brian Robson, Zachary Rudy, Micheal Schlemeyer, Ronald Stephens, and Bethany Teichert

The U.S. Armed Forces Championship week coincided with the Miramar Air show only a few miles away from the golf course. Several times, the Navy Blue Angels marshaled in formation creating an aurora of plumes over the background of patriotic flags and banners around the clubhouse and golf course.

The shot of the Armed Forces Championship that was “heard around the world” belonged to Navy’s Albert Montalvo which was a hole-in-one on the 7th hole.

For the women’s championship, U.S. Army’s Melanie DeLeon shot an even par 72 for the day and finished with a total of (+7) and won by 7 strokes ahead of Jeffrey. The Army Captain held her composure and prevailed against two tough Air Force competitors in her group. DeLeon played 4 years of college golf at the University of Nevada, Reno. When asked about her experience during the Armed Forces Championships, she said “It was a great experience playing with the Army team.

Competing with the other branches of service is always fun. The weather and the course was great. It’s just a blessing to be out here. I cannot wait for next week to happen and I’m going to play hard. I think we have a good chance to win.”

The first place battle for the men’s title was between Marine Captain Nicholas Brediger and Air Force 1st Lieutenant Joseph Crisostomo. All the drama started on the back nine when on the 10th hole, tees were moved up for a risk and reward

opportunity. The Marine laid up but Crisostomo, a pilot in the Air Force, used his air attack by reaching the par 4 10th-hole after his tee shot and had a chance for eagle but missed it as the ball teetered next to the cup. The pivotal turning point of the competition was on the reachable par 5 15th-hole.

Crisostomo reached the par 5 in two, left his eagle putt short, and missed a slippery downhill birdie putt while Brediger managed to sink a downhill putt to make a birdie. The Marine two-putted and prevailed on top with a solid round of 70 and won the competition by one stroke and was crowned the US Armed Forces Champion. Bediger, who is currently assigned to conduct recruiting duty but is a logistics officer by trait, was asked about the conditions of the golf course and replied, “The course is great and I’m really impressed by the speed of the greens and the conditions of the golf course. The course sets up well for my game. I was able to take advantage of the par fours and par fives because of my distance off the tee, and putting was solid this week. I am super excited to represent the United States with two other Marines on the team.”

After tallying all of the team scores, the Air Force won both the men and women team competition.

Top 10 Mens                                                  Total

*Nicholas Brediger (Marines)                   -11

*Joseph Crisostomo (Air Force)                -10

*Kyle Wesolowski (Air Force)                     -7

*Brian King (Army)                                       -3

*Jacob Meloche (Navy)                               -3

*David Banks (Marines)                               E

Todd Berglund (Air Force)                          +4

Austin Teal (Army)                                       +9

Michael Fan (Air Force)                              +10

Albert Montalbo (Navy)                               +13 Top 5 Ladies

*Melanie DeLeon (Army)                             +7

Linda Jeffrey (Air Force)                             +14

*Kimberly Liu (Air Force)                             +15

*Margaret Gross (Marines)                         +24

Lauren Thielen (Army)                                +28 ( * Team USA CISM qualifiers)

Team Competition

1st Place Men – Air Force 2nd Place Men – Marines

1st Place Women – Air Force 2nd Place Women – Army

CISM Qualifiers representing Team USA: Nicholas Bediger, Joseph Crisostomo, Kyle Wesoloski, Brian King, Jacob Meloche, David Banks, Melanie DeLeon, Kimberly Liu, Margaret Gross with Gerald Dremel, PGA, captain of the USA team.

TOURNAMENT #3: CISM WORLD MILITARY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

During the 14th CISM World Military Championships, 103 military members from 17 countries participated for the first time in San Diego. The day before the start of the tournament play, all teams participated in a practice round, followed by the opening ceremony. Service members from across the world wearing their nation’s uniform and chest full of medals and ribbons paraded in a single-line formation. The Navy band provided live music during the opening ceremony. After both the CISM and the host nation flags were ceremonially hoisted, Captain Heely, Commanding Officer Naval Base San Diego, provided opening remarks. “Naval Base San Diego stands as the largest U.S. Naval base in the Pacific, accustomed to welcoming foreign ships into our harbor. So, it’s indeed a unique experience and equally thrilling experience for the base to welcome you to our shores, nestled deep in the San Diego Canyon.” Official Representative, Zimbabwean Air Vice Marshall Simon Nyowani, also provided remarks of “You truly embody the CISM motto – ‘Friendship through Sport.’ I wish you all an exceptional week.” U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Daniel Cheever verbally hit the opening tee shot by declaring the event open for play.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Jacob Meloche captured gold and is locally based at Commander 3rd Fleet. A surface warfare officer by trait, he was recently stationed on a Navy ship, the USS Princeton

(CG-59), homeported in Naval Base San Diego. The sailor rose to the occasion in his World Military Golf Championship debut while shooting a pair of (-5) 67 during the first two days. When asked

after day one about his performance he said, “I got off to a good start. I’m going to take it one shot at a time, one hole at a time, and continue to get better as the week progresses.” Indeed he did. ”The course is in great shape, phenomenal conditions, and I look forward to competing for my country.” Not only did he compete, he outperformed against the best active duty military members from 17 different countries and against his fellow U.S. competitors. For team USA, he was the lone Navy representative on the team but stood on top of the men’s individual platform wearing the gold medal as the

U.S. flag waved behind him. Meloche turned in a dominant performance fending off a competitive field scoring (-11) over the four-day tournament. During the last round, Meloche was tied with France’s Maxime Mathey at (-10) after the 12th hole but he birdied holes #13 and #14 to gain a 2 stroke advantage. On the par 5 15th hole, Meloche’s tee shot found water to the right. After taking a drop from 210 yards, his third shot was safely on the green and would two putt for par. This was a crucial point of the match to keep his two shot lead. Meloche was able to keep his composure after bogeying the 17th hole but par the last hole to win the championship by one stroke.

France’s Maxime Mathey and Nicolas Muller fought back two tough days on the front end of the tournament, each going (-10) by the end of the tournament. In the end, Meloche maintained his composure and lead to win his first title, with Mathey and Muller winning silver and bronze. Meloche, along with teammates Marine Capt. Nicholas Brediger, Air Force 1st Lt. Joseph Crisostomo, Air Force Tech Sgt. Kyle Wesolowski, Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brian King, and Marine Staff Sgt. David Banks took the lead on day one and never looked back. Banks and Crisostomo finished (-5) and (-4), with Brediger going even to keep USA 27-strokes ahead of second place France for the team gold. France finished with a team score of (-3), good for silver, as Team Ireland took bronze to cap the podium.

Americans Wesolowski and King turned in solid performances, tying each other in the end going (+5). With both men over forty and tied for first in the Seniors Division, Wesolowski and King faced each other in a playoff to determine the winner, with Wesolowski taking the gold. It was over after the first playoff hole when on the par 5 1st hole, Wesoloski hit his 2nd shot safely on the green and two putted for birdie while King missed his birdie putt. Ireland’s Joe Hannigan took bronze in the senior’s division.

In the Women’s championship, France’s golf sensation, Pauline Stein, and USA’s Melanie De Leon, engaged in a dramatic 18-hole duel, ultimately forcing a championship playoff in the women’s competition. On the 72nd hole of tournament play, De Leon’s 3rd shot on the par 5 18th hole was absolutely clutch. The U.S. Army Captain from Fort Cavazos needed to make birdie to force a playoff and she delivered. In a remarkable display of skill and determination, Pauline Stein managed to seize the lead by getting up and down for birdie on the first hole to secure her first CISM gold medal. Stein’s consistency throughout the tournament was evident, maintaining an impressive (-2) par score and never straying above par in the four rounds. Melanie De Leon, alongside her teammate Kimberly Liu, clinched the silver and bronze medals.

Jerry Dremel, Head Golf Professional at Admiral Baker GC had an unbelievable 3 weeks. As team captain for both the U.S Men and Women’s team, he earned 2 gold medals. “It’s friendship through sports through the military. It’s one of the greatest combinations of bringing athletes together to perform, to mingle, to get to know one another. As we know golf is the great denominator, it gets people together. Everything about golf is life. When you see an event like this which is the largest world golf military event ever held, it’s magical.” Ironically, Jerry predicted before the start of the tournament saying, “I think it’s going to be a special week and hopefully our U.S. team brings home some gold.”

Golf professionals contributing to the championships

Jerry Dremel, PGA – Team Captain for Team USA and Team Navy. He is the Head Professional at Admiral Baker GC (picture w/ U.S. Chief of Delegation to CISM Mr. Steven Dinote and Air Marshal Simon Nyowami)

Jim Higgins, PGA – Regional Golf Operations Manager Navy Region Southwest Command and CISM Tournament Committee

Austin Daniel, GCSAA – Superintendent Admiral Baker GC and Navy Region Southwest

Kieth Marland, PGA – First Assistant Admiral Baker GC, and Rules Official

Paul Sumagasay, PGA – Assistant Professional Admiral Baker GC Rules Official (with CISM World Military Golf Champion Meloche)

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2023 CISM Military World Golf Championship Admiral Baker Golf Course North (Oct 3-6) Final Results

MEDAL COUNT

USA: 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥈🥈🥉 FRANCE: 🥇🥈🥈🥈🥉 IRELAND: 🥉🥉 GERMANY: 🥉

Team Results

Women:

GOLD: USA – 582 (+6)

SILVER: FRA – 589 (+13)

BRONZE: GER – 658 (+82)

Men:

GOLD: USA – 1122 (-30)

SILVER: FRA – 1149 (-3)

BRONZE: IRL – 1183 (+31)

Individual Results

Women’s:

GOLD: Pauline Stein (FRA) (-1) *

SILVER: Melanie De Leon (USA – Army) (-1) BRONZE: Kimberly Liu (USA – Air Force ) (+8)

* Playoff Winner

Men’s:

GOLD: Jacob Meloche (USA – Navy) (-11) SILVER: Maxime Mathey(FRA) (-10) BRONZE: Nicolas Muller (FRA) (-10) Men’s Seniors:

GOLD: Kyle Wesolowski (USA – Air Force) (+5) * SILVER: Brian King (USA – Army) (+5) BRONZE: Joe Hannigan (IRL) (+10)

* Playoff Winner

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Paul Sumagaysay, PGA Admiral Baker Golf Course San Diego, California. He is a retired US Navy Commander and can be reached at psumagaysay@pga.com.