Matt Diaz
PERSONAL – Matt lives in Rocklin, California with his kids Lucas (14), Caleb (12), and Quinn (9). He’s a division VP for Maxim Health Care Services, where Linkedin tells me he’s worked for nearly 20 years. He took up golf at the age of 10 and, according to his 6.6 index, seems to be doing okay with it. He’s also a former collegiate wrestler. I mainly mentioned that so you guys can put it in your memory bank in case the wrestling matches break out again like they did last year on the pavement in Scottsdale. My advice Is to stay away from trained fighters like Matt in drunken wrestling matches on pavement.
TIE TO THE MONTEMAR – The best I can do for Matt’s tie to the Montemar is that he met Nate on a golf course. I’m not sure what that golf course was or when they met but I’m going to say it was at a bachelor party in vegas in the fall. I know they played together then and I’d like to think of them as new buddies. They met through Aaron Veatch, who Nate met playing soccer about 10 years ago. Nate meets everybody playing soccer.
It seems as though Matt will fit in great with this group. He’s near the average age, drinks brown water, loves the niners (too many of you do), let’s results of football games affect his mood for half a year (most of us can relate – I’m still not over the National Championship game), injures himself picking up towels, and loves to travel to play golf. In addition to having all those things in common with most rest of us, Matt seems like another really good dad. He’s highly involved with his kids sports and used to run the Rocklin Rampage Wrestling club. Now he’s the president of Rocklin Youth Lacrosse. Matt seems like another great addition to the Montemar, and perhaps even Drew’s invitational at Whitney, since he’s a Rocklin guy. Drew won’t read this but Luke will so put it in your mind, Luke.
WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN IN 2024 – On paper, Matt looks a bit like this year’s Jay Cleveland. A similar index and even a similar personal life. He was a late entry but paid quickly so I believe he still gets all the payment points. If most of his rounds take place at Whitney Oaks, that 6.6 could be sneaky. All of us who have played that bitch of a course know that handicaps built there typically travel well (except for Drew in Scottsdale). Unlike Jay Cleveland, it appears Matt will have at least one scramble partner (Aaron Veatch) who can also play a little bit. This should help him in Sunday’s lose your clubs hungover scramble. How he builds the rest of his team will be key. Does he go with a couple studs, or does he factor in that half the points that day are net based? The opening day is the true test for rookies though and Matt should find that out like Jay did last year. We have a unique handicap system at the Montemar and it’s specifically designed to make it really tough for a rookie to take our jacket. Jay finished third of the rookie class a year ago, and is my favorite to win the whole thing this year. I could see Matt taking a similar Motemar trajectory.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN 2024 - Matt showed up to his first Montemar in a big way and took home a 9th place finish. A big point of emphasis last year was on how his scramble team was built and he did a solid job with that. Swapping Udy for another high handicapper like Nedresky probably would have made the most sense from a golf standpoint, but the more rounds played the official scorekeeper helps to make sure you get those easy points. Had he not missed 6 photo points Matt would have been the 6th place finisher from a year ago. A tremendous start to his Montemar career.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN 2025 - Matt gets the benefit of being a returner this year and that means an additional 5 points to his handicap for the opening round. This should slide him into a division he can do some real damage in. As good as things went for him last year, there are a couple places where he can easily improve. Ditching Udy for a another high handicapper like Nedresky would make the most sense from a strategic place in the scramble. Veatch and Diaz can get down to 5 or 6 under alone but they’ll need the high handicappers to stay atop the net portions of the divisions. Also, 1 out of 13 par 3 greens hit for a guy of his skill level is unacceptable. Improve that number and Matt may find himself wearing a jacket in 2025
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR – Last year Matt and Aaron are donated a box of Titleist balls and a gift card to Whitney Oaks. Hoping they can come through again?
ODDS TO WIN – 12-1
FUN FACT – Matt wrestled with UFC fighter, Jake Shields, in college.
MONTEMARS PLAYED – 1 (2024 - Coeur D’Alene)
MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 3 (2024 - Circling Raven x 2, Coeur D’Alene Resort Course)
LIFETIME POINT TOTAL - 321.5 (36th)
JACKETS WON – 0
TOP 3 FINISHES – 0
TOP 5 FINISHES – 0
TOP 10 FINISHES – 1 (9th in 2024 at Coeur D’Alene)
RECORDS – 0
TOURNAMENT HANDICAP – 11
INVITED BY – Nathan Udy
PLAYERS INVITED -
PRIZES DONATED – Hoping for another Box of Titleist balls and a gift card to Whitney Oaks.
