2012 Golf Oklahoma April / May Issue

Golf Oklahoma www.golfoklahoma.org April - May 2012

Patriot Cup For Golf and Country

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 1 Official publication of the Oklahoma Golf Association

PROUDLY

PRESENTS

T H E 3 R D A N N U A L PAT R I O T C U P MEMORIAL DAY

PATRIOT GOLF COURSE

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HEROIC ROUND YOU’VE EVER WITNESSED

COME SEE GOLF'S BIGGEST NAMES HONOR AMERICA’S FALLEN SOLDIERS On May 28, the Patriot Cup teams some of the best players in the PGA with first-class U.S. military golfers for a game that honors the legacies of our nation’s heroes.

The Patriot Cup benefits the Folds of Honor Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships and hope to the families of soldiers killed or wounded fighting to preserve our American freedom.

This event will be televised on The Golf Channel later this year.

GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE INVITATIONAL AT THE PATRIOTCUP.COM

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Contents

28 Golf 2.0 Features

24

Course roundup: Emerald Falls, Stone Creek, Shangri-La and more

29

Departments

24

SNAG growing as fun way to get started in golf

32

WOGA Hall of Fame to induct four legends including below Jeannie Rogers and Lucy Beeler

29

10 Letter from the editor 12 OGA 14 Chip Shots 18 The goods 24 Where we play 42 Pro Profile 43 Amateur Profile 44 Celebrity Profile 46 Equipment 49 WOGA 52 Instruction 54 Fitness 55 Architect’s Notebook 56 Super’s Perspective 57 Schedules & Results

40

Southwest Colorado is a cool summer getaway for Oklahomans

32

On the cover: Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler and Bo Van Pelt will be at the 2012 Patriot Cup May 29 at The Patriot in Owasso.

40

Support junior golf by contributing to the OGA Foundation Call 405-848-0042 for more information www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 7

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Letter from the publisher

Volume 2, Number 2

ken macleod

F

rom the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, where Golf 2.0 was introduced, to the PGA South Central Section spring meetings at the Doubletree Hotel at Warren Place, the message this spring has been consistent. It’s time for the “Rainmakers” of the sport to put some thought into not just how to cash in on a warm spring, but in how to create new golfers and do what’s necessary to ensure a healthy future for the sport.

It’s finally dawned on all of us that the media and public fascination with Tiger Woods doesn’t correlate to the health of the game. That while Woods was his most dominant and television ratings for the PGA Tour were through the roof, golfers were leaving the sport by the millions. No matter if he comes back to win all four majors this year, that won’t change things.

However scintillating his comeback, Tiger can’t compete with Soccer Mom. If the three kids all have soccer games, they’re likely to all be on Saturday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.. Very few dads these days would miss those games for a round of golf. Most wouldn’t want to and those that do, well

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our divorce courts are certainly busy.

So how about going to a park on Saturday morning to watch junior compete in a golf competition. That’s one option that Terry Anton, the owner of Start New at Golf (SNAG), based in Tahlequah, hopes soon becomes an option.

SNAG tournaments have become popular in Asia and South America, but in the U.S., the main focus has been to get the oversize equipment into elementary schools as a safe alternative to traditional golf. And that’s great. It’s been used by the Broken Arrow school system for years and is being introduced in all the Norman elementary schools for 2012-13. The more places that use SNAG, the better the chance that at least some of those youngsters will grow up to become golfers.

SNAG is quick, colorful and fun. For ages 5-7, it’s a great introduction rather than boring them to tears on a big course. Could Park & Recreation Departments adopt it as another offering for leagues? We’ll see.

The head professionals of four courses in the Norman area are to be commended for coming together and forming the Norman Junior Golf Association. They have encouraged the use of SNAG in the school system and are leading a drive to fund it. And they are offering a coordinated series of junior golf camps at each of their four courses.

Golfers can get the same curriculum at Jimmie Austin University of Oklahoma Golf Course, Belmar Country Club, The Trails Golf Club and Westwood Park Golf Course, These are exactly the type of innovative programs golf needs.

Let’s give Charles Candler at Belmar, Rodney Young at Jimmie Austin, David Lisle at Westwood Park and Alan Hager at The Trails an A for their Golf 2.0 Class.

And how about Doug Tewell of Edmond, recently retired from the Champions Tour.

Tewell is combining with his son-in-law Pat Bates, teaching professional at Gaillardia CC and golf coach at Central Oklahoma, to offer a series of free junior clinics in more than 30 smaller Oklahoma cities this June. Tewell is doing this as his way of giving back and helping grow the game. Check the schedule for the two-hour clinics at tewelltimegolf. com. T-shirts and some free equipment will be available at the clinics and some days the duo will be visiting as many as three cities in a day. I think Doug gets to sit in the front row in Golf 2.0.

Golf Oklahoma Offices Southern Hills Plaza 6218 S. Lewis Ave., Ste. 200 Tulsa, OK 74136 918-280-0787 Oklahoma City Office 405-640-9996 Publisher Ken MacLeod ken@golfoklahoma.org COO/Marketing Director A.G. Meyers agm@golfoklahoma.org Art & Technology Director Derek Hillman derek@golfoklahoma.org Subscriptions to Golf Oklahoma are $15 for one year (five issues) or $25 for two years (10 issues). Call 918-280-0787 or go to www.golfoklahoma.org.

Contributing photographers Rip Stell, Mike Klemme Golf Oklahoma PGA Instructional Staff Jim Woodward Teaching Professional, Oak Tree National jwoodwardgolf@sbcglobal.net, 405-348-2004 E.J. Pfister Teaching Professional, Oak Tree National ejgolf@me.com Pat McTigue Owner, GolfTec Tulsa and Oklahoma City pmctigue@golftec.com Steve Ball Owner, Ball Golf Center, Oklahoma City www.ballgolf.com, 405-842-2626 Pat Bates Director of Instruction, Gaillardia Country Club pbates@gaillardia.com, 405-509-3611 Tracy Phillips Director of Instruction, Buddy Phillips Learning Center at Cedar Ridge vt4u@yahoo.com, 918-352-1089 Jerry Cozby PGA Professional jerrycozby@aol.com, 918-914-1784 Michael Boyd, PGA Professional Indian Springs Country Club 918-455-9515 Oklahoma Golf Association 2800 Coltrane Place, Suite 2 Edmond, OK 73034 405-848-0042 Executive Director Mark Felder mfelder@okgolf.org Director of Handicapping and Course Rating Jay Doudican jdoudican@okgolf.org Director of Junior Golf Morri Rose morose@okgolf.org Copyright 2012 by Golf Oklahoma Magazine. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from Golf Oklahoma. Golf Oklahoma is published

by South Central Golf, Inc.

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 11

Oklahoma Golf Association News INTRUST Bank is the new title sponsor of the OGA Boys Junior Championship, the OGA is proud to announce.

The INTRUST Bank OGA Junior Championship will be held June 4-7 at Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond.

“The Oklahoma Golf Association is delighted to have INTRUST Bank as title sponsor,” said OGA Executive Director Mark Felder. “We have known INTRUST Bank President Mike Wynn for a long time and are very appreciative of his support of golf in general and ouir Junior Boys Championship in particular.”

“We are proud to parnter with the OGA,” Wynn said. “Junior golf is about building character and trust, traits that align with those of INTRUST Bank.”

In other OGA News, The Oklahoma Golf Association Foundation has approved donations totaling $39,000 in the past 12 months. Almost the entire amount has been earmarked for the benefit of Junior Golf pro-

No. 1 handicap is a misnomer by dan vukelich

There’s nothing sweeter than the feeling that comes with beating the hardest hole on the course, the one everybody says is a real bear.

But is the No.1 handicap hole really the hardest hole?

Often, the answer is no.

In fact, the USGA Handicap Manual coldbloodedly notes, “Difficulty in making par on a hole is not an effective indicator of the need for a stroke.”

Yet, that’s how higher-handicap players typically view the golf course – equating the No. 1 handicap with the hardest hole, No. 2 with the next hardest, and so on.

It seems to work out that way. But you’ve probably encountered a hole listed as the No. 1 handicap and said, “No way this is the hardest hole. They must have this wrong.”

In fact, the hole handicapping system isn’t an absolute ranking of “hard vs. easy.” It’s about the relative difficulty of a given hole for players of differing abilities. While the USGA hole-handicapping system does give weight to a hole’s length, there’s more to the equation.

Here’s an illustration: “Boomer” Dave and “Scramblin’” Joe set up a match. Dave has a handicap index of

See HANDICAP page 47 12 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

grams.

The Foundation has as its mission the funding of programs that teach young girls and boys the game as well as provide them with an awareness of the rich traditions of the game. The Foundation recognizes that today’s youth will be tomorrow’s club members and participants in OGA Championships.

The amount of $5,000 each was given to the First Tee of Tulsa and the First Tee of Metro Oklahoma City. These programs bring the game to innercity youth and do an excellent job of introducing all aspects of the game to those who would not otherwise have the opportunity.

The Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association (WOGA) was the recipient of awards totaling $1,000 to support its Girls’ Junior Championship and Hall of Fame. WOGA has been invited to present an application for a grant in the amount of $2,000 to directly support its Junior Girls Championship.

Grants in the amount of $2,000 each were approved for the following: Dornick Hills CC, Heritage Hills GC, Kickingbird GC, Lakeview Golf Course, Lincoln Park GC, Norman Junior Golf Assoc Oak Tree CC, Ponca City CC, Pryor Creek GC, Purcell Golf Course, Tulsa Country Club, Twin Hills CC, and the University of Central OK PGM Program The Foundation is set up to receive applications from Oklahoma Golf Association members, GHIN subscribers and other organizations that provide instruction and equipment for girls and boys. If your club is interested in seeking this funding it should submit an application and outline what your program consists of and how the funds will be used. Mark Felder, the foundation executive director, will be happy to discuss the details and assist in the application process.

You may reach him at the OGA offices in Edmond, 405-848-0042

USGA tweaks rules for 2012 On Jan. 1, certain revisions to the Rules of Golf were put into effect by the United States Golf Association. This is done every four years, in years in which we hold presidential elections. Those changes would be considered very minor as the previous Rules appear to have served the game very well. Let’s discuss some of these revisions.

The definition of “Addressing the Ball” now provides that when you ground your club in front of or behind the ball, you have addressed the ball. It is no longer a requirement that you also take your stance. The reason this is significant is that Rule 18 has the provision that if your ball moves after you have addressed it, you are deemed to have moved it and will incur a penalty. Rule 18 was also modified to state that there is no penalty if you are virtually certain that you did not cause the ball to move. If you are standing over a putt with your club touching the green and the wind moves your ball, there is no penalty and you play the ball as it lies. If there is no wind, or other cause for the movement, add one penalty stroke and replace the ball at its original spot.

Golf administrators used to add a provision in the local Rules to the effect that if you arrive at your starting tee ready to play within five minutes after your assigned starting time, you may still play with an appropriate penalty. Now that language has been added to Rule 6-3. This is a good

in that, if the committee forgot to add that language to the local Rules, the penalty for being tardy was disGene Mortensen qualification.

OGA Rules Rule 13-4 applies Director when your ball is in a bunker. Previously you could not touch the ground or test the condition prior to the stroke. With the revision, you may use a rake to “tidy the course” so long as you do not improve the position of lie of the ball or your line of play. If you find yourself waiting in a bunker for others in your group to play, use the time to maintain the bunker and remember to rake over your footprints and ball marks after you have completed your stroke.

The USGA has added an incentive for you to learn the Rules of Golf. It has taken a very obscure decision and made it an exception to the term “referee.” In Match Play events the USGA has limited the authority of a Rules official to call violations, so you better know the Rules to protect your own interests and make any necessary claims.

If a referee is assigned to accompany a match, the referee is authorized to call any violation that he sees or is reported to him.

As we have said in previous articles, the Rules of Golf are your friend and you should learn how to apply them. We trust everyone will have a great year of golf.

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Chip shots

News from around the state

p R u e C turns t o i r t a P Corey Pavin, Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan will be among the top attractions at the 2012 Patriot Cup on May 29.

Spectators will have access to the full course for the first time when The Patriot Cup returns on Memorial Day (May 28) to The Patriot Club in Owasso.

The one-day event will feature 38 professionals from the PGA Tour or Champions Tour and celebrities along with top military golfers. Tickets for the event are $35 with children 16 and under admitted free, Tickets are available at www.thepatriotcup.com and proceeds will go to benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation.

The full field was not available at press time but already committed were such notables as Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Bo Van Pelt, Corey Pavin, Tom Lehman, Gary Woodland, Peter Jacobsen, Tom Pernice Jr. 14 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

and Kyle Stanley. Both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have been invited and were said to be contemplating accepting.

Two professionals or celebrities, two top military golfers and a sponsor will form each group and it is expected that each group will pit a pro and military golfer in a match-play shamble with their opponent within the group.

From a spectator standpoint, the Patriot Cup will provide more of a tournament atmosphere this year, with bleachers on various holes and food and drink tents on each nine. Tournament organizers with the Folds of Honor Foundation are looking at the expanded event as a good test of how the course can handle spectators for possible

future events, including the possibility of a Champions Tour event. Logistically, the severity of the terrain on a few holes will be a challenge for organizers to overcome.

Free parking will be at the Hard Rock Casino with shuttle buses running constantly.

There will also be 300 tickets available for a gala dinner and concert featuring Rascal Flats. Those tickets are $300 each. The three members of Rascal Flatts, as well as country music star Vince Gill, are expected to play in the Patriot Cup. Opening ceremonies will be at 9:30 a.m. on Memorial Day with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. The Budweiser Clydesdales will be on hand Monday morning as well, as Budweiser is a major sponsor of the Folds

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includes Jim Thorpe Association founder Lynne Draper, Baseball Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins, former Oklahoma State head football coach Pat Jones, Oklahoma State Perry Maxwell.

All-American basketball great Jesse “Cab” Renick, and Sooner football great Dewey Selmon. Both Renick and Maxwell will be inducted posthumously.

“We are very excited about this year’s class of inductees,” said Eddie Griffin, president of The Jim Thorpe Association. “Each Maxwell inducted into represents something different that they Oklahoma Hall of Fame one contributed to the sports world in the state Legendary golf architect Perry Maxwell of Oklahoma. All have left a legacy that we was one of six inductees into the Oklahoma are proud to honor with this recognition.”

The induction ceremonies will be held Sports Hall of Fame announced by OklahoAug. 6, 2012, at the National Cowboy & ma City Mayor Mick Cornett.

In addition to Maxwell, the 2012 class Western Heritage Museum. of Honor Foundation. For the 2012 major league baseball season, Budweiser has pledged to donate $5,000 for every walkoff hit that ends an MLB game, with a minimum donation of $2.5 million.

Between the Patriot Cup, Patriot Golf Day on Labor Day and the efforts of sponsors, the Folds of Honor Foundation was able to raise $10 million in 2011, more than 85 percent of which will go back into scholarships for the families of servicemen and women injured or killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The FOHF has distributed more than 2,600 scholarships and hopes to award 1,000 or more in 2012.

Maxwell was involved with the original or complete redesign of more than 70 golf courses during his lifetime, including 13 courses across Oklahoma.

Maxwell, whose gravesite is on his first course, Dornick Hills in Ardmore, had a huge impact on golf in Oklahoma. The former banker designed Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa in 1936, a course that has hosted three U.S. Opens (1958, 1977, 2001) and four PGA Championships (1970, 1982, 1994 and 2007) among numerous prestigious events, and is consistently ranked among the top courses in the country.

Maxwell designed two of the most prominent country clubs in Oklahoma City in Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club and Twin Hills Country Club. His impact was felt around the state through such gems as Muskogee Country Club, Oakwood Country Club in Enid, Ponca City Country Club, Hillcrest Country Club in Bartlesville, Shawnee Country Club and Cushing Country Club.

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 15

Chip shots He had a hand in two of the top-five ranked public courses in the state as well, having done the original routings for the Jimmie Austin University of Oklahoma course and Cherokee Hills Golf Course at the Hard Rock Casino.

Maxwell designed nine holes at both Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, Kan., and The Colonial in Fort Worth, leading golfers at those two clubs and Southern Hills to conduct The Maxwell Cup annually. He was an associate at times of famed architect Alister MacKenzie and Maxwell did some renovation work for him at Augusta National as well as codesigning the highly rated Michigan layout Crystal Downs.

Partner’s Club launched

The South Central Section of the PGA of America has introduced a new discount green-fee program called The Partner’s Club.

The relationship supplants an earlier partnership with Golf Passport, which is still in business as an independent supplier of discount greens fees.

The Partner’s Club booklet will be available in participating pro shops or you can order

one online for $45 at www.southcentral.pga. com and click on Partners Club. You can also view all the special offers available at that site before you purchase. There are approximately 40 facilities currently offering discounts.

Proceeds from The Partners Club will go into the PGA Foundation to be used for a variety of programs to benefit junior golf and to grow the game.

Tewell Time

Want to play some golf in the desert with some buddies and former PGA Tour and Champions Tour winner Doug Tewell? Log on to www.tewelltimegolf.com. Like having your own personal pro-am, the affable Tewell is willing to take small groups or individuals on trips to Phoenix, Scottsdale, Colorado or just play at various locations in Oklahoma.

Tewell is also making plans for a series of 30 free junior clinics across the state (more on Page 8) Check the website for a clinic in your area. He’ll be assisted in both ventures by son-in-law Pat Bates, former PGA Tour player, instructor at Gaillardia and coach at Central Oklahoma.

Adams Tour to Belmar CC

Belmar Golf Club announced that it will host an Adams Golf Pro Tour Series event Oct. 3-6, 2012. As of now, this event will mark the only AGPTS event in Oklahoma.

Partnering with the Toby Keith Foundation and benefiting the OK Kids Korral, this event looks to provide another great professional golf event for the area.

“We are extremely excited about hosting an event of this caliber. Bringing a professional golf event to Norman will be a great boost to the community. Our ownership, staff and membership are all proud of the fact that Belmar represents the kind of world-class facilities and staffing needed to host such an event,” said Charles Candler, director of golf at Belmar.

The Toby Keith Foundation has been helping children with cancer since 2006. It has furthered its mission with the construction of OK Kids Korral, a cost-free, convenient and comfortable home for families of pediatric cancer patients receiving treatment in Oklahoma. For sponsorship opportunities or volunteer information, please contact Juliet Nees-Bright, executive director of the

financial guidance that keeps you in the fairway.

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To learn why the bank you choose is as important as the club you select, call Mike Wynn, President - Oklahoma Region.

We’re proud to sponsor the 2012 Oklahoma State Boys Junior Championship.

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New Yardage books offered in state Ever wondered what is in those detailed yardage books the pros and their caddies study so intently?

Oklahoma golfers can now enjoy the same level of detail at certain courses around the state, thanks to the work of Joel Bussey, whose new company Tour Advantage does detailed, Tour-quality books for competition or just for players who enjoy having an insider’s edge.

His yardage books are now available at the Jimmie Austin University of Oklahoma Golf Course, Belmar Country Club, The Trails Golf Club, all in Norman, and at Rose Creek Golf Course and Twin Hills Country Club in Oklahoma City.

Bussey said No. 10 at The Trails. he is meticulous in including distances from every landmark and landform as well as all sprinkler heads. His green diagrams include detailed information on not just yardage but slope and grade.

As for competing with all the electronic options available, Bussey said his books are much more valuable to the serious golfer due to the wealth of detail not available on other yardage devices.

For more information or to see examples of the books, visit www.touradvantage.com

Soerensen is Pro of Year

Brian Soerensen, PGA head golf professional at Kickingbird Golf Club in Edmond, was selected for the Section’s highest honor bestowed on a PGA member as the 2012 South Central PGA Golf Professional of the Year. Soerensen, a graduate of The New Mexico State Professional Golf Management Program, has been the head professional at Kickingbird since 1997.

Rick Reed of The Oaks Country Club and Rick Nuckolls of Willowbend Golf Club in Wichita were inducted into the Section Hall of Fame.

Other section awards were as follows: Assistant Professional of the Year – Derek Claborn, PGA, Gaillardia Country Club, Oklahoma City Teacher of the Year – Tim Graves, PGA, Coffee Creek Golf Course, Edmond Bill Strausbaugh (Club Relations) – Jim Elliott, PGA, Willowbend Golf Club, Wichita Merchandiser of the Year (Private) – Peter Vitali, PGA, Gaillardia Country Club Merchandiser of the Year (Resort) – Mike Hammond, PGA, Winstar Golf Course, Thackerville, OK

Hall of Famers Rick Reed, Rick Nuckolls.

Merchandiser of the Year (Public) – Brian Soerensen, PGA, Kickingbird Golf Club, Edmond Horton Smith (Education) – Bob Phelps, University of Central Oklahoma PGM Junior Golf Leader – Michael Henderson, PGA, Lakeside Golf Course, Stillwater Leon Faucett Sales Representative of the Year – Pat Moriarty, Titleist/Acushnet Co. 2011 South Central PGA Player of the Year – Tracy Phillips, PGA, Cedar Ridge Country Club, Broken Arrow 2011 Senior Player of the Year – Jim Kane, PGA, Folds of Honor, Owasso 2011 South Central PGA Assistant Player of the Year – Kyley Tetley, PGA, Cedar Ridge Country Club, Broken Arrow

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www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 17

The goods

Some things we like to do before and after the round

Haney severs Tiger ties Inside account holds fascination by tom bedell

Hank Haney has written a book. This may not be news, and you may already have an opinion about whether The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods (Crown Archetype, 2012, $26) should have been written at all. Certainly plenty of opinions have already been expressed, some perhaps even based on a reading of the book.

Golf renaissance man Rick Smith, wellknown coach in his own right, was one of the first of the fraternity to blast Haney for breaching confidentiality, the code of silence that exists between player and coach.

Though arguments could be made that the coach/player relationship is much like doctor/patient, priest/confessor, it’s not the same in the end, so there’s no such law or code, naturally.

It’s unwritten, the argument goes, and common sense and decency suggests there’s a line you don’t cross. Unless you’re a selfserving publicity hound, of course.

I can appreciate the argument. But I also 18 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

found this book a pretty fascinating look behind the PGA Tour ropes, not to mention about as much up-close and personal material as you could want with the most compelling figure in the sport. And I don’t mean Haney.

Just about every page of the book confirms Haney’s appreciation of the tremendous physical and mental skills Tiger Woods brings to the game of golf (“I would argue that no one who has hit the ball as hard and as far as Tiger has ever hit it so well.”). The actual coaching details are covered in more depth than a hack like me needs to know, but they’re there for the avid.

Sure, some of the fascination here comes from the revelation of the chinks in the armor, and there are plenty of those, from Tiger’s obsession with the Navy SEALs, to observations about the sexual scandals (Haney claims that neither he nor Steve Williams had any knowledge of Tiger’s philandering). And readers will come to see that Tiger really should have offered Haney that popsicle. All in all, an impressive act of burning one’s bridges.

It must be some kind of special hell to be great at something, and yet be compelled to throw oneself constantly back into the fray, always seeking to achieve still more.

Some of what drives Tiger surely drove the subject of Don Van Natta Jr.’s Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias (Little, Brown and Company, 2011, $27.99). Natta’s biography, which just won the 2011 USGA Herbert Warren Wind Book Award, leaves no research stone unturned in tracing the arc of the poor girl from Beaumont, Texas who rocketed to the summit of stardom as one of the greatest athletes of all time, man or woman.

Her first great triumph was winning two gold medals and a silver in track at the 1932 Olympics. But it was in the realm of women’s golf that Babe’s star shone its brightest. She won her first U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in 1946 at Southern Hills Country Club, beginning an unprec-

edented and unmatched 14 consecutive win streak.

The cruelty in Babe’s life is that it ended so soon. An operation for rectal cancer threatened to end her career, but she came back to win the 1954 U.S. Women’s Open by a spectacular 12 strokes. It was the last great hurrah, as she would fall ill again, and succumb by September of 1956, at 45.

Natta paints an appealing and poignant portrait of Didrikson, but he doesn’t avoid the warts--mainly, what appears to have been a relentless and unstoppable braggadocio--hardly dialed back when she met and married wrestler (and promoter) George Zaharias.

(In 1940 a newspaper editor asked Babe, “Of all the records you’ve broken and all the events you’ve won, what was the single most thrilling experience of your life?”

She answered, “The first night I slept with George.”)

There are less relentless paths to greatness.

You could simply not pay much attention to it, which is pretty much what Billy Casper did. In his relatively quiet way, Casper was as much a dominating force on the PGA Tour from the mid-‘50s to the mid-‘70s as Palmer, Nicklaus, Player. James Parkinson makes a case that he was better than all three at certain times, in an introduction to

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Casper’s autobiography, The Big Three and Me (Genesis Press, 2012, $15).

The title refers to what Casper says was one of his biggest professional mistakes (besides not playing in more British Open Championships)--leaving the management firm of Mark McCormack, who came up with the concept of The Big Three and marketed Palmer, Nicklaus and Player that way relentlessly.

But Casper had his own quiet style anyway. He was perhaps better known for his diet of wild game (hence the nickname Buffalo Bill) than for being a putting machine on the Tour, but he just piled up the victories year after year. The first came in 1956, the 51st and last in 1975, with two U.S. Opens and a Masters to add spice.

The 1966 U.S. Open was an epic match with Arnold Palmer, and one bonus of this entertaining memoir (written with James Parkinson and Lee Benson) is its frank and admiring viewpoint of the King’s vital play.

Dave Stockton was a pretty fair putter in his PGA Tour span as well--enough to win 11 Tour victories, including two PGA Championships. And while he spins a few yarns from his playing days here, it’s all by way of illustration, in attempting to impart the secret of Unconscious Putting (Gotham Books, 2011, $27.50).

Stockton would probably laugh at that line. The secret to Unconscious Putting is that there is no secret, and part of the pleasure of reading this book is its lack of mysticism.

That’s right, an instruction book that actually sports some good prose (with help from writer Matthew Rudy). In a brisk 93 pages Stockton lays down the basic principle of seeing the line and rolling the ball.

He doesn’t advocate any particular grip, stroke or routine. Just whatever it takes to see the line and roll the ball, in order to make one’s putts as automatic as signing your name or driving your car--other actions we do perfectly competently without any conscious thought of how we’re doing it.

If that sounds reasonable, make a conscious note to buy the book.

Tom Bedell reads by candlelight in Vermont.

Germain-Robin Brandy

Partnership results in world’s best liquor by greg horton

The story of Germain-Robin Brandy is almost as good as the brandy itself, an impressive feat for a brandy that was once named the world’s best liquor.

In 1981, Ansley Coale, one of the owners, picked up a hitchhiker north of San Francisco. Fate or serendipity were clearly at work, because the hitchhiker was Hubert Germain-Robin, whose family has produced Cognac in France since the late 18th century.

As they drove, the two talked about Cognac, and Germain-Robin lamented that there were too few craft distillers left in the world. Most distilleries had moved onto modern methods, which they saw as an improvement, but both Coale and GermainRobin thought a mistake.

The two eventually formed a partnership, bought an old copper still from an abandoned distillery in Cognac, the region in France from which that style of brandy derives its name, built a redwood shed and moved the still onto Coale’s Mendocino ranch in 1982.

Making brandy in Cognac requires the use of three approved grape varietals: Colombard, Folle Blanche and Ugni Blanc. The pair felt no particular compulsion to follow the rules, and so purchased grapes that were abundant in Mendocino, especially Pinot Noir.

That experimental streak has continued in the company since its inception. Germain-Robin were the first distillers to work with noble grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, but they keep coming back to Pinot Noir, mainly because they like the way it tastes.

When the 1996 batch of

Germain-Robin Select Barrel XO was released, the panel of liquor experts at “Robb Report” hailed it as the world’s best liquor.

That year it beat a $1,500 bottle of Cognac and an 18-year old Scotch. Remarkably, it’s priced at about $100.

Christopher Stevens, a representative of the company, said it takes 16 years to make one batch of XO. Six tons of Pinot Noir grapes are distilled from seven different clones and then combined with Colombard and Semillon. The brandy is then aged 16 years in 100 percent French Limousin Oak barrels, the same barrels traditionally used in Cognac.

“We use Pinot Noir because we’ve never tasted anything like it,” Stevens, who is a certified specialist of spirits (CSS) and a certified specialist of wines (CSW), said. “We get better alcohol from better grapes, so you get remarkably smooth brandy. People who say they don’t like brandy love this brandy.”

Many distillers add caramel and sugar to the their brandies to fool the sweetness receptors at the front of the palate. The brain registers them as “smooth,” but the alcohol content will register on the roof of the mouth and on the back of the palate as harsh or astringent, and will often register as a burning sensation.

Germain-Robin avoids that by using better grapes that lead to better alcohol. The Barrel Select XO is a smooth, delicious blend of vanilla, honey, apple, berries, and nutmeg. It over-delivers for the price, which is particularly gratifying given the price of its competitors.

“When the price of a brandy starts with a $700 crystal bottle, run the other way,” Stevens said. www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 19

The goods Former OGA champion inspires tale of government gone wild by ken macleod

Burdened with a crushing national debt, an activist president decides to nationalize the oil industry as a desperate means to pay for his calculated scheme, which is either to take the U.S. down in flames and then rebuild from the ashes a socialist utopia, or to spend more time playing Pine Valley and Congressional.

You’re never quite sure which and that’s a good thing about Don’t Mess With Travis, the new Bob Smiley novel inspired by a former Oklahoma Golf Association Mid-Amateur champion. Unlike the misery merchants

Jim Hays outside Prosper’s Cotton Gin Cafe, where Travis and Leary square off.

on right-wing radio, this book will keep you chuckling and entertained while taking a hard look at the downside of spending trillions of dollars you don’t have.

Smiley, who spent 2008 trailing Tiger Woods from outside the ropes for the book Follow the Roar, has a quick and breezy style and he’s done his homework, much of it assigned by Jim Hays, a former Oklahoma oilman and sportsman now retired and writing a conservative blog from his home in Prosper, Texas.

In the book, accidental Texas Gov. Ben Travis calls ruddy Irish President Michael Leary’s bluff (doesn’t Barack O’Bama claim Irish descent?) and leads Texas on a path toward secession. In the zaniness that en20 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

sues, you won’t have any trouble identifying most of the cast of characters with their real-life counterparts.

Hays, who birdied the 18th hole at Oakwood Country Club in Enid to win the 1993 OGA Mid-Amateur Championship, is familiar to many Oklahomans for a variety of athletic and business pursuits. A member of three Big Eight championship baseball teams at Oklahoma State, he was a founding member of The Golf Club of Oklahoma and an original hole donor at Karsten Creek. After selling his successful company Mega Natural Gas in 1991, the two-time OGA president began gearing up for a run at the Champions Tour, moving to Scottsdale, Ariz., a few years later and playing full time. He did not earn a full-time card on the closed shop Champions Tour, but played his way into six events through Monday qualifiers and did win 13 mini-tour professional events.

A 19-time club champion over the years, Hays regained his amateur status in 2002 and moved to Texas in 2007 where he briefly jumped back into the oil business before retiring again to his home overlooking Gentle Lakes Country Club in Prosper, where he writes a political blog which can be found at www.stateofjim.com. Although he still loves golf and plays competitively, he also devotes a great deal of time to studying the world through the prism of not only a longtime independent conservative businessman but one who has studied the value of the individual and his freedoms through the teachings of Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.

Hays is also a student of the U.S. Constitution. He knows how the Federal Reserve is supposed to work versus the way it currently functions and he has some definite ideas about how the U.S. – and consequently the planet – can be saved. But you’ll have to wait for the second book for most of the solutions.

Hays began to put the story together in his head a few years back and took months to persuade Smiley, a friend of Hays’ son Rob and a fellow golf-team member at Princeton, to spend a year on the book. Eventually Hays, along with a few individuals, including Bob Tway, put together an arrangement that would pay for Smiley’s expenses for a year in return for a share of the book profits.

“I made a decision the last three years to focus on this because of the intensity I

have in my heart and soul that America needs to be right,” Hays said. “And it’s not right. If we could do it through history and comedy and tell a story that people can understand without coming off as vitriolic and mean-spirited, that would be the approach we would want to take.

“The end result, we think, is pretty special.”

Hays had a long meeting with Smiley to sell him on the project, poring over Texas history and selling him on the bones of the story. Smiley fleshed it out, adding his comedic touch which delighted Hays.

“The story is probably 70 percent Bob’s and 30 percent mine, but all the writing is his and he brought it back to me in a form that was much funnier than I had envisioned,” Hays said.

Smiley said he spent the first six months of the collaboration “just catching up with Jim,” The two found an established publisher in Thomas Dunn which, along with early reviews, gives them hope the book will make quite a splash nationally. Ann Coulter has already evinced interest and the hope is other national talk show hosts on both sides will discuss the book, giving it invaluable publicity.

“It’s different than a lot of books,” Smiley said. “It’s an entertaining novel with a lot of laughs but written from a politically conservative standpoint. That’s probably not a long list.”

Smiley got nothing from Tiger on his first book. Working with Hays was the opposite experience.

“He is a smart business guy and a great leader in general,” Smiley said. “When he gets excited about something, he’s really unstoppable.”

Don’t Mess With Travis is available for preorder on Amazon.com and will be in major bookstores beginning May 8.

Lexus GS 350

A technological marvel but a muscle car at heart by greg horton

The 2013 Lexus GS 350 represents a major shift in style for the luxury line of Toyota cars. Viewing the 2012 and 2013 side by side doesn’t reveal major changes to the frame or basic shape, but the car look remarkably different. Lexus has always been committed to the ideal of European sedans, but this newest iteration is a move from Old World to New. Lexus announced before the release of the 2012 GS that they were redesigning the car to be more fun to drive, making it more responsive and tighter. The 2013 takes that promise a step further and makes it look more fun to drive. The lines are sleeker and sportier. The grille is, according to “Road & Track,” like “Audi’s single-frame grille opening with a pinched waist.”

The sport package (GS 350 F Sport) looks like Lexus intended to create a muscle car. The pinched-waist grille features what can only be described as a carbon fiber design. Both models have LED running lights on the front, as well as ambient approach lights on the sides and interior. Lexus has indicated that the new style changes will not be limited to the GS, so expect to see them on other

models in the near future.

The engine is a 306 hp V6 that moves from 0-60 in 5.7 seconds on both models. The primary benefit to the sport package is clearly not the engine. The new GS features drive mode select on the console, allowing the driver to increase fuel efficiency or performance.

Lexus has created a technological marvel with the GS, including a 12.3-inch multimedia display, the size of which guarantees easy viewing from either of the front seats. The multimedia options include Lexus Enform, a data package that gives you access to industry-leading navigation.

There is an optional App Suite that provides connectivity with dinner reservations, movie tickets, Pandora radio and other options.

Additionally, the GS has technology options like heads-up display so that the driver need not take his eyes from the road to check basic information like speed and fuel. Enhanced night vision is also an option, as well as intuitive parking assistance and blind-spot monitoring.

The basic GS 350 starts at $46,900, and the sport package at $52,590. They are already available in Oklahoma. www.golfoklahoma.org www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• •••••• 21

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The goods

Eroica Wine

A premium American Riesling by greg horton

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hateau Ste. Michelle is Washington’s oldest winery. More than 40 years ago, long before anyone believed Washington could produce world class wines, Chateau Ste. Michelle was one of a handful of wineries in the state that started planting Riesling.

When their 1972 Johannesburg Riesling won the L.A. Times wine competition in 1974, the winery was suddenly on the map. When Allen Shoup joined the winery in 1980, there were only 4000 acres of grapes in the state. Twenty years later, when Shoup moved on to other projects, there were 30,000 acres in the Columbia Valley alone.

Chateau Ste. Michelle has made their brand famous by producing quality wines at excellent prices consistently.

What they are not so well-known for in Oklahoma are there other lines of wines, including Ethos Re-

serve wines and the single vineyard projects: Canoe Ridge Estate, Cold Creek Vineyard, and Horse Heaven Vineyard.

The wine is Eroica, named for Beethoven’s Third Symphony. The collaboration has netted the winemakers accolades since the 1999 vintage was rolled out. The beginning scores were in the high 80s, but the wine has not been rated below 90 since 2002.

This is not the cloyingly sweet, chuggable Riesling that induces near diabetic comas like the under-$10 stuff on so many liquor store shelves. This is premium American Riesling, crafted with care, and styled after some of Mosel’s finer Kabinett-style Rieslings.

Eroica is crisp and semi-dry. The high acid makes it fantastic with food. The solid minerality keeps it from being overly sweet. The wine is full-bodied, and bursting with citrus, especially lime and lime zest. Beneath the citrus, notes of honey, melon, tropical fruit and flowers create a layered, complex wine. It’s meant to be sipped slowly or enjoyed with food.

Because Chateau Ste. Michelle has so many acres of fruit, the grapes are selected from several locations based on the winemakers’ specifications. Additionally, because of the amount of fruit the winery produces, Eroica can be produced in large quantities, which, thankfully, keeps the price down. The best news is that the wine is under $25 and widely available in the state.

Alec Bradley Black Market Robusto by j.l. fletcher

Alec Bradley has a history of producing top quality cigars, the Tempus and Prensado lines could be considered legendary, and the Family Blend has a very dedicated following.

The Black Market line was released at last year’s IPCPR show to an eager audience.

I chose the Robusto, one of my favorite all around sizes, the meazures in a five inches by 52 ring gauge.The cigar has a gorgeous dark, oily Nicaraguan wrapper that could easily be mistaken as Maduro. The construction was good but it was slightly soft. The draw was relatively easy, and it produced a respectable amount of smoke. It started off with a spicy/citrus not and developed into leather and a sweet burned wood taste that I really enjoyed. The cigar was on the heavy end of medium body wise but the flavors were very pronounced. Ash was solid and it burned very evenly. Another gem from the Alec Bradley portfolio and the whole line is priced below ten bucks so they are definitely worth it.

Proudly serving Oklahoma with a fine selection of cigars and related products.

Stop on by our current location and share a smoke with us!

www.ztcigars.com 2726 W Britton Rd (800) 340-3007 Oklahoma City, OK 73120 www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 23

Where we play

High and dry at Emerald Falls by ken macleod

Emerald Falls superintendent Tim Schaefer has worked tirelessly to solve drainage issues at the upscale daily fee in Broken Arrow.

In the past, the 6.5 inches of rain that fell at Emerald Falls in a three-day span from March 20-22 would have been a disaster.

This year, no big deal.

“Four years ago we would have lost sod, lost grass and taken quite a bit of time to dry out and clean up from a rain like that,” said superintendent Tim Schaefer. “This time, we actually fared very well.”

The course was built with inadequate drainage and it’s an ongoing issue for Schafer, who said he has added more than 7,000 linear feet of drainage lines and “we still have a long way to go.”

Getting the drainage issue resolved is just one of many improvements Schaefer has overseen at the upscale daily-fee course in Broken Arrow that opened in 2007. Increased rounds, and lot sales, are a reflection of that.

The greens, a blend of A-1 and A-4 bent grass, have established deeper roots thanks to an aggressive winter deep tine aerification project. Schaefer also is just getting used to all the bells and whistles that accompany his new irrigation system and pump house, including the ability to set any sprinkler on the 24 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

course from his I-phone.

Golfers will also be grateful for another project underway, that of overlaying the teeth-rattling stone bridges with a smooth concrete surface.

“We’ll use a stain on the overlay and you’ll

still be able to see the rock work, but the ride will be a lot smoother,” Schaefer said.

With the greens firm and rolling at close to a 10 and fairways no longer pocked with drainage circles, Schaefer was able to concentrate on the overall aesthetics at Emerald

Champion Bermuda greens will be sprigged at Stone Creek beginning May 1.

Falls. This resulted in a decision to brush hog the native areas down to about eight inches in height instead of being over your head.

“We’re going for more of that tall fescue look,” Schaefer said. “It will still be hard to find your ball in there, but at least you’ll have a chance. And I think the course looks a lot better.”

Emerald Falls was designed by Jerry Slack and is noted for having two of the most demanding par-4s in the area back-to-back on holes 7 and 8 as well as one of the most beautiful par-4s in the state in No. 5. For tee times or more information, call 918-8066563 or go to www.emeraldfalls.com.

Stone Creek converting to Champion Bermuda The chance for consistently playable greens in the heat of the summer outweighed the novelty of having two grasses that peak in different seasons.

Thus the bent-grass greens on the Stone Creek course at Page Belcher in Tulsa will be sprayed with Roundup on April 21, with conversion to Champion Ultradwarf Bermuda set to begin May 1. Billy Casper Golf, which manages the facility for the city of Tulsa, hopes to have the new greens open

Shangri-La Resort continues to improve with nine holes opening this spring.

by Father’s Day, which is June 17.

Once Stone Creek is converted, all four city-owned courses will have Champion Bermuda greens. This includes Olde Page at Page Belcher and Pecan Valley and Woodbine at Mohawk Park.

The option to keep Stone Creek as a

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bent-grass facility was discussed, particularly as Stone Creek’s greens are now as firm as they’ve been since the course was opened in 1987 and certainly since a 2007 renovation.

“The decision to convert them was easy,” said Roy Teeters with the city of Tulsa.

“Stone Creek is in good shape now, but you

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go back over time and they have struggled year after year. Something that looks so good right now could need to be rebuilt in August.”

That was the case just two years ago as greens on holes 1, 5, 10, 11 and 13 all needed significant repair due to heat damage.

The Bermuda greens on Olde Page survived the unseasonably mild winter of 201112 without having to be covered for more than a couple of days and were green and growing by late March.

Shangri-La opens nine

You’re not going to be able to tell the nines without a scorecard at Shangri-La Resort near Afton.

Opening this Memorial Day will be the Legend Nine. This is a complete renovation of what used to the back nine of the Blue Course. Architect Tom Clark of Virginia was brought in for a changeover that included new tees, completely rebuilt greens and new fairway grass.

When the Legend Nine opens, it will join the Champions Nine to give Shangri-La 18 new holes. The Champions Nine was designed by Randy Heckenkemper on land that used to form the smaller Gold Course.

The front nine of the Blue Course will

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shut down the day the Legend Nine opens and it also will be completely redone. It should reopen in the spring of 2013, at which time the Grand Lake resort will have 27 holes of new golf to go with its stately new clubhouse.

Shangri-La has swelled from a low of 84 members to a current level of 640.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said director of golf Rob Yanovitch. “People are coming back to the lake. We can’t wait until we have all 27 holes open; it’s really going to be something great.”

Trails reopens greens

Nine new greens opened on the front nine at The Trails Golf Club in Norman April 1. The greens were seeded last fall with a blend of Tyee and 007 bent grasses and have grown in beautifully, according to head professional Alan Hager.

The project included new bunkers throughout the course. Greens on the back nine will be interseeded with the new blend beginning immediately, with the espectation it will becomes the dominant grass by next fall.

Hager said the new greens already sport a root depth of eight inches and that the membership is “excited and ready to get out there.”

Battle Creek bunkers

Battle Creek Golf Course in Broken Arrow will be undergoing an extensive bunker renovation project under the auspices of Norman-based golf architect Tripp Davis.

Battle Creek was opened in 1996 with more than 100 bunkers, a very expensive number to maintain for a public course.

The renovation will leave Battle Creek with far fewer bunkers and greatly reduced square footage.

The course will remain open throughout the bunker renovation.

“We are working with Greenway Golf and the City of Broken Arrow to establish a more sustainable situation with the bunkering,” Davis said. “However, the plan we have developed will actually enhance the strategic and visual nature of the bunkers even though we are dramatically reducing the existing square footage. Given the quality of maintenance that Greenway provides, the bunkering after we are done will elevate the quality of the golf experience both relative to quality of the playing condition of the bunkers and the enjoyment the players will have in playing the course.”

Battle Creek head professional Dee Roadman said the project will begin in June and not interrupt play.

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Growing the game

“If everybody was interested in developing players, maybe we could return back to the days of having a huge influx of golfers, which we all need.”

-Pat McCrate

by ken macleod PGA professionals across Oklahoma now have their copies of Golf 2.0, the Player Development Playbook, fresh off the presses from the PGA of America. Inside are studies showing how there are 90 million lapsed golfers in the U.S., some 60 million of whom say they want to play again.

There are details on how more than four million golfers left the game in the past few years.

And there are plenty of ideas, if no consensus, on ways to get them back.

At the recent PGA South Central Section spring meetings in Tulsa, growing the game was a huge theme. Seminars by Darrell Crall, senior director of Golf 2.0 for the PGA of America, and by Ian James, CEO of RetailTribe, spurred many conversations among pros about the best ways to grow the game at their facilities and about the proper role of the PGA professional in doing so.

James gave an impassioned talk designed to get the pros to realize that their interaction with golfers at their course or club is the best marketing tool available.

“The days of depending on Tiger Woods and CBS to produce golfers are over,” he 28 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

PGA pros work with youngsters at a Play Golf America Day at LaFortune Park.

said. “Golf clubs and professionals have to become the effective marketers of the game.

They don’t understand how powerful having 26,000 marketing points would be. If there is one rainmaker at each course, we can solve the growth problem.”

Crall has been on the road constantly since Golf 2.0 was introduced at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando in January. In Tulsa, he chaired a panel with Pat McCrate, director of golf for the Tulsa County courses LaFortune Park and South Lakes, and with Cary Cozby, director of golf at Wichita Country Club. Both McCrate and Cozby are known for providing a complete menu of programs, including teaching, retail, practice facilities, junior programs and women’s programs. In doing so, they not only benefit in the present, but are good stewards of the game for the long run.

McCrate would like to see more golf facilities broaden their reach with customers rather than merely collecting greens fees.

“We’re right in the fight here,” he said. “It would be nice if everybody embraced it (the message of Golf 2.0). We develop a lot of new golfers and then they get cherry picked by courses that are just discounting rounds.

If everybody was interested in developing players, maybe we could return back to the days of having a huge influx of golfers, which we all need.”

Many of the suggestions in Golf 2.0 deal with making the game easier and the time required shorter. Nine or 12-hole rounds, larger cups for beginners, moving tees forward and special rates for families are some of the programs.

Brian Soerensen, director of golf at Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond and current president of the South Central Section, runs one of the most thorough programs in the section. He was surprised to learn that more than 90 percent of 18-hole public courses in the section do not have a nine-hole rate, though most have twilight rates.

“We have one and that’s one of the green fee rates that continues to increase in sales,” Soerensen said. “We even do a deal for $7 after 7 p.m.”

Kickingbird also offers Family Fun Night each month on a Saturday night, where families can come out for $6 per green fee and $6 per cart. South Lakes has a family

Continued on page 28

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ne company poised to benefit greatly from the PGA of America’s renewed focus on growth of the game is Oklahoma-based SNAG (Start New at Golf).

Although discussions are ongoing as to whether the PGA is going to officially endorse SNAG, it mentioned the company prominently in Golf 2.0 and Darrell Crall, director of Golf 2.0, said the PGA regards SNAG as an ideal format to introduce golf to children as young as 3-4 years old.

“SNAG provides a step-bystep curriculum on how to teach golf to kids and its professionals are world-class,” Crall said. “Going into first- and second-grade classes to try to teach golf to kids can be very intimidating, but SNAG has a program that works. We’re proud of all their efforts and glad to have them associated with the PGA.” SNAG, which uses colorful oversize clubs, Velcro targets and balls similar to a tennis ball, has been used successfully by Holley Hair at Tee Town Golf Ranch in Broken Arrow as well as several school districts and more are adapting the curriculum.

Terry Anton, who runs SNAG worldwide from his home office in Tahlequah, is glad to see the program catching fire in the U.S. It has been a huge hit in Japan, China, Brazil by ken macleod and other overseas markets.

“If we can reach kids when they are 5 and ingbird Golf Course in Edmond will be using 6, we are inculcating them about golf and SNAG this year. The Norman Junior Golf many will fall in love with the game,” he Association, formed by the head professaid. “There’s not a golf course out there that sionals of Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course, can bring in 1,800 new kids to the game, but Belmar Country Club, The Trails Country the school system can. How did soccer pro- Club and Westwood Park Golf Course, is liferate? You had the large associations raise attempting to raise $18,000 to purchase their voice and suddenly 100,000 soccer fa- SNAG equipment that will be used in every elementary school in Norman. cilities were built in the U.S. Frank Thompson, athletic director for “We have 27 million people playing golf.

With SNAG, we can put 100 kids on a the Norman Public Schools, has already course at 8 a.m. and you’ll never know they approved the plan and the pros along with were there. All we need is a field or park. We SNAG rep John Flores have met with teachspent five years developing golf’s version of ers and physical education instructors to inT-Ball, we call it G-Ball. We started with 15 troduce them to the game. The hope is that communities and now have 800 participat- by having SNAG in the elementary schools, our four courses will benefit down the line. ing.”

“We’re competitors, but we all agree this In addition to programs like the First Tee, SNAG can be ideal for courses as well. Kick- is good for us all,” said Charles Candler, head

SNAGed

Brily Glenn takes a cut with SNAG equipment at the Play Golf Native America Day.

professional at Belmar. The other pros who have set up the association include Rodney Young at Jimmie Austin, David Lisle at Westwood Park and Alan Hager at The Trails.

The pros began the association in 2011 with middleschool participants and have plans to add a high-school division, four U.S. Kids tournaments and a season-ending junior tournament as well.

One of the best advocates for SNAG is Holley Hair. She has been helping the Broken Arrow elementary schools with their programs as well as teaching it at Tee Town for four years.

“SNAG is like Putt Putt on steroids,” Hair said. “The kids love it. They get to move around, chase their own balls and have fun. They don’t have to be quiet or do a lot of repetition. But they do learn the fundamentals. The cues that they learn are simple; they remember them. When pros later teach kids who have come up through SNAG, they don’t have to spend much time on the grip, stance and posture.”

Hair said with the PGA’s recent blessing she expects the game to take off here much like it has in Asia. It can be used for tournaments or leagues as well as instruction.

“You don’t have to be at a real golf course.

You can use it in a playground, gym, church.

Churches have huge areas and youth groups are always looking for something to do.”

Soccer, practically unheard of when many of us were growing up, is now the model for other sports to follow. One large Oklahoma recreational club has experienced an average of 9.3 percent growth for the past decade, resulting in a phenomenal increase of 114 percent. Meanwhile, golf participation among adults has plummeted, and at least part of that is because parents are spending their Saturdays watching soccer.

To combat that, Anton said SNAG leagues have to become commonplace in park and recreation departments and schools.

“We’re trying to do things that open the door to golf for everybody,” he said.

More fun means more golfers

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 29

Brian Soerensen of Kickingbird GC helps Jennifer Bryant at a recent Play Golf Native America Day at Cherokee Hills.

HAG 03-30-12 HS Golf.indd 1

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night on Sunday Nights in which the entire family can play for greatly reduced rates.

“We’re just trying to develop some players,” McCrate said. “As a game, we’re at a crossroads and it’s now or never. The youngest baby boomers are retiring and the younger generation is not taking up the game in the same numbers. It’s about doing things with the family and the kids are playing soccer. That’s why reaching the women is so important. They control the family time.”

There are still many courses in Oklahoma where juniors and women are welcome, the game is taught by PGA professionals and a variety of grow-the-game programs are in place. The Oklahoma City public courses have been recognized nationally for their overall excellence in this regard. There could always be more, however.

At Kickingbird, kids play free on Monday nights with an adult.

Many other Oklahoma courses have put similar programs in place to give families a better opportunity to spend quality time at the golf course. We encourage you to call your course to see what programs are in place or may be coming on line to make golf more family- and time-friendly. There are also excellent First Tee programs in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City which can help your children learn about the game and bout life.

As for competitive opportunities, Oklahoma youngsters are blessed. The PGA South Central Section offers a full slate of summer events and you can find all the information at southcentral.pga. com. In addition to its summer junior championships, the Oklahoma Golf Association offers the OJGT Tour with the schedule and entry at www.okgolf.org. The Ping Interclub Challenge is beginning this summer in Oklahoma and more information on those events can be found at your local pro shop. Many courses also offer summer camps and clinics for youngsters.

3/30/12 11:03 AM

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"He was like my second father" U.C. Ferguson inspired Hall of Famer by john rohde U.C. Ferguson with Susie Maxwell Berning and, appropriately enough, horses.

Of all the stories involving Urban Clarence Ferguson Jr. – and there are plenty – what follows is probably what got his foot in the door of the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame: In the mid-1950s, the man affectionately known as “Fergie” caught a 15-year-old named Susie riding her horse on the grounds of Lincoln Park Golf Course, not all that far away from signs that read: “No Horses Allowed.”

Having never played golf, Susie didn’t understand the harm hoof prints could leave. Fergie thought if Susie was going to be on the property, she ought to put it to proper use and introduced her to golf.

Susie Maxwell promptly won three straight state high school titles (1957-59) at Northeast High School and became the first women to receive a golf scholarship from Oklahoma City University. She eventually became a member of four halls of fame – Oklahoma, Nevada, National Golf Coaches Association and OCU – all thanks to a little prodding from Ferguson.

Susie Maxwell Berning would go on to 32 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

played,” Berning has said. “I couldn’t afford it. But Fergie gave me clubs, gave me golf balls. He touched me and got me going.”

This helps explain why Berning might be as excited about Ferguson’s WOGA Hall of Fame induction as anybody.

“Hey, I think it’s fantastic,” Berning said. “He was like my second father.”

The Fifth Women’s Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame induction banquet is scheduled for April 29 at 6 p.m. at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

The 2012 inductees were selected by the Board of Directors last October and in addition to Ferguson include: Lucy Beeler, Oklahoma City, past Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association Amateur Champion and multiple winner of the WOGA Senior Championship; Lee Ann Hammack Fairlie, Oklahoma City, a former OU golfer who has five WOGA Amateur Championships; and Jeannie course did. She practiced all day long. She Thompson Rogers, formerly of Tulsa, now practiced her short game an awful lot. She living in Alabama, a past WOGA Amateur Champion and three-time WOGA Girls’ Juearned her success.”

Until she met Ferguson, Berning did not nior champion.

They will join previous inductees: The have the means to play golf. “I couldn’t have become a three-time U.S. Open champion (1969, 1972, 1973) an 11-time LPGA winner and the winner of 13 pro events.

Ferguson once said of Berning: “I fell in love with her, as everybody else on the

2012 WOGA

Hall of Fame Inductees: U.C. Ferguson LeeAnn Hammack Fairlie Jeannie Thompson Rogers and Lucy Beeler

2005 Inaugural class of Berning, Jarita Askins, Mabel Hotz and Jackie Riggs Hutchinson; the 2006 class of Patti Blanton, Patty McGraw Coatney, Carol Belcher Collins, Dena Dills Nowotny and Dale McNamara; the 2008 class of Betsy Cullen, Alsie Hyden, Linda Melton Morse and Ann Pitts Turner; and the 2010 class of Joan Blumenthal, Janice Gibson, Pat Grant and Beth Stone.

The Women’s Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame was established in 2003 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions of their time, talent and resources to promote the game of golf among the women of Oklahoma.

Ferguson was born in 1914 and Lincoln Park was built in 1921.

In 1928, a 14-year-old Ferguson showed up for work and didn’t leave for 61 years (other than a three-year stint with the Army from 1942-45). Ferguson served as a caddie, maintenance man, janitor, starter, shop boy, club fitter, instructor, mentor, guidance counselor, confidant, father figure, second assistant, first assistant, head pro, and also held down a couple dozen other odd jobs at the storied 36-hole municipal course in Oklahoma City.

Ferguson retired at age 75 and died in 1999 at age 85. He was a lifetime member

of the PGA of America and served as vice president in 1956-58.

Steve Carson succeeded Ferguson as head pro at Lincoln Park, long considered one of the nation’s prominent public courses. “He made golf in Oklahoma City what it is today,” Carson said when Ferguson died. “He just attracted people so much, made them want to be a part of the sport. He was the right person and the right time, and he always had the golfer in mind first.”

Three years before his death, Ferguson was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Selected by the Jim Thorpe Association veterans committee, Ferguson was in the class that included Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton and longtime Oklahoman sports writer Volney Meece.

At the time, Ferguson’s selection was greeted with an overwhelming sentiment of: “What the heck took so long?”

The same might be said of this induction, given how Ferguson golf as an equal-opportunity venture among men, women and junior players.

Ferguson’s son, Scott, recalled when the All-College Tournament was held in the mid-1970s at Lincoln Park. InProofthose days, the Read _______________ men always competed on the Course, InitialWest _______ Date _______ & Send which left the East Course forInternal everyoneEditelse.

U.C. Ferguson with one of his many awards.

LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez was on the University of Tulsa team.

Reviewers Initial was Date mainly APPROVED for OK w/CHANGES NEED NEW PROOF “Back then, golf the men, Stephanie Shipley ________ _____ ______ (#_____) not the women – and the kids were kind of _____________________ _____ ______ (#_____) shunned on, too,_____ to tell you the truth,” _____________________ ______ (#_____) Scott

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said. “The women didn’t play their tournaments on the West Course back then, but they said they wanted to, so Dad said, ‘All right, let’s get you on the West.’ Some of the men’s coaches got mad, but that didn’t change anything with Dad. Nancy Lopez opened with a 67, and it wasn’t set up very easy, either. Dad always tried to do what he could for the kids and the girls.

“He always had a passion for junior golf since I was a little kid, but he also wanted to get the juniors involved. They were welcome all the time. I know he gave a bunch of them lessons.”

Ferguson’s grandson, Michael, worked at Lincoln Park for a brief time and has since risen to the upper echelon of the business.

Michael, only 34, is director of golf at PGA West for the TPC Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament courses in LaQuinta, Calif., one of the country’s most prominent golf communities.

Michael always was amazed at the popularity of his Hall of Fame grandfather. Rarely was there a time someone didn’t recognize his grandfather.

“That’s the reason I’ve got in the business,” Michael said. “I used to ask Dad (Scott), ‘How does grandpa have so many friends?’ Dad said, ‘Michael, that’s the golf

business.’ That’s what sold me and led me in the direction of wanting to follow in his footsteps. He was really a catalyst for me getting in the business.”

Scott and Michael recalled Fergie’s neverending passion to grow the sport.

“He was always a big advocate not only for women’s golf but junior golf,” Michael said. “Those were his two avenues he would have liked to seen all golf professionals really focus on, in this day and age, the women’s game is the fastest-growing segment in our business.

“It used to be there weren’t a lot of opportunities for women to play outside of just a recreational status. Fergie always looked at that as an opportunity not only to grow the game, but grow the game for the right reasons. He never wanted to exclude anybody from the game of golf. He loved it. His passion in life was the game of golf and exposing it to as many people as he could.”

Berning said when she learned how to play, there weren’t many golf teachers – for men or women – and most players essentially were self-taught.

“They didn’t have a lot of teachers back then like they do now. Teachers were usually the head pro or director of golf,” said Berning, who teaches at The Reserve Club

in Indian Wells, Calif., and at Maroon Creek Country Club in Aspen, Colo. “People didn’t take golf lessons much. Lessons were not promoted as much as they are now.”

Describing Ferguson’s instruction, Berning said: “He was simple with the golf swing. He never made it complicated. Every time I went to see him with a sick golf swing, he went back to basics. I never heard Fergie teach a theory. He taught the individual. Fergie had a beautiful, fluid golf swing.

He learned his from Ben Hogan, almost. He taught us how to swing the golf club, not hit the golf ball. That was the secret. He definitely was the instigator in my career.”

A who’s who of Oklahoma golf plans to be in attendance for Ferguson’s induction, including members of the Maxwell family.

“It’s been a really great honor, obviously for the family, for him being inducted,” Michael said. “There are a lot of great individuals who are already members of that Hall of Fame.”

Michael paused, chuckled and said, “I know he’d be honored and excited to be around all those women.”

John Rohde is a sportswriter with The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City and can be found at www.newsok.com.

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Three classy champions

Fairlie, Rogers, Beeler have unique sagas by ken macleod

LeeAnn Fairlie encourages a group of young Chinese golfers.

LeeAnn Hammack Fairlie learned early in her remarkable golf career that the reward for winning would never be greater than the cost of losing a friend.

At the age of 18, on her way to her first state amateur championship in 1982 at Muskogee Country Club, Fairlie played a semifinal match against Susan Kennedy.

There was a contretemps when Fairlie was encouraged after one hole to ask Kennedy whether she had remembered to move her ball back to its original position before putting, as several spectators had noticed that she had not.

Kennedy was furious that Fairlie didn’t ask before she had putted and it was a chilly remainder of the match, which Fairlie won easily. Fairlie went on to upset Adele Lukken, who would later star for the University of Tulsa, in the championship match.

Rather than celebrating, Fairlie was feeling morose the next night at a church dinner when she decided to place a call to Kennedy right then and there.

“I told her winning the state tournament was not worth making an enemy, that I didn’t do it on purpose and that I hoped we could be friends,” Fairlie said. “The next

summer she called me and asked me to play a practice round with her. We wound up being very good friends.

“My perspective ever since has been that friendship is more important than winning or losing.”

That didn’t stop Fairlie from winning with regularity. She won three tournaments as a collegian at Oklahoma, won the State Amateur three times (1982, 1985 and 2003), the state Stroke Play Championship twice and several important national amateur events, including the North-South Women’s Amateur Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., in 1985. She has represented the United States in both the World University Games in Italy and the World Team Championships in Colombia.

Her amateur totals would be higher except that she turned professional in 1988, playing four years on the Futures Tour. After she stopped pursuing the professional dream, she became a teacher in 1992 and didn’t get around to regaining her amateur status until 1998.

Although many people associate her with Patty (McGraw) Coatney as one of the dominant state amateurs of the past 30 years, the

two seldom clashed on the course. Coatney had won the state championship four of the five years prior to Fairlie’s first victory but did not compete in 1982. They didn’t square off when Fairlie won in 1985 or when Coatney regained the title in 1986, and by the time Coatney won the sixth of her nine titles in 1988 Fairlie had turned professional.

“Patty won the first tournament I ever played in, which was a high-school event when I was a freshman,” Fairlie said. “I was a spoiled brat and when they told me I had to carry my clubs that day, I said I wasn’t going to play unless I could use a pull cart.

My dad talked me into it and guess what? I never used a pull cart again.

“Patty and I never played until the semifinals in 2000 at Dornick Hills. We became friends and started playing a lot together after that.”

One of those rounds came in the proam for the now defunct SemGroup LPGA Championship at Cedar Ridge, where they teamed with fellow Hall of Famer Jackie Hutchinson and 2004 state champion Rachel Poole in a group with Jeong Jang, who had just won the 2005 Women’s British Open.

Jang hardly got to hit a shot that counted as the group won easily.

“That was one of those days that was just so fun and made you really appreciate being a woman golfer in Oklahoma,” Fairlie said.

One of her most distinctive memories is of the Trans-Miss championship she lost in 1986 to legendary amateur Carol Semple Thompson. During the week Fairlie had been teasing the other finalists that they were all playing for second and she was going to take home the silver awarded to the winner.

Fairlie led for the entire 36-hole championship match and had a 3-up lead with five holes to play. Thompson birdied two holes coming in and Fairlie missed a short putt on 18 that would have won the match. The ladies played four extra holes before Fairlie hit her second shot long on the 40th hole and Thompson made par to win.

Thompson insisted that Fairlie take home the silver anyway, saying she already had several sets and wanted the platter given the runner-up. So Fairlie relented and took home the silver. “I think of Carol every time we use it,” she said. www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 35

Jeannie Thompson Rogers.

Fairlie spends much of her time these days attending the sporting events of her 13-yearold son Will and daughter Grace, 11. She has made two summer trips to China through an educational exchange program and will be taking her entire family this year. And at the young age 48, Fairlie may make the Hall of Fame make some additions to her credentials list in the future.

“It’s awfully hard to beat those college girls,” she said. “But as my kids get up to where they are driving and can take care of themselves, I may have to get back out there and try a few more times.”

The comeback kid

The mystery of Jeannie Thompson Rogers lingers on.

A Tulsan, Rogers was such an excellent junior player that she won the national TransMiss at the age of 17, just after she became the first player to win three consecutive WOGA Girls Junior Championships.

At the end of that magical summer, Rogers put her golf clubs down, headed off to college at Oklahoma City University and 36 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

didn’t compete in a tournament for the next three years.

“After I won the Trans, I didn’t play a single round of golf for almost three years,” Rogers said. “I got busy in school and stayed busy.”

In May 1965, Thompson got the itch to play again. She began shaking the rust off by hitting balls on driving ranges in Oklahoma City in preparation for the 1965 WOGA State Amateur at Twin Hills Country Club.

Although most were conceding the tournament to three-time defending champion Dale Fleming (future legendary TU golf coach and fellow Hall of Famer Dale McNamara), Rogers was not.

She knocked off Fleming in a torrid semifinal match that went to extra holes, then dispatched 18-year-old Sherry Taylor of Oklahoma City 7 and 6 in the finals.

“That match against Dale was a real highlight of my career,” she said. “Dale was the No. 1 golfer in the state at the time. I remember it went to the 20th holoe, which I think was a par-5. I got on in two and made birdie and Dale made a par.”

Thompson had played in three LPGA events as an amateur and Sports Illustrated named her the sixth-ranked women’s amateur in the United States. Now she had bounced back to re-establish herself as the top player in the state – and she promptly put the clubs away and went back to school.

This time, her layoff was longer. She caught the mumps, which led to other health issues from which she took a long time to recover. Marriage followed, then children and a job writing inspirational pieces and testimonials for the Oklahoma City-based Feed The Children.

After recovering from her illness, she played in the 1968 State Amateur, reaching the finals where this time Fleming prevailed.

In 1972, when the State Amateur came to Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, she

entered one last time and reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Louise Blumenthal.

Rogers was taught the game by her father at Tulsa Country Club.

“He was not a big man, but he taught me to hit it down the middle and you can’t get in much trouble,” she said. “I still try to do that.”

Rogers lives in Enterprise, Ala., close to Gulf Shores and near her daughter and granddaughter. She hopes to move back to Tulsa soon and play more golf with her brothers John and Richard Thompson.

She plays frequently now and all the love of the game she had as a child but had to deny herself much of her adult life has returned. She walks her rounds even in the hot Alabama sun and has her handicap down to a six.

“My husband didn’t play and the kids and job took up a lot of time,” she said. “Now that I’ve retired, I’ve taken it up and I still love to play. I really missed it.”

A covey of aces

Reprinted from South Central Golf, May, 1994 You’ve played hundreds of rounds, hit thousands of shots and you’re still waiting.

Waiting for that one lucky, skillful, joyous moment. That first ace.

Do not despair.

Lucy Beeler was just a spry lass of 44 when she first had the distinctive pleasure of hitting a hole-in-one. Now approaching middle age at 71, she’s collected nine aces and is patiently awaiting the 10th.

Of course, most of us will never have nine aces, let alone 10. Most of us will never be the golfer that Lucy Beeler is, either.

The Oklahoma City resident and member of Quail Creek Country Club has been a force in women’s golf in Oklahoma for nearly 30 years, or since her eldest of three children was old enough to take care of himself for the requisite few hours.

Beeler virtually came out of nowhere to win the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association state championship in 1967. She has since been a medalist in the WOGA stroke play in 1971, won the state seniors four times, the Oklahoma City and Oklahoma Central championships numerous times and the Quail Creek club championship 10 times.

Recently, at the age of 70, she made a return trip to the state tournament, which was the 75th annual and at which all the past champions were being honored.

But Beeler’s appearance was hardly ceremonial. She nearly qualified for the championship flight then reeled off three con-

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Lucy Beeler on the 12th hole at Quail Creek which she has aced five times.

secutive victories against women less than half her age to reach the finals of President’s Flight, where she was finally defeated.

“I checked out of my hotel in Stillwater before the first match,” Beeler said. “I had to drive back the next day, but I thought that was no big deal, because I wouldn’t have to go back Friday. But I did. I almost won that final match, too. But I was worn our after five days of competition. For a 70-year-old woman, that’s a lot of work.”

Though she loves the competition, golf has meant more than aces and trophies to Beeler, daughter of a hardware wholesaler named A.J. Strange from Clinton, Okla. At times much more.

She first noticed the game’s therapeutic powers by playing with her father, who took up the game to help ease his rheumatism.

It worked. Much later, when her eldest son Buddy (Claude Jr.) was serving two tours of duty flying C-130s in Vietnam, golf was a haven from the stress of constant worrying.

“If I had not gotten out and played golf I could easily have had a nervous breakdown,” Beeler said. “Until you’ve had that happen, you don’t know what it’s like. Golf really helped me through a bad time. It’s a good sport.”

The sport has also served as a linchpin for the family and friends. She and husband Claude seldom take a vacation that doesn’t involve golf, including trips to Scotland and Ireland. Sons Buddy and Jeff and daughter Kay Blake all play. Buddy, who ahs had an ace (Claude has not), played in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach this year.

“I’ve had lots of fun with my golf,” Lucy said. “You meet women you probably never would have met and I’ve made some wonderful friends that way. Claude and I enjoy

playing together and we’ve made some wonderful trips.”

No day in golf was more exciting, however, than April 20, 1978, at her home course of Quail Creek.

On the par-3 second hole, she hit a fivewood to a pin tucked behind a right-side trap. She couldn’t see the result but the ball rolled right into the cup, her third ace of her career.

“We came in at the turn and one of the members, Jack Bush, said ‘Well, Lucy, I hear you had a hole-in-one. Now go have another one on the back’. I said ‘Sure, why not.’”

So she did. On the 105-yard 12th hole, she used an 8-iron for her second ace of the day.

She has since aced that 12th hole three more times including her ninth ace on May 19, 1991.

“I was just in a state of shock,” Beeler recalled. “My worry from then on was just to play decently. I didn’t want to shoot a 95 with two holes-in-one.”

She played better than decently, making par on every hole until the 18th, which she bogeyed for a round of 76. By then a large crowd had gathered on the final hole, including television and newspaper reporters and her husband, who had been called in from the office.

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When it comes to championship public golf, there’s no better destination than Alabama, where we’re proud to claim three of America’s 50 Toughest Courses as selected by Golf Digest. For starters, there are the 468 holes along the world-renowned Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Stretching from the mountains in the north to the Gulf Coast in the south, these 26 courses will test your golfing skills as well as your intestinal fortitude. Then there are the many other impressive courses scattered across the state, designed by the likes of Arnold Palmer and Jerry Pate. Each with its own set of challenges, each with its own set of rewards. And each along an epic road trip to the state of Alabama.

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Southwest Colorado Sublime settings, affordable golf

The 13th hole at Devil’s Thumb

by dave finn Most people I talk to associate Colorado with Coors beer, the Denver Broncos’ Mile High Stadium and world-renowned downhill snow skiing at Vale and Aspen mountains. What many don’t realize is that Colorado is a land of contrasts with a diverse topography that ranges from flat-topped mesas to raging rivers valleys, from lush orchards to desolate desert badlands. Head for the southwestern corner of the state and discover nature at her finest along with endless year-round opportunities for any golfer or outdoor sport enthusiast.

We concentrated our tour in the Grand Valley region between Montrose and Grand Junction. This area offers moderate weather with little, if any, snow and boasts at least 275 days of sunshine every year. TourismReview.com recently ranked Grand Junction as No. 7 in its “Top 8 Sunniest Cities in the USA,” which almost guarantees great golfing weather.For us folks in Oklahoma, Montrose is a little over eight hours northwest of Boise City, but definitely worth the drive to experience one of the country’s most unique landscapes and some spectacular golf.

Our first stop was The Bridges Golf & Country Club (www.montrosebridges.

40 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

com), a Nicklaus design, set in the foothills of the San Juan Mountains in the heart of Montrose. Open nine months of the year, this course caters to golfers of every caliber with four sets of tees ranging from 5,380 to more than 7,200 yards on the par-71 layout. But be forewarned; the gold tees have a course rating of 73.9 and a slope of 140, so pick a distance that best suits your game.

Jack has added some unique features like the third hole with its split fairway and the 15th, an intimidating par-5 with two greens.

My personal favorite is the 9th hole, a par5 with water running down the left that eventually crosses the fairway on your second shot, leaving you with a well-bunkered green on the right and water guarding the left. This property was recently bought out from receivership and now offers great conditions with an outstanding Western-feeling clubhouse. The Bridges also offers a choice of four well-appointed rooms that could serve as your base camp while you explore the entire area.

The Links at Cobble Creek (www.cobblecreek.com) near Montrose is an 18-hole links-style layout perched 5,800 feet above sea level that can be played from 5,133 up to 6,982 yards, all year long! There are 10 lakes and a creek winding through the course,

ensuring that water will come into play on almost every hole. The greens are large, true and fast with plenty of undulation and the bunkers are some of the best I have played.

This is a player-friendly course built on sandy soil offering great views of the San Juan Mountains; however, it is not as photogenic as some of the other courses.While in Montrose you absolutely must make time to explore the Black Canyon at Gunnison National Park, a breathtaking 2,700-foot-deep gorge carved out by the Gunnison River that stretches 53 miles. It’s ideal for whitewater rafting, fishing, hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding and nature walking. For Stay and Play Packages in Montrose you can visit www.daysinnmontrose.com/projects.html.

About 22 miles north is the quaint old Western-feeling town of Delta, best known for the Grand Mesa, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world with more than 300 pristine lakes to boat, fish and hike around.

Here we played the Devil’s Thumb Golf Club (www.devilsthumbgolfclub.com), an 18-hole municipal course tucked between the foothills of the Grand Mesa, San Juan Mountains, Black Canyon and the Uncompahgre Plateau and quite possibly the most uniquely scenic course in the world. It almost feels like you are playing on a lunar

Hole 14 at Cedaredge Golf Club in the southern foothills of the Grand Mesa.

landscape with 60 bunkers and two lakes surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

Architect Rick Phelps described his design as a “prairie-style” course that was built some 5,100 feet above sea level yet is still open 365 days a year. There are five sets of tees ranging from 5,180 to 7,176 yards.

The first two holes are fairly flat as you start on top of a mesa, but once you get to the downhill third hole you will be amazed at the elevation changes in the valley. The fairways are hard as this course is built on the Adobe badlands with a clay and Morrison stone base that dates to the dinosaurs. My only negative is that the bunkers are shallow with pebbly sand and hardpan underneath.

Adult green fees start at $25 – a fabulous deal and definitely worth a visit!

Cedaredge Golf Club (www.cedaredgegolf.com), formerly known as Deer Creek Village Golf Club, is 6,100 feet above sea level, located 15 miles northeast of Delta and nestled in the southern foothills of the Grand Mesa featuring two distinctively different layouts. The front nine has more of a resort-style feel with flat wide-open fairways, small greens and water that comes into play on eight of the nine holes. The back nine is the exact opposite with extreme elevation changes and tight tree-lined fairways. In fact the downhill par-5 No. 12 is one of the tightest you will find anywhere and is followed by a tough uphill par-5 with a creek crossing the fairway. From Delta we drove 45 minutes north to Grand Junction, largest city in the region and best known for The Colorado National Monument. This 23,000-acre prehistoric national park offers jaw-dropping views of the red sandstone

spires with over 50 miles of hiking trails that overlook cherry and peach orchards with 19 nearby wineries to explore and taste. Here we played two more courses.

Tiara Rado Golf Course (www.golfgrandjunction.net/course_tr/) is an Audubon-certified municipal track built at the base of the

Colorado National Monument. The front nine is player-friendly but non-eventful, whereas the back nine is more picturesque with water in play on almost every hole. The greens are fast and in good condition and the strategically placed fairway bunkers are always in play. The 18th is my favourite hole and the one of best photo opportunities you will find anywhere. Perched on an elevated tee with a pond on the right, sagebrush on the left, the narrow landing area leaves you with an elevated green with ragged red cliffs as a backdrop. The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa (www.redlandsmesa.com) is one of the most unique and dramatic courses I have ever played. Continuously ranked in “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” since 2005, this layout reminds me of the controversial Michael Stantz-designed Tobacco Road in North Carolina. Ranging from 4,890 to up to just over 7,000 yards, Architect Jim Engh offers banked fairways, 41 unique shaped bunkers and dramatic downhill par 3’s. There are 11 elevated tees, making it ideal for ladies. Do not miss this course!

There are also seven other golf courses in the area to play with great value that range from $25 to $89 plus cart. For more information, www.visitgrandjunction.com.

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 41

RED ROCK CANYON’S PRO PROFILE

Willie Wood Edmond-based professional golfer Willie Wood, 52, is currently attempting to earn full playing privileges on the Champions Tour through Monday qualifying while also keeping tabs on his son’s career as a top player at Edmond North.

What is your current exempt status on the Champions Tour and how many events do you expect to play in this year? Do you have to go to both qualifiers and how tough is that?

I am a member of the Champions Tour because I won on the PGA Tour and made more than 150 cuts. But I don’t have exempt status because of the career money list. To get exempt I would have to win or finish in the top 30 on the money list, or win one of the five exempt spots they offer in Q School.

Right now, I am going to Monday qualifiers, in which we have five to seven spots available and usually about 50 golfers. It’s a pretty tough way to break in, but I can’t complain. I should have played better on the PGA Tour.

was thinking, why isn’t he going to try to get home on this hole.

He just rips it, knocks it on in two and shoots 65. It was Stuart Appleby, who has gone on to a nice career.

I played with Keegan Bradley last year when he had just got his card. On the first tee, he hit a drive that went 100 yards past me. One hundred yards! I had 150 in and he had 50. I know a lot of kids who can hit it 100 yards past me, but most of them can’t chip and putt.

If you need a primer on how to succeed on the Champions Tour, your Oak Tree neighbor Gil Morgan is certainly exhibit A, with 25 wins and 159 top 10s.

Gil is a unique guy. He’s been so good for so long and it’s almost a secret how good he is.

Unless you’re from Oklahoma or a pro, you don’t realize it.

He doesn’t practice that much and plays fantastic golf. I work my butt off and I can’t hit the ball like that. His ball striking is amazing.

Would it be easier to go back to the Nationwide Tour?

No. This is a hard way to make a living but that’s even harder. Those kids are really good, there’s less money available and there is a cut. You can play really good for the week, make a check for $3,000 and you’ve spent $2,500 in travel expenses and entry fees. I’d rather go try to qualify for an event on the regular tour, because at least there is the possibility of the big How are you playing?

Going by the tournaments check if you have a hot week.

I did get to play in last year, I Who really impressed you know I can compete out there. among the young guys you And it’s a lot of fun. All the guys played with on the Nationwide know each other and the atmosphere is much more laid back Tour?

I was playing the final round in and relaxing. The guys are much Monterrey Mexico, when it was more entertaining and helpful still called the Nike Tour. We’re in the Pro-Ams. One thing you on a tight par-5 and this kid I’m See WOOD page 48 playing with takes out a 2-iron. I 42 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

CHARLESTON’S AMATEUR PROFILE his school, he was happy for me.

He’s a really classy guy.”

Taylor Moore Edmond Memorial senior Taylor Moore, the second-ranked junior golfer nationally by Golfweek, will be going for a third consecutive Class 6A title when the state championship is held May 7-8 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater. If he wins, he would be the first to win three Class 6A titles in succession and the first male in any class to win three in a row since former PGA Tour player Bob Dickson in 1960-62.

Taylor also ended quite a recruiting battle between Oklahoma State and Arkansas by signing with the Razorbacks, where his father Rod was a college baseball player and his mother Melinda was a cheerleader.

In the end, how hard was the decision?

“It was very hard. I’ve always been a Razorback fan and been going to football games there since I was three or four. But when I moved to Oklahoma (from Texas) and started learning more about the golf program, I became a huge fan of Ryan Moore, Rickie Fowler, Peter Uihlein and the rest of the guys. I’ve known Coach (Mike) McGraw since the eighth grade when me and my dad went up there to meet him. I’ve had a great relationship with him and still do.

When I made my decision, my dad and I went back up there and sat down with him and visited for about an hour. I told him I had made my decision and even though it wasn’t

Arkansas is currently ranked 10th and rising. Besides the ties with your mom and dad, you were obviously impressed with the direction of the program.

“People think it’s because my mom and dad went there, but the main reason I chose Arkansas is Coach (Brad) McMakin.

He’s a really impressive guy and he’s got the program going in the right direction. With the recruits he’s bringing in and the guys on campus, they can be just as good as any program in the country.”

Arkansas has wonderful practice facilities at The Blessings.

But the course is one of the most difficult anywhere. How do you feel about that challenge on a daily basis?

“It’s pretty dang hard. I’ve only played it tipped out one or two times. I’d say it’s one of a kind.

It’s somewhat like Karsten Creek, but tighter. I know the team also gets to go play at Fayetteville Country Club and Pinnacle in Rogers so it will be great.”

Your final high school event will be at Karsten Creek, where you finished fifth in the Ping Invitational last fall. Who do you see as the main obstacles to that third title?

“Brandon Jelley at Jenks, Nick Heinen and Hayden Wood at Edmond North are guys to watch for. My teammate, Ryan Evans, if he gets hot he can really play.”

You gave up other sports in high school to concentrate on golf, but were talented in both basketball and baseball coming up.

What made you choose golf?

“There’s always been something about golf and the individuality of it that I’ve liked more than other sports,” he said. “You can at least try to control what goes on. It was the better fit for me.”

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 43

QUAIL CREEK BANK’S CELEBRITY PROFILE

Nazr Mohammed Thunder on the links by john rohde Nazr Mohammed is a reserve center for the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder. Born in Chicago, he played collegiately at the University of Kentucky and has been with seven teams in 13 seasons as a pro.

Mohammed has seen his fair share of golf courses. Though he was introduced late to the sport, the 34-year-old Mohammed quickly fell in love.

How long have you been playing golf?

“I’ve been playing seven or eight years now.”

Who introduced you to it?

“At first, it was (former Kentucky teammate) Antoine Walker, because he started playing golf, then a couple of other friends I went to school with started playing, then I picked it up.”

Do you have a favorite place to play?

“The place I like is the same place I started

44 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

What’s the toughest course you’ve played?

“I’ve played many, but I’ll have to go with Valhalla (Golf Club in Louisville). I can’t play from the back tees at Valhalla. It’s that high grass. That just kills you. It’s not that normal high grass. It’s that waist-high stuff. I usually playing. It’s a club I belong to called Green- just take a drop. I can’t get out of that stuff.” brier Golf and Country Club in Lexington, Kentucky. Nice club. That’s the course Did any part of the golf come easily to you?

“It’s funny, when I first started playing, where I got my first set of clubs.” putting came easy to me. I just had a natuYou’re 6-foot-10. How tough is it to find ral touch. It came real easy. Then the more I learned about putting – how you hold the the right equipment?

“Not too tough. Because I started playing putter; you want to come a little inside on the late, people told me, ‘Hey, before you get way back – the more I learned, the worse my started, get fitted.’ I didn’t go out and just putting got. That came easy at first, but it got play with anything. I got fitted right away. more technical so it got harder.”

Only thing is, my swing changes so much I Your lowest score? need to get re-fitted.”

“A 77 at Lake Forest Country Club. It’s Do you crave golf during the NBA season? another club I’m a member of, an Arnold “I used to. Now, not so much, being a fa- Palmer design not too far from Valhalla. I ther. It chews up so much time. When I do live in Louisville during the off-season, not have a little time, I can’t go out playing 4½- too far from Valhalla.” hour rounds of golf. Every now and then I try to get nine in, or stop at a range and hit How many other clubs to you belong to?

“I belong to three. The other one is in Loufor 30 minutes. That’s about it.” isville, too. Audubon Country Club.”

Do you have an official handicap?

“I’ll play for three or four months straight, then don’t play for seven or eight. Usually by mid-summer I’m playing at about a 15.

Not great, but better than most.”

serious about his golf. He had to decide between golf and basketball. I saw Gerald Henderson hit a ball about 370 yards – seriously. Number 8 hole at Ballantyne Resort in Charlotte, about 435 (yards) with a creek right in front. He was like, ‘I’m just goDid you play a lot during the lockout last ing to lay into this one and see what happens.’ There was a little bit of a offseason?

“Actually, no. The problem was it was so roll, but it was not downhill. It almost hot in Louisville during the day. I work out rolled into the creek. He could hit it a and I’m usually done mid-day. I had no ener- mile, and he’s got touch. If he could gy and it was too hot to go out and play golf.” really put time into it like he put into basketball, I can see him being a guy Do you envision playing a lot of golf when who might make it to one of those smaller tours.” you retire?

“Definitely. I mean a dream come true would be on one of those small mini-tours Had a hole-in-one?

“Two, in the same week. One was to play golf. I’ll never be good enough to do that, but that would be a dream come true.” from 157 (yards), 8-iron, trickled down into the hole at Ballantyne Who’s the best golfer among the NBA play- Resort. I had a witness. We went crazy when it went into ers you’ve played with?

“Brent Barry and I used to play in San the hole. One was on a TuesAntonio and he was about an 8 (handicap). day, the other on a Friday. The (Utah Jazz guard) Raja Bell is a pretty solid second one was a one-hopper, golfer, but the best player I’ve golfed with probably from 125 (yards). I was is (Charlotte guard) Gerald Henderson. He by myself, looking around for a was like scratch in eighth grade. He was witness.”

Oklahoma City (405) 634-0571 Tulsa (918) 663-0571 Toll Free (800) 276-0571

justicegolf.com www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 45

EQUIPMENT

What's new?

that appears to be persimmon wood with a brass sole plate. Combined with a more traditional appearing pear shape head it definitely brings back memories of when woods were by ed travis actually made from wood.

As far as golf balls are concerned One of golf’s annual rites is the the dominant company, Acushnet, d Travis, a frequent contributor to Golf Oklahoma, introduction of new equipment has some additions to it marketand the PGA Merchandise Show won the top International Network of Golf award leading Titleist line: the NXT Tour, in January is the focal point. Golf for business writing for his story “Clubmakers SupNXT Tour S, Velocity and DT SoLo. Oklahoma has surveyed the port The Tee It Up Initiative” published in the AugustThe 3-piece NXT Tour and 2-piece field, cut through the hyperbole September issue of Golf Oklahoma.

NXT Tour S use Acushnet’s propriand claims to bring our readers Travis, along with Gary Van Sickle of Sports Illustrated, etary non-urethane Fusablend cover information they can use about were the only writers to win in two categories in the 19th with the S variant being a lower comsome significant products.

Annual ING Media Awards. The presentations took place pression. The new model, Velocity, at the PGA Merchandise Show Travis is a Florida-based In drivers and fairways the has a high speed core for added disfree lancer who regularly contributes equipment and talk this year is all about Rocktance and a cover made from another business articles exclusively for Golf Oklahoma readers. etBallz, the new line from TayTitleist-only compound, NaZ2. The lorMade Golf is positioned as a Surlyn covered DT Solo also comes less expensive alternative to the Callaway Golf has the new RAZR Fit in optic yellow.

R11S this year’s version of 2011’s runaway During the PGA Merchandise Show, our winner R11. RocketBalllz drivers have less driver being used by Phil Mickelson. It feaadjustability than the R11S but are also tures the OptiFit system for adjusting club eye was caught by the Golf Buddy World priced $100 lower. However, a year from face angle along with movable weights to Platinum II GPS range finder for $350 and it now a good possibility the RocketBallz we modify ball flight bias between neutral and may be one of the bargains of the year. Not will be talking about are not the drivers but draw. Over at Cleveland Golf the 2012 Clas- only are the graphics upgraded from the prethe fairways which have already been la- sic driver has an attractive retro-look and vious model – easy to read and informative though made from titanium, has a finish – it comes with 35,000 courses preloaded beled by Tour players as “very hot.” and there are no annual fees to access the service. Touch screen use is intuitive and the battery charge lasts for up to four rounds. It also boasts a digital 4-player scorecard and a stats package that’s handy.

Known best for their line of high-end sunglasses, Oakley also makes lots of other items, some for golf such as bags and a new line of shoes named the Cipher. Ciphers are very light (a little over 9 ounces each), have nice side support and are designed to reduce the amount of heat retained. However the sole is what makes them different with the usual spikes replaced by three ceramic alumina resin plates covered by tiny nubs.

The plates are held in place by industrialstrength Velcro. Oakley calls the system NanoSpikes and they can be replaced for a HUNTER MAHAN reasonable $20.

4-Time PGA Tour Winner Lastly, though the number of new putters 3-Time U.S. Presidents Cup Team Member each year continues to overwhelm even the 2-Time U.S. Ryder Cup Team Member 2003 Collegiate Player of the Year most dedicated golf equipment geek the SG Putterwood putters are very different from anything else. The putter series have shapes like a 3-wood, a hybrid, hybrid-blade and an almost traditional looking blade plus a FOR MORE INFO OR TO ENROLL YOUR CHILD, belly model with a 3-wood-like head. PutCALL 405-269-6293, VISIT OKSTATE.COM ter heads are hollow but sound solid and all have a white finish. Jim Sorenson, a former OR COWBOYGOLFCAMP.COM assistant at the Golf Club of Oklahoma and Cowboy Golf Camp is open to any and all entrants, limited only by number, owner of Momentus Golf is the designer age, grade level and/or gender. and tells us each sells for $139.

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WOGA NEWS AND NOTES

ONLINE: Get local, national, equipment, and travel stories online at golfoklahoma.org

WOGA targets juniors by katy treadwell

Its golf season! And in 2012, the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association (WOGA) promises a season filled with great competition, camaraderie and fun.

The Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association has been around for nearly 100 years now. Founded in 1915 as a way to award a State Amateur Champion and promote women’s golf in Oklahoma, WOGA continues to offer a variety of tournaments and events for women golfers of all ages, and this year the competition, the courses and even the organization promise to be better than ever.

WOGA president Cherie Rich had this to say when asked about the 2012 season: “We are very excited for the upcoming season. WOGA is focused on improving women’s and junior girls’ golf in Oklahoma, and we have made some small changes that we believe will help make this year one for the record books.”

In 2012, WOGA aims to focus more on

State Amateur Champ Whitney McAteer.

junior golf and providing all female golfers, 17 and under, with more reasons to join and compete. In 1950, WOGA held its first-ever Junior Girls State Championship at Tulsa Country Club. It was a great success and has continued to be one of WOGA’s most coveted events. This year the WOGA board has made some changes in their eligibility guidelines that they believe will improve the competition, broaden the playing field and help get more junior golfers involved in the

organization.

In 2012, the WOGA board has decided to adopt USGA standards for their State Amateur and Stroke Play Championships. This small change will open some big doors for junior golfers. Vice president of WOGA Sheila Dills is excited about this change and believes it is just one step that WOGA is taking to help improve junior golf in Oklahoma.

“The Women’s Oklahoma State Amateur Championship should be a championship that all eligible Oklahoma Junior Girls choose to play in. It is the only match-play competition in Oklahoma where a junior girl can gain invaluable experience towards competing in the USGA Girls’ Jr. Championship,” says Dills.

Under the new WOGA guidelines, any female junior golfer with a handicap index of 18.4 or less will be eligible to participate in the State Am and Stroke Play Championships. These are two of WOGA’s most prestigious events and the board is proud to open the playing field with the hopes of getting more young female golfers competing for the title. And to sweeten the pot, this year the State Amateur event will be held at Gaillardia

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 49

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Country Club and the Stroke Play Championship at The Oaks Country Club in Tulsa.

In addition to the changes in the handicap required to play in these notable events, WOGA has also altered its Fore State requirements for juniors. This year the Girl’s Junior Champion will receive automatic placement on the WOGA Fore State Team, and any junior girl who plays in the Junior Girl’s Championship may be considered as a captain’s pick on the Fore State Team.

Fore State is becoming more and more competitive with many junior girls and college players participating. It gives juniors the opportunity to experience different formats such as Foursomes, Fourball and Match Play as well as see what the competition is like among the college players,» says Fore State captain and vice president, Dills. The Fore State team will compete against similar teams from Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas. The Fore State tournament will be held July 29-31 in Hutchinson, Kan. WOGA has made several efforts to increase membership on the whole. WOGA recently launched a new Facebook and website campaign answering a common question they hear from most women who are hesitant to join, “Am I Good Enough?”

The answer is Yes! Sign up today.

Wood, continued from 40 hate to see on the regular tour is a guy in the pro-am walking down the fairway talking on his cell phone. That’s no fun for the amateurs.

When Scott Verplank turns 50 next year, all the Oak Tree Gang will be riding on the Champions Tour. Any chance of keeping some of the young guys at home?

When Landmark was going strong and all of us stayed here and were paid to wear the Oak Tree logo, that was a different time.

We’re hoping Kevin Tway stays here. We’d love to see Charles Howell and some of the other younger guys live here.

Your son Hayden Wood is a starter for Edmond North. How fun is that for you to watch him develop?

Hayden is doing great. He’s outdriving me now and he has beat me. He works hard and listens to me. That’s one of the neatest things is that he still asks a lot of questions and listens to my advice. I know a lot of 15-year-olds don’t listen to their parents so I’ve been fortunate there. The hardest thing is not being able to talk to him. I try to stay about 100 yards away and just watch.

50 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

Handicap, continued from 10 2.0. Joe has an index of 8.3. They’re playing a course with a slope rating of 131. The USGA course handicap calculator pegs Joe’s course handicap at 10 and Dave’s at 2.

So, Dave will be giving Joe eight strokes.

Straightforward enough, but let’s drill down.

How will today’s competition play out?

Like a typical 8.3, Joe generally keeps the ball in play. He consistently drives the ball 225 yards but has an on-again, off-again short game. Dave, by comparison, stripes the ball 260 yards and chips and putts like a 2-handicapper, which is to say, he doesn’t screw up much.

Let’s pick up the action on the par-4 sixth, a drivable 250-yard hole to an elevated, heavily bunkered green. “Easy par,” Joe thinks. Then he sees that it’s the No. 1 handicap. He’ll be getting a stroke here.

Why? Let’s look at likely “best” outcomes. Because of his overall game, Dave is highly likely to make par or better. His length off the tee, if hits the green, will leave him an eagle putt and a good chance at a 2-putt birdie. Joe, by contrast, can’t reach from the tee box and faces a dicey half-wedge over bunkers. Only if his short game is “on” to-

The hole-by-hole scoring differentials between the two groups are then ranked. The hole with the biggest scoring gap between strong and weak players is likely the No. 1 handicap hole; the one with the smallest, the No. 18 handicap hole.

You’ll see a lot of par-5s tagged with low hole-handicap numbers. That’s because for Joe and higher-handicap players, it can be tough to string together three good shots.

It’s not so hard for longer-hitting, steadier players like Dave.

On the flip side, the highest hole-handicap holes tend to be par-3s. When played from the proper tees, the scoring gap between strong and weak players typically is far less. To illustrate this point: 36-handicappers don’t make a lot of double eagles, but day does Joe have a chance at birdie.

The forecast for No. 6, then, is: Dave like- they do make a lot of holes-in-one.

The central point here is that in lexicon of ly makes birdie; Joe makes par. That’s why this “easy” hole is one where Joe most needs hole handicapping, it’s not about “absolute” a stroke from Dave to maximize the chance difficulty, it’s about “relative” difficulty. And that feeling of a match that has been both Joe can halve the hole.

Where handicap strokes will fall is de- well structured and well played is a sweet cided using one of two methods. The easi- feeling for both players as they walk down est to explain here is: scores by hundreds of the 18th fairway. low-handicappers on each individual hole Dan Vukelich is a freelance journalist who are added, averaged and compared against scores on those same holes from higher- lives in Albuquerque, N.M. He edits newmexicogolfnews.com. handicappers.

The No. 1 handicap hole shouldn’t be the last hole of any nine. Otherwise, a 2-handicapper likely will close out a 10-handicapper before they play it. Nor should it be the first hole because a 2-handicap can immediately go 1-up over a scratch player and likely stay there. Plus, if a player gets a stroke on the first hole of a playoff (typically played on Nos. 1 or 18) the stroke effectively decides the match. The USGA says, “Consideration should be given to the likelihood of the strokes being equalizers rather than winning strokes.”

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INSTRUCTION

Short game options Texas wedge to the soft lob by michael boyd

The grass is starting to green up on our courses here. However, those lies are still a little thin, and our games have a little rust on them. Couple that with the spring wind and you are bound to miss a green or two. Chipping it up there close can help save a few strokes.

Today, I want to talk with you about the bump-and-run and the lob shot. Remember this: when at all possible keep the ball close to the ground for larger margin of error, and thus more consistent results. That shot Phil Mickelson hits is pretty cool, but can get the majority of us in trouble. Like many things, there is a time and a place for it, but many times we can take the more efficient road to par.

First, let’s look at the ways to keep the ball close to the ground. The easiest way, and the way that is least complicated, is the old Texas wedge. For those of you out of the know, that refers to putting from off the

52 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

green, made popular on the hardened fairways of Texas, where tight lies do not lead to well-played lob shots. When you are hitting a long putt, especially over fairways, it helps to add a little wrist to it. This helps add power and give that ball a little pop. If you watch old tapes of the pros Use a hybrid, left, or an iron for bump and run shots. you will see most of them had a wristy stoke with some “pop” Todd Hamilton (a graduate of OU) in his in it. Back then they putted on greens that triumph at the British Open. This is a fairly are closer to what a well-manicured fairway easy shot. Grip down to the bottom of the looks like today. Copy them, and you will be grip, play the ball in the back half of your stance and stand as close to the ball as you on your way to saving some strokes.

Another way to go is the hybrid shot. This would for a putt. Lead the stroke in a downone was made popular by our very own ward manner, keeping the grip and your

Open stance, open clubface for soft lob shots.

hands in front of the clubhead.

Lastly, we have the typical bump-andrun. Take a 7- or 8-iron and play the ball in the back half of your stance. Keep your hands forward, off of your left pant pocket (if you are right-handed) and lean your weight toward the target while angling your shoulders as if you are on a downslope. This

will help create a descending blow. Again, lead the stroke with the grip, staying in front of the clubhead. Make sure to land the ball on a relatively flat spot, allowing it to run the majority of the way to the hole.

Now, there are times when we have to get the ball up quickly and bring it down soft. When we need to do this we want to

open the blade of our most-lofted wedge, laying the blade back and pointing it to the sky. Aim your feet and body 45 degrees open to the target. Play the ball across from your front foot (a more forward position). Still have 60 to 70 percent of your weight on your front foot. Throughout the swing keep the face pointed to the sky and have a slight descending attack. At impact your hands should be even with the ball and the face laid back. Keep your speed up through impact (avoid decelerating) and finish with the face pointed to the sky. You should have a ball that crawls up the face, floats every so gracefully through air and lands like a butterfly with sore feet.

I hope any and all of these shots help you to reach your potential, make a few pars, and love the game of golf.

Michael Boyd is the head PGA professional at Indian Springs Country Club in Broken Arrow.

You can reach him at 918-455-9515.

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GOLF FITNESS

In search of balance The ability to balance your body in space in during the golf swing is a critical skill required to strike the golf ball consistently with power and is an area often overlooked by golfers and fitness enthusiasts. All balance activities begin with the feet and they are the only two objects on the human body that should touch the ground in the golf swing. If there are physical limitations in your feet (such as range of motion, sensation, or strength), your balance will be disturbed, causing altered swing mechanics which can lead to diminished performance or injury.

First and foremost, balance is compromised of three systems: the eyes (visual), the inner ears (vestibular) and the proprioceptive system. In this article we are only going to cover the proprioceptive system and assume the vision and vestibular systems are working properly.

Proprioception is the ability to sense the position, location, orientation and movement of the body and its parts. The complex motion of a golf swing requires that the

54 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

leg and raise the opposite foot, making sure not to touch the legs together. Arms can be outstretched to the side if you desire. Once you have obtained a quiet and steady stance with your eyes open, close both eyes and go for as long as you can without tipping over, or scooting the feet from their original position. Be sure and test both sides to see if there is any asymmetry. We find that most recreational golfers can perform this test for only five seconds, while the average for Tour players is 25 seconds.

Sean Riley Ryan Smith Try this test and see where you fall in reSwingFit SwingFit gards to your proprioception. If this screen body perform a series of tasks in sequence indicates you have limitations in your balfrom the feet all the way to the upper spine ance, we recommend you schedule a consult in order to strike the ball with the golf club with your local Titleist Performance Institute and send it towards your target with the Certified Golf Fitness instructor and invest in your body to get more out of your game. correct amount of distance and spin.

Through a very simple test, you can deRyan and Sean are Founders of SwingFit Golf termine how your balance or proprioception stacks up to the best in the world. The Fitness and Performance Training in Tulsa, OK, Single Leg Balance Test which is used by the and are certified by the Titleist Performance Instipros at The Titleist Performance Institute is tute.They specialize in golf-specific physical testprobably one of the easiest tests that we use ing, fitness instruction and performance training. to determine what level of balance a golfer To unlock your full potential, contact SwingFit at (918) 743-3737 or visit them at www.swingfitpossesses.

To perform this test, simply stand on one tulsa.com.

ARCHITECT’S NOTEBOOK

What makes a great course I am often asked what I think makes a great golf course. While I think there can be a lot of ways to answer this question, I do believe that in every great Tripp Davis golf course almost every hole, if not every hole, provides a variety of meaningful strategic options to provide strategic purpose, the golf course provides balanced variety in how players are tested and challenged, balanced variety in who is tested and challenged, and the challenge is as much or more mental, or strategic, as it is physical.

If a golf course can provide this variety, or “balance of challenge” as I like to call it, scoring relative to par should not be a significant concern. Difficulty is no measure of a great golf course. Having the best players in the world find it difficult to play four rounds at par is not necessarily a measure of a great course either. Keeping players near par should be a combination of environmental conditions and course conditions that enhance the precision required of the design through good setup. I don’t think it should be from purely physically challenging design or radical adjustments in course setup geared towards making up for less strategically challenging elements of the design purely to keep the winning score near par.

There is no question that players, in any sport, that do not have average or aboveaverage physical capabilities, either through physical makeup or the development of physical skills, are at a physical disadvantage. But any sport that becomes reduced to being about, or is simply founded on, physical ability alone becomes or is less of a game. It is simply a physical activity. Great sports require the element of playing the game. Great sportsman can play the game. A great sport is part the physical act of executing physical moves and part the mental ability to play the game.

Golf, in my opinion, has been the greatest of the sports we play because the ratio between the physical ability to execute moves and the mental ability to play the game has been more in balance. In golf, physical ability can be a strength, but throughout the history of golf the ability to play the game, or simply score, has been as much or more important than what you can do physical-

Davis redesigned Oak Tree National.

ly. Golf is also unique because we are not set by a standardized playing field and we, as golf architects, have the ability to design a sporting examination that can adjust, through setup, to the physical abilities of players so we give equal weight to the variety of physical strengths the field of players may have and we can further balance physical ability by creation of design that equally exposes physical weaknesses.

In doing so, we have the ability to create a playing field, through design and the

setup of this playing field, to allow a greater range of physical abilities to compete, to allow a wide range of strengths to be valuable physically, to balance the physical abilities of players, to ultimately make the sporting examination about the ability to play the game -- about the ability to score.

There is no question golfers today hit the ball farther than they did just 15 years ago, but I see this as a move by players to add a strength being required by the field of play presented to them. We have to be careful to not let our designs widen the “gap” too far between ability to score and simple physical ability, keeping in mind, to sound like a broken record, the basis of the game is not how you score, but what you score.

To keep this gap as narrow as possible, golf architects need to have the best understanding of how players of different abilities can maximize strengths to minimize weaknesses, and then use this understanding in design so that the course does not favor a particular strength, or punish a particular weakness, over the entirety of a round, but more reasonably over the course of a week or month of play. A great golf course will find a balance.

www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 55

SUPERINTENDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

What is the color of golf?

PRESENTED BY

by mike wooten gcsaa, cedar ridge country club

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America held its annual turf grass conference and show, The Golf Industry Show, recently in Las Vegas. One of the main topics of discussion was the sustainability of the golf industry (the game of golf) in the economic climate we are in today The Professional Golfers of America Association was well represented, giving talks on their new programs, Golf 2.0 and the First Tee Program. These programs are designed to infuse new golfers into the game.

As everyone knows, since the golf boom of the ‘90s, the number of golf facilities, the number of golfers, rounds, and sales in golf equipment has declined.

It is a daunting task. In the past new golfers came from the rank-and-file of the caddy programs and legacy golfers. Today caddie programs don’t exist and legacy golfers are finding different avenues to spend their recreational time.

The PGA is trying to build and educate a

56 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

core base of golfers that can carry the industry and make the game more affordable and fun. Part of this process is teaching new golfers the values they can learn from golf and the rich tradition and heritage of golf.

One of the PGA programs would be for all golf facilities to donate some of their tee times and staff time to encourage and develop new players. This would be a worthwhile program bur hard to institute considering how valuable tee times are and how limited staff are at most facilities. They would like to approach golf along the same lines as other sports do with youth sports programs. This would not only bring young people to the game but would probably bring the parents along as well.

The United States Golf Association held its annual program on the last day of the conference. The focus was not on the high price of golf equipment debilitating new players, but on the high price of providing a golf course for new players.

They understand what the price of fuel and water, if you can even get good water, has done to maintenance budgets. The USGA understands that some fertilizers have tripled in price and some pesticides doubled in price.

One weed control product we used at Cedar Ridge cost $10,000 a few years ago. A high price to control a few weeds, but today that same product is $24,000.

The USGA program dealt with these problems with ways to make golf-facility maintenance sustainable. The focus was on less of everything. A turf with less fertilizer, less water and weed control, even though it may not have the same color, will not ruin a good round of golf. One of the main areas of discussion was directed at very limited maintenance and care of rough, in order to focus available

SCHEDULES & RESULTS resources on green, tees and fairways. The bulk of the acreage of a golf course is in the rough. If you limited the maintenance of the rough, as was the custom 50 years ago, the cost would go down accordingly.

The GCSAA, PGA and USGA are all working together for the betterment of the game.

They can educate but they cannot dictate how a facility will be managed. Superintendents cannot arbitrarily cut programs or change management programs. Ultimately it is up to the facilitators at each golf course to determine what level of maintenance is acceptable, appropriate and sustainable for their facility.

The key, as in most things, is how well this is communicated to the golfer. With everyone singing from the same Hymnal all players will know their facility is being managed in a proper way and at a sustainable level. They can still enjoy a good round of golf and will be closer to the essence of golf, a test of man against nature, a challenge of the mind, your temperament, creativity, imagination, resourcefulness and patience.

The way it was meant to be played when you had to create a shot because of less than perfect conditions.

Golf Course Construction

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Golf Club of Oklahoma

Cedar Creek Golf Course • Broken Bow, OK • 18 Hole Irrigation Installation

Broken Arrow • Cart Path Improvements

Forest Ridge Golf Club • Broken Arrow, OK • 18 Hole Bunker and Green Renovation

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Sapulpa • Green Repairs

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Broken Arrow • Cart PathJONESPLAN Improvements 2328 E. 13th Street The Patriot Golf Club Tulsa, OK 74104

SCHEDULES Tulsa Golf Association April 14 – 15: TGA 2-Man Challenge South Lakes GC June 2 – 3: TGA “Spring” 4-Ball, LaFortune Park GC June 23 – 24: TGA Stroke Play Championship, Battle Creek GC July 28 – 29: TGA 4-Ball, Forest Ridge GC August 25 – 26: TGA 2-Man Challenge II, Page Belcher GC October 29: TGA Fall Shootout, Battle Creek GC Golf Inc. April 6: Spring 4 Ball May 11: 2-Man Scramble May 25: The City Amateur

OKLAHOMA JUNIOR GOLF TOUR May 27 – 28: OJGT Oklahoma’s Best High School Classic, John Conrad Golf Club July 16 – 17: OJGT Battle for Broken Arrow, Emerald Falls Golf & CC August 11 – 12: OJGT Trosper Park Junior Challenge, Trosper Park GC August 18–19: OJGT Heritage Hills Fall Round-Up, Heritage Hills CC August 25–26: OJGT Kickingbird Fall Challenge, Kickingbird GC September 2–3: OJGT John Conrad Labor Day Classic, John Conrad GC September 8 – 9: OJGT Pryor Fall Challenge, Pryor Creek GC September 15 – 16: OJGT Lake Hefner Shootout, Lake Hefner GC September 22 – 23: OJGT Mohawk Junior Open, Mohawk Park GC September 29 – 30: OJGT Beast of the East, Lincoln Park GC October 6 – 7: OJGT Page Belcher Fall Classic,

Page Belcher GC October 13 – 14: OJGT Tour Championship, Lincoln Park GC October 27 – 28: OJGT/TJGT Red River Team Challenge, Dornick Hills CC Oklahoma Golf Association May 21 – 22: OGA Senior Spring 4-Ball Championship, Twin Hills Golf & CC May 21 – 22: OGA Spring 4-Ball Championship, Twin Hills Golf & CC June 4 – 7: OGA Junior Boys Championship, Kickingbird Golf Club June 18 – 21: OGA Senior State Amateur Championship, Quail Creek Golf & Country Club July 16 – 18: OGA State Amateur Championship, Southern Hills Country Club July 23 – 24: OGA Senior Stroke Play Championship. Meadowbrook Country Club August 6 – 8: OGA Stroke Play Championship, Jimmie Austin O.U. Golf Club August 16: OGA Oklahoma Open (Amateur Qualifying), Lincoln Park Golf Club August 24 – 26: OGA Oklahoma Open, Oak Tree Country Club September 17 – 18: OGA Mid Amateur Championship, Forest Ridge Golf Club September 25: OGA State Club Championship, Gaillardia Golf & CC Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association April 30, 2012: WOGA State Play Day June 25-28: 94th Annual State Amateur Championship July 9-10: 62nd Annual Girls’ Junior Championship July 16-17: Stroke Play / Mid-Am Championship July 29-31: 18th Annual Fore State Team Championship August 20-21: Partnership Championship September 18-19: 36th Annual Senior Champion-

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SCHEDULES & RESULTS

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ship October 22-23:22nd Annual WOGA Cup Club Team Championship South Central Section Feb 27-28: Western Oklahoma Assistant’s Match Play, River Oaks GC Mar 19-20: Oklahoma Assistant’s Match Play, Emerald Falls GC Mar 19-20: Kansas Chapter Assistant’s Match Play, Reflection Ridge CC Apr 10: Assistant Match Play, Cedar Ridge CC Apr 23: Pro-Senior, Fianna Hills CC May 7: Juctice GC 3-Man Scramble Championship, Muskogee CC May 21: Assistant Cup Matches, Lakeside GC Jun 11: Team Championship, Stillwater CC Jun 18: Pro-President, Gaillardia CC Jun 25: Assistant Association Championship, Wichita CC Jul 9-11: Open & Senior Match Play Championship, The GC of Oklahoma Jul 17: Senior Pro-Senior Amateur, Earlywine GC Jul 22-23: Pro-Scratch Championship, Chickasaw Pointe Resort Jul 30: South Central PGA Assistant Championship, Oklahoma City G&CC Aug 12-14: Senior PNC & Cup Matches, Rolling Hills CC Aug 20-21: SCS PGA Professional Championship, Forest Ridge Sep 4: Pro-Assistant, Crestview CC Sep 17: Senior Pro-Am, Lake Hefner GC Oct 1-2 Section Championship, Shangri-La GC Oct 8: Senior Team Championship, Stillwater CC Nov 12-13: Jordan Cup, Southern Hills CC SOUTH CENTRAL JUNIORS Jun 4: Meadowlake Junior, Meadowlake GC Jun 7: Parent Child, LaFortune Park GC - Par 3 Jun 8: Pryor Junior, Pryor Creek

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On The Sports Animal Tulsa 1550 AM • 97.1 FM Jun 11: Broken Arrow Junior, Broken Arrow Golf & Athletic Jun 12: Westwood Junior, Westwood Park Jun 13: Bill Nicklas Junior, Kickingbird GC Jun 14-15: JR PGA Section Championship, Lincoln Park GC- East Jun 18: McAlester Junior, McAlester CC Jun 19: Tallgrass CC Junior, Tallgrass CC Jun 19: Heart of Okla Junior, Brent Bruehl Memorial GC Jun 20: Lake Hefner Junior, Lake Hefner GC North Jun 21: Canyons@Blackjack Ridge Junior, Canyons at Blackjack Ridge Jun 22: Riverside Junior, Riverside GC Jun 25: Ponca City CC Junior Ponca City CC Jun 26: Lew Wentz Junior, Lew Wentz Memorial GC Jun 27: George Phillips Junior, South Lakes Jun 28: Shawnee Junior, Shawnee CC Jun 28: Hidden Lakes Junior, Hidden Lakes GC Jul 2: Coffee Creek Junior Cushing GC Jul 2-3: Sand Creek Station GC - Newton, KS Jul 6: Owasso Junior, Owasso Golf Athletic Jul 9: Jay Myers Junior, Meadowbrook CC Jul 9-10: Hardscrabble CC

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Jul 9: Trails Junior, The Trails Jul 10: LaFortune Junior, LaFortune Park GC Jul 11: Shelby Ross, Lakeview GC Jul 12: Trosper Junior, Trosper Park Jul 13: Adams Junior, Adams GC Jul 16: River Oaks Junior, River Oaks GC Jul 17: Fairfax Junior, Fairfax GC Jul 18-19: Hillcrest CC Jul 18: Battle Creek Junior, Battle Creek Golf Club Jul 19: John Conrad Junior, John Conrad Regional Jul 20: Riverside Junior, Riverside GC Jul 21: South Lakes Parent Child, South Lakes GC Jul 23-24: Terradyne CC Jul 23: Bailey Ranch Junior, Bailey Ranch Golf Club Jul 24-25: Hoedebeck Junior, Duncan Elks CC Jul 26: Lincoln Park Junior, Lincoln Park GC Jul 26: Wellington Junior, Wellington CC Jul 27: James E Stewart Junior, James E. Stewart GC Jul 30: Eskimo Joes’ Stillwater Championship, Lakeside GC Jul 31: Windy Trails Junior, Altus AFB GC Jul 31 - Aug 1: Pinnacle CC Aug 1: Lake Murray Junior, Lake Murray Resort Aug 3: Clary Fields Junior, Clary Fields GC Aug 6-7: Oaks CC Aug 8-9 Junior Tour Championship Aug 13-14 Players Tour Championship, Gaillardia CC The O-Tour April 21-22: OKC Major Championship, Rose Creek GC May 12: Creek Nation Championship, Fountainhead GC June 2:Arkansas Championship, Eagle Crest GC Alma, AR June 30: Oklahoma Open, Silverado GC July 14: BA Open, Battle Creek GC July 28-29: Open Championship, Cherokee Hills GC Aug 11: McAlester Open, McAlester CC Aug 25: Heritage Hills Classic, Heritage Hills GC Sept 15-16: Tour Championship, Emerald Falls GC September 29-30: O-Tour Match Play, Cherry Springs GC October 13: Oklahoma Cup, TBA OKC, OK Golf Channel Amateur Tour Apr 21 – 22:Lake of the Ozarks Classic, Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake Ozark, MO Apr 28: Hard Rock Open, Cherokee Hills GC May 12: Cherry Springs Golf Club Jun 9: Broken Arrow Open, Battle Creek Golf Club Jun 23 – 24: Red River Shootout, Winstar GC Jun 30: Emerald Falls Championship, Emerald Falls GC Jul 7: Grand Lake Showdown, Patricia Island E&GC Jul 9: Championship, TPC Craig Ranch Jul 23: Oklahoma Open, Oak Tree CC Aug 4: Cowboy Classic, Stillwater Country Club Aug 13: Tour Championship, River Oaks GC Hooters Amateur Tour April 15: Coffee Creek April 21: Forest Ridge April 29: Stonebridge May 6: Bailey Golf Ranch May 12: Ben Garen May 20: Cimmaron Trails June 3: White Hawk June 24: Lakeside July 1: Battle Creek August 8: Silverhorn July 14-15: World Amateur 2-Day Qualifier MidSeason Championship, Page Belcher August 5: Lake Hefner-North Course August 19: Eagle Crest September 2: Emerald Falls September9: Kickingbird September 23: Adams October 7: Rose Creek October 13: Fianna Hills

RESULTS GOLF INC (OKLAHOMA CITY) BIG SIX March 17-18 Championship: 1, Jeff Coffman/Brian Birchell 69-66 – 135; 2, Cody McIlwain/Stuart Drake 67-71 – 138; 3, Jerrid Eischen/John Eischen 70-71 – 141; 4, Alex McAlister/Garrett Cooley 72-70 – 142; 5, Brandon Engel 70-74 – 144.

COLLEGE MEN LINGER LONGER INVITATIONAL At Great Waters GC, Greensboro, Ga. (par-72) March 24-25 Team scores: 1, Alabama 278-286-274 – 838; 2, Georgia 290-279-283 – 853; 3, Chattanooga 289288-293 – 870; 4, Kennesaw State 286-292-295 – 873; 5, Oklahoma 292-292-295 – 879; 6, Notre Dame 291-291-300 – 882; 7, Liberty 292-306-291 – 889; 8, Charlotte 297-295-302 – 894; 9 (tie), Charleston Southern 297-301-298 – 896 and South Alabama 298-296-302 – 896; 11, Mercer 300-299-299 – 898; 12, Jacksonville 294-307300 – 901.

Individual leaders: 1, Nick Reach (Ga.) 71-69-68 – 208 (won playoff); 2, Cory Whitsett 73-71-64 – 208; 3, Stephen Jaeger (Chat.) 68-74-68 – 210; 4 (tie), James Beale (Mercer) 71-68-72 – 211 and Max Scodro (Notre Dame) 70-69-72 – 211; 6 (tie), Justin Thomas (Ala.) 67-75-70 – 212 and Joey Garber (Ga.) 72-69-71 – 212; 8 (tie), Riley Pumphrey (OU) 72-69-72 – 213 and Jeff Karlsson (Kenn. St.) 67-72-74 – 213.

Other OU scores: Michael Gellerman 72-7474 – 220, Will Kropp (OU) 76-75-73 – 224, Ben Klaus 81-73-76 – 230, Eduardo Castiello 75-78-77 – 230.

DESERT SHOOTOUT At Palm Valley GC, Goodyear, Ariz. (par-72) March 23-24 Team leaders (15 teams): 1, Wichita State 283281-272 – 836; 2, Brigham Young 274-274-290 – 838; 3, Denver 288-274-288 – 850; 4 (tie), Kansas State 290-285-281 – 856 and San Diego 278-288-290 – 856; 6, Tulsa 281-291-286 – 858; 7, Air Force 283-286-290 – 859; 8, Kansas 285289-289 – 865.

Individual leaders: 1, Rafael Becker (WSU) 68-68-66 – 202; 2, Alex Ching (SD) 64-68-72 – 203; 3, Justin Kelley 67-65-75 – 207; 4 (tie), Justin Shin (NM) 71-73-64 – 208 and Zachary Blair (BYU) 66-73-69 – 208; 6 (tie), Cole Ogden (BYU) 72-67-70 – 209 and Scott Willman (Neb.) 67-71-71 – 209; 8, Louis Cohen Boyer (WSU) 68-72-70 – 210; 9 (tie), Hunter Sparks (WSU) 7369-69 – 211, Chris Gilbert (KU) 71-70-70 – 211 and ChunJi Kim (Denver) 74-68-69 – 211.

TU scores: Matt Mabrey 72-69-73 – 214, Chris Worrell 70-77-69 – 216, Mark Mumford 66-76-74 – 216, Stephen Carney 76-70-72 – 218, Cody Kent 76-70-74 – 220, John Young Kim 73-76-72 – 221, Colton Staggs 79-72-79 – 230.

CALLAWAY MATCH PLAY At The Concession GC, Bradenton, Fla. March 18-20 Championship: Arkansas def. Duke 3.5-1.5; Third Place: California def. Chattanooga 3-2; Fifth Place: Indiana def. East Carolina 3.5-1.5.

Seventh Place: Oklahoma State def. Tennessee 4-1. Talor Gooch (OSU) def. Garrick Porteous 2 and 1; Sean Einhaus (OSU) def. Jay Vandeventer 1-up. Brad Gehl (OSU) def. Brandon Rodgers 3 and 2; Rick Lamb (Tenn.) def. Patrick Winther 4 and 2; Tanner Kesterson (OSU) def. Marshall Talkington 5 and 4.

MIDWESTERN STATE INVITATIONAL At Wichita Falls (Texas) CC (par-71) March 18-19 (rain-shortened) Team leaders (19): 1, Arkansas Tech 298 (won playoff); 2, St. Edward’s 298; 3 (tie), Cameron and Midwestern State 300; 5, West Texas A&M 304; 6, East Central 306; 7 (tie), Rogers State, Northeastern State, Ark.-Fort Smith and Neb.Omaha 308.

Individual leaders: 1, Santiago Quintero (St. Ed.) 71; 2, Derek Oland (MS) 72; 3 (tie), Brodie Hinkle (EC), Trey Lawson (Cam.), Casey Nelson (NSU) Brett Dowell (Pittsburg St.), Parker Hale (AT) and Danny Walker (WTA&M) 73.

Other scores: Garrett Smith (Cam.) 74, Kregg Wood (Cam.) 75, Bradley Phelps (RS) 76, Mariano Newton (RS) 76, Dakota Robbins (EC) 76, Zach Tucker (NSU) 77, Bo Sarratt (RS) 77.

JACKRABBIT INVITATIONAL At Primm Valley GC (Desert), Primm, Nev. (par-72) March 12-13 Team leaders (15): 1, Idaho 276-285-288 – 849; 2, Missouri-KC 291-284-278 – 853; 3 (tie), Oral Roberts 285-291-287 – 863 and South Dakota State 291-276-296 – 863; 5, Illinois State 278299-293 -- 870; 6, Nebraska 296-283-297 – 876; 7, Drake 296-290-298 -- 884; 8, Weber State 291-293-302 – 886; 9, Southern Utah 293-300299 – 892; 10, Youngstown State 307-290-301 – 899.

Individual leaders: 1, Korbin Kuehn (UMKC) 6871-66 – 205; 2, Sean McMullen (Idaho)_ 66-71-70 – 207; 3, Hudson Carpenter (SDS) 71-67-71 – 209; 4, Ricky Hearden (Ill. St.) 67-74-71 – 212.

ORU scores: Jake Spencer 70-73-72 – 215, Trevor McInroe 73-74-71 – 218, Scott Newell 73-71-75 – 219, Bryan Boaz 77-74-69 – 220, Shannon Allen 69-73-79 – 221.

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SCHEDULES & RESULTS UST MAMIYA INTERCOLLEGIATE At Hawks Creek GC, Fort Worth, Texas (par-72) March 11-12 Team leaders (16): 1, Okla. City 286-281 – 567 (won playoff); 2, Okla., Christian 286-281 – 567; 3, Southern Nazarene 272-292 – 571; 4, Texas Wesleyan 286-289 – 575; 5, Abilene Christian 289-293 – 582; 6, Indian Hills 291-293 – 584; 7, Our Lady of the Lake 289-299 – 588; 8, Texas Wesleyan JV1 288-303 – 591; 9, Rogers State 291-302 – 593; 10, Lubbock Christian 299-300 – 599.

Individual leaders: 1, Johan Andersson (SN) 6969 – 138; 2, Zach Monson (TWJV1) 69-70 – 139; 3 (tie), Michael Palmer (Okla. City) 70-709 – 140, Logan Herbst (Okla. Chr.) 71-698 – 140, Trey Sullivan (AC) 70-70 – 140, Brad Lyle (UTA-ind.)

68-72 – 140 and Monty Lack (IH) 70-70 – 140; 8 (tie), James Marchesani (Okla. City) 73-68 – 141 and Viulhelm Bogstrand (Okla. Chr.) 70-71 – 141.

Other scores: Preston Wilkins (Okla. Chr.) 7370 – 143, Sam Russell (SN) 66-77 – 143, Alasdair Dagleish (Okla. Chr.) 73-71 – 144, Clark Collier (Okla., City) 72-72 – 144, Taylor Artman (Okla.

City) 71-74 – 145, Jared Consoli (Okla. Chr.) 7273 – 145, Blake Jackson (SN) 70-75 – 145, Josh Bernard (RS) 72-74 – 146.

LOUISIANA CLASSICS At Oakbourne CC, Lafayette, La. (par-72) March 5-6 Team leaders (15): 1, Louisiana State 283-279285 – 847; 2 (tie), Tulsa 290-284-287 – 861 and SMU 285-284-292 – 861; 4, Kent State 285-281289 – 865; 5, Memphis 284-283-299 – 866; 6, La.Lafayette 289-287-292 – 868; 7, Southeastern Louisiana 291-285-294 – 870; 8 (tie), Houston 288-290-294 – 872 and Texas State 295-282-295 – 872; 10, South Alabama 283-294-297 – 874.

Individual leaders: 1, Andrew Presley 68-68-70 – 206; 2, Sang Yi (LSU) 71-67-71 – 209; 3, Philipp

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Fendt (La.-Laf.) 73-68-69 – 210; 4 (tie), Matt Mabrey (TU) 73-68-71 – 212 and Luke Guthrie (Ill.) 69-71-72 – 212.

Other TU scores: Chris Worrell 75-71-72 – 218, Mark Mumford 75-73-71 – 219, Stephen Carney 71-76-73 – 220, John Young Kim 71-72-80 – 223.

WYNDHAM SPRING INVITATIONAL At TPC Four Seasons, Las Colinas, Texas (par70) March 5-6 Team scores (15): 1, Okla. Christian 283-291-299 – 873; 2 (tie), Okla. City 286-300-299 – 885 and Southern Nazarene 293-289-303 – 885; ;4, Texas Wesleyan 295-297-298 – 890; 5, Rogers State 295-301-302 – 898; 6, Johnson and Wales 301299-305 – 905; 7, St. Thomas 298-307-306 – 911; 8, Grand View 298-307-311 – 916.

Individual leaders: 1, Jared Consoli (Okla. Chr.) 68-70-73 – 211; 2, Sam Russell (SN) 70-70-73 – 213; 3, James Marchesani (Okla City) 64-76-74 – 214; 4 (tie), Blake Jackson (SN) 72-70-73 – 215 and Jordan Meltzer (J&W) 73-69-73 – 215; 6, Omar Tejera (St. Thomas) 74-72-73 – 219; 7 (tie), Vilhelm Bogstrand (Okla. Chr.) 74-69-77 – 220, Bradley Phelps (RS) 70-73-77 -- 220 and Preston Wilkins (Okla. Chr.) 71-74-75 – 220.

Other scores: Logan Herbst (Okla. Chr.) 70-7875 – 223, Johan Andersson (SN) 74-73-77 – 224, Josh Bernard (RS) 77-76-73 – 226, Clark Collier (Okla. City) 73-75-79 – 227, Sondre Ronold (Okla. City) 77-79-71 – 227, Alasdair Dagleish (Okla. Chr.) 74-78-76 – 228.

SAN ANTONIO SHOOT-OUT At The Bandit GC, New Braunfels, TX (par-71) Feb. 27-28 Team scores: 1, Okla. Christian 290-283-295 – 868; 2, Texas Wesleyan 289-291-290 – 870; 3, Okla. City 308-298-295 – 901; 4 (tie), CSU-San Marcos 302-305-299 – 906 and The Master’s 301-301-304 – 906; 6, Wayland Baptist 311-295309 – 915; 7., Our Lady of the Lake 319-296-301 – 916; 8, Southern Nazarene 299-318-303 – 920; 9, Lubbock Christian 306-310-305 – 921; 10, Northwood 313-314-307 – 934; Rogers State 318-313-306 – 937; 12, Houston-Victoria 323-312320 – 955.

Individual leaders: 1, Joel Thelen (TW) 72-69-70 – 211; 2, Nathan Anderson (TW) 71-71-73 – 215; 3, Vilhelm Bogstrand (Okla. Chr.) 73-70-73 – 216; 4 (tie), Logan Herbst (Okla. Chr.) 70-69-78 – 217 and Preston Wilkins (Okla. Chr.) 72-71-74 – 217; 6 (tie), Taylor Artman (Okla. City) 72-73-75 – 220, Clark Collier (Okla. City) 73-74-73 – 220 and Michael Collier (Okla., City-ind.) 79-69-72 – 220.

Other scores: Alasdair Dagleish (Okla. Chr.) 7574-73 – 222, Sondre Ronold (Okla. City-ind.) 8169-74 – 224, Sam Russell (SN) 74-79-73 – 226, Johan Andersson (SN) 73-76-78 – 227, Blake Jackson (SN) 73-80-76 – 229, Kyle Hudelson (Okla. Chr.-ind.) 78-76-76 – 230, Taylor Williams (Okla. Chr.-ind.) 77-76-77 – 230, Tanner Owens (RS) 79-76-76 – 231, Bradley Phelps (RS) 73-8573 – 231, Jared Consoli (Okla. Chr.) 85-73-75 – 233. Johnny Ellis (Okla. Chr.-ind.) 81-76-76 – 233, Mariano Newton (RS) 80-74-79 – 233.

WOMEN BYU AT ENTRADA CLASSIC At Entrada at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah (par-72) March 19-20 Team scores: 1, Texas State 300-300-292 – 892; 2, Oklahoma State 313-299-288 – 900; 3, Nebraska 306-307-301 – 914; 4, Illinois 309-307305 – 921; 5, CSU Fullerton 302-311-311 – 924; 6, North Texas 310-318-309 – 937; 7, Brigham Young 302-329-311 – 942; 8, Southern Utah 311330-323 – 964; 9, Northern Arizona 325-320321 – 966; 10, Weber State 329-321-318 – 968; 11, Utah Valley 320-328-331 – 979; 12, New Mexico State 322-328-332 -- 982.

Indvidual leaders: 1, Kelsey Vines (OSU) 7274-70 – 216; 2 (tie), Krista Puisite (TS) 74-74-71 – 219 and Hailey Koschmann (Ill.) 72-76-71 – 219; 4, Iman Nordin (TS) 74-76-72 – 222; 6, Lejan Lawthwaite (TS) 76-74-74 – 224; 6 (tie), Amy Ruengmatakhun (OSU) 78-75-72 – 225 and Mad-

60 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

die Sheils (Neb.) 76-76-73 – 225.

Other OSU scores: Jayde Panos 81-77-73 – 231, Jocelyn Alford 82-73-76 – 231, Josephine Janson 83-77-73 – 233.

CLOVER CUP At Longbow GC, Mesa, Ariz. (par-72) March 16-18 Team scores: 1, Colorado 277-281-297 – 855; 2, Oklahoma 289-292-305 – 886; 3, Tulsa 294-292306 – 892; 4, Texas Tech 296-303-305 – 904; 5, Notre Dame 288-296-322 – 906; 6, Minnesota 293-307-308 – 908; 7, Fla. International 292307-310 – 909; 8 (tie), Iowa State 295-304-316 – 915 and Furman 292-320-303 – 915; 10, Michigan 306-316-310 – 932; 11, SMU 302-331-319 – 952; 12, Cincinnati 323-318-319 – 960.

Individual leaders: 1, Jessica Wallace (CU) 70-69-72 – 211; 2, Alex Stewart (CU) 68-71-74 – 213; 3, Emily Talley (CU) 66-72-77 – 215; 4 (tie), Kristina Merkle (TU) 68-70-79 – 217 and Chirapat Jao-Javanil (OU) 71-71-75 – 217; 6 (tie), Jennifer Coleman (CU) 73-69-78 – 220 and Gabriella Dominguez (TT) 74-69-77 – 220; 8 (tie), Taylor Schmidt (OU) 72-77-72 – 221 and Becca Huffer (ND) 72-75-74 – 221.

Other scores: Kamryn Ruffin (TU) 77-72-74 – 223, Anne Tanguay (OU) 77-74-75 – 226, Marita Engzelius (TU) 76-74-76 – 226, Emily Collins (OU) 72-72-83 – 227, Kayla Riede (TU) 73-77-79 – 229, Jacki Marshall (OU) 74-75-85 – 234, Anna Young (TU) 78-80-78 – 236, Jade Staggs (OU) 88-79-74 – 241, Shu Yin Liu (TU) 81-78-76 – 245, Nanna Nielsen (TU) 89-88-96 – 273.

BISON INVITATIONAL At Snow Mountain GC, Las Vegas (par-72) March 15-17 Team leaders (18): 1, Oral Roberts 309-305 – 614; 2, San Francisco 320-311 – 631; 3, Eastern Kentucky 314-319 – 633; 4, Bucknell 322-312 – 634; 5, Texas A&M 317-318 – 635; 6, Northern Iowa 326-310 – 636; 7, Wyoming 322-322 – 644; 8, Weber State 337-313 – 650; 9, Indiana State 334-318 – 652; 10, Akron 328-327 – 655.

Individual leaders: 1 (tie), Crystal Reeves (ORU)77-75 – 152 and Brittany Atterbury (NI) 73-79 – 152; 3 (tie), Kylie Bollenbach (ORU) 7677 – 153 and Victoria House (SF) 75-78 – 153; 5 (tie), Alheli Moreno (ORU) 77-77 – 154, Juanita Rico (Wyo.) 78-76 – 154 and Katie Wiedmar (EK) 77-77 – 154; 8 (tie), Eve Santillan (ORU) 79-76 – 155 and April Emerson (EK) 75-80 – 155.

SOUTHERN MISS. LADY EAGLE INVITATIONAL At Hattiesburg (Miss.) CC (par-72) March 12-13 Team leaders (14): 1, Troy 301-308 – 609; 2, Southern Mississippi 307-311 – 618; 3, Jacksonville State 306-314 – 620; 4, Murray State 308-313 – 621; 5, Oklahoma City 311-213 – 623; 6, South Alabama 312-326 – 628; 7, Redlands CC 319-311 – 630; 8, Alabama-Birmingham 309-324 – 633.

Individual leaders: 1, Brandi Rodriguez (SM) 7272 – 144; 2, Jessica Schiele (OCU) 72-73 – 145; 3, Delaney Howson (MS) 74-73 – 147.

Other OCU scores: Taylor Howard 80-76 – 156, Kendra Mann 79-80 – 159, Mary Larsh 81-83 – 164, Tanya Tibshraeny 80-85 – 165.

JACKRABBIT INVITATIONAL At Primm Valley GC (Lakes), Primm, Nev. (par72) March 12-13 Team leaders (14 teams): 1, Arkansas State 316308-311 – 935; 2, Oral Roberts 313-303-322 – 938; 3, Northern Iowa 312-309-319 – 940; 4, North Dakota State 311-323-307 – 941; 5, Houston Baptist 312-318-313 – 943; 6, Missouri-KC 318-309-313 – 943; 7, British Columbia 316-319-325 – 960; 8, Oakland 328-309-328 – 965; 9, Southern Utah 324-326-323 – 973; 10, Western Illinois 315-331340 – 986.

Individual leaders: 1, Monica Jung 69-73-74 – 216; 2, Amy Anderson (NDS) 75-76-66 – 217; 3, Paige Gibson 73-74-79 – 226; 4 (tie), Jennifer Welch (ASU) 79-73-76 -- 228 and Blair Bonner (NI) 73-78-77 – 228;

Roman Nose

Grand Cherokee

Arrowhead

Lake Murray

Sequoyah

Cedar Creek

Just try and keep your head down with views like this.

Oklahoma State Park Golf Courses fuse sport and nature with forested fairways, challenging tracks, and the country’s most diverse terrain. For love of the game or the great outdoors, these seven courses are uniquely complex with deep canyons, abundant water features, dense pines and wooded roughs. Plus, rates are so

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Book a tee time online at OklahomaParks.com or call 866.602.GOLF (4653). www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 61

62 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org

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www.golfoklahoma.org •••••• 63

Come see the All New 2013 Infiniti JX,

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infiniti.bobmoore.com • 405-748-8000 Broadway Extension & Memorial in Edmond Subject to prior sale. All incentives and rebates applied. With approved credit. See dealer for complete details.

64 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org