Janice Luis took up golf in 1997. It began for Luis when she was given a set of clubs by a parent from her son’s opposing American Legion baseball team.
“I met a parent from the other team. She and her husband played golf all the time, and she was getting some new clubs,” Luis recalled in a phone interview in early February.
“She gave me her old clubs and said, ‘Why don’t you start playing?’ That’s how I got started.”
Three years later, in 2000, Luis joined the South Sacramento Women’s Golf Club, which plays at the Bing Maloney Golf Complex.
It wasn’t long after that when Luis met Peggy Dodds, a member of the South Sacramento Women’s Golf Club and also the Sacramento Golf Council, a nonprofit corporation made up of local volunteers putting on championship tournaments each year for juniors, amateurs and seniors.
“Once I started playing at Bing with that club, she asked me to volunteer for the Golf Council’s junior tournaments. And so I started doing that,” said Luis. “I did a lot of tournaments, just volunteering for her. She mentored me. And then she started encouraging me to join the Golf Council. So I finally applied and I got on.”
Today, Luis is the new president of the Sacramento Golf Council, an organization that consists of an executive board and a board of directors. Luis has been with the Council since 2008 and this past November was elected as president, taking over for Larry Glassmire.
“Janice will do a wonderful job,” said Glassmire. “She’s been on the Council before I arrived, so she has a lot of familiarity with everything that the organization does. She will be a wonderful president.”
During her years with the Council, Luis has also been the tournament director of the Sacramento City Junior Easter Championship. Now in its 72nd year, the Junior Golf Association of Northern California premier event is April 12 and 13 at the Bing Maloney Golf Complex. The event is open to all junior golfers, boys and girls, ages 7 to 18. There are overall champions in the boys’ 14-18 age group and in the girls’ 14-18 age group. In addition, age group flight winners will also receive awards.
The tournament draws a field of about 110 juniors, said Luis. So far, 103 players have registered for the event. The JGANC, according to its website, jganc.bluegolf.com, is a nonprofit organization “that has been creating champions since 1970.”
The Sacramento City Junior Easter Championship is one of 23 championship events that the Sacramento Golf Council has on its 2022 schedule.
The Sacramento Golf Council’s mission, according to its website, sacgolfcouncil.org, “is to conduct and promote superior golf events at City and County golf courses in the Sacramento Metropolitan area for all interested golfers. Specific events are open to men and women of all ages and abilities, and juniors.
Each event features on-course player assistants, rules officials, and starter announcers. Some tournaments are approved for Northern California Golf Association points.” The Council, according to its website, supports First Tee – Greater Sacramento, Junior Golf Association of Northern California, and other approved junior golf programs.
“We just want to make sure we continue to provide the nice quality tournaments that we have,” said Luis. “We do try to hit every area for a golfer. I think we do a pretty good job at that. Right now we are working on trying to get a senior division in our four-ball tournaments. There have been some requests from players.
“All of our tournaments are competitive and we do get players from all over. One year, I had a girl from Iceland in the junior tournament. Yuka Saso (current LPGA Tour player) played in one of the junior tournaments that Peggy Dodds was putting on and then she also played in the Sacramento City Women’s Championship. We get players from a lot of different places for the State Fair Amateur. It’s the big one that we have out at Haggin Oaks.
“Our busiest season is June through August. It’s exciting to go and watch the quality of play that we have. I do think we provide really good tournaments for the local golfers and golfers from out of the area. We do get golfers from all over.”
Before taking over as president, Luis was vice-president last year and has been actively involved with the Council since 2008. Luis said she was encouraged to run for the president’s position for several years.
The Council President serves a two-year term.
In her role of leading the organization, Luis oversees Council meetings.
“It’s trying to keep things organized,” said Luis. “If there are any issues that come up, I have to figure out the right people to help solve the issues.”
The Council has 29 on the board of directors. One of the requirements of being on the Council is directing a tournament. It’s also requested that you assist in at least three other events. The Council meets 10 times during the year.
“I’ve met a lot of nice people and made some good friends on the Council. It’s been a good experience,” said Luis. “It’s a good organization. I think we have a great bunch of people on the council.
“Larry (Glassmire) made a lot of progress with the Council. He did an excellent job. He keeps our database up to date and he also sends out emails and reminders about tournaments.”
Peggy Chan is the Council’s vice-president, Charlotte Wells is the secretary, and Bob Adams is the treasurer.
Glassmire joined the Sacramento Golf Council in 2011, shortly after retiring from Sacramento State, where he worked for 34 years as an administrator. He was the director in the Admissions and Records office and also worked in the academic vice-president’s office doing enrollment planning.
“One of the things that attracted me to the organization was that it was totally volunteer,” said Glassmire. “I’ve enjoyed it immensely. It’s a wonderful organization. I think it serves a wonderful purpose in the Sacramento area for providing lots of competitive golf events for very good amateur players.
“One of our main focuses is trying to support junior golf in the region.”
Glassmire is the tournament director for the Sacramento County Men’s Amateur Championship. It’s July 23-24 at Ancil Hoffman Golf Course in Carmichael.
He is also involved in other tournaments during the year.
“I support the other tournament directors in doing tournament management, set-up, setting up pairings, communicating with the players about tee times and posting scores during a tournament,” said Glassmire, a Sacramento resident, who plays out of Mather Golf Course.
South Sacramento Women’s Golf Club
Luis belongs to the South Sacramento Women’s Golf Club, which plays at Bing Maloney. She is the handicap chairperson and rules chairperson for the club.
The South Sacramento Women’s Golf Club is “a social group that has fun tournaments, as well as our club championship,” according to www.bingmaloney.com. The club is affiliated with the Pacific Women’s Golf Association.
Luis family
Janice Luis and her husband, Allen Luis, make their home in Sacramento.
They have two children: a son, Jeremy Luis, and a daughter, Jill Luis.
Janice and Allen play in a mixed golf club, Top Flight Golf Club, and Allen plays out of Dry Creek Ranch Golf Course in Galt.
“It’s a great sport. You can play it for a really long time,” said Janice. “I’m taking lessons, so I’m getting better. I love it even more right now.”
Peggy Dodds City Junior Championship
The Sacramento Golf Council puts on the Peggy Dodds Sacramento City Junior Championship. Now in its 86th year, the tournament is July 5-6 at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex. It’s a JGANC premier event.
Dodds passed away recently. She was 93. Dodds was a member of the Sacramento Golf Council. On its Facebook page, on Feb. 1, Haggin Oaks Golf Complex announced:
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Peggy Dodds.
“Peggy was a dear friend of the Morton family. From 1983 to the present day, she has devoted her time to running multiple junior golf events at the Sacramento City and County golf courses. She joined the Sacramento Golf Council in 1985 and was asked to reorganize the declining junior championships and now they remain some of the crown jewel events across Northern California and beyond. She has spent countless hours volunteering to help with additional events including Little Linkers, The First Tee of Greater Sacramento Tour events and other Golf Council events. Her tireless devotion to juniors has created multi-generations of parents and kids who have benefitted from the work that she has done. The Morton Golf family and staff would like to offer our condolences. We’ll miss you, Peggy.”
Dodds was inducted into the Sacramento Golf Hall of Fame in 2017. A native of Sacramento, Dodds attended Sacramento High School and Sacramento Junior College.
Luis said: “She loved doing the junior golf with the kids. She was good with the kids. She was a good player, too.”
Glassmire said: “She was a stalwart for the organization.”
Sacramento Golf Council 2022 Schedule
* March 19-20, 26-27: 67th City Men’s Regional Four-Ball.
* April 12-13: 72nd City Junior Easter Championship.
* May 3-4: 49th County Senior & Super Senior Men’s Championship.
* June 4-5: 2nd Sacramento Valley Women’s Amateur.
* June 7-8: 12th County Vintage Super Senior Championship.
* June 7-8: 27th County Vintage Net Championship.
*June 11-12: 101st City Men’s Championship.
* June 21-22: 54th County Junior Championship.
* June 21-22: 2nd Sacramento Valley Senior Amateur.
* June 25-26: 87th City Women’s Championship.
* July 5-6: 86th Peggy Dodds City Junior Championship.
* July 10: 52nd County Mixed Team Championship.
* July 19-20: 54th City Senior & 13th Super Senior Championship.
* July 23-24: 58th County Men’s Amateur Championship.
* July 30-31: 52nd County Women’s Championship.
* August 7: 81st City Mixed Team Championship.
* August 20-21: 20th California State Fair Mid-Amateur Championship.
*August 27: 25th California State Fair Junior Championship.
* September 3-4: 27th California State Fair Women’s Championship.
* September 3-4: 26th California State Fair Senior & 13th Super Senior Championship.
* September 3-5: 98th California State Fair Men’s Amateur Championship.
* September 10: 74th Walter & Olga Strand Junior/Senior City Championship.
* October 22-23, 29-30: 20th County Men’s Regional Four-Ball.
More information
More information about the Sacramento Golf Council is available by visiting the organization’s website, sacgolfcouncil.org.
Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016.
