Travis Tobin
PERSONAL – Travis lives in Bremerton, Washington with his girlfriend, Sami, and their two boys – Braxton (7) and Taylor (5). Travis has worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for 11 years and is a marine pipefitter supervisor working on aircraft carriers and submarines. He’s always loved golf but didn’t play as a child because his step dad believed it was bad for his baseball swing. He picked it up in his 20s but doesn’t get to play nearly as often as he’d like.
TIE TO THE MONTEMAR – I first met Travis at the burger king in Poulsbo. I was 20 years old and had just finished the first day of Babe Ruth baseball try-outs for my first year coaching. I believe it was Pat and I who hit up the BK for 2 for $2 chicken sandwiches and to go over our first day notes. Tob was 12 and had just finished his first day of tryouts as a Babe Ruth player. Him and his dad were ordering food. Tob was probably eating nuggets – it wasn’t until months later when I taught him he could order chicken sandwiches without all the bad shit on them – like lettuce and tomato. As I type this it’s both crazy and depressing to think that Trav’s dad, Bob, was 38 at the time. He seemed so old! Where does time go?
Fast forward a week and we steal Travis in the middle of the second round, 9 picks after we drafted his best friend, Jeff Camus, in the first. The team went 13-0 and was the first in NK Babe Ruth history to run the table. I would go on to coach Travis on at least 6 teams over the next 5 years and we won a hell of a lot of games – babe ruth, babe ruth all-stars, NK JV, NK Varsity. It was a very special group and the players, coaches, and parents/siblings became more like a family than any team I’ve ever been a part of. The kids were like little brothers and their parents like second parents of mine. In 2001, as 14 year-olds, Trav’s all-star team caught fire and we became the first 14 year-old team in Northern Washington history to make it to the Babe Ruth World Series, where we finished third. Trav was my leadoff hitter and 2nd baseman and an absolute fucking gamer! He’s the best bunter I’ve ever seen, seemed to purposely get hit by a pitch once per game, and stole a hell of a lot of bases – all things that made him a perfect lead-off hitter.
It's probably been 15 years since I’ve seen the kid – he had to miss our team reunion 5 or 6 years ago – and as I think about all the people I’m excited to see in Scottsdale Trav’s name is right at the top of that list. An excuse to see old friends and meet new ones is what motivates me to do this thing and nobody better to get involved than Tob. He’s a great guy, great dad, loves to golf, and another great addition to the Montemar.
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR – He convinced my shortstop, Jordan Henry (up next), to make the trip with him and hopefully in the future he’ll help to get some more of that team on board with this tournament. (Updated in 2025… still hoping some of those other clowns make this trip)
WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN IN 2024 – Tob entered the 2023 Montemar having not played much golf in quite some time. This year he’s planning on two rounds in the two days proceeding the tournament. I’ll be playing with him, and while this round is probably going to render myself dead by Sunday, Tob is 8 years younger and doesn’t drink. Assuming he needs two rounds to warm up, as was the case in 2023, Tob could be firing on all cylinders by the time we tee it up at Circling Raven. Nonetheless, I’m very excited to see the guy and can’t wait for those warm up rounds pre-tournament.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN 2025 - As discussed above, the two rounds, which ended up being three rounds, prior to showing up to the 2024 Montemar had me basically dead by Monday. This was unfortunate for Trav because, against by better advice, he had drafted me to play with him on Monday and I could barely stand. Luckily for me it didn’t cost Travis any top tens or jackets. The lack of the right type of scramble team and an opening round 95 had him out of the running by Monday. He did play well though at the resort course and almost single handedly knocked off Fenton and Bjarnson.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN 2025 – Trav has a very generous handicap headed into the first round which should give him a great chance of flying up the leaderboard on day two. How him and Hen navigate their scramble team will be a determining factor in him staying alive by the final round. They are both solid mid range handicaps. Do they bring in a ringer and a Ryan Bradley, or do they bring in another mid ranger and a Ryan Bradley? As I type this out I start to think that a NK team of Krech, Tob, Hen, and Bradley may be a team that can compete in the gross portion of the contest while absolutely dominating the Net side of it. Finally, Tob will need to make a much better draft pick then he did a year ago. If he does all those things right, and can ever convince Hen to pay the fees on time, Tob has a great shot at a top 10 finish in 2025.
ODDS TO WIN – 18-1
FUN FACT – I believe Travis is one of only 6 (updated to 7 to include AJ) guys in this tournament – Mike, Simon, myself, Jake, Travis, Jordan – who ever set foot in the house on Montemar. Travis had just graduated high school and him and three other guys from my team (Jordan was one) decided to make a road trip to go “visit coach.” Talk about a shit-show! Also, his step-dad’s brother is former major league baseball player and commentator, Steve Lyons.
MONTEMARS PLAYED – 2 (Scottsdale 2023, Coeur D’Alene 2024)
MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 6 (TPC Scottsdale, TS-Piipaash, TS-O’odhaam – 2023/Circling Raven x 2, Coeur D’Alene Resort Course - 2024)
LIFETIME POINT TOTAL - 562 (17th)
JACKETS WON – 0
TOP 3 FINISHES – 0
TOP 5 FINISHES – 0
TOP 10 FINISHES – 0
RECORDS – 0
TOURNAMENT HANDICAP - 23
INVITED BY – Oliver Kenyon, Patrick Haley
PLAYERS INVITED - 1 (Jordan Henry - 2022)
PRIZES DONATED – Nothing yet but I think Trav can come up with a good futures parlay for somebody.
