South Central Golf - April/May 2007

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FEATURES

Volume 14, No. 2 Editor Production Manager Marketing Director Copy editor Contributing writers

Contributing photographers

April-May, 2007 Ken MacLeod James Royal Lacy Lewis Jenk Jones Jr. Vicki Tramel Mal Elliott Dave Holland Barry Lewis Jim Misunas Tim Landes Katharine Dyson Wayne Mills Mel Root Mike Klemme

NEW COURSES AND RENOVATIONS...............8 Peninsula, Emerald Falls, Willow Creek, Jimmie Austin, Village Creek, Mountain Ranch profiled.

TULSA COMFORTABLY COSMOPOLITAN.........13 SHOWDOWN AT CEDAR RIDGE SemGroup Championship moves to May ............14 Quick start for Stacy P....................................16 Wootens: A Family Tradition ............................18 Cedar Ridge not likely to yield another 61 ..........19 DESTINATIONS Oh Canda, you look fine for golf......................20 Preserving Old Florida ...................................23 THE BIG CHILL..............................................24 FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME.......................28 PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW The hottest new styles in women’s golf................30 Golfers dream big.........................................30

South Central Publications 2723 S. Memorial Drive • Tulsa, OK 74129 918-280-0787 • Fax: 918-280-0797 Website: southcentralgolf.com • E-mail: ken@southcentralgolf.com South Central Golf is the official publication of the South Central Section of the PGA of America, which includes all of Oklahoma,Arkansas and southern Kansas. The magazine is endorsed by the Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas state golf associations. South Central Golf is published five times annually, including our annual course directory. Subscriptions are $18 and are available by calling 918-280-0787 or on the website. We also welcome your letters and comments via e-mail.

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

Columns 33, Jay Fox, ASGA 34, Superintendent’s Corner 34, Rick Coe, OGA 35, Barry Thompson, PGA 35, Gene Mortensen, Rules 36, Kim Richey, KGA

Departments

6, Around the Section 28, Around Kansas 37, Schedules & Results On the cover Stacy Prammansudh photo

by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

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Section names Soerensen pro of year The PGA South Central Section has announced its 2006 award recipients.

Brian Soerensen of Kickingbird Golf Club is the Golf Professional of the Year, while Hillcrest Country Club’s Aaron Speaker is Assistant Professional of the Year. Earning the President’s Plaque is Dan Hayes of Tinker AFB Golf Course.

Mac McCall of Longhills Golf Club and Mark Curlett of the First Tee of Ft. Smith have been recognized for 25 years of service, while Charles Lewis Jr. of Little Rock, Ark. has been honored for 50 years of service.

Merchandiser of the year awards were given to Pat McCrate at LaFortune Park Golf Course (public), Chris Hayes of Pleasant Valley Country Club (private) and Barry Howard at Hot Springs Country Club (resort).

Jerry Cozby of Hillcrest Country Club earned the Bill Strausbaugh Award and Bob Phelps of the University of Central Oklahoma earned the Horton Smith Trophy.

Janice Gibson of the First Tee of Tulsa earned the Junior Golf Leader, and Steve Ball of Ball Golf Center was named the Teacher of the Year.

BLEVINS LEAVING SECTION

Lynn Blevins, whose management company, Buffalo Golf, ran Battle Creek Golf Club in Broken Arrow from its inception in 1996 until losing the contract in 2006, has been hired to run two golf course in Ocala, Fla. Blevins will be in charge of the Ocala Golf Club and Pine Oaks Golf Club.

Blevins had been a sales representative for EZ-Go Golf Carts since early in 2006, but was eager to get back into golf course operations.

“It’s what I’ve done for 25 years,” he said.

“This is a great opportunity for me.”

MICKELSON TO ALOTIAN

Phil Mickelson will be the celebrity golfer at this year’s Jackson T. Stephens Charitable Golf Tournament April 24 at The Alotian Club. The tournament benefits Arkansas charities supported by the late Jack Stephens.

The tournament and events surrounding it are by invitation only. A group of children from the Little Rock Air Force Base have been invited to a golf clinic to be conducted by the world’s two-time Masters champion and number two ranked player. Tiger Woods appeared at the event’s debut in 2006.

Harriet and Warren Stephens, founder and president of The Alotian Club, have announced a donation on behalf of the Alotian Club will be made to the Mickelson 6

charity program called “Birdies for the Brave.” Each time Mickelson makes a birdie or an Eagle on the PGA Tour, a donation is made to the Phil and Amy Mickelson Charitable Gift Fund to support Homes for Our Troops and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Those funds benefit the families of US military personnel.

Mickelson’s clinic will be held at the Alotian Club’s 18th hole and will be devoted to the art of chipping the golf ball.

“I have been overwhelmed by the response to this tournament from my personal friends and colleagues who have supported it,” Warren Stephens said. “My dad loved golf and the life lessons the game teaches and he also derived tremendous satisfaction from helping others. This tournament allows his philanthropic work to continue as a tribute to his memory while recognizing the love he had for his home state and the game of golf.”

COOK JOINS BAILEY RANCH

Chris Cook, the former first assistant at Wichita Country Club, has been hired as golf course superintendent at Bailey Ranch Golf Club in Owasso.

Cook is a 2004 graduate of the golf course management program at Kansas State University.

“We will initially focus on maintaining a high quality on our greens with them being firm, fast and consistent,” Cook said. “Our team is going to make the greens at Bailey Ranch the best of any public course in Tulsa,” “We are very excited to have Chris on our management team at Bailey Ranch”, said Director of Golf Corey Burd. “Chris has an outstanding eye for detail and many noticeable improvements have already been made in the short amount of time he’s been here.

We have great expectations for our golf course and Chris is certainly up to the task.”

Cook said his goal is for Bailey Ranch to be one of the top destinations for golfers in Green Country.

2008 EXPO AVAILABILITY

Space reservations and sponsorship positions are available for the 2008 golf and travel expos in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and northwest Arkansas, according to Expos director Tim Landes.

Landes reports the 2007 shows in Tulsa and Oklahoma City were outstanding events, while the Arkansas show was off slightly from 2006 due to a constant rain and severe ice storms in the area.

“Also, frankly we didn’t have enough par-

Golfers shop for bargains at the Oklahoma City expo. ticipation from the area and region in terms of merchandise available and we’ll make sure to remedy that for 2008.”

Sean “The Beast” Fister, three-time world long drive champion, was a special guest at all three expos. Also appearing were Champions Tour golfers David Edwards and Ron Streck, instructor Marshall Smith and many other top instructors.

For information on the 2008 events, go to www.southcentralgolfexpos.com or call 918-280-0787.

TERRITORY EARNS HIGH MARKS

The Territory Golf and Country Club near Duncan, – ranked No. 10 on Golfweek’s “Top 50 Best New Courses” list – has announced that the Southwest Oklahoma Cancer Center will be the charitable beneficiary when the club hosts the 2007 Halliburton Southwest Oklahoma Championship on the Tight Lies Tour event.

The tournament is scheduled July 11-14, 2007 on the 18-hole Randy Heckenkemperdesigned course.

“The Territory is very pleased to get the opportunity to host a stop on the 2007 Tight Lies Tour,” said Tim Johnson, the Territory’s director of golf and general manager. “The Halliburton Southwest Oklahoma Championship will be a good challenge for the players on the tour this year. It will also be a great opportunity for us to show off The Territory to people from outside the area.”

With 26 scheduled events, the Tight Lies Tour is open to any professional or amateur golfer with a handicap of 5 or less who is at least 18 years old. The Tight Lies Tour is one of the nation’s top developmental tours, providing opportunities for successful players to move on to the Nationwide Tour and ultimately PGA Tour.

SCG TO PUBLISH SPECIAL ISSUE

South Central Golf, the official publication of the South Central Section of the PGA of America, is currently working on a unique commemorative edition for the upcoming 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in August.

This special issue will include features on Tiger Woods and many of the game’s top golfers going into the Championship. It will SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

AROUND also feature the background of Southern Hills, as well as the history of previous tournaments hosted by Southern Hills Country Club.

In addition to normal distribution throughout the South Central Section, this special issue will be available at more than 200 locations, including all fine-dining establishments, hotels, and health clubs around the Tulsa Metro Area.

For more information, or to get your company involved in this special issue, please contact Lacy Lewis at 918-280-0787 or lacy@southcentralgolf.com.

BATTLE CREEK EXPANDS PROGRAM Many parents wish their child would learn to play golf. Battle Creek is making it affordable, convenient and fun with the help of former collegiate golfer, Amanda Fisher Fisher has recently been hired to manage the golf instruction programs for all juniors and women at Battle Creek. A former collegiate player at Oral Roberts University, Fisher has also received her LPGA teaching certification.

“My goal as an LPGA member is to grow

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women's and junior golf,” says Fisher.

“I've always had a passion for teaching kids, watching them learn and helping them grow as individuals.

Many junior Amanda Fisher works with Grant golfers have Holley, 4, at Battle Creek. dreams of playing in high school, getting a college scholarship and even playing on the professional tour one day. I want to help them achieve those goals.”

Fisher will organize group lessons limited to five students. Friends are encouraged to sign up together.

“I believe that every parent who enrolls their child in golf at a young age is setting them up for success,” Fisher said. “I can't thank my parents enough for introducing me to this great sport. It has taken me so many places that most people only dream of going.” For more information on the junior and women's golf instruction at Battle Creek, call Fisher at 918-557-8762.

LAFORTUNE PARK SITE OF PLAY GOLF AMERICA DAY

LaFortune Park Golf Course in Tulsa will be the site of a special Play Golf America Day associated with the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club.

On Aug. 6, the Monday of PGA Championship week, close to 200 youngsters will participate in morning clinics which will include performances by a trick shot artist, skills competitions and instruction from the LaFortune Park staff and other area PGA professionals. Each of 40 local charities will sponsor five children to participate in the morning activities.

The public will get a chance to participate in the afternoon. There will be free 10minute golf lessons, another series of exhibitions and clinics, some major manufacturers showing off the latest equipment and other activities.

“It should be a really neat event,” said Pat McCrate, director of golf at LaFortune Park.

“The kids who come over for the clinics in the morning get to go to the practice round for the PGA Championship in the afternoon.”

For more information on the event, call LaFortune Park at 918-596-8627.

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N E W C O U R S E S A N D R E N O VAT I O N S

An artist’s rendering of the planned condo and hotel tower to be built near the tip of Monkey Island at Grand Lake, the centerpiece of the new Peninsula Resort & Club.

Grand plans for Peninsula

By KEN MACLEOD If Oklahoma is to successfully compete with surrounding states for tourism dollars, projects such as The Peninsula Resort & Club on Grand Lake and Pointe Vista at Lake Texoma will be the reasons why.

The two massive projects both hope to break ground this year. Both are counting on the Oklahoma Legislature to provide some tax relief in the form of credits, a prospect to be determined later this spring.

At The Peninsula, sales of condo units planned in the initial $160,000 million development have also begun. Owner Peter Boylan III has said the project must pre-sell 32 units at up to $1.5 million each before his development partner Presidian will commence building the 16-story condo and 150room hotel tower. Also in the initial project will be a 45,0000 square foot conference center, a restaurant, yacht club and marina including dry storage for smaller boats, spa, and possibly a wellness center.

Matt Benn, director of golf at Shangri-La, said there has been tremendous interest in the condo units since promotions began early in the year.

“What we’re finding is the Kansas City market is really fed up with the overcrowding at places like Lake of the Ozarks. Then on the corporate side you have a huge untapped market in northwest Arkansas. A lot of those folks didn’t even know that Grand Lake existed.”

Benn said numerous companies through8

out Oklahoma that are now having meetings and conventions in Branson or Las Colinas, Texas, would return to Oklahoma if the facilities were there.

The Peninsula project, if completed, would go beyond the original grandeur of Shangri-La, which once attracted as many as 100,000 visitors a year. Those facilities were allowed to run down or were sold off piece meal by previous owners. The former lodge and guestrooms are being converted to a sales office in which potential condo buyers can step onto a faux balcony, flip a switch and see the lake view on a giant wall projector of any condo they may be considering.

Benn’s pro shop will also be housed there while the towers are being constructed. The hotel and condo towers are located where the former fitness facilities were, while the convention center location will remain the same.

From a golf standpoint, little will change during the initial phase. If all goes as planned, the Gold Course, currently wedged onto 80 acres, will be consolidated to nine new holes built around several mid-level condo towers. A second nine will be built on land to the north of the current maintenance barn. The consolidation and the new nine will be handled by Bland Pittman of Pittman-Poe @ Associates in Tulsa.

The Blue Course will remain the flagship course for the facility and recent upgrades in equipment and maintenance have the course in prime condition.

Benn said three factors are crucial to the development’s success. One is the presale of the 32 condo units and there has been great interest in that. The second is approval by the Federal Energy & Regulatory Commission on the resort’s request for an expanded marina. The third is the tax incentive plan.

Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, a staunch supporter of The Penisula, unsuccessfully tried to push through a $30 million tax incentive plan in 2006. This year he is waiting for legal teams for The Peninsula and Pointe Vista, the group that has purchased the Lake Texoma resort from the Commissioners of Land Office, to present a plan on how to pursue the tax credits in this legislative session, which concludes in May. “It will probably go into the tax package bill that we look at in the last month,” Cox said. “At this point the legal people from each project are working with each other to come up with a plan to present to us.

“I would like to see both projects succeed. In this case, I think one plus one equals three for the state of Oklahoma.”

Randy Heckenkemper, architect of the Chickasaw Pointe course at Lake Texoma, said he is currently working on a redesign of the course to accommodate plans for the resort and condos at what will be called Pointe Vista Resort. He expects construction on the resort and re-routing of the golf course to commence in the fall of 2007.

EMERALD FALLS GOLF CLUB

One section project that has generated much curiosity and anticipation is the upscale Emerald Falls, located several miles east of Forest Ridge, which has long been recognized as the flagship of upscale daily fee courses in the section.

Can a similarly priced course (anticipated greens fees are $75 weekends, $65 weekdays including cart and range balls) within five miles generate the play necessary to pay bills and sell real estate, as more than 650 lots are available?

The Oklahoma-based ownership group is betting on it.

“We know we’ve got to provide something unique,” said Director of Golf Operations Billy Neal, who knows something about customer service having worked for the Landmark team at PGA West. “We’ve got a great layout, and our conditioning and customer service will set us apart.”

Some of those touches Neal mentioned will include greeters in the parking lot and bottled water provided on the carts. The course will be the first in Oklahoma to have the acclaimed Zorro zoysia, with an extremely fine blade, on the fairways, with SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

N E W C O U R S E S A N D R E N O VAT I O N S Meyer zoysia in the rough. The greens have been seeded with a blend of A-1 and A-4 bent grasses, the same grasses used at Southern Hills.

Superintendent Tim Schaefer, who previously was an assistant at Spring Creek Ranch in Memphis, said the grasses alone will help set Emerald Falls apart.

For now, Schaefer and his crew have their work cut out getting all those grasses –fairways, roughs, tees, greens, as well as fescue waste areas that were not planted by late March, in shape for a July 1 opening.

“Yes, there’s a lot left to be done,” said Neal, who pointed out that the snow and ice that limited rounds at other courses also hurt them as far as construction days. “We need some rain and some warm nights and everything will start filling in.”

The fairways and roughs were sodded, mostly last summer and fall. After a few heavy rains, it became apparent that some drainage channels had to change and more bridge work was needed.

Extensive practice facilities and a driving range are also under construction near the area where the future clubhouse will be built. For now, the pro shop and sales offices are combined in a tasteful remake of what was the clubhouse for Deer Run, the previous 36-hole facility which was bulldozed to make way for Emerald Falls.

Jerry Slack, who designed the course, has said it is his best work. At first glance, it looks to be quite a test of golf, with smallish greens in some difficult and scenic settings.

The five holes built on land to the west that was purchased and includes more trees and elevation change have a chance to be spectacular if set up fairly, although a few more

Mel Root

Renovation of the 11th hole at Willow Creek. trees may have to be judiciously removed.

For more information on Emerald Falls, call 918-266-2600 or visit emeraldfalls.com.

WILLOW CREEK COUNTRY CLUB

An extensive renovation is ongoing this spring at Willow Creek Country Club in Oklahoma City, including redoing nine greens, 12 tee boxes and the irrigation system.

The renovation includes stretching two of the course’s par-4s into par-5s and expanding the average green size by nearly 2,000 square feet. The greens will still average between 3,500 and 4,000 square feet, small by contemporary standards, but much roomier than those to which the members were accustomed.

Willow Creek, which opened in 1952, was built on just 110 acres. The course was a par-70 at just over 6,400 yards, it will now be a par-72 at more than 6,600 yards.

Some of the changes being made by golf architect Mark Hayes involve: • No 3, formerly a par-4, will now tee off from the old No. 2 tee, stretching the hole by

90 yards. A new position for the green adds a few more yards and to the difficulty.

• No. 17, formerly a long north-south par4 at about 440 yards, is now a risk-reward par-5 of 500 yards.

• On the 385-yard par-4 11th hole, the fairway has been turned more to the south and west, making for a sharper dogleg. The green has tripled in size and water has been brought into play in front.

The changes include four greens on the front nine and five on the back. Shaping, being done by Chambers Construction, should be done in early April and the green seeded with a planned reopening in the middle of June.

The expansion of the other nine greens will take place within five years. Willow Creek expanded its clubhouse and golf shop last year, a project which was completed in June.

JIMMIE AUSTIN OU GOLF COURSE

The Jimmie Austin University of Oklahoma course has a new leader and will soon have a new look as well.

Rodney Young, former general manager of the Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, Calif., is the director of golf, replacing Stan Ball, who is now the head professional at Topeka Country Club Young, a native of Enid who played golf at Cameron from 1987-90, was an assistant pro at Oakwood Country Club in Enid for less than three years. He has spent the past 13 years in California, including stops at Rancho LaQuinta and Mission Hills as well as Desert Willow.

Although he was content on the West Coast, with two children ages 9 and 13 in

Cottonwood Hills GC to open in June HUTCHINSON -- Cottonwood Hills Golf Club is two months away from a June grand opening. The Zoysia fairways and Crenshaw bentgrass greens are greening up quite nicely for nine holes in play and nine holes to be opened to the public June 23.

Cottonwood Hills, a public fee public course, is eight miles from Hutchinson and 35 miles from Wichita.

Superintendent Ron Lewis said he’s investing most of his time preparing the new holes for play. Several tees have to be reseeded on the new nine holes.

He said most of the land needs more time for all the various grasses to mature. The greens, fairways and grassy areas near the fairways and greens require different main-

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

tainance.

“Zoysia depends on the right temperatures, but with a little bit of rain, everything should work out great,” said Lewis, who came from Stone Mountain Golf Course in Georgia. “We’re putting fertilizer down. It will require quite a bit of work. It’s one of those projects where you’re never really ever completely finished with a new golf course. There is a lot of maturing with a new golf course.”

Lewis said first reviews of the greens have been positive. He can’t get the greens too fast because of the undulations. He’s working with a crew of six people that should double by midsummer.

“The condition of the greens don’t con-

cern me because they will be in pure condition,” he said. “As the course matures, you will be true putting surfaces. I’m really excited about how the course is coming along.”

Nine holes that were in close proximity to the course’s irrigation lake and pump station were opened last fall. Jeff McCormick, director of golf, said the initial response has been positive. The links-style terrain offers changes in elevation and gently rolling sand dunes that reminds players of seaside courses.

“It is terrain that is exactly like Prairie Dunes with a much more modern design,” McCormick said. “Prairie Dunes is a classic, Please see COTTONWOOD Page 32

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school, he became interested in applying for the position (which attracted more than 80 applicants nationwide) after friends urged him to throw his hat in the ring.

“You don’t want to rock a smooth sailing ship, but the more I thought about the quality of life, the opportunity to come back and be around friends and family and to be involved in the University and the quality of life, I thought it was the right move,” Young said.

Young did attend OU for one year before transferring to Cameron. He will be now be fully immersed as Jimmie Austin is where the Sooners practice and play. It also boasts one of the nation’s larger junior programs.

“I’m getting a grip on all the different programs we run here,” he said. “Stan did an excellent job with the whole facility. I’m following where he’s taken it and seeing what areas can improve.”

One area that can improve is the course, which will shut down Aug. 14 for a renovation that will include all new greens, which will be expanded back to their original size from the Bob Cupp renovation 11 years ago.

The greens had suffered in recent years from a severe Poa Annua infestation and the course has instituted a strong pre-emergent program to combat the poa.

Bunker improvements, creek and bridge work and some other minor improvements will be made while the course is shut down until late November or early December. The course will then have more than a year to get in top form before it hosts the 2009 U.S. Public Links Championship.

NORTH HILLS COUNTRY CLUB, SHERWOOD, ARK. A sale to a developer who plans to turn this 105-acres Robert Trent Jones redesign into a housing development has some property owners and members at North Hills in an uproar.

Protests have been flooding into city hall and various plans to have the city or other groups purchase the club have been proposed since it was announced in early March that the new owners planned to sell the land to developers.

Ron Campbell, one of the new owners, told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal that he would allow the city to make an offer, but that other groups are ready to begin development of frontage property.

If it closes, North Hills would be the second golf course in Pulaski County to be redeveloped. Western Hills Country Club in southwest Little Rock was recently purchased by a group called Western Hills Properties, LLC, for $825,000 and the group plans to use the land for development. The golf course has already been closed.

North Hills was redesigned by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1980.

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Stillwater courses feeling effects of newest addition

By TIM LANDES The opening of Links Golf & Athletic Club as the fifth 18-hole course in a metro area of more than 40,000 – but about half of them college students -- has sent ripples of concern spreading to its competitors in the Stillwater, Okla., market.

OK, they’re not sweating at Karsten Creek, which sets its green fees ($275) in order to ward off excess play. The others – Lakeside Memorial Golf Course, Stillwater Country Club and Cimarron Trails in nearby Perkins – have felt the effects of the newest course, which expanded to 18 holes on July 1 of 2006.

Depending on their ecomomic health, cities of 40,000 in this region have successfully supported two courses, but often struggled with the third. Examples are in Enid, where Pheasant Run is still struggling to catch on as the third wheel to Meadowbrook (public) and Oakwood Country Club. In Hutchinson, Kan., Prairie Dunes (private) and Carey Park (public) have done great, while a third course has changed names and owners numerous times. Now, with Cottonwood Hills, a fourth is being added to that market as well.

When Links opened in Sept. 2005, there were only nine holes and the course was available to the public. Since the addition of the other nine holes last summer, the course became private, making it only available to apartment dwellers, members, anyone living more than 20 miles away from Stillwater and residents of other Lindsey golf courses, which is now 32 courses in eight states.

Annual membership fees are $1,250 plus tax, but Links also offers a monthly membership fee of $125 plus tax.

“We’re doing really well. We’ve picked up a lot of players from the other cours-

ARKANSAS STATE PARKS

The back nine holes at DeGray Lake Resort State Park will be closed May 14 for a project that includes coring out and rebuilding all nine greens. The new greens will have Tif-Eagle Bermuda grass surfaces.

The new greens are projected to open Aug. 1, according to Director of Golf Chris Snodgrass. Work on the cart paths should

es,” said Links director of golf Blake Dergan. “We now have 250 members. The amount of rounds are down, but we’re making a profit.

“I’m pleased with it. We’ll see at the end of summer compared to last summer, since it will be a year since we expanded to 18 holes, but I think it will be a good year.”

Lakeside Memorial has noticed the addition of Links due in large part to the courses’ proximity to each other.

Lakeside is located less than a mile north of Links.

While the course met its average of 30,000 rounds last year, head professional Fred Forbes said the course has lost many of its “members,” which are those that pay annual green fees and cart memberships to play the public course at their convenience. They start at $788 a person, but Forbes said there are many memberships, which include five-day passes, and memberships for families of two, three and four.

“Stillwater is definitely oversaturated,” Forbes said. “It’s been steady and rounds were increasing until the winter, but the Links affected us more than anything by taking our memberships.”

While Lakeside has been heavily impacted, Stillwater Country Club head professional Dan Pryor said his course has not been hurt as much when it comes to losing memberships, but from gaining new members. Initiation to Stillwater CC is $2,500 and dues are $250 a month.

“They’ve had some affect on our memberships, but not greatly,” Pryor said.

“We’ve stayed pretty much at 24,000 rounds the last couple of years, but our problem is we’re not getting any growth.

“Just a few years ago, we were averaging right at 32,000 a year.”

Cimmaron Trails head professional Please see STILLWATER, Page 32 be completed by early November. The greens on the front nine will be closed for renovation in mid-February and should reopen in late April, 2008.

Snodgrass said the course will also be renovating the practice green and expanding the driving range. The interior of the pro shop will be remodeled.

Work on the Village Creek State Park Please see COURSES, Page 12 SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

COURSES

Continued from page 10

project along Crowley’s Ridge near Wynne in eastern Arkansas continues, with a projected soft opening in the fall and official grand opening in the spring of 2008.

The course will be sprigged with 419 Bermuda fairways this spring, while the greens will be seeded with Miniverde Bermuda.

Brant Enderle, the managing partner in Village Creek Resorts, the entity which is leasing the course from the state of Arkansas and will be providing management services and building the facilities, detailed the plans, which have been scaled back. Plans now are to build 17 villas along three holes on the course, each of which will have two units of approximately 550 square feet. A conference center will not have any lodging, but will contain the pro shop, meeting space, a restaurant and small spa.

“We’ve scaled it back to a level the financial markets were comfortable with,” Enderle said.

Village Creek Resorts, through the assistance of the Cross County Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development Corp., was able to secure a loan of approimately $7 million for the scaled-back plans after failing to secure the $15 million to build the facility as originally planned.

The course, designed by Andy Dye, son of Roy Dye and nephew of Pete Dye, is reported to be dramatic, with sweeping elevation changes along the ridge and all the Dye family flair and use of natural contours golfers would expect.

“It’s going to be a beautiful course, but hard from the back tees at about 7,400 yards,” Enderle said. “We have five sets of tees and you’ll want to play it from the right set for your game.”

Oliphant Golf Construction is building the course. Greg McDaniel, former superintendent at Sage Meadows Golf Course in Jonesboro, has been hired as the course superintendent.

The course will be priced at between $75 and $95 per round, with the villas expected to rent from between $225 to $275 per night.

The course should draw well from Memphis, but will also be marketed throughout Arkansas and the region.

The state park itself offers camping, rental cabins, tennis courts, horse trails, hiking trails and two lakes for fishing and swimming.

MOUNTAIN RANCH GC

PGA professional Rory Bradley and a group of private investors that owned Tannenbaum Golf Course in Drasco, Ark., have purchased Mountain Ranch Golf Course in Fairfield Bay, thereby bringing into the fold what was once their main competitor for rounds on Greers Ferry Lake.

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Bradley, now director of golf and general manager at Mountain Ranch, said that though his group does not own any lodging at Mountain Ranch, he has access to cabins and condos on the lake. He hopes golfers will come to the region and play both courses. Fairfield Bay Country Club also has lodging available.

Bradley said Mountain Ranch was in good shape when purchased from Links Corp., for whom he previously had worked for three years.

“Dickie Tynes, the superintendent, does a fantastic job, but his hands have been tied the past two or three years,” Bradley said “We plan on pumping some major dollars into the course.”

That will begin with a green renovation project set to start in September. The new greens will be seeded with SR 10-20, which holds up better in the heat than the existing grass.

Bradley said he hopes to attract visitors from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. For more information on Mountain Ranch, call 501-884-3400.

TERRADYNE COUNTRY CLUB

Terradyne Country Club is well along in its reincarnation. The luxurious structure on the east edge of Andover, a Wichita suburb, no longer bills itself as a resort and country club. The building, which originally contained some 40 hotel rooms, is being remodeled as upscale office space.

According to Craig Smith, CS Ventures LLC manager, 8,000 square feet of the 20,000 square feet available has been leased, even though the conversion started in earnest only last fall.

Although there are no bedrooms in the Terradyne clubhouse, the club has packages which allow golf privileges with three Wichita Marriott facilities, the Courtyard in Old Town, Residence Inn and Towne Place Suites on the east side of Wichita.

A new practice area, with three holes, pitching greens and driving range are being completed and will open sometime this summer. The practice area will be surrounded by 42 townhouses. When the new area is opened, the old driving range will be the site of 22 new homes, whose owners will be offered club privileges, along with the townhouse residents.

Smith said part of the enormous building is also being converted to a world-class spa, with exercise and massage facilities, a dance studio and retail space for clothing and equipment. The club restaurant was remodeled and reopened March 13 with a bar and dining room, which are open to the public.

There were no changes on the club’s links style golf course, a demanding layout with a par of 71 and a course raing of 75.1. It was designed by Don Secrest and opened in 1985.

Mal Elliott contributed to this report.

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2007 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Tulsa strives to provide consistent message

By KEN MACLEOD When a PGA Tour golfer checks with his cabbie, his bellhop or his bartender about what there is for his family to do in Tulsa while he’s pursuing the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club, the following is not the correct answer: “Uh, there’s really nothing to do here.”

That doesn’t do the golfer any good. And it certainly doesn’t help Tulsa or its image.

We may not have San Antonio’s Riverwalk or even (gulp) Oklahoma City’s Bricktown, but there are plenty of activities, both family and for the single set, that would be of interest. Those include world class museums, and gardens, a wonderful mix of golf courses, the Tulsa Zoo and Jenks Aquarium, River Parks and Riverwalk Crossing, a thriving music scene to fit most tastes, horse racing and casinos for the gambling types. And, of course, there are exceptional restaurants, shops, and plenty of movie theaters and books stores.

Or, if one prefers to gawk at mansions, Tulsa has more than just about anywhere else, a testament to how much house you can build for the buck in this part of the country.

No matter what the visitor prefers, we’ll be depending on the “front line” of greeters to our city to effectively convey that message. Training sessions will be held this spring to help those in the travel, hospitality, food and other service industries help brand Tulsa as a place that is “comfortably cosmopolitan.” As many as 225 workers will take the first round of training sessions April 26-27.

The brand was suggested after research by the communications firm Littlefield at the behest of the Tulsa Metro Chamber’s Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. Suzann Stewart, vice president of the CVB, said it is now the CVB’s task to teach the front line hospitality workers about the brand and how it can help fulfill Tulsa’s promise.

And what exactly is that brand? Who are we? According to one paragraph from the training materials: “A trip to Tulsa provides the visitor an opportunity to enjoy the intimacy, the surprising sophistication and the fusion of a city that was built by oil barons. It is a welcoming city, one that is comfortably cosmopolitan.”

This approach is not going to necessarily increase the projected impact to the city of having the PGA Championship. The impact from the 2001 U.S. Open was $40 million and this could do as well. Hopefully, our visitors this time will leave with a positive SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

Exhibit opens; volunteers needed for PGA A traveling exhibit of PGA Championship artifacts and memorabilia will be on display at the Tulsa Historical Society from April 3 through the week of championship Aug. 6-12.

Titled, “A History of the Season’s Final Major”, the exhibit reveals the history and tradition of the PGA Championship and its 88 past champions. “We are pleased to have been selected as the host site for the PGA’s Championship Exhibit. Having previewed the collection, we are certain it will capture the interest of golfers and non-golfers alike,” said Edward C. Lawson, Jr., President Emeritus of the Tulsa Historical Society.

Featuring acclaimed memorabilia such as Jack Nicklaus’ putter after capturing the 1980 PGA Championship, Phil Mickelson’s wedge that clinched his victory on the 18th hole in 2005, a straw hat worn by Sam Snead and the legendary Walter Hagan’s walking stick, the PGA Championship Exhibit traces the history of the event, from the very first Championship in 1916, won by Jim Barnes, to last year’s triumph by Tiger Woods.

The PGA Championship Exhibit - "A History of the Season’s Final Major"debuted in Louisville in 2000, and continues to travel to locations in advance of future PGA Championship sites. The exhibit will be on display at the Tulsa Historical Society, 2445 South Peoria Avenue in Tulsa, from April 3 - Aug. 1.

Regular museum hours have been extended for this special exhibit: Tuesdays 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Wednesday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Admission is free to the public.

Once again, Tulsans have responded to the call for the massive amount of volunteers needed to properly execute a major championship, Tournament Director Ryan Jordan said By late March, more than 3,800 had signed up to work in various capacities impression that they’ll carry into the country at large. Who knows what the benefits could be, but there will be a lot of influential business leaders in town for this event.

“It’s going to be an exciting time to be here,” Stewart said. “We want it to be a

PGA EXHIBIT “A History of the Season’s Final Major” What: A collection of PGA Championship memorabilia When: Open through Aug. 12; Times are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays Where: Tulsa Historical Society, 2445 South Peoria, Tulsa, OK Admission: Free at the event. Jordan said they were still looking for a few more to help with transportation and with a few other committees.

Ticket sales were also brisk. For the Wannamaker Tent, there is a limit of 7,500 available and more than 4,000 had been sold. The capacity for the course is 35,000 per day and Jordan said whether availability becomes a problem could depend largely on what happens in the golf world in the next few months.

“If Tiger Woods wins the Masters and U.S. Open and British Open and comes here looking to complete a Grand Slam, it will be completely crazy,” Jordan said.

Otherwise, considering the heat, crowds of more than 20,000 per day would probably be considered about average.

Corporate sales were also moving along, with about 85 percent of capacity sold by late March. That included nearly 50 chalets and 110 corporate tables.

Jordan said the vast majority of the corporate sales went to Tulsa or Oklahomabased companies.

“We have a few from out-of-state, but on the corporate side this is one of the biggest things to come to Tulsa. This is the thing to do. You’ve got the biggest star athletes in the world at a time when he’s playing some of his best golf. You just don’t want to miss it.”

For more information on tickets, go to www.2007pga.com. memorable experience for our guests. We don’t want them to feel like a tourist, but like a guest in our home. We’re going to pull out all the stops to make sure they leave with that feeling and want to come back for more.”

13

LPGA SEMGROUP CHAMPIONSHIP

New spring in their steps

Photos by Mel Root/Illustration by James Royal

SemGroup Championship defending champ Cristie Kerr hoists the tournament trophy after winning the 2006 event. (Top L to R) Annika Sorenstam is looking to regain the title, while Stacy Prammansudh, Karin Sjodin and Paula Creamer (yet to committ) will be among the top contenders for 2007 crown at Cedar Ridge Country Club.

A switch to May could prove popular and permanent for the SemGroup Championship

By TIM LANDES When the LPGA returns to Broken Arrow, many things will be different from the previous years.

While the tournament will be held at Cedar Ridge Country Club, the event has moved from August to May 4-6, the name 14

has changed to the SemGroup Championship presented by John Q. Hammons, the purse has increased to $1.4 million and the defending champion is Cristie Kerr.

Due to the 2007 PGA Championship being played at Southern Hills in August, tournament officials decided to move the SemGroup Championship to the spring, which could also create a larger gallery.

“The part I'm looking forward to is there should be more people,” said second-year tour player Karin Sjodin, who graduated from Oklahoma State. “There is no college football to contend with, which is big in Oklahoma.

“I know I will have more of my friends there, which will be nice.”

In an attempt to draw larger crowds, the tournament is being promoted on billboards in the Tulsa area, and tickets are being sold at area Reasor's as well as online at www.semgroupchampionship.com. Until April 17, 2-for-1 weekly ground badges will be available at Reasor's for $50.

Tournament director Doug Eibling said future dates for the event could be determined by attendance numbers, which he said he expects could be higher than in the past.

“It could be very big for us,” Eibling said.

“If we knock it out of the park, so to speak, SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

SEMGROUP CHAMPIONSHIP LPGA we could talk to SemGroup and the LPGA about moving it to the spring on a permanent basis.

“If the trend is that way, it is something we'll definitely pursue.”

While current points leader Stacy Prammanasudh said it would be nice to have bigger galleries, she might lean toward keeping the event in the fall.

“I wouldn't mind it being in the fall. Cedar Ridge is a difficult course without the wind, and we all know that spring in Tulsa means wind,” said the former standout of the University of Tulsa. “Also, with the later date, it is nice to have an event in your backyard after being on the road all summer.”

Sjodin enters the 2007 SemGroup Championship as a first-time member of Team SemGroup, which is comprised of many stars of the LPGA battling in a seasonlong points race to earn $25,000 for their chosen charity.

Sjodin is joined by Prammanasudh, tournament defending champ Kerr, rising star Natalie Gulbis, Helen Alfredsson, Christina Kim and Karin Koch, who are all in the event's field.

“It's great to be a part of it,” Sjodin said.

“It's made up of accomplished players, and it's great to be among those names this early in my career.”

In last fall's event, Sjodin was briefly atop the leaderboard after completing her second round, and she said she credits that round as her main confidence booster going into this year's SemGroup Championship.

“It feels good,” Sjodin said. “It was nice to be there, but now I need to stay there.

“For me, it's about winning the tournament. The money is the bonus. Obviously, it would be nice to earn the money, but for me it would be great to win my first tournament in front of my friends.”

For Sjodin to win, she will have to outlast a field that is slated to include Kerr -- who shot a course-record 61 to help her win the event last year - standings leader Prammanasudh.

“Well, it is really nice to be at the top, but it is very difficult to stay there, so if I am still there in October then I will be ecstatic,” said Prammanasudh about her early lead. “I am playing well and am looking forward to the Tulsa event.

“It always a little tougher playing at home, but the support from all the fans is great. It

FAN FACTS 2007 SEMGROUP CHAMPIONSHIP Cedar Ridge Country Club 10302 S. Garnett Rd. Broken Arrow, OK 74012 P a r : 71 Y a r d a g e : Will play between 6,600 and 6,300 yards daily P a r k i n g : Complimentary parking with continuous shuttle to the course at 91st and Garnett.

SCHEDULE M o n d a y : Practice round; open to public T u e s d a y : Practice round W e d n e s d a y : Pro-Am T h u r s d a y : Pro-Am F r i d a y : Day 1 of SemGroup Championship; Windstream customers receive complimentary tickets by presenting bill; TV: 2-4 p.m. ESPN2 S a t u r d a y : Day 2 of SemGroup Championship; junior clinic at the driving range at 4 p.m.; TV: 2-4 p.m. ESPN2 S u n d a y : Final round of SemGroup Championship; TV: 2-4 p.m.

ESPN2 R e s t r i c t i o n s : No cameras, cell phones or food & beverages during the tournament.

Tickets are available at all area Reasor’s as well as online at www.semgroupchampionship.com.

Tee times: www.PlayTulsa.com

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15

LPGA SEMGROUP CHAMPIONSHIP

Stacy P. gets off to hot start in ‘07

By KEN MACLEOD From the time she was 11 and began winning state junior championships but did not compete on the American Junior Golf Association tour due to family finances, Stacy Prammanasudh has flown a bit under the nation’s golf radar.

That has continued, even through a career in which she was a four-time All-American at the University of Tulsa (1999-2002) and onto the LPGA Tour, where she’s quickly established herself as one of the top 25 female golfers in the world, become a two-time tour winner and this year is the second leading money winner with a victory and three other top 10s in her first five events.

Golf aficionados know of her talents. The general public, however, hears much more about Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressel and a few other young guns the LPGA has promoted heavily.

“I am not talked about as much as other players, but if I continue to play well that may change,” Prammanasudh wrote in a recent e-mail interview. “It’s too bad the media focuses so much on just a few select players when there are numerous girls on tour that have a lot to offer.”

Stacy P., as she is known to friends and fans in the Tulsa area (she lives in Broken Arrow with husband and caddie Pete Upton) and in her hometown of Enid, may make herself a household name, or at least a household abbreviation, the way she is playing this year.

Not that she had a bad year in 2006, finishing 18th on the money list with over $653,000 in earnings, but she struggled with her putter and her ballstriking was not as consistent as she would like. And so in the

will be really nice to be playing at home.”

Also committed to the field is Morgan Pressel, who is coming off a victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, making her the youngest player (18) to win a major.

LPGA veteran Laura Davies and rookie Angela Park are also in the field.

After ending the 2006 seaon by winning $1 million at the ADT Championship, 20-year-old Julieta Granada is coming back to Cedar Ridge.

Another notable entry is Georgia sophomore Taylor Leon – sister of OSU golfers Trent and Tyler Leon – who has earned a sponsorship exemption. Leon was a 2006 All-American and SEC Player of the Year.

While 24 of the top 30 players have already committed, it's not official Sorenstam will 16

offseason, Prammanasudh did something she had never done before, take a formal golf lesson from a professional instructor. She had learned the game from her father Lou, who was self-taught.

She met noted instructor Bill Harmon, the director of golf at Toscana CC in Indian Wells, Calif., at the 2006 U.S. Open. He gave Stacy a tip on her grip and she went on to finish tied for third.

“That really changed my season,” Prammanasudh said. “I saw him for two days in December and two more days in January and February. We are working on shortening and tightening my swing. It is quite different, but I think it will be best for the long run.”

It certainly has been great in the short run. She won the Fields Open in Hawaii while celebrating her anniversary with Pete. She did it with rounds of 6668-68, then followed with a tie for third in the MasterCard Classic. She was two shots behind the winner in the season’s first major, the Kraft Nabisco.

The changes this year also include having Upton on the bag, as Lou decided to retire after lugging the clubs across the country for three years.

“Pete wanted to give caddying a try and Dad wasn’t exactly running around all these courses, so we thought we would give it a try,” Prammanasudh said. “It seems to be working out and I don’t dread leaving home as much anymore. But yes, you definitely have to leave the golf at the course, or it would make for a really long week.”

One other thing Prammanasudh would like to change this year is her record in events in Tulsa since she turned professional. She has not played poorly, but has not often been in contention in the final round.

“Playing at home is definitely one of the toughest weeks,” she said. “I do put more pressure on myself, just because you know everyone is expecting you to do great and it’s tough.”

return to Broken Arrow after announcing she is cutting back on the amount of LPGA events in which she participates. Eibling said tournament officials are confident the world's No. 1 female golfer will be looking to regain her tournament title.

“We have not heard anything official yet, but we're pretty optimistic she will be back,” Eibling said. “She loves it here. She's had success here, so we think she will be back.

“The field will start taking shape the last four weeks and there will be updates along the way.”

Also committed are former University of Tulsa star Kelly Robbins, who is still trying to recover her form after injuries; and Kellie Kuehne, whose swing coach is Cedar Ridge

Director of Instruction Tracy Phillips.

Kerr said there is no doubt why Sorenstam and the rest of the LPGA's top players continue to compete in the SemGroup Championship.

“Well Tulsa and this golf course at Cedar Ridge is one of the best we play,” Kerr said.

“It's a U.S. Open golf course and the conditions always make it play like a major championship. I think that's why it draws the great players.

“The great players want to test themselves against the best field and the best conditions and that is why we come to Tulsa.”

For updates on the SemGroup Championship field as the tournament nears, visit www.southcentralgolf.com.

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

LPGA SEMGROUP CHAMPIONSHIP

Like father, like son

From Stillwater Country Club to Cedar Ridge, the Wootens’ hard work provides the level of conditioning golfers appreciate

By KEN MACLEOD The stories started the day he was hired -Jan. 16, 2006. Jared Wooten, on the job as superintendent at Stillwater Country Club for less than a day, was already hearing tales about the legendary superintendent of 20 years earlier, a man who made Bermuda grass curl and bent grass straighten with just a jab of his green thumb.

“The first two months, all I would hear every day is ‘Oh, Mike Wooten was the greatest superintendent who ever lived,’ ” said Jared.

“It’s slowed down a little now – finally.”

“It’s amazing how 20 years can enhance your reputation,” says the father. “Everyone’s bad memories fade and the good ones remain.”

The tales of the father’s exploits have been replaced by a growing wonderment at the accomplishments of the son, who in just 15 months has the membership convinced the course is already in the best shape it’s been since Mike Wooten left in 1986 to become the superintendent at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow.

“They (the members) are just thrilled with Jared,” said Steve O’Neil, who holds memberships at both Cedar Ridge and Stillwater CC. “I hear them say all the time that the greens are in the best shape they’ve ever been in. He’s added low-cut chipping areas at most of the holes. He has grass coming up in areas that were virtually unplayable before. And his treetrimming program has been tremendous. That will make the biggest impact out of everything he’s done.”

The elder Wooten built his legacy from 1982 to 1986. It was his first job as a head superintendent after training as an assistant to Steve Wilcoxen at Ponca City Country Club, and he made an impact with an aggressive maintenance program that soon had the course flourishing as never before.

Alas for Stillwater, Wooten went to Cedar Ridge in 1986, where he’s been ever since, building on his reputation as one of the most talented and hard-working superintendents in the region.

Former OSU golf coach and current athletic director Mike Holder tried to woo Wooten back when he was building Karsten Creek, but the membership at Cedar Ridge stepped forward with a hefty raise to keep him after

18

head professional Buddy Phillips asked Wooten to make a list of some of the extra values he had provided above and beyond his directives. The list took up three legal-sized sheets.

That work ethic can be hard to fathom.

Mike Wooten estimates he’s taken off 21 days in those 21 years where he didn’t stop by the course at least for a few minutes or talk to anyone at the course.

Jared soon learned that if he wanted to spend time with dad, Cedar Ridge was the place to do it. He began learning the ropes in grade school and was a seasonal employee by age 14. Though his father urged him to look around when determining his career path, it was set long ago.

“By the time I was done with high school, I had worked every summer on a golf course and had pretty much come to the realization that I was going to do this,” Jared said. “But I’m not an inside person, so this was a good fit for me.”

Like his father, Jared attended Oklahoma State and went through the turfgrass program.

Unlike Mike, he knew when he went there what he wanted to do.

Mike, on the other hand, bounced from major to major and college to college. He started at Eastern State in Wilburton in 1971, transferred to Connors State, then to Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, then to OSU in 1977. Along the way he studied animal science, plant science, math and journalism before settling on turfgrass management as his major. He also spent time working jobs in carpentry, electrical and plumbing, all good training for the many hats worn by a superintendent.

During college, a friend introduced him to golf and he was soon hooked. He also had found something that combined his interest in science and his love of the outdoors.

Fortunately, those loves were transferred to Jared.

“If he was a banker, we definitely wouldn’t have as much to talk about,” Mike said. “As it is, we talk all the time.”

“We talk constantly,” Jared said. “We toss around ideas, discuss what we’re doing. He’s one of the best in the business and the reason I got into this was to follow in his footsteps.

It’s nice that we can communicate so well.”

Both father and son regard communication -- with their crew, the membership, the pro

Photo by Ken MacLeod

Jared Wooten, left, and his father, Mike, look over the improvements Jared has made at Stillwater CC.

shop, vendors and more -- as the key to running a successful golf course.

“I’m very approachable and the members know that,” Jared said. “They talk to me all the time. Of course a majority of the members here were here in the early 1980s, so his legend grows all the time. I hear that this was the best golf course in the state when Mike Wooten was here.”

It actually wasn’t too bad when Jared inherited it. Routine maintenance had taken place, but little else. Jared immediately started on a program of extras, including the tree trimming, expanding irrigation, cleaning out swampy and wooded areas and expanding the fescue areas under the trees. It drew rave reviews from visiting professionals when it hosted the South Central Section Western Chapter Championship in September.

“Our greens have improved unbelievably since Jared started,” said Dan Pryor, director of golf since 1983, one years after Mike became superintendent.

“Our members noticed it immediately, along with his efforts to clean up the course and beautify it.”

Jared had worked at Cedar Ridge and The Golf Club of Oklahoma prior to becoming the head superintendent in Stillwater. Pryor said his pedigree certainly influenced the hiring decision.

“Without a doubt what his old man had done here previously was a factor,” Pryor said.

“It was like we were getting two for one. In one year, Jared has this course back on track and now it’s just a matter of whether we can keep him.”

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

SEMGROUP CHAMPIONSHIP LPGA

Kerr’s 61 a shock at tough Cedar Ridge

By KEN MACLEOD Cristie Kerr flirted with a 59 and finished with a 10-under-par 61 in the second round on her way to winning the 2006 John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic.

It was a fantastic round of golf by one of the top LPGA players who that day was making every putt she looked at, including two longer than 50 feet.

That round, along with a first-round 64 by Annika Sorenstam and much lower scoring by the rest of the field compared to previous years, led some to wonder what was going on at Cedar Ridge, long regarded as one of the most demanding golf courses in the region.

After all, this is a course that carries a USGA Slope Rating of 138 (from the back tees).

This is where Jan Stephenson won the 1983 U.S. Open at 6-over-par. That’s right, the rest of the field was higher, most of them stratospherically so.

This is the course where for the local qual-

ifier for the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills, no one in the field broke par and the average score was higher than 80, this from the best amateur golfers in the region. And where for the Trans-Miss Four-Ball Championship, the winning score for 54 holes was just 4-under.

The 61 was a remarkable round, the lowest ever by Kerr and the lowest round of the season to that point on the LPGA Tour. How were Kerr, Sorenstam and others able to go so low at Cedar Ridge?

Several factors combined to create the perfect storm for scoring. One, rains had softened the greens. While they were rolling fast and true, they were certainly receptive to holding shots.

Two, there was no wind, which virtually eliminated the three-inch Bermuda rough as a factor for most of the extremely accurate LPGA pros.

Third and most important, the pins, set by the LPGA tournament staff, were near the center of all 18 greens for each round of the tournament.

Conditions this spring, with firmer, faster

greens, the possibility of wind and hopefully a few more strategic pin placements would restore the challenge of Cedar Ridge.

There were three scores of 65 or better shot in 2006. Twenty golfers finished under par compared to five in 2005 and seven in 2004.

The rough was not expected to be a big factor this spring, but an unusually early growing season for Bermuda has changed that.

Superintendent Mike Wooten said he has mowed fairways four times in March, after not mowing a single time in March in any of his previous 30 years in the golf business.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Wooten said of the early growth. “This is the most Bermuda we’ve ever had this early.”

The rough will still be inconsistent in early May, but it will be much thicker than normal for that time of year.”

Add to that the possibility of wind and firmer greens and it should be more than enough to again make Cedar Ridge one of the most exacting and exciting tests of golf the LPGA golfers will face.

LPGA NWA Championship seeking volunteers for inaugural tournament While the SemGroup Championship is less than a mont h away, many of the tournament officials have been also working on the inaugural NW Arkansas Championship, which will be Sept. 7-9 at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark. “Things are going well,” said tournament director Andy Bush. “We’ve launched the Web site, the volunteer recruitment just kicked off and ticket sales will begin in early May.” For those interested in volunteering the cost is $75, and the package includes a tournament golf shirt, outerwear, hat, volunteer badge that serves as a tournament pass for the entire week, one weekly grounds badge for a friend or family member, breakfast and lunch on work days and one volunteer party invitation. Applications are available at www.lpganwac.com.

Bush said the biggest reason the preparation has been smooth is because of the use of the experienced staff that runs the SemGroup Championship.

“We can use resources and the staff’s Please see NWA, Page 28 SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

19

The great green North

By DAVID R. HOLLAND One discovers just how spectacular the scenery is in the Canadian Rockies when you hear someone from Colorado brag about it.

The Icefields Parkway, Alberta’s northsouth byway from Jasper to Banff national parks via Lake Louise, is a neck-straining journey of unimaginable beauty. It forces you to look upward at the granite-gray craggy mountain tops as you breeze along beside the Saskatchewan River, past the Columbia Icefields and Peyto Lake and near Bow and Crowfoot Glaciers and Athabasca Falls.

It’s one of the world's most spectacular mountain highways, and the peaks seem thousands of feet taller than the many 14,000-foot peaks you see on a similar drive in Colorado. But actually these Canadian mountains are not higher, they just seem that way because they rise from a much lower elevation.

If traffic grinds to a halt, like in Yellowstone National Park, you know tourists are gawking at and photographing a grizzly, black bear, moose, caribou or bighorn sheep.

But I’m not here for the wildlife. I’ve come for the golf courses of The Fairmont Banff Springs and The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, both designed by Stanley Thompson, a legendary Canadian designer who tutored Robert Trent Jones Sr. and teamed with Jones and Donald Ross as founding fathers of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. Like some overachievers in life, Thompson was far from perfect. He died in 1953, not even out of his 50s, broke and alcoholic.

Canada’s premier ritzy hotel chain, Fairmont, actually has a promotion called The Stanley Thompson Trail, which also includes Le Chateau Montebello, the world’s largest cedar-log structure. It is located between Montreal and Ottawa in the province of Quebec. Here you can enjoy the French Canadian culture and tee it up on Thompson’s Le Chateau Montebello Golf Club, designed in 1929. This 6,308-yard, par70 layout features narrow fairways carved into granite shelves and fun elevation changes. Views include the Laurentian Mountains and the historic Ottawa River.

But my favorite is 2,000 miles west in the Rocky Mountains of Canada -- Jasper Park Golf Club, which could be the most pleasing walk in a park you have ever experienced.

The peaks and forests of Jasper National Park encircle you here and the hotel is more

20

D E S T I N AT I O N S

The 16th hole at spectacular Jasper Park Golf Club. like a dude ranch with luxury. Even Alister Mackenzie, designer of Augusta National and Cypress Point, said Jasper Park was the finest course he ever played.

Thompson had a fondness for placing traps in the path of average golfers and he’d probably be upset that today's low-handicappers with superior equipment just boom it over these obstacles that angle out into the fairways. One such fairway bunker is on No. 5, the 480-yard par-5 and another cross bunker on No. 10, rebuilt during a 1994 restoration that used Thompson's original blueprints.

“Putting those original bunkers back on

WHERE TO PLAY Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course banffsprings.com, (403) 762-6801, (800) 441-1414

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club Fairmont.com, (780) 852-6090, (800) 441-1414

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Fairmont.com, (800) 441-1414

Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello Golf Course Fairmont.com, (819) 423-6341

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

the course has made them great holes again," said Director of Golf Alan Carter.

“They are vital, making the fifth a valid par5, and No. 10 a three-shot hole for all but the biggest hitters."

One student of Thompson, John D. Smith, vice president and chair of archives for the Stanley Thompson Society, says Thompson was in the forefront of strategic design and risk/reward options.

“At Banff and Jasper Park I can see his use of camouflage techniques to trick the eye and create confusion in the golfer’s mind," Smith said. “But he designed for the duffer as well as the low-handicap golfer. I think his designs are as enjoyable today as they were when he created them -- thus standing the test of time because they are fun and aesthetically pleasing."

Jasper Park’s most talked-about hole is named ‘Cleopatra,’ a downhill 231-yard par3 with Pyramid Peak framed in the panorama. The tale has been retold over and over that Thompson, waiting on money owed him, designed Cleopatra with a suggestive form of a beautiful woman to antagonize those who had hired him. He later went back and toned down Cleopatra’s curvy shape.

Your senses will come alive on this course, where there are no houses and few fairways where you can even see other golfers. And the four holes, 14-17, that skirt Lac Beauvert, a turquoise-blue glacial lake, will make you want to immediately play this 6,663-yard, par-71 course again.

Banff Springs Golf Course, a 7,083-yard, par-71, was built in 1928, three years after Jasper Park, as an amenity to the historic 770-room hotel that is known planet-wide.

Thompson’s employers, the Canadian Pacific Railway, wanted the best course in the world and the million dollars spent made it the most expensive golf course of its day.

This awesome setting was made famous in the 1954 Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe western, River of No Return, with Marilyn actually teeing it up here and taking lessons. Elk can be spotted on the fairways, along with the occasional bear, and the Bow River thunders along into Bow Falls just before the confluence with the Spray River.

Hole after hole is memorable. The 440yard par-4 14th displays Thompson’s handsome bunkering with high-flashed faces, muscular mounds and shaggy edges. Then as you near the green the swift Bow River appears as does the massive Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, punctuating the scene with its Scottish baronial castle design.

Many a golfer, however, looks upon the par-3 fourth, a 192-yarder named ‘Devil’s Cauldron,’ as his favorite. Mount Rundle dwarfs the scene, towering in the backdrop, over a green encircled by six bunkers. A glacial lake, mottled by a mosaic of rocks on its

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

Watch out for Elk on Banff Springs Golf Course. bottom, fronts the tricky putting surface that slopes from back to front.

The most fun hole, however, might be the back tee at the 15th, a 475-yard par-4. It’s a 180-yard carry over the Spray River to a

wide fairway. When the course originally opened this was the first hole, just below the hotel. A new clubhouse caused the change in routing, but the original clubhouse remains as a casual eatery and watering hole, and this historic first tee is still sitting beside it.

Hospitality is imperative here at the Fairmont choices. The Banff Springs, Jasper Park Lodge and Le Ch‚teau Montebello are four-season luxury resorts with every summer outdoors activity imaginable. Fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding, boating, canoeing, white-water rafting -- name a sport -- even hockey, ice skating, curling, snow-shoeing, dog sledding, cross-country skiing and tobogganing in winter. Close to Banff is another hotel not to miss, the Fairmont Ch‚teau Lake Louise, complete with one of the most astonishing glacial lake views in the world.

All of the hotels have spas and numerous dining choices. In Canada the top restaurants and chefs are found in the resort hotels.

Whether you study golf-course architecture or just want an outing to the great Canadian outdoors, there are countless reasons to make your next golf vacation to Canada, where traditional golf melds with unmatched mountain scenery.

David R. Holland is author of The Colorado Golf Bible and a former sportswriter for The Dallas Morning News.

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Tell your wife that all you did for two weeks was PLAY GOLF. Only this time, it’ll be true.

Hole #2 at Ross Bridge

Alabama has more world-class public courses than any other state in America. So why would you want to go golfing anyplace else?

Let’s start with The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. It’s 24 courses spanning the state, including two brand-new ones at Ross Bridge near Birmingham, and The Shoals near Florence, where you will find the already-famous Fighting Joe course. Both Golf Magazine and Travel+Leisure Golf named it one of their Top 10 best new courses in America.

And while The New York Times called The Trail “some of the best public golf on Earth,” we call it just the beginning. That’s because you’ll find another half-dozen challenging public courses on Alabama’s Gulf Coast.

Like the stunning Kiva Dunes course or Craft Farms, featuring courses designed by Arnold Palmer and Larry Nelson.

And of course, sprinkled throughout the state are other well-known golf destinations like Limestone Springs, Goose Pond Colony, Bent Brook and Lakepoint State Park Resort. Truth is, you and your boys could play here for weeks and never play the same hole twice.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 800-ALABAMA OR LOG ON TO 800ALABAMA.COM.

Preserving the Old Florida Florida development company preserves traditional feel at Southwood, Camp Creek

D E S T I N AT I O N S

By WAYNE MILLS There is a lot of discussion these days about the “Old Florida” and whether or not it exists at all anymore. Well, feel heartened because it does, at least in the northwest portion of the state from Tallahassee to Pensacola.

Much of the reason is because of The St Joe Co., which owns more than 850,000 acres of land across that region including miles of white sand beachfront on the Gulf of Mexico. To put that in perspective, that is an area 10 percent larger than the state of Rhzode Island. St Joe is a real estate development company but it does its business quite differently from clear-cut, bulldoze, carve into postage-stamp lots, pave it and sell it to you as paradise developers that operate in other parts of Florida.

To St Joe, land isn’t just a commodity to exploit for profit, it is a resource to be respected and protected. The company’s idea is more of stewardship than ownership.

St Joe chairman and CEO Peter S. Rummell says, “Our success isn’t measured by what we have built, but through the on-going quality of life we have enabled.”

If you think that is just self-serving hyperbole, maybe Eric Draper, state policy director of Audubon of Florida, will convince you with this comment; “We have been gratified

by St Joe’s response to our input as we have worked together to protect some of northwest Florida’s best natural areas. Many years from now, people will look at what we are doing today and say, “My God, how did they do all of that?”

It is good to know that St. Joe takes the same approach with its golf courses. At present there are golf courses at its Southwood primary residence development in Tallahassee and in conjunction with its vacation-oriented WaterColor and residential WaterSound developments two hours west of Tallahassee, on the Gulf near Santa Rosa Beach.

The centerpiece at Southwood is a Fred Couples-Gene Bates design collaboration masterfully routed over the -- atypical of Florida -rolling countryside and through many stately live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss.

Southwood Golf Club opened in 2002 but has the look and feel of a golf course that has been there for many, many years.

If you are looking for an Old Florida feel, the Southwood course has it for you.

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

Camp Creek is a Tom Fazio course that plays as tough as it looks.

Appropriately Southwood has received accolades from the national golfing media, being named one of “America’s Best New Courses” by Golf Digest and “Best New Upscale Public” courses. GOLF Magazine named it an honorable mention on its “Top Ten You Can Play” in 2003.

Over on the coast St. Joe has created two stunning developments; the WaterColor Inn & Resort and WaterSound. The 60-room, 499-acre WaterColor Inn is the ultimate in casual elegance exuding relaxed sophistication as it overlooks a long stretch of white sand beach and the Gulf of Mexico. It is obvious that every detail has been thought out and executed to perfection. To use a golf analogy; St Joe has a lot of touch. In fact, the firm’s touch at WaterColor is more like that of a diamond cutter than a short-game maestro. The Watercolor Inn’s excellence was recently acknowledged by having received AAA’s Four Diamond Rating.

WaterSound is described as a collection of neighborhoods woven through a former pine plantation and framed by a network of ecologically rich wetlands. WaterSound is closely linked, both in character and in function, to the nearby community of WaterSound Beach. Rich in native understory vegetation such as live oaks, palmettos and indigenous grasses, along with marsh areas and pine stands, WaterSound’s abundant flora provides a dramatic landscape for this developing community.

The golf offering for both WaterColor and WaterSound is a stunning Tom Fazio-

designed layout located a bit inland from both of the residential areas. Camp Creek Golf Club, in fact, has no housing in view as it winds its thought-provoking way through a dune-scape environment.

Camp Creek is not a lot of Fazio eye candy with no challenge, as he is sometimes accused of creating. Quite to the contrary; Camp Creek will test you on every shot with water hazards, waste bunkers, undulating greens grassed in ultra-quick Tifdwarf, plus a ubiquitous Gulf breeze awaiting your preshot considerations. Helping you in those deliberations are highly professional caddies, if requested. Camp Creek had been selected by the United States Golf Association as a May qualifying site for the 2007 United States Open.

LOVE III CONTRIBUTES TO ST. JOE

In a welcome departure from the standard golf course offerings at resort and residential areas, St. Joe brought in PGA Tour veteran and golf-course architect Davis Love III to build a short course. Named The Origins Course, it can play as an executive-type 6 holer or a 9-hole par-3. It is a pleasure to play for families with children, young golfers, seniors, women or beginners who can go out and have a pleasant round without being overwhelmed.

The Origins Course is grassed wall-to-wall in Seashore Paspalum turf which is salt and effluent tolerant while requiring less water.

The ball sits up very nicely in the fairway and rolls true on the greens.

23

FROZEN UNDER

By KEN MACLEOD There are bad days and then there is the day the Bizik family experienced on Jan. 12.

Freezing ice covered and damaged nearly every tree on the Cherokee Grove Golf Course the family had worked so hard to build and maintain.

Vince, the course’s pro and superintendent, was attending a golf expo in northwest Arkansas that day, trying to sell years of accumulated merchandise. His wife Jill had gone to the doctor earlier for tests to see if she had bronchitis. That same day she received the results and they were more chilling than the icy precipitation outside -- lung cancer on her left lung.

“When it rains it pours,” Bizik said. “We’ve certainly had better days.”

A certified superintendent and PGA professional, Bizik runs and maintains Cherokee Grove with help from Jill and few others. He has no maintenance crew beyond himself, finding it easier to do the work than to train and keep help. These two problems, however, were more than even the independent Bizik could face on his own.

While Jill has been taking chemotherapy treatments and depending on doctors for assistance, Vince turned to friends, members and family for help on the massive cleanup required to get Cherokee Grove back in playing condition.

From top to bottom, the ice took its toll on Cherokee Grove, Pryor Creek and McAlester Country Club.

SEVERE WINTER STORM DAMAGES COURSES IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA

“We’ve been doing all we can to get it cleaned up, but it is a big job.”

McAlester Country Club head pro Kelly Byrd

On the damage from this winter’s ice storm

A friend of his son lent bucket trucks and for three days they cut damaged limbs out of trees. Some of his nearly 60 large pecan trees on the course were split in half, while nearly all had damage.

“The members have been great,” Bizik said. “And I’ve had a lot of volunteer help from the industry. Guys like Rick and Rod Nuckolls from Wichita, Gene Abernathy, Jerry Benedict, Pat Tubach, George Glenn and a bunch more, they’ve all come over and helped.

Bizik built Cherokee Grove in 1978 and opened in 1979 and has been the course’s only professional and superintendent since. He survived frozen pipes that flooded the clubhouse in 1983 and other ice storms, but none as damaging as this one.

Still, it could have been worse. Bizik had his greens covered before the storm, did not lose trees that will affect play significantly and had all his damaged limbs in piles ready for burning by early March.

“I’m ready to get this open and get some play in here,” he said at the time. “I haven’t rang the register since Jan. 12.”

That refrain was familiar at golf courses across the section this winter, both those damaged by the path of the ice storm, mainly in southern and northeastern Oklahoma, and those that were just trying to recover from Please see ICE, Page 26

24

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

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ICE

Continued from page 24

more than six weeks of very little play.

Richard Bales, parks director for Tulsa County, estimated his courses lost $50,000 in green fee revenue over normal revenues for January and February. Pat McCrate, who runs the two Tulsa County courses, LaFortune Park and South Lakes, said the two courses combined for 3,000 rounds for the two months. Since 2000, the average was 5,320, except in 2003, when LaFortune Park was closed for repairs.

The ice storm had three distinct results in different areas. In Tulsa, for example, though up to eight inches of ice fell and stayed on the ground for weeks, there was very little tree damage. Just to the east, however, courses in Muskogee, Pryor and further north by Grand Lake had heavy tree damage and a thick layer of ice on the ground.

A third effect was seen further south in McAlester and surrounding towns, where virtually no ice stuck to the roads, but the trees were overloaded by up to 2.5 inches per branch.

“We’ve been doing all we can to get it cleaned up, but it is a big job and we haven’t hired any outside help,” said Kelly Byrd, head professional at McAlester Country Club.

In McAlester, the city helped by allowing the club a special burning permit to start getting rid of the piles of debris. Byrd said the club was spared damage to the greens and clubhouse, but lost a significant amount of food when power was cut for eight days. He said at least 24 trees fell completely to the ground and there was damage to hundreds more.

Dennis Bowman has two courses under his auspices that were damaged – Pryor Creek in Pryor and Cobblestone Creek in Muskogee.

Pryor Creek took by far the bigger blow.

Bowman said it looked like three tornadoes had stayed on the course for an hour when he first inspected it after returning from a family vacation in Texas.

Bowman is another of those rugged individuals certified as both a superintendent and professional. He and his crew had the course cleaned up within weeks. And though he lost tons of limbs, he too lost no trees that will significantly change the way a hole is played and suffered no damage to greens.

For many superintendents who would love to have the time and money to institute major tree-trimming programs, one positive aspect of the storm was that more light and air will be reaching the turfgrass.

Aiding in the recovery for many courses was the early transition to daylight savings time and the phenomenally early spring greenup, which had courses in June condition by the end of March. Many were mowing Bermuda that usually is just beginning to emerge from dornancy. Maybe Mother Nature was trying to even the score.

26

Two PGA Professionals on staff

Tee times taken seven days in advance

Senior Day, Ladies Day and Weekly Scramble

Great for corporate outings

Sports grill open early spring

Discover a hidden gem

Wentz Municipal Golf Course www.PoncaCityOK.com

Call 580-767-0433 For tee times L.A. CANN DRIVE, PONCA CITY, OK

The Territory, Duncan, Okla.

Heckenkemper Golf Course Design a division of Planning Design Group Randy Heckenkemper 5314 South Yale, Suite 710 • Tulsa, OK 74135 Phone (918) 628-1255 • Fax (918) 628-1256 SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

So you really love golf, do you? You play as often as you are able, buy the best equipment you can afford, take lessons from pros, buy the best golf magazines and read the instructions.

But would you haul dirt and sand, plant grass seed, mow grass, lay water lines or tediously pull unwanted plants from the greens? A group of residents of Jetmore, Kan., and vicinity would. They have been doing that kind of labor of love for seven years.

A small army of 50 to 60 volunteers has built four golf holes on a 140-acre tract of land north of Highway 156 on the west edge of Jetmore. It is called Cheyenne Hills Golf Course. They plan to have a nine-hole, grass greens course completed by 2010.

They could do it earlier except that they are using volunteer labor and money from the government Crop Reduction Program to help build the course. If they put part of the land to any kind of use in the next two years, they will have to pay the money back.

That requirement ends in the fall of 2008.

Other money has come from memberships and donations from individuals and businesses.

Jetmore already has a golf course – the Jetmore Country Club, which opened in 1959. It is a nine-hole, sand-green layout six miles south of town.

“Once you have played on grass greens,

Kansas Beat Mal Elliott

For the Love of Golf you never want to go back,” says Larry Steinbring, president of the Cheyenne Hills Golf Course. He and his father run the lumberyard in Jetmore.

In 2008, the country club stockholders plan to sell the country club. They want to keep it one more year because the local high school team competes in the sandgreen division of the prep golf tournament and has a chance to win a state title next year.

Steinbring said the Cheyenne Hills group includes 60 members, with a 10-member board of directors. They would like eventually to make it a municipal course, but for now it is a member-daily fee course.

“But we usually wangle a membership out of the people who play the course,” he said.

Jetmore is the county seat of Hodgeman County, located 20 miles north of Dodge City in western Kansas. It has a population of 900.

Cheyenne Hills has two par-4 holes, a par-3 and a par-5. Golfers play those holes

Come play Tulsa’s historic public golf courses Full service grill • A full range of golf equipment • Superb practice facilities

Page Belcher Golf Course Home of nationally renowned Stone Creek and Olde Page Golf Courses 6666 S. Union, Tulsa, OK • (918) 446-1529 (One block West of Highway 75 between 61st & 71st Streets)

Mohawk Park Golf Course Home of Tulsa’s First Tee 5223 E. 41st St. North, Tulsa, OK 74115 • (918) 425-6871 28

twice from three different sets of tees, and it is only one hole short of the usual nine holes.

Steinbring says the Cheyenne Hills organization leases the land and plans to complete the project for a total of $200,000 to $300,000 with volunteer labor. For approximately $60,000 to $80,000 they expect to finish the other five holes. They have already obtained the water rights and a well.

“We were told it costs about $20,000 to build a green. We built ours for half that,” said Steinbring.

The course is played across and between rolling hills and down a draw. Holes 1 through 4 are routed away from and return to the clubhouse. The same is true for holes 5 through 9.

Steinbring said the local high-school carpentry class, which builds barns and other structures as part of its training, will build the clubhouse.

He said the greens average about 4,000 square feet and are bent grass surrounded by rye.

“We kept them small to save maintenance costs but large enough to move the hole to three locations,” said Steinbring.

The fairways are Bermuda grass. He said they used 90 percent soil and 10 percent sand to build the greens. Most greens contain more sand but Steinbring said the four greens they built have withstood the dry climate better than greens at other area courses. Existing soil has high clay content. The mixture they used holds the moisture better.

The Cheyenne Hills project is reminiscent of the 1920s, the golden age of golf, when virtually every Kansas town of 1,000 or more had a golf course and the state boasted more golf courses than each of the five states that surrounded it, according to the Golfers’ Yearbook, 1931.

A nine-hole design with grass greens is an ambitious project for a town of 900. The people of Jetmore and Hodgeman County are not only industrious, but also patient and visionary. That is clear from their 10year plan. So is their love of golf.

NWA

Continued from page 26

experience, since the two tournaments are so close to each other,” Bush said. “It has definitely made the process a lot easier.”

After a challenging winter season when the course was changing its bent grass collars to zoysia and installing new drainage, Bush said it survived and “is progressing nicely.”

“The golf course came through the winter in great shape, so now it’s down to getting some minor things done before September,” Bush said.

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

Just pick one or play’em all.

When you’re at the Lake of the Ozarks, you’re on the right course.

Golf courses are open all year, weather and playing conditions permitting. Call the resort of your choice and schedule your Golf-A-Round Package vacation. For a free Golf Guide, with Golf Package information, please call 800-490-8474. www.golfingatfunlake.com For a free Vacation Guide, please call 800-FUN LAKE. www.funlake.com

54TH ANNUAL PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW

Square to square has new meaning

By ART STRICKLIN ORLANDO, Fla. – The official name of the nearly weeklong golf event was the 54th annual PGA Merchandise Show, which spilled out to almost every corner of the massive Orange County Convention Center. But the real moniker could be called the “Show for Golf Dreamers.”

That’s because every company, manufacturer, individual or group who had the latest and greatest, can’t-miss, must-have gadgets and gizmos, golf apparel, secrets and contraptions you can’t believe anyone would think up, much less sell, were all here.

“I know what all the big companies are doing, but it’s a good chance to see what the mid-size and smaller companies are doing. It’s still a place for a (golf) dreamer,” said Fort Worth native and Nike’s chief club designer Tom Stites.

His internationally successful company, which barely had a golf division a decade ago, joined fellow golf-club powerhouse Callaway Golf in chasing the biggest dream of the 2007 show, the new square-headed driver.

The cermetric drivers were all the rage with golf-show participants lining up by the hundreds to hit the Callaway version, available to anyone who wanted to test golf’s next leap into 21st century technology.

“In the old days we would just continue to make the clubs bigger and easier to hit, but the USGA (United er ($325) States Golf Association) put a limit which delivon the size,” said Stites, who operers a flattering

Call the Fashion Police, we’re back from The Show

By KATHARINE DYSON Haute-couture is striding into the world of women’s golf apparel and accessories – from Pepto Bismal chic bags, solid shirts with Picassolike slashes of color, zippy prints, mesh, rip stop textures, off-centre reversed zippers, hidden zip pockets, double zip front jackets, and racerback polos. Great stuff. Here are some finds we discovered at the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

FASHIONS/ACCESSORIES

I know. I know. The last thing you want to show up in is an outfit that makes you look like you’re on fashion Prozac. Still with the new looks 30

– the argyle patterns, plaids, fitted jackets, to-the-knee shorts and skorts and yes, even dresses – there is much to feel good about in the world of golf fashion.

Take Bobby Jones where its all about performance and design, especially in their Women’s Swing Cool XH2O Performance Wear with Coolmax. The red, black and gray pants, vests and the black Utility Jacket ($285) are smart yet functional. The Veranda Plaid striped jacket in a wedgewood, gray and white plaid is a knockout paired with a duel zip white sweater vest matching argyle pattern which lives as comfortably in the clubhouse as it does on the course. And check out the blue and white striped blaz-

fit with a bit of Please see MEN, Page 31 spandex to nip it in while white piping adds pizzazz. ( w w w . b o b Photo courtesy of Nike Golf byjonesshop.com) Drivers like the new Nike For a stylishly someSasquatch Sumo Squared times retro and always claim to allow the average hip collection of fashions golfer to hit the ball that work on and off the straighter with the course, LIJA by Linda Hipp square clubhead mak(no pun intended) features fun, ing up for any misflirty colors in her collections hits.

Sweet Like Sangria, All Over Olive, Dawn to Dusk, Green with Envy and Cherry on Top. Pair Please see WOMEN, Page 31 SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

54TH ANNUAL PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW It’s Hip to Be Square If pre-hit hype translated to on-course success, then I was surely going right from the Orange Country Convention Center to the PGA Tour after hitting the new square headed Callaway FT-i, one of two new cermetric drivers being offered for review at the 2007 PGA Show in Orlando.

Hitting the latest can’t miss fad in golf isn’t really a bad thing, especially if it doesn’t cost you a cent to try it for 10-20 whacks before deciding if you want to plunk down nearly $500 for a new model of your own.

After waiting in a fairly lengthy line, I was more than a little eager when my turn came. I quickly plunked my first ball down on a rubber tee and swung away only to see the ball harmlessly nose drive into the artificial turf. Tee it a little higher, I was told, and my next shot and several thereafter took off like a shot as straight as an arrow into the netting a few hundred yards in front. Strange look, very strange sound at impact, almost like a clanking noise, but to the ever-seeking golfer, straight is great!

WOMEN

Continued from page 30

Cheery on Top, to-the-knee shorts in bold irregular circle pattern of deep reds, whites and blues with a sleeveless dark blue top with a deep v-neckline trimmed with lighter blue and you can go anywhere. (www.lijastyle.com) Up to now Jack Nicklaus Golf Apparel has been selling primarily men’s clothing but this year’s re-launch of his apparel line features a couple of neat pima cotton zip front interlock shirts for women. They fit well, wash well and keep you warm in cooler weather. (www.jacknicklausapparel.com) Cutter and Buck, always known for its quality classics, its cottons and wools, has sprung wings into the tech world with its “Cocona” technology and CB ProTec apparel clothing designed to keep you cool and dry. Also C&B’s NanoTex Photo courtesy Keri Golf

Keri Golf bags like this one called the Stacy are designed exclusively for women with bright colors and bold designs.

They are priced from $65 to $375 and can be ordered at www.kerigolf.com.

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

MEN

Continued from page 30

ates out of the company’s West Fort Worth headquarters.

“Now we are changing the geometry and changing the properties. I’ve known this was possible for 10 years, but this is the next step forward for golf invention.”

Both the Callaway FT-i and the Nike Sasquatch Sumo Squared claim to allow the average golfer to hit the ball straighter with the square clubhead making up for any mishits.

“The more you miss the ball, the more you need forgiveness,” Stites said. “The worse you are, the more you need this.”

“Our ongoing focus on innovation is our biggest contribution and continues to be something we stress in our strong pipeline of new products,” Callaway CEO George Fallows added.

While the golf heavyweights like Nike, Callaway and Adams slug it out for highly marketed and well-funded products, a large function of the current PGA show is to provide a venue for golf innovators with a

dream.

The most actively pitched products come with the most interesting names for parts of your game you didn’t even know needed help.

Each year they arrive in Orlando with a newest can’t-miss product and they work hard to showcase their product for the hopefully eagerly awaiting golf world.

Such was certainly the case for Tennessee golf nut Rusty Almond and his unique invention, the ‘Ballbrella,’ the golf-ball retrieving umbrella.

“We were in a rain delay at Colonial Country Club (outside Memphis) and I was drinking to pass the time when I got the idea of putting a golf umbrella together with a golf-ball retriever.

“I had a golf tournament coming up the next week and stuck a ball scooper with an umbrella and it was a hit. It’s taken us a couple of years to get the manufacturing right and make sure everything is quality, but it’s starting to take off.”

Golf manufacturers with a dream crowd Please see MEN, Page 32

Photo courtesy Mettlemark

Mettlemark’s classy round sterling silver and 18K golf pendants are actually ball markers in disguise as a stylish piece of jewelry. They’re available at www.mettlemark.com.

Coolest Comfort items provide advanced moisture wicking. It all sounds, well technical, but what will catch your eye are cutting edge styles like the Annika Tour Short, a longer short that is taking off big time. Also in the Annika line is the Drytec Soar Polo which comes in subtle minty aqua with a slash of yellow and the Tempo Piped Mock with long sleeves. Wear them with the Annika Intuition Shorts which come in navy, red, white and black. They fit really well thanks to the addition of a tad of spandex. (www.cutterbuck.com) Fairway & Greene’s Catalina collection evokes vibrant color vibes in Pima cottons with stretch (more feminine) in natty Navy, White, Lapis and Punch with accents of Marigold and Pale Pink. Check out the new short skirts, cable sweaters, Bermudas and the new Teflon-coated, Merino-lined wind sweater and wind vest. Coordinating bottoms range from golf skirts to updated Bermuda shorts and a new shorter, tapered golf pant. (www.fairwayandgreene.com) Let it rain, let it rain. Sun Mountain’s RainFlex jacket

saved my life o n e w i n d y, drizzly day in Orlando. Soft to the feel and almost weightless, there is nothing to hold back a perfect swing (if I had it). I like the half-zip top with YKK waterproof zippers and standup collar. Besides coming in yellow, black, aqua and light blue, it has a 2-year waterproof guarantee. ($140) RainFlex pants and other items are also available for women. www.sunmountain.com

HOOFING IT

The plain old, plain old styles are still out there, but now women have choices.

Looking at Ecco’s new line, there are so many smart styles, it is a hard task to pick just one. Ecco’s Casual Pitch Argyle in light rose, white and purple glow, is a beauty and also available in three other combinations.

Other great styles include the Sport Tempo Please see WOMEN, Page 32 31

MEN

Continued from page 31

the floors of the show with interesting product names like Bang! Golf and its COO Chris Fu, or Whackidoo rubber composite tees, one of the many products making the PGA show floor for the first time.

“Guys who think they have a unique prod-

WOMEN

Continued from page 31

which comes in eight slick white with color combinations including a patriotic red, white and blue. ($140). (www.eccousa.com)

ACCESSORIES

Rhinestone Cowgirls would surely covet these belts and buckles and honestly, it takes a certain kind of panache to wear them. Designed by Kemestry, the belts in all kinds of colors are head lighted by buckles which glitter and sparkle. Even the westernstyle belts are studded with things that go “whoa.” And there are ribbon belts in delicious pinks, turquoises, lime green and other bright colors in polka dots, stripes, flowers and abstract designs. (www.kemestryonline.com) If you ever wear slacks without pockets –

LINKS

Continued from page 10

Tucker Roderick said his course hasn’t been nearly as affected as the Stillwater courses.

“We don’t get as many of the college students as Lakeside gets,” Roderick said. “I know the addition of Links has really affected Lakeside because they both draw college students.

“Most of our play comes from the smaller towns around Stillwater, and we get a lot of players from Guthrie, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.”

While Dergan credits a competitive membership fee as part of the reason for the growth at Links, he said he believes it also has a lot to do with the course.

“It’s a pretty tough course,” Dergan said. “It’s real tight, but the holes aren’t long. We make up for that with the greens that are undulated and small, which makes it tougher.”

To compete, both of the older Stillwater courses are looking for ways to regain and grow in the competitive market.

At Lakeside, Forbes said the course has been going through minor renovations to improve play at the course.

“We’ve planted more trees, improved cart paths and sand traps, and the quality of the greens, which 32

uct everyone should see still make the trip here,” Plano, Texas-based Adams Golf CEO Chip Brewer said. “This is where you can get a national airing for your product.”

Brewer’s Adams Golf had a presence at the show to showcase a bundle of new Adams products including its highly popular hybrid irons, and to take part in the huge Wednesday demo day. Large golf-shaft maker

UST Technologies, based near the DFW Airport, had a modern display with its latest projects and news about its impressive product growth over the last several years.

Many club companies have cut back on their displays because the January show doesn’t mesh with their production or club release schedules, but the companies and individuals with a dream were still going strong.

and there are several hip styles that look good but can be annoying to wear when you don’t have a place for your golf tools. Enter the Green Friendly leather golf belts.

Surprise: in the stylish end of the polished nickel buckle is a divot tool and a magnetic ball marker, so well engineered only your belt maker would know for sure. For women, belts come in eight colors: Rhode Island Red, Cocoa Bean, Midnight Kiss, Orange Twist, Bermuda Pink, Artic White, Robin's Egg, Lily Pad.

married in a Las Vegas Chapel by Elvis then honeymoon in a Poconos resort with a heartshaped tub. Of course you can go more traditional with “Dragonflies n’Ladybugs” or their classic “Bushwhacker.” (www.beldinggolfbags.com) There is no doubt Keri Golf bags are designed exclusively for women. In addition to being lightweight, yet made of extremely durable materials, they come in wonderful colors and fun bold designs in pink, green, yellow, navy and classic black. Some are detailed with small colorful rectangular “tiles,” others with splashes of yellow on pink. Keri’s kenslee and patti pink bags are styled with wide grass-green stripes while ellie and nancy are black trimmed with a pink and green stripe and white-dot design.

The bags even come with a mirror, insulated drink pocket and a small attached zip bag.

Nothing it seems has been forgotten. ($65 to $375). (www.kerigolf.com)

THE BAG LADY

Belding Bags long known for their classy golf bags, have gone completely bonkers with far-out designs evoking moods of Casablanca, Gay Paris, the South Pacific but my favorite sparkly number is the “Glitter Ball.” It’s outrageous fun (string it up and it could double as a disco globe). The “Glitter Ball” is perfect for the self-confident lady whose dream is to get

makes the course more competitive,” Forbes said.

Stillwater Country Club is also in the middle of a vast improvement led by new superintendent Jared Wooten.

Pryor hopes to institute more activities to attract young members.

“We haven’t been getting any of the young people in the last few years,” Pryor said. “We’re going to do some things this year like have movie nights for juniors and sleepovers.”

Pryor said he hopes revamping the food and beverage services as well as create events such as wine tasting nights could boost the numbers at his course.

“Everybody can go play and go eat anywhere,” Pryor said. “What we’re trying to do is expand the social atmosphere which we’ve kind of neglected.”

The good news is both Stillwater and Payne County are growing.

Stillwater’s population of 45,674 is up about three percent annually since 2000 and Payne County, at just over 69,000, was the eighth fastest growing county in the state since 2000 with an overall gain of eight percent.

“It used to just be us, Stillwater Country Club and Karsten Creek, which no one can match,” Forbes said.

“Now we’re all going to have to do the best we can.”

COTTONWOOD

Continued from page 9

timeless old-school design. Now, we have $200,000 bulldozers with whatever equipment you require at our disposal.

The par 36 nine holes offers a pair of par 5s at 3,459 yards from the championship tees. At first glance, it appears to be quite a challenge.

“The players have loved the challenge,” he said. “The golf course is more visually intimidating than anything.

Once you get in the fairway it’s not as intimating as it seems from the tee. We’ve got a tee that fits every skill level. Most people have an enjoyable round of golf.”

Six of the nine holes on the future nine holes will have water in play. The terrain will be slightly flatter than the rolling hills of the first nine holes.

The new nine is totally different terrain,” he said.

“The older nine offers more elevation change. The new nine will have a feel of being more out in the open. It will feel more like Kansas golf. You’ll have the wind to deal with. It has a coastal feel. The new nine is in excellent shape. The fairways on the new nine are greening up.”

McCormick came from Doral Country Club and also worked in Jupiter, Fla. Cottonwood Hills will offer $25 and $45 fees, with carts included, for 9-and 18-holes through the middle of June. After June 23, the rates will range from $45 to $55 for 18-hole rounds with carts included. A yearly membership will also be available.

Arizona-based Cottonwood Hills LLC originally acquired a land contract on 582 acres three miles from historic Prairie Dunes Country Club in 2003. It has taken nearly four years to complete the project.

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

ASGA Views Jay Fox ASGA Executive Director While Sean “The Beast” Fister, three-time World Long Drive Champion, headlines a class of five to be inducted into the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame Tuesday, October 30, at the Chenal Country Club, two volunteers who have given so much to the game, also take their rightful place in Arkansas’ golf history.

Joining Fister in the 2007 class of inductees are two volunteer committeeman for the United States Golf Association (USGA) –E.B. Gee, Jr. of Blytheville and Chester Lowe, Jr. of Little Rock. The other deserving inductees are Joe Bushee, of Cabot and Pete Fleming, a posthumous induction.

Gee and Lowe have both given a large part of their lives to the promotion of golf as committee members for the USGA and as Board Members for the ASGA. Both are former ASGA Presidents and Lowe continues to serve on the ASGA Board of Directors and works pro bono as general counsel.

Gee, as the senior amateur committeeman and Lowe as the junior amateur committeeman, both administer the local qualifying in terms of site procurement, course set-up and marking, hole locations, tee locations, pace of play and rulings –everything it takes to administer a USGA qualifying round. Both attend their respective USGA National Championships, where they work as rules officials or starters. These weeklong championships cut into their vacation schedule and they pay their own expenses.

USGA Championships would not be near as successful without these deserving volunteers.

The 2007 Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame inductees: E.B Gee, Jr., 74, of Blytheville, is being inducted for both his skill as an amateur golfer and his service as a volunteer. He won the Arkansas High School Golf Championship in 1948 and played for the Razorback Golf Team 1952, 1953 and 1954 –serving as captain in 1954. He qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur six times, making match play in three. He was an ASGA Board Member 1964-1976, serving as president 1967-1970. He had a second stint on the ASGA Board 1987-1993, serving as president his last year and helped develop the ASGA Senior Golf Program. He has been a member of the USGA Senior Amateur Committee since 1989, attending every championship as rules official or starter, except one.

Chester Lowe, Jr., 67, an attorney in Little Rock, has earned his place in Arkansas golf history through volunteer service to both the Arkansas State Golf Association (ASGA) and the United States Golf Association (USGA). In 1987, he joined the ASGA Board of Directors –a full 10 years after he joined the USGA as a Junior Amateur Committeeman. His first SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

Chester Lowe, right, a former ASGA president and current board member, presents an award to PGA pro Darrell Shelton at the Country Club of Little Rock.

USGA Junior Amateur was 1976 and he has attended 27 of the 31 since serving as a rules official. He has also been a rules official for seven U.S. Opens, two U.S. Amateurs and one U.S. Senior Open. In 1994, he received the USGA’s prestigious Ike Grainger Award, recognizing more than 25 years of service as a USGA volunteer. He served as ASGA President 1994-

1997, and is a long-time chairman of the junior committee Sean Fister, 44, of Little Rock, won the 1995, 2001 and 2005 World Long Drive Championships held in Mesquite, Nev., and has 15 World Championship appearances to his credit. In 2005, he became the oldest champion at the age of 43.

The Long Drivers of America selected him for its Hall of Fame in 2002 and he joined the Popular Bluff, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame list of inductees in 2005. In addition to his long driving prowess, which has produced a personal best of 515 yards, he annually hosts the Sean Fister Classic Pro-Am/Long Drive event at Chenal Country Club, which features the world’s longest hitters raising money for The First Tee of Arkansas and other youth organizations.

Joe Bushee, 62, won five consecutive ASGA Senior Player of the Year Awards from 20002004. During that span, he played in 58 ASGA Senior Designated Tournaments –and won 29 of them. He also finished second or third 23 times –that’s 52 of 58 tournaments where he finished first, second or third. In 2002, he qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Connecticut and the U.S. Senior Amateur in Florida, which were played on consecutive weeks. He has won the War Memorial 4th of July Tournament –both amateur and senior division –and continues to compete on the amateur and senior Please see ASGA, Page 34

33

Today’s superintendents are very fortunate.

Even though the demand for higher quality golf course maintenance increases every year we are able to respond to those demands because of advances within our industry.

Equipment manufacturers are turning out more sophisticated and more technologically advanced mowers to meet those demands.

Today’s equipment has several functions controlled by computer, with onboard diagnostics just like your car, and they cost every bit as much as your car.

The pesticide companies are providing better and safer plant protectants. You are 25 times more likely to die from a plane crash, a plane that crashes into your home while you are watching tv, than you are from a pesticide.

These plant protectants and weed control products allow us to push the grasses to unprecedented levels. I recently read an article stating that the technological advancements in the field of turfgrass maintenance are second only to medicine. These advancements show in the price too. Some plant protectants can cost ten dollars per ounce, with some weed control products costing sixty dollars per ounce.

We now have irrigation pumping plants controlled by computer. Irrigation systems are computer controlled allowing us to place the water where we want, when we want, and in the quantity we want. The efficiency is dramatic, we can irrigate the golf course in about half the time with no extra pumping capacity.

For years entering a golf tournament in Oklahoma or anywhere in the country was relatively easy. All you had to do was complete the entry form and submit it along with an entry fee. This applied to member-guest events, scrambles at your local public course, OGA championships and even to an extent USGA local qualifiers.

Last summer certain changes occurred that may affect your eligibility to participate in this year’s events. What I am referring to is a USGA Handicap Index. Most clubs and organizations are requiring participants to have a USGA Handicap Index in order to participate in their events. While this may sound simple enough, and it should be, there is one problem that could affect you, the golfer. Your club may not have the ability to issue you a USGA Handicap Index.

For the last three years the OGA and USGA have been working extremely hard to help every club/golf course in Oklahoma obtain a license to issue a USGA Handicap Index. This is now a requirement of the USGA Handicap System. Unfortunately, at this time there are quite a few clubs/courses in Oklahoma that remain unlicensed.

Until a club\course obtains a license, it is prohibited from using the USGA Handicap System, including the handicap formula.

Further, members at these clubs/courses are required to have their indexes reset to NH (No Handicap). The OGA has provided a link 34

Superintendent’s Corner Mike Wooten Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow The United State Golf Association has always been a strong supporter of superintendents and a good source of information.

They are always there for us, to pass along the latest techniques and practices they see at other courses.

Our national association, the Golf Course Superintendents of America Association, does an excellent job of promoting the profession. It is a strong source of information, providing lobbyists to inform legislatures of our needs in order to do our job. One of its goals is to increase the visibility of the profession and communicate to the golfing public the many responsibilities of superintendents.

We have discussed the resources superintendents have, but this article is to discuss what we don ’t have, lines of communication to the players. The readers of this magazine are the perfect audience to fill this void of poor communication. It is very difficult to find a vehicle to get communication to the player of what is happening on the course and why. I am very fortunate, I have a pro, general manager, and Green Committee that take it upon themselves to help with communication, and we still can ’t get all the information to all the players..

Superintendents are inherently poor com-

OGA Views Rick Coe OGA Executive Director on our web site, www.okgolf.org, to the USGA’s list of Oklahoma licensed clubs. If your club/course is not on this list you have no index at this time.

While this rule change is critical for the competitive golfer, it also applies to the average golfer. Here are some reasons you might want to ask your club/golf course about the necessity to have a USGA Handicap Index: • You’re better than I am, so how can we play each other and I have a chance?

• I just got invited to play in a memberguest and they are asking for my handicap.

• I want to play in a fund-raiser and am supposed to have a handicap. Can you get me one?

• I won a trip to Scotland and get to play St. Andrews. They say I need a handicap card. I leave in 10 days; can you help me?

• Just enter me into the event and tell them I am about a 12.

All these questions can be answered and solved by your club, but only if they are licensed. Lets all get legal and enjoy the game of golf by following the rules.

municators. If we discuss course conditions when everything is going well it sounds like we are promoting ourselves. If we discuss course conditions when things are going poorly it sounds like an excuse. Explanations tend to sound like an excuse. We need a partnership with the players, not an adversarial relationship. It may not always show, but superintendents are very sympathetic to the desires of the players. Their heart and soul is invested in their course and they live and die, emotionally, on the quality of the course they provide their players every day.

Obviously, communicating to the players about course conditions and maintenance practices is the responsibility of the superintendent. The players pay the bills. They are interested in their course and have earned the right to know what is happening and why.

Most of the time players are satisfied when given an answer to their question even if that answer is not all positive, but players shouldn ’t have to go out of their way to get answers.

We need an avenue to provide the answers before they form the question. I don ’t see the perfect solution to the problem. I hope this audience does, and will pass it along to your superintendent, or at least be understanding and supportive when communication is weak.

We all have one strong commonality -golfers and staff alike are pulling for the course to be in the best condition possible. We just need to communicate with each other to make sure we’re all pulling in the same direction.

Mike Wooten is the superintendent at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, Okla., site of the SemGroup LPGA Championship May 4-6.

ASGA

Continued from page 33

divisions in ASGA Designated Tournaments.

Pete Fleming, who passed away in 1990, will be a posthumous induction in this year’s class.

A member of the Arkansas PGA Chapter, Fleming won the first PGA Chapter Championship at Cherokee Village in 1966, coming from six strokes behind with a final round 69. But his golfing skill wasn’t known just in Arkansas –he became a national name by winning the 1967 U.S. Senior Open in Las Vegas and lost the 1968 PGA Tour’s Magnolia Classic in Hattiesburg, Miss., in a playoff. In 1969, he lost the PGA Senior Championship in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., by one stroke to Tommy Bolt. From 1971 until his retirement, he was head PGA professional at DeSoto Golf Course in Hot Springs Village.

Tickets are $60 per person which includes dinner. They can only be purchased through the ASGA office by calling 501-455-2742 or logging onto the website, www .asga.org The Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame was established in 1994 to honor those deserving men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the game of golf. For a list of all previous inductees, go to www.asga.org SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

There are 34 rules, which control the game of golf. Of that number I suggest four have the most impact on players. I suggest that these basic rules should be reviewed on a regular basis as being able to apply them in various situations could save countless penalty strokes and even disqualification. My basic rules are: Rule 13 – Play the ball as it lies; Rule 18 – Ball at rest moved; Rule 19 – Ball in motion stopped or deflected.

Rule 20 – Lifting, dropping, placing; playing from wrong place.

In this article I will review some high points and hopefully entice you to become better acquainted with them.

RULE 13: A basic concept in golf is to put a ball on the tee of each hole and not touch it again until you are picking it out of the hole. In that same respect, you should not do anything to improve the spot where a ball lies, the area in which you intend to stand and swing your club, and the path you wish your ball to take, after the stroke. Rule 13 embodies that proposition. Essentially, do not move, bend or break anything growing or fixed unless you are taking a stance and actually making a stroke at your ball.

One of the common violations of this rule is repairing the mark made by an embedded ball before taking relief. You are also prohibited from pulling a weed or stepping on tall grass behind your ball in order to give your club better contact with the ball. While Rule 13 gives you the authority to remove loose impediments from the place where you intend to drop a ball; remember that sand and loose soil are loose impediment only on the putting green so do not brush them aside.

This rule also contains the prohibition against touching the ground and water in a hazard, and removing loose impediments from those areas. Only after you have made a stroke at a ball in a hazard is it permissible to smooth your footprints and basic etiquette requires that you do so.

The PGA Assistant Association’s Match Play Championship was held March 5-6 at Quail Creek Golf & Country Club in Oklahoma City. Kyle Flinton, assistant at Quail Creek, defeated Kyley Tetley of the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow 3 and 2 in the finals.

The consolation bracket was won by Joey Martinez, assistant at Twin Hills Country Club in Oklahoma City who defeated Trevor Thurow, assistant as Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, Ark. The Arkansas Chapter held its spring meeting and pro-pro on Feb. 19. The team of Tom Cannarozzo from Chenal and Kirk Stanzel of Hot Springs won the event. The Eastern Oklahoma Chapter held its spring meeting and pro-pro March 12 and the Tulsabased team of George Glenn, Page Belcher SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

The rules of golf Gene Mortensen Rules Director, Oklahoma Golf Association RULE 18: How many times have you caused a ball to move, whether by accident or otherwise, and wondered if a penalty applies and, how many? Rule 18 provides the answer.

When you cause your ball in play to move, add one penalty stroke and replace the ball. Should you fail to replace the ball to its original spot, and play from the new place, add two penalty strokes.

The rule is one that provides different results depending on the format you are playing. If you move the ball of a fellow “competitor” (stroke play) you are an outside agency, there is no penalty to any player and the ball must be replaced. On the other hand, if you move the ball of an “opponent” (match play) other than while searching for it, you incur a one-stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced.

There are various exceptions to the rule and these permit you to lift and clean your ball on the green, replace a ball moved while removing obstructions, and lift a ball when a rule so provides.

Wind is not an “outside agency,” so if your ball at rest is blown by it to a new place, you must play the ball as it lies.

RULE 19: Suppose you play a stroke and your ball strikes your opponent’s golf cart and bounces into a water hazard where it cannot be recovered. Who receives a penalty and, more importantly, where do you play your next shot? Rule 19 provides that if your ball is deflected by your opponent’s equipment (the cart) there is no penalty and the player may elect to cancel that stroke and play again, or he may play the ball as it lies. This is a good example of why a good understanding of the rules will save much consternation.

This is another of the rules, which has differing results depending on the format you are playing, so it is important to first make that

PGA Views Barry Thompson SCS Executive Director Golf Course, and Jeremy Dear from LaFortune Park Golf Course led the field with a fine score of 67.

The section is very proud to be hosting the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa this year. A full week of activities will be happening including our Play Golf America Day to be held at LaFortune Park Golf Course Tulsa on March August 6. The section’s professionals will be volunteering their time to help make all the planned events successful.

determination. When in match play, if a player’s ball is deflected or stopped by him, his equipment or his caddie, the player incurs a loss of hole penalty and they proceed to the next tee. In stroke play, the player incurs a twostroke penalty and plays the ball as it lies.

One of the interesting issues that we get into is whether the ball was in motion when it was “deflected” (Rule 19) or whether it was at rest and “moved” (Rule 18). The following scenario will demonstrate the significance of that determination. Assume that you are playing on a hot day and a maintenance worker is watering the green and the water hose strikes your ball and knocks it into a bunker. If the ball were at rest, it would be replaced. If it was moving, you play it as it lies.

RULE 20: This rule comes into effect every time a ball is lifted, dropped or replaced. The player, or anyone with his authorization, may lift a ball after its position has been marked with a “ball marker, a small coin or other similar object immediately behind the ball.” Only the player is entitled to put a ball in play by dropping it.

One of the most used provisions under this rule is when you are required to “re-drop” a ball. When you drop a ball on hilly terrain and it rolls more than two club lengths, you must drop it again. Should it roll more than two club lengths the second time, you are required to place the ball at the spot where it was dropped.

If you are taking relief from a cart path and the dropped ball rolls back into a spot at which you have interference again, you are required to take “complete relief” and drop it a second time.

In dropping a ball the player is required to hold the ball at arm’s length at shoulder height.

It doesn’t matter which direction he is facing.

Casually tossing a ball you have taken out of a pocket will result in a penalty.

This Rule 20-7 also defines the procedure when a player plays from a “wrong place.”

Everyone should be aware of it as it involves disqualification.

Special Olympics presented the second annual Conrad Rehling Award to PGA Professional Steve Carson of Lincoln Park Golf Course in Oklahoma City for his dedicated contributions to the growth of Special Olympics Golf. The award was presented during the second Annual PGA Play Golf America Conference at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

The Section is preparing for the annual PGA video conference, education seminar, spring business meeting and special awards banquet to honor our special award recipients and 2006 tournament champions. This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr Bill Moore, a scientist specializing in performance psychology. Dr Moore has conducted seminars and conferences across the U.S. and around the world.

35

Now the choices are so numerous that it can be a little intimidating. Walking into a golf equipment store is like a fantastic journey through a consumer electronics store.

Everything is futuristic in design, BIG and induces sticker-shock! One thing we can say about modern golf equipment is that it is better than what preceded it. The next truth is that the golfer still has to swing the club correctly to get the ball in the air, in the fairway, on the green and into the hole!

New products and “better ideas” have always caught my eye, but not always my wallet. But here are four golf-related products that deserve your consideration: Q-LINK: No, that is not the name of a golf course. This product has been around for several years and it is used and endorsed by several tour pros. The Q-Link is a light weight pendant about the size of a quarter that is worn around your neck.

“It strengthens your own body’s energy system and helps you function at your peak level of performance,” according to the manufacturer. “Benefits include more focus, increased stamina, improved sleep, less jet lag, and ability to recover faster from bad shots and first tee jitters.” OK – I know, it sounds a little out there! But Charles Howell III wears one and look who is on top of the PGA Tour money list! The device costs about $80 and is available through Q-Link Golf (800-968-9720 or qlinkgolf.com). I will personally attest to the fact that I now recover very quickly from all

KGA Views Kim Richey KGA Executive Director of my bad shots!

BREAKMASTER: Now this little device is really fun! It is about the size of a hockey puck and is a great practice or training device for your ability to read putting greens and then putt with the correct amount of break. You simply place the Breakmaster on the putting green surface and push a button. It gives you an instant LED readout of the degree and direction slope of the putting green at that location. Now, let me advise you that this device if used during a round of golf would subject you to disqualification under Rule 14-3 (Artificial Devices). It is intended for practice only! I use the Breakmaster to help me select hole locations and avoid an “unfair” spot. You can find the device online for about $80. Just do a search and you will find several retail sources.

BACK-NINE LYTES. Everyone knows how important it is to drink water during a round of golf on a hot day (or any day for that matter!). The recent trend is toward fortified sports drinks. Take a look at the ingredients of one of those products. Notice how much sugar is included. If you want to avoid the

sugar and still replenish electrolytes, then try this product. Back-Nine Lytes are capsules that contain “a balance of essential minerals needed to optimize physical and mental performance,” according to the product directions. Over the course of a round you take one with water every three or four holes. If you do not replenish electrolytes, the result is muscle cramps and fatigue. For orders or more information go to www.backninenutrition.com (800-995-9837).

BUG-BAND: If you are fully relaxed and focused over that left-to-right subtle 4-foot putt having just consumed a pint of water with your electrolyte tablets you are still going to miss if a gnat flies in your ear during the “forward movement of the club” (otherwise known as “a stroke”). So, here is my last recommendation. Bug-Band is a DEET-free insect repellent that is effective for mosquitoes, fleas, gnats, ticks and other no-see-ums.

It contains geraniol, which comes from the geranium plant. The University of Florida tested and patented the product. If it works in Florida, changes are pretty good it will work in Kansas! If you don’t like putting the stuff on your skin, they have one version that is a wrist band that can be worn or clipped to your hat or belt. The product is available in most drug stores or see www.bugband.net.

So here’s wishing you a stress-free, totallyfocused, hydrated, cramp-free, no-bug round of golf where you make every putt! Keep swinging!

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SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

S C H E D U L E S A N D R E S U LT S COLLEGE

April 9-10: Arkansas State Indian Classic, Jonesboro, Sage Meadows April 16-17: Missouri Valley Spring Invitational, Marshall, Mo. April 16-18: Sun Belt Championship, Orlando, Fla. April 20-22: SEC Championship, St. Sea Island, Ga. April 23-24: Mid-Continent Championship, Shreveport, La. April 23-24: Big 12 Championship, Hutchinson, Kan., Prairie Dunes April 22-24: Missouri Valley Championship, Kansas City (Mo.) CC April 28-30: Conference USA Championship, West Point, Miss.

May 12-13: The Maxwell, Ardmore, Okla., Dornick Hills May 17-19: NCAA regionals, several sites May 30-June 2: NCAA Championship, Williamsburg, Va..

WOMEN

April 8-9: Susie Maxwell Berning Invitational, Norman, Okla., Jimmie Austin GC April 14-16: Sun Belt Championship, Orlando, Fla. April 15-17: Missouri Valley Championship, Peoria, Ill. April 16-18: Big 12 Championship, Waco, Texas.

April 20-22: SEC Championship, Franklin, Tenn.

April 23-25: Conference-USA Championhip, Greenville, N.C. April 23-24: Mid-Continent Championship, Shreveport, La. May 10-12: NCAA regionals, several sites May 22-25: NCAA Championship, Daytona Beach, Fla.

PRO TOURS PGA

Aug. 9-12: PGA Championship, Southern Hills, Tulsa LPGA May 4-6: SemGroup Championship, Cedar Ridge, Broken Arrow, Okla.

Sept. 7-9: LPGA Northwest Arkansas Championship, Pinnacle CC, Rogers, Ark.

NATIONWIDE

May 3-6: Fort Smith Classic, Hardscrabble CC, Fort Smith, Ark. Aug. 2-5: Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, Crestview CC, Wichita

COMPETITIVE GOLFERS TOUR

April 14: Jimmie Austin GC, Norman April 21: Bailey Ranch GC, Owasso April 28: Rose Creek GC, Edmond May 5 : Firelake GC, Shawnee May 12: John Conrad GC, Midwest City May 19: First tour major, TBA June 2-3: Lincoln Park GC (2-man scramble), Okla. City June 16: White Hawk GC, Bixby June 23: Coffee Creek GC

SOUTH CENTRAL PGA SECTION

April 23: Pro Senior, Mohawk GC (Woodbine), Tulsa April 30: Senior 4-Ball, Match Play, Adams GC, Bartlesville, Okla.

May 7: Section Skins Game, Pinnacle CC, Rogers, Ark. May 15: Assistants Assoc. Championship, Forest Ridge GC, Broken Arrow June 11: Senior Pro-Pro, South Lakes, Jenks, Okla.

June 18: Team Championship, Belmar CC, Norman, Okla.

June 25: Pro-President, Oaks CC, Tulsa July 9: Senior Match Play, Page Belcher

SOUTH CENTRAL GOLF

For up-to-the minute results and competition stories, visit daily at southcentralgolf.com GC, Tulsa July 16: Match Play, Lakeside GC, Stillwater, Okla.

July 23: McGladrey Championship, Forest Ridge GC, Broken Arrow, Okla.

July 23: Junior Tournament of Champions, Page Belcher GC, Tulsa July 30: Pro-Scratch, The Greens CC, Okla. City Aug. 6-12: PGA Championship, Southern Hills CC, Tulsa Aug. 20-21: Pro National Championship, Oakwood CC, Enid, Okla.

Aug. 27: Senior Cup matches, Fayetteville (Ark.) CC Aug. 28: Senior Championship & Senior CPC, Fayetteville (Ark.) CC Sept. 4: Pro-Assistant, Oak Tree CC, Edmond, Okla.

Sept. 10: TaylorMade-Adidas Assistants Championship, TBA Sept. 24: Senior Team Championship, Stillwater CC Oct. 8: Section Championship, Winstar GC & Casino, Thackerville, Okla.

Oct. 30: Section Pro-Superintendent, Clary Fields GC, Sapulpa, Okla.

Nov. 12: Pro vs. Assistants Ryder Cup, Forest Ridge GC, Broken Arrow, Okla.

ARKANSAS STATE GOLF ASSOCIATION

May 18-19: Governor’s Cup, Texarkana CC June 11-12: Monk Wade Father-Son, Fianna Hills & Hardscrabble CC, Fort Smith June 15-17: Morgan-Keegan Stroke Play, Texarkana CC June 19-22: Junior Boys & Girls Match Play, Foxwood CC, Jacksonville June 25: Parent-Child, Foxwood CC, Jacksonville July 10-13: Men’s Senior & Super Senior Match Play, CC of Little Rock July 19-23: Match Play, CC of Arkansas, Maumelle July 24-26: Junior Boys & Girls Stroke Play, Pine Bluff CC July 31-Aug. 1: Junior Boys & Girls 4-Ball, Eagle Hill GC, Little Rock Aug. 1-3: Ozark Junior Challenge, Twin Hills G&CC, Joplin, Mo. Sept. 28-30: Senior & Super Senior Stroke Play, Big Creek CC, Mountain Home Sept. 29-30: Mid-Am/Mid-Senior Public Links, Big Creek CC, Mountain Home Oct. 6-7: Mixed Team, Red Apple CC, Heber Springs Oct. 11: High School Overall, Pleasant Valley CC, Little Rock Oct. 22-23: Women’s Club Team, Maumelle CC Oct. 27-28: Nike Cup, Hot Springs CC Oct. TBA: ASGA-PGA Club Team, TBA

KANSAS GOLF ASSOCIATION

May 7-8: Mid-Amateur, Shadow Glen GC, Olathe May 16-18: Senior Amateur, Alvamar GC, Lawrence June 5-9: Four-Ball, Alvamar GC, Lawrence June 18-21: Boys Junior Amateur, Emporia Municipal GC June 23-24: Public Links, Eagle Bend GC, Lawrence June 25-26: Junior Team, Sand Creek Station GC, Newton June 27-28: Senior Four-Ball, Brookridge G&CC, Overland Park July 16-22: State Amateur Match Play,

Topeka CC & Shawnee CC, Topeka July 23-25: Junior Section Team, Salina Municipal GC July 26-27: Junior Match Play, Salina Municipal GC July 30-31: Father-Son, Falcon Lakes GC, Basehor Aug. 1-3: Ozark Junior Challenge, Twin Hills G&CC, Joplin, Mo. Aug. 5-7: Kansas-Nebraska Junior Cup, Wild Horse GC, Gothenburg, Neb. Aug. 13-15: Senior Team, Colbert Hills GC, Manhattan Aug. 25-26: High Plains Amateur, Southwind CC, Garden City Sept. 25-26: Senior Series, Terradyne CC, Andover Oct. 1-3: Mid-Amateur Team, Hallbrook CC, Leawood Oct. 8-10: Senior Match Play, Lawrence GC Oct. 12-13: Kansas Cup, Falcon Lakes GC, Basehor Oct. TBA: Ozark Senior Challenge, BA

KANSAS WOMEN’S GOLF ASSOCIATION

May 22-23: Senior, Lake Shawnee GC, Topeka June 21: Junior Four-Ball, Lake Shawnee GC, Topeka July 9-11: Amateur, Reflection Ridge GC, Wichita July 16: Junior State, Manhattan GC July 25-26: Junior Tournament of Champions, Tallgrass CC, Wichita Aug. 14-16: Tee-Fore-Two, Lawrence GC Sept. 7-9: Match Play, Terradyne GC, Wichita

OKLAHOMA GOLF ASSOCIATION

May 7-8: Spring Fourball, Twin Hills G&CC, Okla. City May 7-8: Senior Spring Fourball, Twin Hills G&CC, Okla. City May 21-24: Senior State Amateur, Cherokee Hills GC, Catoosa June 11-14: Junior Boys, Rose Creek GC, Edmond June 18-19: Senior Stroke, Dornick Hills CC, Ardmore July 10-11: Twin Hills Junior Classic, Twin Hills G&CC, Okla. City July 16-19: State Amateur, The Trails GC, Norman Aug. 6-8: Stroke Play, Fairfax GC, Edmond Aug. 14-15: Oak Tree Junior Classic, Oak Tree CC, Edmond Aug. 27-28: Mid-Amateur, Quail Creek G&CC, Okla. City Sept. 10: Oklahoma Open qualifying, Oak Tree CC, Edmond Sept. 14-16: Oklahoma Open, Oak Tree CC, Edmond Oct. 29: State Club, Tulsa CC

WOMEN’S OKLAHOMA GOLF ASSOCIATION

May 7: Spring Mixer, Clary Fields GC, Sapulpa June 18-22: Match Play, Stillwater CC July 11-13: Junior Girls Championship, Heritage Hills, Claremore July 16-17: Stroke Play, Wintercreek GC, Blanchard Aug. 14-15: Fore State, Hardscrabble CC, Fort Smith Sept. 20-21: Partnership, Quail Creek CC, Okla. City

Oct. 3-4: Senior, Oaks CC, Tulsa

COLLEGE RESULTS MEN

UALR/FIRST TEE COLLEGIATE At Chenal CC, Little Rock (par-72) March 26-27 Team scores: 1, Lamar 277-272-283–832; 2, Middle Tennessee State 284-283-281–848; 3, Sam Houston State 277-284-296–857; 4, Austin Peay State 290-286-286–862; 5, TexasSan Antonio 279-285-300–864; 6, Louisiana Tech 282-288-299–869; 7, Eastern Michigan 289-285-300–874; 8, Oral Roberts 286-292297–875; 9, Arkansas-Little Rock 290-285303–878; 10, Louisiana-Monroe 296-293303–892; 11, Missouri State 293-300-301–894; 12 (tie), Western Kentucky 291-302-304–897 and Miami (Ohio) 295-294-308–897; 14, Arkansas State 304-297-297–898; 15, Stephen F. Austin State 299-294-308–901; 16, Ball State 301-298-304–903; 17, Central Arkansas 293-308-304–905.

Individual leaders: 1, Justin Harding (Lamar) 68-67-71–206; 2, Robert Gwin (SHS) 67-67-73–207; 3 (tie), Dawie VanDerWalt (Lamar) 71-68-70–209 and Rick Cochran (MTS) 72-67-70–209; 5, Casey Clendenon (Lamar) 73-67-71–211 and Craig Smith (MTS) 70-69-72–211; 7 (tie), Mauricio Tamez (ORU) 71-72-69–212 and Dusty Smith (Lamar) 69-70-73–212.

Other scores: Keith Becker Jr. 68-6980–217, Austin Hannah (ORU) 70-77-71–218, Chad Grimes (UALR) 76-69-74–219, Jay Whitby (UALR) 73-75-71–219, Matt Snowden (ASU) 73-72-74–219, Chris Beall (ORU) 7271-78–221, Brian Whittle (UALR) 73-7278–223, Scott Stiles (ORU) 73-74-79–226, Kell Shenup (ASU) 77-73-77–227, Lance Avants (ASU) 77-77-74–228, Nick Crisco (ASU) 8175-72–228, John Hillard (C. Ark.) 73-7878–229.

MORRIS WILLIAMS INTERCOLLEGIATE At Austin (Texas) CC (par-72) March 26-27 (rain shortened to 36 holes) Team scores: 1, UNLV 288-280–568; 2 (tie), Tulsa 293-281–574 and Texas A&M 287287–574; 4, Texas 296-280–576; 5, TCU 292286–578; 6, Kent State 285-299–584; 7, New Mexico 304-283–587; 8, Oklahoma State 295293–588; 9 (tie), Oklahoma 291-298–589, BYU 293-296–589 and Texas Tech 297-292–589; 12, Auburn 304-286–590; 13, Purdue 297296–593; 14, New Mexico State 316-292–608.

Invididual leaders: 1 (tie), Ryan Henry (Tulsa) 70-69–139, Austin Schauer (Texas A&M) 71-68–139 and Steve Saunders (NM) 70-69–139; 4 (tie), Jhonattan Vegas (Texas) 73-67–140 and Lance Lopez (Texas) 7268–140.

Other scores: Brett Myers (Tulsa) 7569–144, Nick Sheedy (OU) 73-71–144, Sam Korbe (Tulsa) 73-72–145, J.J. Wood (OU) 7373 -- 146, Mitch Cohlmia (Tulsa) 75-71–146, Trent Leon (OSU) 72-74–146, Tyler Leon (OSU) 75-72–147, Jonathan Moore (OSU) 7572–147, Nicolas Geyger (Tulsa) 75-73–148, Jesse Schutte (OU) 73-76–149, Chris Ward (OSU) 74-75–149.

RON MOORE INVITATIONAL At Palm Valley GC, Goodyear, Ariz. (par-72) March 19-20 Team leaders (17 teams): 1, Wichita State 268-284-279–831; 2, Nebraska 281-286281–848; 3 (tie), Kansas State 283-283284–850 and Denver 288-276-286–850; 5, Utah 284-287-282–853; 6, Colorado State 281289-286–856; 7, Southern Utah 282-284-

37

S C H E D U L E S A N D R E S U LT S 293–859; 8, Texas-San Antonio 286-285289–860; 9, Boise State 286-289-292–867; 10, Weber State 290-283-295–868.

Individual leaders: 1, Troy Merritt (BS) 67-68-68–203; 2 (tie), Cameron Bishop (WSU) 65-72-68–205 and Jeff Koprivetz (Denver) 7068-67–205; 4, Steve Broker (Utah) 68-7068–206; 5 (tie), Ryan Spears (WSU) 64-7370–207, Matt Hastings (BS) 67-71-69–207 and Brady Schnell (Neb.) 68-71-68–207.

Other scores: Drew Reynolds (WSU) 7267-70–209, Ty Sanders (WSU) 74-67-70–211, Robert Streb (KSU) 69-70-72–211, Connor McHenry (WSU) 70-71-71–212, Kyle Yonke (KSU) 72-69-71–212, Mitchell Gregson (KSU) 72-72-68–212, Joe Kinney (KSU) 70-7273–215, Zachariah Potter (WSU) 69-7970–218.

GENERAL HACKLER INVITATIONAL At TPC of Myrtle Beach, Murrells, S.C. (par-72) March 11-12 Team leaders (18 teams): 1, Lamar 275278-285–838; 2, Coastal Carolina 289-283276–848; 3, Southern Cal 278-282-291–851; 4, Duke 294-285-289–868; 5, East Tennessee State 296-284-289–869; 6 (tie), Tulsa 287-293292–872 and Charlotte 299-284-289–872; 8, Augusta State 301-280-294–875; 9, New Mexico 293-295-290–878; 10, Georgia Southern 299-294-291–884; 16, Oklahoma 295-298-305–898.

Individual leaders: 1, Rhys Davies (ETS) 70-65-71–206; 2, Dawie VanDerWalt (Lamar) 66-70-71–207; 3, Oliver Bekker (Lamar) 6972-67–208; 4 (tie), Corey Nagy (Charlotte) 6869-74–211 and Zack Byrd (CC) 73-71-67–211.

Other scores: Nicolas Geyger (TU) 71-7472–217, J.J. Wood (OU) 72-73-73–218, Ryan Henry (TU) 70-74-74–218, Jessie Schutte (OU) 72-74-74–220, Brett Myers (TU) 73-7177–221, Mitch Cohlmia (TU) 73-74-76–223, Sam Korbe (TU) 74-80-70–224, Nick Sheedy (OU) 76-73-78–227, Phillip Bryan (OU) 81-7880–239, Tyler Rody (OU) 75-87-84–246.

MISSION INN COLLEGIATE At Mission Inn, Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. (par-72) March 10-11 Team leaders (16 teams): 1, Louisville 285-282-293–860; 2, UNC Greensboro 283-297294–874; 3 (tie), Wichita State 290-298294–882 and Marquette 292-289-301–882; 5 (tie), Old Dominion 297-294-294–885 and Xavier 299-291-295–885; 7, Missouri 301-288298–887; 8, Iowa State 301-294-293–888.

Individual leaders: 1, Mike Van Sickle (Marq.) 70-68-74–212; 2, Nathan Stamey (UNCG) 71-69-73–213; 3 (tie), Daryl Fathauer (Louisville) 67-73-74–214 and Adam Hadwin (Louisville) 73-68-73–214.

WSU leaders: Cameron Bishop 72-7372–217, Dustin Garza 72-75-72–219.

LOUISIANA CLASSICS At Oakbourne CC, Lafayette, La. (par72) March 5-6 Team leaders (15 teams): 1, SE Louisiana 277-285-289–851; 2, Lamar 281-287289–857; 3, Baylor 290-280-289–859; 4, SMU 288-285-289–862; 5, Colorado 293-282290–865; 10, Kansas 297-288-293–878; 15, Arkansas State 305-302-310–917.

Individual leaders: 1, Gary Woodland (KU) 70-65-70–205; 2, Patrick Nagle (Ill.) 6969-70–208; 3, Colt Knost (SMU) 67-70-72–209.

USC COLLEGIATE At North Ranch CC, Westlake Village, Calif. (par-72) March 4-6

38

Team leaders (15 teams): 1, Stanford 284-285-279–848; 2, Southern Cal 291-277285–853; 3, Tennessee 284-290-294–868; 4, UCLA 281-289-300–870; 5, BYU 291-295287–873; 6, Coastal Carolina 294-299285–878; 7, California 288-297-295–880; 8 (tie), Oklahoma 292-298-293–883 and Pepperdine 288-301-294–883; 10, TCU 297293-294–884.

Individual leaders: 1, Rory Hie (USC) 6968-71–208; 2 (tie), Brian Locke (LoyolaMarymount) 69-67-74–210 and Jamie Lovemark (USC) 72-64-74–210.

OU scores: Jesse Schutte 70-76-71–217, J.J. Wood 71-74-73–218, Phillip Bryan 72-7672–220, Nick Sheedy 79-72-77–228, Ben Blundell 80-80-77–237.

ALL-AMERICAN CLASSIC At Cypresswood GC, Spring, Texas (par-72) Feb. 26-27 Team leaders (11 teams): 1, Kansas 296288-288–872; 2, Lamar 296-291-286–873; 3 (tie), Middle Tennessee State 296-290292–878 and SE Louisiana 294-293-291–878; 5, Houston 302-284-300–886.

Individual leaders: 1, Gary Woodland (KU) 69-71-71–211; 2, Tyler Docking (KU) 7172-72–215.

PUERTO RICO CLASSIC At Rio Mar CC, Rio Grande, P.R. (par-72) Feb. 25-27 Team leaders (18 teams): 1, Georgia 279-277-294–850; 2 (tie), Clemson 283-284284–851 and Stanford 281-279-291–851; 4, Alabama 284-283-288–855; 5, East Tennessee State 273-290-293–856; 6, Oklahoma State 282-295-285–862; 7, Minnesota 288-284292–864; 8, Georgia Tech 287-287-291–865; 9, Florida 294-283-290–867; 10, Virginia Tech 294-293-291–878; 11, Texas 288-293-301–882; 12, Duke 284-297-303–884.

Individual leaders: 1 (tie), Joseph Bramlett (Stan.) 69-67-73–209 and Roberto Castro (GT) 68-70-71–209; 3 (tie), Jonathan Moore (OSU) 68-72-70–210 and Rhys Davies (ETS) 75-73-72–210; 5 (tie), Brendon Todd (Ga.) 68-68-75–211, Hudson Stafford (Ga.) 70-70-71–211 and Matthew Swan (Ala.) 69-6973–211.

Other OSU scores: Trent Lyon 70-7375–218, Tyler Leon 70-78-70–218, Chris Ward 74-72-74–220, Ryan Posey 77-79-71–227.

HAWAII-HILO INTERCOLLEGIATE At Waikoloa (Hawaii) Village Feb. 7-9 Team leaders (18 teams): 1, Stanford 268-269-266–803 (won playoff); 2, Oklahoma State 273-260-270–803; 3, Arizona State 272267-277–816; 4, Georgia Tech 272-265281–818; 5, Southern Cal 275-270-274–819; 6, Washington 276-273-272–821; 14 (tie), Kansas 274-285-295–854 and Pacific 284-281289–854; 17, Oklahoma 285-286-286–857.

Individual leaders: 1, Jonathan Moore (OSU) 68-62-65–195; 2 (tie), Rob Grube (Stanford) 69-66-64–199 and Roberto Castro (GT) 67-65-67–199; 4, Joseph Bramlett (Stanford) 64-70-66–200.

Other OSU scores: Trent Leon 68-6766–201, Pablo Martin 68-66-69–203, Ryan Posey 69-65-71–205, Tyler Leon 69-68-70–207.

WOMEN

UALR/NT CLASSIC At Diamante CC, Hot Springs, Ark. (par-72) March 26-27 Team scores: 1, Arkansas-Little Rock 295293-301–889; 2, Middle Tennessee State 306-

296-300–902; 3, Texas-El Paso 305-297301–903; 4, Sam Houston State 298-305301–904; 5, Oral Roberts 299-307-303–909; 6, Fla. International 306-307-298–911; 7 (tie), Missouri State 297-296-321–914 and McNeese State 310-304-300–914; 9 (tie), Wichita State 313-311-301–925 and Toledo 306-315-304–925; 11, North Texas 315-307-305 - -927; 12, Texas State 310-312-306–928; 13, Texas A&M-CC 317-306-316–939; 14, Nicholls State 319-328300–947; 15, Arkansas State 318-311-319–948; 16, Texas-Pan American 324-335-310–969; 17, Missouri-KC 334-333-327–994.

Individual leaders: 1, Gerina Mendoza (UTEP) 73-68-66–207; 2, Pamela Ontiveros (ORU) 70-72-70–212; 3, Mallory Fraiche (UALR) 73-69-72–214; 4, Jullianne Kim (UTEP) 74-71-72–217; 5, Taryn Durham (MTS) 73-72-73–218.

Other scores: Sara Wikstrom (UALR) 7674-73–223, Christy Carter (ORU) 73-7977–229, Catalina Gaucaneme (WSU) 75-7876–229, Jamie Raines (WSU) 79-79-73–231, Megan O’Connell (ORU) 77-73-81–231, Christina Petersson (UALR) 73-76-84–233, Nicole Lloyd (WSU) 79-75-79–233, Sheridan Graham (UALR) 78-78-78–234, Krista Hrdlicka (WSU) 80-80-75–235, Rebekah Gregory (ASU) 77-77-83–237.

MOUNTAIN VIEW COLLEGIATE At Mountain View GC, Tucson (par-72) March 24-25 Team leaders (16 teams): 1, Nebraska 287-285-294–866; 2, Northwestern 294-288288–870; 3 Indiana 297-287-289–873; 4 (tie), Kansas 297-291-286–874 and Missouri 297293-284–874; 6 (tie), Baylor 292-291-293–876 and Denver 295-295-286–876; 10, Kansas State 300-289-295–884, 13, Oklahoma 298294-302–894.

Individual leaders: 1, Elaine Harris (IU) 70-69-70–209; 2 (tie), Kendall Dye (OU) 7168-72–211, Liliana Alvarez (Northwestern) 72-68-71–211 and Katie Kempter (Denver) 71-70-70–211.

Other scores: Emily Powers (KU) 74-7269–215, Kelly Jacques (OU) 74-72-74–220, Andrea Sellmeyer (OU) 74-73-75–222, Camilla Svensson (KU) 77-73-72–222, Hetather Wright (OU) 72-73-78–223, Hailey Mireles (KSU) 76-71-77–224, Meghan Gockel (KU) 76-73-75–224.

LIZ MURPHEY COLLEGIATE At Univ, of Ga. GC, Athens, Ga. (par-71) March 23-25 Team leaders (18 teams): 1, Auburn 293299-289–881; 2, Florida 300-298-294–892; 3, Arkansas 300-297-300–897; 4, Alabama 302301-295–898; 5, Purdue 304-299-299–902; 6, Virginia 303-296-306–905.

Individual leaders: 1 (tie), Leah Wigger (Va.) 72-72-71–215 and Maria Hernandez (Purdue) 72-73-70–215; 3 (tie), Caroline Westrup (Fla. St.) 72-73-71–216 and Sandra Gal (Fla.) 74-73-69–216.

Arkansas scores: Stacy Lewis 74-7472–220, Lucy Nunn 72-75-76–223, Ashley Medders 79-71-76–226, Kristin Ingram 75-7776–228, Corinna Rees 79-81-84–244.

BETSY RAWLS LONGHORN INVITATIONAL At Univ. of Texas GC, Austin (par-72) March 16-18 Team scores: 1, Purdue 307-308-292–907; 2, TCU 306-309-303–918; 3, Baylor 317-306298–921; 4, Arkansas 306-309-308–923; 5 (tie), SMU 313-308-304–925 and Texas 303304-318–925; 7, Oklahoma 316-306-312–934; 8, Notre Dame 314-315-308–937; 9, Nebraska 315-307-316 --- 938; 10, Iowa State 314-304322–940; 11, Kansas 323-309-311–943; 12,

Iowa 314-324-319–957; 13, Penn State 316322-333–971; 14, Minnesota 328-326-320–974.

Individual leaders: 1, Maria Hernandez (Purdue) 77-70-70–217; 2, Stacy Lewis (Ark.) 76-72-70–218; 3, Hannah Burke (Baylor) 7473-73–220; 4, Kelley Louth (Texas) 69-7181–221; 5, Kate Ackerson (SMU) 78-7371–222.

Other scores: Lucy Nunn (Ark.) 70-7777–224, Lacey Jones (SMU) 73-77-74–224, Andrea Sellmeyer (OU) 78-69-80–227, Amanda Costner (KU) 79-74-76–228, Megan Goodwin (OU) 78-77-78–233, Kelly Jacques (OU) 77-79-78–234, Heather Wright (OU) 8275-79–236, Camilla Svensson (KU) 81-7877–236, Chelsey Collins (OU) 83-75-79–237, Ashley Medders (Ark.) 78-79-81–238, Emily Powers (KU) 82-77-79–238, Kendall Dye (OU) 79-83-77–239, Meghan Gockel (KU) 82-8079–241, Annie Giangrosso (KU) 81-80-82–243, Kristin Ingram (Ark.) 82-81-80–243, Corinna Rees (Ark.) 89-79-77–245, Jaclyn Stelzer (OU) 84-80-81–245.

TEXAS A&M MO-MORIAL At Traditions GC, Bryan, Texas (par-72) March 9-11 Team scores: 1, Arizona State 303-296294–893; 2, Southern Cal 307-293-304–904; 3 (tie), Oklahoma State 307-309-301–917 and UCLA 304-305-308–917; 5, Denver 308-300314–922; 6, Texas A&M 306-314-306–926; 7 (tie), Oklahoma 322-324-307 - -953, Missouri 316-320-317–953 and South Carolina 319-312322–953; 10, Princeton 318-323-317–958; 11, Texas 331-307-322–960; 12, Kansas State 326322-318–966; 13, Texas-El Paso 324-309334–967; 14, Iowa State 323-323-328–974; 15, Tulsa 324-320-334–978; 16, Redlands 334-339328–1,001.

Individual leaders: 1, Paola Moreno (USC) 74-70-72–216; 2, Anna Nordqvist (ASU) 73-73-72–218; 3, Jennifer Osborn (ASU) 7673-71–220; 4, Hannah Jun (UCLA) 70-7777–224; 5 (tie), Ashley Knoll (Texas A&M) 72-75-78–225, Emily Hoeper (Denver) 74-7477 -- 225 and Azahara Munoz (ASU) 76-7574–225; 8 (tie), Michaela Cavener (Tulsa) 7776-74–227, Pernilla Lindberg (OSU) 72-7778–227 and Karin Kinnerud (OSU) 77-7872–227.

Other scores: Mallorie Underwood (OSU) 82-75-74–231, Michelle Regan (KSU) 79-7776–232, Amanda Johnson (OSU) 76-7979–234, Heather Wright (OU) 75-84-75–234, Sarah Bradley (OSU) 82-80-77–239, Chelsey Collins (OU) 81-85-73–239, Kelly Jacques (OU) 83-79-79–241, Tara Goedeken (Tulsa) 79-79-83–241, Helene Robert (KSU) 82-8278–242, Hailey Mireles (KSU) 81-82-81–244, Jaclyn Stelzer (OU) 83-84-80–247, Megan Goodwin (OU) 84-77-86–247, Abii Sunner (KSU) 84-81-8–248, Ashleigh Odgers (Tulsa) 83-84-87–254, Annabel Rolley (Tulsa) 85-8190–256, Ryanne Elmer (OU) 86-87-81–254, Annabel Rolley (Tulsa) 85-81-90–256.

RIO VERDE INVITATIONAL At Quail Run GC, Rio Verde, Ariz. (par-72) March 9-11 Team leaders (18 teams): 1, Baylor 289300-297–886; 2, Arkansas-Little Rock 298-296295–889; 3, Toledo 298-289-305–892; 4, Missouri State 305-299-296–900; 5, Texas Tech 300-304-302–906.

Individual leaders: 1, Allison Martin (Baylor) 69-72-71–212; 2, Sara Wikstrom (UALR) 73-70-72–215; 3 (tie), Anita Ojeda (UALR) 69-76-75–220, Katie Elliott (Wisc.)

77-69-74–220, Catherine Fortin (E. Mich.) 7473-73–220, Hillery Watson (Cincinnati) 79-7368–220, Kim Kester (Toledo) 71-73-76–220.

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