Jimmy Cider

PERSONAL – Jimmy lives in Grass Valley, California with his wife Erin and daughter Ellie (). He is a firefighter for Sacramento Fire. Jimmy started playing golf as a child and would go whenever his dad would take him out, but he didn’t start playing regularly until 2006 after he graduated college and finished playing baseball.

 TIE TO THE MONTEMAR – Jimmy is a perfect friend-of-a-friend story for the Montemar. His co-worker, Eric Pohl, was invited to last year’s Montemar by Nathan Udy. Eric asked Nate if he could invite a friend. Nate said, “of course,” and we got Jimmy Crider. Jimmy ended up being a great addition to last year’s event. He’s a like-minded individual – firefighter and former baseball player really hits this group – who loves to play golf and was a pleasure to meet.  

 This year Eric had a previously planned family vacation and can’t make it to Scottsdale but that didn’t stop Jimmy from being one of the first players to register. Neither did a 6 month old child (without having met her I’m guessing his wife is awesome) or recent shoulder surgery. Love to see the dedication from Jimmy and hope we get him for many Montemars to come.

 ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR – Jimmy has been the exact type of guy we want for this group – enjoys golfing, easy to get along with, pays all his stuff in a very timely manner.

 WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN IN 2024 – Jimmy should be fully healthy now and his game translates real nice to the wide open layout of Circling Raven. He’ll be able to bomb it off the tee boxes and really shorten that course during Friday and Saturday’s round. Whether or not he can win a jacket in 2024 may come down to his ability to play the shorter and much tighter fairways during Monday’s final round at the resort course. He’ll need some better luck this year in the random stuff and if he gets that I expect him to be near the top heading into Monday.

 WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN 2024 – Jimmy took advantage of those wide open fairways at Circling Raven and carded an opening round 81, a huge improvement off his 2023 opening round. The improvement, as well as some nice random pairings, propelled Jimmy to first place after day one. He never let go of the lead. As predicted, the tighter fairways at The Resort Course Presented a bit of a challenge but Jimmy had built a big enough lead and managed to hang on come Monday. He was presented the Jacket at the ceremony, becoming only the 2nd man to ever win The Montemar.

 WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN 2025 – Jimmy showed up to the 2022 Montemar as a friend of a friend. He’s now probably one of only three people who understand this scoring system and, not coincidentally, one of only two people to have ever won the jacket. He’s been at every Classic, showing up months after having a baby and even with an injured shoulder. The guy gets this tournament and it makes him dangerous. When I offered 5 referral points a month ago, Jimmy went and got those points. He’s also got a pretty solid game highlighted by big bombs off the tee box. To win in 2025, Jimmy is going to have to be even better than he was in 2024. The inflated handicap is gone. The tournament savvy is still there.

 ODDS TO WIN 27-1

 FUN FACT – Way back in February 2006, Jared Prince, a dude who all you guys from Poulsbo know as one of the best athletes to play football and baseball at North Kitsap, a player who I coached and whom Tobin and Henry caught at least a million touchdowns from, was just beginning his collegiate baseball career for the Washington State Cougars. His first series on his way to a freshman all-american campaign was a 4-gamer that took place at Wong Stadium in Hilo, Hawaii. JIMMY CRIDER was a senior shortstop for Hawaii Hilo who batted 1st and 2nd in the order.

 I spent some time looking at the box scores from that series and Jared and Jimmy’s stats for the 4 game series are remarkably similar:

 Jared Prince -  7 for 16 with 3 runs scored, 3 RBI, 3 doubles, and 1 steal

 Jimmy Crider – 7 for 14 with 3 runs scored, 3 RBI, 1 double, and 1 steal

MONTEMARS PLAYED – 3 (2022 – Sacramento, 2023 - Scottsdale, 2024 - Coeur D’Alene)

MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 8 (2022 – Yoche, Darkhorse, 2023 – TPC Scottsdale, TS Piipaash, TS O’odham, 2024 - Circling Raven x 2, Coeur D’Alene Resort Course)

LIFETIME POINT TOTAL – 711.50 (3rd)

JACKETS WON – 1

TOP 3 FINISHES – 1 (1st in 2024)

TOP 5 FINISHES – 2 (4TH IN 2022, 1st in 2024)

TOP 10 FINISHES – 2 (4TH IN 2022, 1st in 2024)

RECORDS – Tied for 2 (Long drive wins/tournament, Long drive wins/lifetime)

TOURNAMENT HANDICAP – 9

INVITED BY – Eric Pohl

PLAYERS INVITED – (Chris Whiteside, Tyler Selna)