By Derryl Trujillo —
RIVERSIDE – For three and a half decades Val and Lou Skovron have been staples in the Riverside County community as owners and operators of the Valley Junior Golf Association.
They have provided low-cost competition at quality venues and helped develop children for the myriad junior golf tours that are now dotting the landscape. But as that song by the Byrds goes “To everything there is a season” and Thursday evening this season of the Skovron’s story will end.
Riverside’s Goose Creek Golf Club served as host of the final event and Lou Skovron remarked about the venues which have hosted his tour.
“They’ve all been great to our kids by allowing us to play their courses,” says Skavron. “Gary Player once said when asked what his favorite course was that it was the one he was at the moment, and that’s the philosophy we’ve taken. They don’t have to give up spots on their tee sheets for us, but they do and for that we are always grateful.”
When the Skavron’s complete the sale of their home, they will move to Arizona to be closer to their son Joe, a PGA Tour caddie for Rickie Fowler.
They will also leave behind decades of memories and when asked to reminisce a bit Lou added, “For both of us it has been about growing the game and the most gratifying thing is that kids who played our tour in the early days are beginning to have kids and they’re coming out here to play. That’s what it’s about, whether they play professionally after us or go onto college and the workforce, giving them an opportunity to enjoy this game for life.”
He further elaborated “My wife Valerie deserves a ton of credit because in the early years she was running things while I was teaching and working for the tour part time. Running the tour together has been a tremendous thing that has allowed us to grow closer together along with having our son play on the tour.”
Notable alumni include Rickie Fowler, Joe Skovron, Brendan Steele, Kevin Na, and Hunter Mahan of the PGA Tour along with the LPGA Tour’s Sydnee Michaels.
Valerie reminded the kids during one last awards ceremony that the friends you make out here are beyond golf and the golf was spectacular on a blustery Thursday afternoon.
In the 15–18-year-old boys division Yucaipa’s Spencer Payne shot a front nine score of 29 (-6) which included four birdies in a row from three through six and bookend birdies at one and nine. Although he struggled on the way home with back-to-back bogeys (10 and 11) and a double bogey (14) he made key birdies at 12 and 17 to beat Riverside’s Bear Huff with a total two-day score of 140 (-2).
“Even after such a hot start I knew that Bear was more than capable of getting it going so I had to stop the bleeding with those two birdies on the par 5s,” Payne, a Thunderbirds incoming senior who was Citrus Belt League runner-up last year, said. “It is a big confidence booster to play this well here because I wasn’t very confident coming into this week.
“I used to be a fiery and temperamental player, but Val and Lou taught me to tone that down which really helped my game,” Payne said. “Once I got through scoring, players who I had never even met or played with before were congratulating me on the round. That says something about what they’ve built here…respectful competition at quality courses with a family atmosphere. They’ve been awesome to all of us, and we’ll miss them.”
King’s Bear Huff said the couple means “the world” to him.
“They brought me into the system when I was four and have been like a second family to me on the golf course,” Huff said. “I’m so happy I was able to be in town and play in their final event.”
His father James Huff said the couple taught not only the children the game, “but us as parents to appreciate the magic of golf in a family-oriented atmosphere. It’s affordable, local, genuine and we are sad to see them go but grateful for everything they’ve done.”
In the girls 15-18 age group Riverside’s Sofia Vargas, who played at King her first two years but will home-school going forward, made two late birdies on 16 and 17 to shoot 69-71=140 (-2) and win.
“I felt really good about my game and enjoyed the players I got to play with this week on a tough golf course,” Vargas said. “They’ve (Val and Lou) been a huge part of my journey and it has been such a blessing to have this opportunity as I’ve come up through the ranks. I heard about VJGA through word-of-mouth and although I am happy they’ll get to spend time with their son, it is sad knowing this is the end of their tour. I have made so many friends out here and those friendships are what has made this so special to be part of because like Val said they go beyond golf.”
Derryl Trujillo has been a sportswriter in the area since 2018 and is a 2019 winner of the IEBCA Supporter of the Year award. He can be reached by email at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
