October 16, 2023
This year marks almost half a century of service to the game for Alameda resident Pete Pizzino.
Pizzino, now 79, first became an NCGA tournament official all the way back in 1978. That year, the movie Star Wars won six Oscars, and Cabbage Patch kids were all the rave.
For Pizzino, it wasn't about who he knew. It was about who knew him.
"At the club I was at, one of the members (Ken Lambourne) was on the NCGA Board of Directors," Pizzino recalled. "He asked if I would be interested in becoming a tournament official. I said, 'Yes.'"
Just three years later, Pizzino picked up double duty. He'd also become a course rater.
Due to his schedule he'd drop being a tournament official in 2000. But he's still a course rater. At the NCGA's recent Tournament Official/Course Rater Day celebration, he earned an award for 45 years of service.
"I love representing the NCGA," Pizzino said. "Over the years, I've been able to visit and rate every course within a 150-mile radius of Alameda. It's very fulfilling."