2010 Oct / Nov Issue of South Central Golf

MAGAZINE

www.southcentralgolf.com October - November 2010 Vol. 17, No. 5

Area courses recover from blast furnace summer

The Uihleins

Titleist executive discusses the golf industry OSU Junior leads Cowboy charge

Prairie Club, Pines Course

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Editor Production Manager Expo coordinator Copy Editor

Dan Rooney inspires ryder cup team.............8 A summer to forget for courses................10 Titleist CEO analyzes industry..................11 Battle Creek thrives.................................11 Boiling Springs victim of weather. ............12 Forest Ridge gets new greens....................13 Beermuda Greens Popular.........................15 Tulsa Country Club reborn......................16 New clubhouse at Lake Murray..................17 Walmart to title sponsor LPGA event.......18 Destinations Nebraska’s Prairie Club. ...........................20 Ocean Club...........................................22 Peter Uihlein rides the wave......................25

Ken MacLeod Derek Hillman Craig Raguse Jenk Jones Jr.

Contributing Writers Art Stricklin Barry Lewis Grant Zellner David Holland Contributing Photographers Rip Stell Mike Klemme South Central Golf, Inc. 6218 S. Lewis Ave., Suite 200 • Tulsa, Okla. 74136 918-280-0787 • Fax - 918-280-0797 www.southcentralgolf.com • ken@southcentralgolf.com South Central Golf is distributed free at golf courses in Oklahoma, Arkansas, southern Kansas, north Texas, and southwest Missouri.

The magazine is endorsed by the PGA South Central Section, PGA Midwest Section, and 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.

Columns 26 Kim Richey - KGA 27 Barry Thompson - PGA 27 Dr. Bachman - Fitness 27 Mark Felder - OGA 27 Superintendent’s Corner 28 Gene Mortensen - Rules 28 Jay Fox - ASGA 29 Instruction Zone

Departments 6 Around the Section 30 Schedules and Results On the Cover The Prairie Club in northern Nebraska could be a new mecca for golfers seeking a pure golf experience.

The Best is Getting Better...

Forest Ridge Golf Club, the area’s premier and award winning public golf course, is receiving a face lift.

During the fall all greens will be resurfaced. These renovations demonstrate a strong dedication and commitment to keep Forest Ridge Golf Club your destination of choice.

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Forest Ridge Golf Club...A Course You Can Call Your Own! To follow our progress, view the photo gallery under the golf tab at forestridge.com.

7501 E. Kenosha • 918-357-2282 • www.forestridge.com South Central Golf Magazine • www.southcentralgolf.com

AROUND THE SECTION

SCG Blog Ken MacLeod

South Central Golf - Editor

Chip shot was not the difference in Ryder Cup It’s been surprising how many people, including some national columnists, have pointed the finger at Hunter Mahan’s flubbed chip on the 17th hole as the deciding moment in the Ryder Cup. The deciding moment, if there was one for Mahan, came at the tee box, when he left his tee shot short of the green, depriving him of the all-important opportunity to have a birdie putt to win the hole and extend the match against Graeme McDowell.

If Mahan had hit a beautiful chip to one inch away, it likely would not have mattered, as all McDowell had to do was make a par putt from inside four feet to close out the match. Everyone seems to be forgetting that McDowell entered that hole up two, which means Mahan had to win both holes, not just match pars. Not hitting the green from the tee was the killer, after that the chip only mattered if it went in or McDowell three-putted. Yes, that could happen with the Ryder Cup on the line, but this was the same McDowell who made putts like that all Sunday afternoon in winning the U.S. Open and had just holed a nervy 15-footer for birdie on the 16th hole.

I heard one caller to the Golf Channel express the opinion that Mahan’s emotional press conference afterward proves he never should have been in the 12th spot to begin with. The caller went on to say it was inconceivable that Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and the like would have acted that way if they had lost the deciding match.

That may be true, but Stewart Cink’s comment was also telling. Cink poinited out that Mahan wanted the pressure of being the 12th man and possibly having the entire Ryder Cup come down to his match. He accepted the pressure that goes with it and was confident if it came to that, he would prevail. He was just crushed and probably enormously disappointed in himself that he didn’t live up to his own expectations.

Everyone reacts differently. I’d put my money on Mahan coming through in the clutch next time, whether at a future Ryder Cup or a major championship.

Sound off on the SCG Blogs at www.southcentralgolf.com!

The Wizard’s Way works

Part of the message of Josh Philbeck’s new golf video “The Wizards Way” is undeniably inspirational. If Philbeck – with eight fingers on small hands and very short forearms – can become a great golfer, what is holding you back?

Yet watching the first-class production narrated by he and his brother Rod Philbeck, one quickly forgets about Josh’s limitations and becomes engrossed in the very solid golf advice being dispensed.

Josh and Rod, who is a junior golf instructor, juvenile corrections officer and counselor in San Diego, have put together a splendid 56-minute video that takes you through the fundamentals and some more advanced shot making. Any level of golfer can benefit, particularly from his nine rules of ball flight and the ball striking techniques.

Josh, a former golf instructor at Rolling Hills (now Cherokee Hills) Golf Club, is taking his message nationwide this year. And the 35-year-old from Tulsa is likely to soon be sought by groups to share his story of hope.

Philbeck was born with a genetic disorder called Holt-Oram syndrome, which affects both the heart and the upper limbs, particularly the hands and forearms.

He underwent 15 surgeries, mostly at the Mayo Clinic, to repair a defect in the septum (muscular wall) of his heart and to reconstruct his hands and fingers. He lost his left thumb in the process, leaving him with four fingers on each hand.

It could have been a traumatic situation for a young boy, but Philbeck wasn’t allowed to wallow in self pity. His parents and two older brothers were all golfers and he was expected to do the same. And he figured it out, slowly at first, but he became good enough to play on the Owasso High School team. Since attending the University of Tulsa he’s worked hard on his core strength, which has allowed him to become a much stronger and effective golfer and tennis player. A tennis video is high on his list of upcoming projects.

Philbeck drives the ball consistently straight and about 250 yards. His short game is excellent and he can get really hot with the putter and has made up to nine birdies in a round. His USGA handicap index is currently 6.2 while playing out of Indian Springs Country Club in Broken Arrow.

“Josh is a really amazing player,” said Indian Springs director of golf Michael Boyd.

“I’ve seen him play since we were in college

together at the University of Tulsa and he’s just gotten better each year.

“I think the DVD is very basic and can help a lot of people,” Boyd said. “He keeps it very simple and shows people how they can get better. I think everyone, no matter their handicap, can get something out of it.”

Philbeck has a new website on which the video is available, www.thewizardsway. com. The video costs just $15 and you can purchase it online. For both the instruction and the inspiration behind it, we highly recommend you purchase one for yourself and another for a family member or friend. Philbeck is setting up a foundation and the proceeds will go toward medical research.

Harrington to NGT

National Golf Tour CEO Scott Hall has appointed veteran Oklahoma PGA Professional Rick Harrington as National Director of Tournament Operations.

Harrington, 51, will oversee event management and tournament operations for all current NGT Regional Series while facilitating future growth of the developmental tour.

“Harrington, a PGA Life Member and member of the Quarter Century Club lives

by Scissortail Golf Course in Verdigris and teaches at Bailey Ranch Golf Club in Owasso. A professional since May 1980, Harrington has worked at facilities in Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma, including The Golf Club of Oklahoma and The Governors Club in Suburban Nashville, Tennessee.

The National Golf Tour offered tournaments in nine areas in 2010. Harrington hopes to push that number to 15 for 2011 with an eventual goal of 24. A typical event involves a field of more than 100 professionals or top amateurs paying entry fees of $250. The tournaments are typically 36 holes of stroke play with about $3,500 going to the winner. Harrington said the top 35 to 50 players get paid, with the least amount being at least winning the entry fee back.

Harrington said there will be a tour in Oklahoma in 2011 called the Red River Series and a tour in Kansas as well.

Harrington said the National Golf Tour, begun in 2007, is a developmental tour on par with the Hooters Tour as a place for professionals to get their start before moving on to the Nationwide Tour. Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey is an example of a player who competed on the NGT before moving up.

“There are a lot of awfully good players out there and you’ve got to give guys an

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AROUND THE SECTION opportunity to go to the next level,” HarBrad is already 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds rington said. “The goal is to provide them and can drive the ball 290 yards. He is the with some quality events so they can grow top-ranked golfer in his age group by Junior and move up.”

Golf Scoreboard and has won numerous junior events, including the U.S. Kids Golf NaJunior commits to OU tional Championship for his age group last Nearly all young athletes harbor the dream week at Pinehurst Resort. that some day if they work hard enough, they OU goal coach Ryan Hybl cannot commay attract the attenment on potential recruits. Verbal committion of their favorite ments are non-binding. Dalke would not be college team. able to sign a letter of intent until 2015.

Some day came early for Brad Dalke, Gulf Shores offers $2k a talented 13-year-old GULF SHORES, ALABAMA - Travelers golfer from Mansfield, heading to the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Texas, who gave a area this fall will not only be able to take adnon-binding verbal commitment to play golf vantage of idyllic seasonal weather, but will at the University of Oklahoma in August also have a chance to go on a $2,000 golf, while still 12. shopping and dining spree during their visit.

“Yes, some people are going to think All groups booking a customized golf that’s crazy,” said his mother Kay Dalke. package via www.golfgulfshores.com for trav“But they just have to know our family to el between Nov. 16, 2010 and Feb. 28, 2011 understand.” will be entered to win the $2,000 destination The Dalke’s are Sooners at heart. The for- credit prize to be used on dining, golf shop mer Kay Pryor is from Tulsa and was on the items, area attractions and more. Packages first OU women’s golf team in 1975. She mar- must be purchased by Nov. 15, 2010 and inried Bill Dalke, a starting sophomore line- clude a two-night minimum stay. The winbacker for the Sooners on their 1975 NCAA ner of the $2,000 destination credit will be championship squad. Brad is the youngest randomly chosen on Nov. 15. of their seven children and the first one who To book your package and be entered to will attend their beloved alma mater. win visit www.golfgulfshores.com today.

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Dan Rooney, right, with U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin.

Rooney enjoys dream week

Ryder Cup experience one he’ll cherish

By Ken MacLeod Maj. Dan Rooney is confident, eloquent, passionate and inspirational when speaking to groups, which he does constantly in promoting Patriot Golf Day and the Folds of Honor Foundation.

Even so, when Corey Pavin asked him to speak to the Ryder Cup squad on Tuesday night prior to the cup matches, Rooney was astonished.

“I said, ‘Corey, you can have anybody in the world give this speech.’ He said ‘I know.’

I said what can I offer the world’s best golfers? He said ‘Just speak from the heart and I know you’ll bring something that will be great.’ “ Despite some admitted nervousness (“when you’re standing five feet from Tiger, looking at him, you’re absolutely nervous.”), Rooney came through with a message of teamwork, accountability and trust that had

the rapt attention of everyone in the room.

“When you go to combat in an F-16, it’s inherently a very independent act. But you fly as two ships and become one in combat.

And it’s everyone working together, the ground support on up, that makes it work.”

Jim Remy, president of the PGA of America, said afterward that “The time that Major Rooney spent with the team was both emotional and incredibly motivational. I’ve never seen a speaker capture the attention of a Ryder Cup team quite like I witnessed with Dan.” While the British tabloids tried to portray Rooney’s appearance as saber rattling by Pavin, his speech was completely appropriate. Rooney is not only an F-16 fighter pilot with three tours of Iraq behind him, he is a PGA professional and his Folds of Honor Foundation in Owasso enjoys the strong support of the PGA of America, which also happens to put on the Ryder Cup.

“That night in the room was one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do. It was a spiritual, wonderful evening. Everybody laughed and cried. To have it be blown into something that was negative by the British press was just unfortunate.”

Beyond the speech, the Broken Arrow resident remained a guest of the U.S. team for the entire competition, having access to the inner sanctums of the clubhouse and being able to view the action from inside the ropes, occasionally hopping a ride with Pavin or the vice captains on the cart.

“It was an amazing week,” Rooney said.

“To be there under the ropes, to talk with all the guys in the clubhouse each night. You don’t get to spend time with people like that very often and they were all, including the wives and girlfriends, such nice, genuine people. I was truly impressed.

“I know Corey pretty well from having worked with him on some projects and I think the team really represented the kind of quality and integrity that he possesses.

He is one of the most unflappable people you will ever meet.”

Rooney and his wife Jacqy had an unforgettable week, capped off when Stewart Cink approached him in the clubhouse after the bitter one-point loss and told him that he had used Rooney’s words as inspiration the entire week.

“That was one of the nicest things anybody has ever said to me,” Rooney said.

Rooney hopes the relationships begun at the Ryder Cup will translate down the road into possible support for the Folds of Honor Foundation, which awards scholarships to the families of military men and women killed or wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Rickie Fowler was among the pros who attended the first Patriot Cup this summer and Rooney hopes to invite some more of the Ryder Cup team in the future.

“We planted some seeds of support for the Folds of Honor Foundation,” he said. “Hopefully it will be the beginning of some good relationships with a lot of those guys.”

Phil Mickelson was one of Rooney’s staunchest defenders after the potshots by the British press. Perhaps Mickelson, Fowler and a couple of their teammates will tee it up together at the Patriot Cup soon.

As Ryder Cup week proved to Rooney, you never know what might happen next.

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The Patriot tougher than billed

By Ken MacLeod OWASSO, Okla. – The Patriot had the reputation of a lamb, but played like a furious lion when it hosted the Oklahoma Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship.

The average score of the contestants was over 85.86 for the 36-hole event, the highest that OGA officials could remember for one of their championship events. The only player to record a sub-par round was winner Mike Alsup, who shot 3-under 69 in the second round to go with an opening 73.

Alsup finished at 2-under 143, three shots clear of Ponca City’s Craig Poet (72-73 145). Third place went to Kermit Frank of Edmond at 150 (73-77).

Besides Alsup, the unquestioned winner was The Patriot, the Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that opened this spring to whispers that the family-friendly concept that Jones emphasized, with wide fairways and green surrounds that often helped slightly errant shots bounce toward the green, may have been carried to an extreme. When various touring professionals tore it up at the first Patriot Cup around Memorial Day, it seemed to confirm those worries.

Well, change one short par-5 (No. 4) to

a long par-4, get the greens firm and rolling 12 or faster on the stimpmeter and add some golfers to the field who were there more to play The Patriot than to compete Mike Alsup. for the title and the result is six-hour rounds, uncounted lost balls and nine scores in triple figures, among those that were turned in.

There were 203 birdies against 715 bogeys, 303 double bogeys and 210 scores higher than that. Anyone not consistently straight off the tee paid a heavy price. There were plenty of astronomical numbers, including a 19 on hole 18 in the opening round (that golfer bounced back with a par on the hole in the second round, a nifty 15-shot iimprovement.

“There were some pretty good golfers out here that this course made look mighty foolish,” said three-time champion Mike Hughett of Owasso, who lost three balls in an opening 84 before bouncing back with a

South Central Golf Magazine • www.southcentralgolf.com

73. “It’s got some very difficult holes with the north wind. Three and four (both par-4s) were playing like par-5s. The fairways were firm and fast and the ball rolls out, but not always where you want it to go.”

So how did Alsup avoid the carnage around him? Fairways and greens.

The 54-year-old Tulsan missed just two fairways and three greens in regulation in the second-round 69.

“It was a good ballstriking round,” said Alsup, who won his fifth OGA event. “My drives were good, and I usually have a tendency to be a little erratic off the tee. I’m really happy to win this on this course. At 54, I don’t expect to have a lot more chances.”

“A lot of guys played well out here, they just had one or two big numbers,” Alsup said. “I was able to avoid that.”

Alsup birdied holes 5 and 8 and made the turn at 1-under, then bogeyed the 10th hole.

When Poet rammed in a 65-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th hole, Alsup figured they were tied for the lead. But Alsup countered with a 35-foot birdie of his own, then birdied the par-5 15th and 16th holes in succession while Poet bogeyed 15.

Alsup is a member at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, so he is very accustomed to difficult courses. Like Hughett, he had only heard about The Patriot being easy before encountering it first hand. Now he may be the only one who still believes it.

“The Worst Ever”

2010 was brutal year for our fairways and

Above, what many area fairways looked like this spring and at right, what many greens looked like by summer’s end.

By Ken MacLeod No one, not the USGA Green Section, the National Golf Foundation or the Golf Course Superintendents Association, knows how many greens throughout the U.S. perished or suffered severe damage in the summer of 2010.

The horror stories, however, continue.

“Worst ever” is a description you will hear frequently, from guys who have been growing grass since before Tiger Woods was born.

“In my lifetime, by far the worst year ever,” said Mike Wooten, a superintendent since 1977 and as former president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the GCSAA, one of the most well-connected supers in the section.

“We’ve had hotter summers, but the high nighttime temperatures in the 80s and the humidity staying above 70 percent at night, the bent grass just had no chance. The plant can’t function at those numbers.”

Wooten is not referring so much to his own greens, which got by with minor problems. He talks to superintendents from around the country on a daily basis.

Except for the Pacific Northwest, Wooten said no area of the country has escaped.

“The northeast has been hit very hard.

All of the south has been affected. Probably 90 percent of the guys I’ve talked to say it’s their worst year ever,” Wooten said.

Charles “Bud” White, the director of agronomy for the Mid-Continent Region of the USGA Green Section serving the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas, concurs with Wooten.

“I’ve been an agronomist for 32 years and this is the toughest 10 months I’ve seen in my career,” White said. “You had an unusually cold winter followed by weather that exceeded the ability of the bent grass to live. The summer bent grass decline has been very widespread.”

10

“I’ve been a superintendent for 35 years and it’s the worst summer I’ve seen,” said Milton Hale at Peoria Ridge in Miami, Okla.

“I hope I never see another one like it.”

The end result, particularly here in the transition zone, is that hundreds of golf courses that were already stressed by low rounds from December through March due to the cold were forced to spend critical time and resources recovering from the widespread winterkill of Bermuda fairways.

By late June, crews were running overtime in a desperate battle to keep soil temperatures from soaring into triple figures.

Many greens died despite their best efforts. Now additional time and resources are going to fix greens in a year when rounds and revenue have been depressed.

Course owners and operators have little choice but to cough up the funds to make the repairs. The good news is an extended

The greens have reached a point that someone out here playing with bad breath will set them off.

- Mike Wooten, superintendent, Cedar Ridge Country Club

span of ideal weather for bent grass arrived in late September, aiding many courses in their recovery efforts.

Many times, there was nothing superintendents could do to prevent the damage.

Soil temperatures reached triple digits.

Bent grass begins to lose its roots when soil temperatures reach the high 70s.

“I’ve had guys call me on days when the temperatures were over 100 and then they get some afternoon rains which just makes it worse,” Wooten said. “They sit there and watch the greens fade. When you lose con-

trol of the moisture content, you can get diseases that fungicides won’t control.

“They ask me ‘what should I do?’ Sometimes there’s nothing you can do.”

Lynn Blevins, director of golf at Scissortail Golf Course in Verdigris, Okla., where fully 70 percent of the fairways needed to be sprigged after a massive winterkill, said he’s had to try to reassure superintendent Chad Weinrich.

“I keep telling him it’s not his fault but it’s been no fun.” Blevins said.

Many courses, particularly in the southern edge of the transition zone, have ended their attempts to grow bent grass greens and are installing ultradwarf Bermuda cultivars such as Champion or Mini Verde. No one has raised an eye at the conversions at Chickasaw Pointe, WinStar Golf Course or Silverado Golf Course, all in far southern Oklahoma. The decision by Tulsa Golf and the city of Tulsa to switch out the greens at Olde Page at Page Belcher and Woodbine at Mohawk Park, however, has been a subject of much discussion, as many superintendents are worried that the courses will be trading one set of problems for another.

“It’s a pretty drastic step but time will tell,” Wooten said. “If you look at Memphis or Little Rock, a lot of courses are switching to Bermuda. Tulsa is about as far north as anyone has tried it and the key will be how well they survive the winters.”

At one point in Tulsa in September there were seven courses closed for planned or unplanned renovation work. At least seven other courses had one or more greens closed to resod and many were counting on aerification and reseeding to restore greens weakened by the hot summer.

To a man, golf course superintendents and professionals implored their golfers to continue to support their favorite courses as they rebuild and remain optimistic.

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greens Greenway method proves successful One public course in the Tulsa area that seemed immune to the green damage going on around it was Battle Creek Golf Course in Broken Arrow.

Course superintendent Will Hefferman has been following a unique program developed by Greenway Golf, the firm that manages Battle Creek, and he attributes the program to the success the course had maintaining greens that were firm and fast even in the worst of the summer heat wave.

The Greenway program, as explained

by Heffernan and PGA professional Bill

matically easier,” Heffernan said. “I use a lot fewer chemicals, a lot less water, a lot fewer mowings. Everything we do is designed to promote root growth and not blade growth.”

Battle Creek has a variety of bent grass called Cato-Crenwshaw which has also proven more heat tolerant than many of its predecessors.

A second factor aiding the greens at Battle Creek is that much of the course is open to good air flow, a crucial factor in keeping soil temperatures from reaching triple digits.

Greens were pure at Battle Creek.

While its greens were near perfect, BatWagner, stresses providing a playing tle Creek did not escape Mother Nature’s surface and not growing a crop (of bent wrath this year. It suffered severe winter grass). To that end, it uses less nitrogen- kill in the fairways in the spring, but was based fertilizers, less water and more iron able to grow them back quicker than some to thin the leaf blade. The greens are aeri- thanks to a special row planter brought in fied frequently without top dressing and to do the sprigging that plants sprigs four rolled at least three days a week without inches in the soil as opposed to just throwmowing. ing them on top.

Heffernan said he was initially skeptical Once the fairways caught up with the of the program when Greenway took over greens in conditioning, Battle Creek was management of Battle Creek four years deluged with golfers, particularly since so ago but quickly became a huge believer. many other courses in Tulsa were in the “This program has made my life dra- midst of repairs.

At a standstill

Uihlein sees limits on growth for golf in U.S.

By Ken MacLeod There is hope in these parts that 2011 could be a bounce back year in the golf industry with just a little cooperation from the weather.

Viewed from a broader perspective, however, the game, and particularly the corporate environment of largesse that surrounded it, has fundamentally changed since 2007 and the clock won’t be rolling back.

That’s the viewpoint of Wally Uihlein, Chairman and CEO of the Acushnet Company, which makes Titleist and Footjoy products. South Central Golf discussed the current state of the game with Uihlein this fall at the Ping/Golfweek Preview at Karsten Creek where he was watching son Peter lead Oklahoma State to the team title.

Uihlein said golf in the United States in terms of sponsorships, equipment sales, course construction and other business is 75 percent of what it was in 2007 and

is not likely to show a marked increase any time soon. The U.S. once accounted for 75 percent of golf sales, by 2020 that number is expected to be 40 percent. Rounds are stagnant, number of core golfers has changed little and the culture has changed significantly. It is much harder to find companies willing to spend on boondoggled corporate golf events or to sponsor golf tournaments.

The potential for growth is much greater overseas, particularly in the Pacific Rim. Korea is a hot bed of golf growth currently, China has vast potential but only if the middle class continues to grow and courses are built for others besides visiting businessmen.

In the United States, most of the population growth in the past decade has been among Hispanics and African Americans and neither group has been picking up the game in significant numbers.

“The U.S. will do well to hold on to the golfers it has,” Uihlein said. “”We do lots of population studies based on who already

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exists, looking at the industry in 2020 or 2030.

When you look at population projections in terms of where they live, densities and ethnicities, we will do well to hold on to the golfers that we have.”

Combine the effect the economy has had on golf with the restrictions on driver size and grooves imposed by the USGA and it’s been difficult for major manufacturers such as Titleist.

“The regulatory bodies have done a nice job of throwing up the perpetual yellow flag,” Uihlein said. “If we were a NASCAR race, we would always be racing under a yellow flag. The good thing when that happens is that everybody holds their positions.”

For Titleist, maker of the Pro-V1 series of golf balls, Volkey wedges, Scotty Cameron putters and a complete line of high-

Please see Uihlein, Page 12 11

New Courses and Renovations

Boiling Springs seeks new management An aerial shot of Boiling Springs Golf Course in Woodward, which closed this fall until further notice. Photo by Rowynn Ricks, Woodward News

By Grant Zellner Boiling Springs Golf Course, once named a top five public course in Oklahoma by Golf Digest, is closed for renovations Like she did to so many Oklahoma courses, Mother Nature dealt Boiling Springs near Woodward a devastating one-two combination, a severe winter which damaged fairways followed by searing heat and humidty that wilted greens.

Unlike many other Oklahoma courses which staggered to their feet and are coming back strong, Boiling Springs remains on the canvas, at least for now.

Revenue shortfalls accentuated by the poor weather and resulting course conditions forced the Boiling Springs Golf Association to terminate its lease and toss the keys back to the city. The course has been closed since Sept. 14..

Superintendent Ben Zollinger and his staff are now employees of the city. They are busy repairing greens, including seeding with 007 creeping bentgrass, one of

Uihlein

Continued from page 11

ly-regarded clubs and accessories, keeping its ranking in the various categories works just fine.

“We feel we’re as well positioned as anybody,” Uihlein said. “We didn’t bring on this sort of playing field. It makes the whole industry evolutionary rather than revolutionary. But there is still a bit of an innovation landscape. Our products today are better than they were yesterday. But we’re inside the five-yard line.”

Uihlein said Titleist will have a new Pro-V for 2011. Also the 910 drivers will be out.

12

the new varieties which has tested well for heat resistance. Zollinger, a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, is confident he can have the highly-regarded course back in good shape for the spring, if a new operator is found.

The job of securing the new operator will fall to the City of Woodward. The city, which also operates the Woodward Park Golf Course, is not planning to take over daily operations, but will survey its options among interested individuals or management firms.

City Commissioner Gary Goetzinger said there has been no shortage of interested parties. He hopes that this opportunity to “catch up” with the maintenance of the property leads to a new operating organization in the near future. Goetzinger, said that while the immediate future is uncertain, it will only be a matter of time before the gates reopen at Boiling Springs.

Still there will be some long-term issues to resolve. The previous association reported that the course had turned a profit just

once in the last 14 years. It is also suspected that the high salinity content of the effluent water used for irrigation may be exacerbating the problems with the greens.

Zollinger said it’s difficult to get a good flush of the push-up sand-based greens that are not built to USGA specifications. The water is being tested to see if it is contributing to the bent grass decline this summer.

The course, known for it’s challenging layout, striking elevation changes and greens with lots of movement and slope, also has a recent clubhouse addition that cost close to $700,000. Debt service on the clubhouse has contributed to the association’s struggles.

The course also used to benefit tremendous from large tournaments held by local organizations tied to industries that have been reduced or canceled by the poor economy.

Boiling Springs has taken it on the chin from about every conceivable combination of circumstances one could imagine. Hopefully the weather and economy will improve enough in 20111 to allow one of Oklahoma’s treasured public courses to get back on its feet.

“Our drivers, fairways woods and hybrids are the best we’ve ever had,” Uihlein said. “Our irons are the best we’ve made.

We’ve responded to the groove rule as well as we could have. We’ve not stood still. But it’s a game of limited opportunity here. The first thing we have to do is hold on to the golfers we have. If you can do that, then you have a chance to grow.”

Uihlein has managed to carve out time in his busy schedule to follow Peter’s career, particularly in the bigger events such as the U.S. Amateur Championship the younger Uihlein won at Chambers Bay this summer.

“Like the old A Team quote, you love it when a good plan comes together,” Wally

Uihlein said. “Pete has been working hard.

Life is a marathon, not a destination, but there are certain events you shoot for, whether it’s the NCAA Championship or the U.S. Amateur. During this phase of his life, that is one of those major events you point toward. It was neat to watch. The sports physiologists would say that while the physical, emotional and cognitive are all in harmony, all in the flow, ride that wave as long as you can. That’s what Pete has been doing this fall.

“The most gratifying thing has been watching him grow up and execute and compete under increased competitive situations.”

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Firm and fast at Forest Ridge

Forest Ridge superintendent John Babe, left, and course contractor Justin Jones survey the new greens at Forest Ridge.

greens have been restored to their original dimensions. Some had shrunk considerably due to Bermuda encroachment.

One of the most dramatic changes will be a new lake that will nearly encircle the green on the par-3 15th hole. architect Randy Heckenkemper directed a The course will also forgo its traditionrebuilding of all bunker complexes and all al overseed this winter in order to fully

Course banks on new grass to improve greens

By Ken MacLeod Golfers in northeastern Oklahoma may have struggled to find a public course that was in decent condition late this summer, but their options are about to increase.

Forest Ridge Golf Club in Broken Arrow will reopen Dec. 1 after spending the past two months dramatically improving conditions for its customers.

Traditionally one of the top-ranked public courses in the state, Forest Ridge had begun to lose a bit of luster due to its Penncross bent grass greens that were subject to annual invasions of poa annua., the grass of choice at Pebble Beach and other northwest courses but considered a weed in Oklahoma.

Forest Ridge sodded all 18 greens with Tyee creeping bentgrass, a grass previously used to great success in the section at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark. Tyee has proven to stand up well to heat, resist poa incursions and provide faster green speeds without needing to be mowed at dangerously low heights.

Superintendent John Babe, who has been at Forest Ridge since it opened with the original greens in 1989, said at presstime that the sodding of all 18 greens was complete and they were growing in nicely. He has already bid adieu to the Penncross.

“Penncross ranked among the worst in all the university studies for being resistant to poa,” Babe said. “This grass is a lot more aggressive.”

In addition to switching out the greens,

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New Courses and Renovations strengthen the Bermuda fairways, which like all courses in the region were punished by the cold winter and wet spring of 2010.

“We’ll be able to put some herbicides down that we wouldn’t be able to with the overseed,” Babe said.

Forest Ridge, which plans to reopen Dec. 1, will also continue with selected tree and shrub removal designed to bring more light and air to certain greens and fairways. Forest Ridge head professional Lance Allen said the renovation combined with some interior improvements will again have Forest Ridge at the pinnacle of the public course list in the state.

“This course has really stood the test of time and that’s a tribute to Randy Heckenkemper’s design. It plays differntly all the time. The new bunkering is fantastic, we’re excited about the new greens and with the lake, No. 15 could be our new signature hole.”

Bailey Ranch Golf Course

Another Tyee convert is Bailey Ranch Golf Course in Owasso. The Bland Pittman-design suffered damage to most of the greens on its back nine along with holes one and nine. They were closed in August.

Three greens were sodded as Bailey Ranch purchased the remaining sod grown for the Forest Ridge project. The others were

reseeded with Tyee, as were the holes that remained open.

Regulars are continuing to play holes 10, 18 and 2-8. They play the nine twice for a reduced green fee and Burd said his golfers have been supportive and understanding, knowing that most courses are extending themselves to recover from 2010.

Burd said there is still some patching of fairways from the winter kill and the course is also using the down time to install electricity for fans on holes 1, 12 and 13, shore up the bridge between holes 16 and 17 and finish some bunker projects.

Bailey Ranch intends to reopen in early December. Burd said the course should be poised for a big year in 2011.

“If we can get some cooperation from the weather, we should be in great shape. I’m excited about next year.”

older style of bunkering with grass slopes and flat sand floors. The bunkers are expected to be easier to maintain and will not wash out easily.

Unlike Pleasant Valley Country Club, which has made a switch to Bermuda greens, CCLR elected to stay with bent grass. The greens were completely rebuilt and some repositioned.

Damage is widespread

Other notable courses in recovry mode this fall from greens damage.

Hillcrest Country Club in Bartlesville closed all 18 greens in mid-September to reseed. The course remained open with 18 temporary greens and expects to reopen the greens in the middle of October.

Peoria Ridge Golf Course in Miami was hit by what veteran superintendent Milton Hale said was a severe case of Pythium Root Country Club of Little Rock Rot. The course went into October with two The Country Club of Little Rock is set for temporary greens but Hale and his crew had an April 1 reopening after being closed since worked hard to repair most of the damaged May 17 to rebuild all of its green complexes areas on the others and the ideal weather in under the direction of architect Keith Foster. late September for bent grass was accelerCCLR is using the Tyee bent grass already ating the healing. in use at Pinnacle Country Club in RogMeadowbrook Country Club in Tulsa ers and currently being installed at Forest pulled golfers off the greens for a few weeks Ridge Golf Course in Broken Arrow. in late August and early September to allow Foster also had the course go back to an the greens to recover from the stress.

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Is Bermuda the answer?

Champion and MiniVerde are top choices

By Ken MacLeod From Atlanta to Memphis to various locations in Oklahoma, golf courses tired of trying to nurse bent grass through the heat of July and August are converting to an ultradwarf Bermuda strain, particularly Champion or MiniVerde.

At least five courses in Oklahoma underwent the conversion this fall after losing most of their bent grass greens to the heat and humidity in July and August.

Three of the five – Chickasaw Pointe in Kingston, WinStar Golf Course in Thackerville and Silverado in Durant, are in southern Oklahoma. The other two – Page Belcher’s Olde Page Course and Mohawk Park’s Woodbine course in Tulsa, hundreds of miles to the north – probably raised the most eyebrows when it was announced they were converting to Champion Ultradwarf.

Tom Wolfe manages both courses for Billy Casper Golf, which operates both courses on a management contract with the city of Tulsa. Wolfe, along with Roy Teeters, who oversees vegetative management for the city, were both confident that the conversion would be effective.

The first two courses to convert to Champions in Oklahoma were Firelake Golf Course in Shawnee in 2008 and Western Hills Resort in Wagoner in 2009. Neither have experienced problems in their short history.

The Firelake experience, in fact, was a huge factor in convincing Wolfe to push for the Champion.

“We visited several times and they are among the best greens I’ve putted on – anywhere,” Wolfe said.

The concern in Tulsa is what happens if

the winter is as severe as it was in 2009, a cold enough winter to cause severe damage to Bermuda grass fairways throughout the area. Bermuda greens are cut much shorter than fairways and also experience more compaction through foot traffic, two factors which contribute to winter kill.

The course is purchasing covers for the greens which must be put down anytime the temperature is expected to be colder than 35 degrees for 24 hours or more.

The city courses will not lose any play, at least this winter. Both are 36-hole facilities and Stone Creek at Page Belcher and Pecan Valley at Mohawk Park will remain open with bent grass greens. Depending on available funds, there are tentative plans to convert both of those to Bermuda as well.

“I’m very confident this is going to be a very positive change for the golfers of Tulsa,” said Teeters, “I’m very excited and very confident. We’re not shooting from the hip here. This is something we’ve researched and analyzed.”

Champions is currently installed on about 432 courses in the United States, all but a handful are further south than Tulsa. Yet courses in a similar climate, such as Atlanta, and particularly Memphis, Tenn., have been switching to it in droves. Morris Brown, owner of Champions Turf Farms, said that more than 20 courses in Memphis will have converted from bent grass to Champions in the near future.

The greens at Page Belcher reopened on Oct. 9.

Chickasaw Pointe, the Randy Heckenkemper-designed resort course at Pointe Vista resort, reopened Oct. 1 in time for a special stay and play weekend built around the Oklahoma-Texas football game and in

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At left, the 18th green at Olde Page. Above, one of the new greens at Chickasaw Pointe at Lake Texoma, which reopened Oct. 1. conjunction with the Choctaw Casino Resort.

Chickasaw Pointe also used the Champion Bermuda and Director of Golf Ryan Chapman said he was thrilled with the result.

“We researched this heavily and Randy signed off on it,” Chapman said. “We would have used this grass 10 years ago when we built it if we knew as much about it then as we do now.”

Chapman said Chickasaw Pointe will save considerable cash in chemicals, particularly fungicides, while also saving on water, manpower and pumps due to not having to syringe greens daily for two months.

Prior to shutting down, the course had temporary greens on two greens and others had suffered various degrees of damage.

Chickasaw Pointe has also purchased the covers for the green but doesn’t expect to have to use them as often.

At Winstar Golf Course in Thackerville, 25 consecutive days of temperatures over 100 degrees and heat indexes on the greens of 115 degrees made the decision to convert to Bermuda easy for Director of Golf Mike Hammond. Watching numerous courses in the Dallas area close for extended times for repairs reinforced their choice.

Hammond and superintendent Charles Wise settled on MiniVerde, an ultradwarf cultivar with a slightly less aggressive thatch layer according to Hammond.

“Both grasses putt really well,” Hammond said. “If they are maintained well, and the crew is aggressive with verticutting, brushing, rolling and top dressing, than they putt very true and are not grainy.”

The original 18 holes were to reopen the third weekend of October. The new nine holes under construction, which will change the routing of both nines when completed, were also being converted to Bermuda. Those holes will open sometime in the spring.

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New Courses and Renovations

The Tulsa skyline is visible from the new member dining area. At right, the new men’s lockerroom.

Back to the future at Tulsa CC

Course, clubhouse get complete makeover

By Ken MacLeod When Tulsa Country Club decided to renovate, it didn’t hold back.

The club, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008, is going all out, spending $8.5 million to rebuild its clubhouse and golf course. The finished product, which should reopen June 1, 2011 or thereafter depending on weather, will have the foundation in place for a successful second century.

Rees Jones, son of famed architect Robert Trent Jones and brother of Robert Trent Jones Jr., has built a reputation in three areas; for his own inventive designs, as the “U.S. Open Doctor” for restoring courses about to host the U.S. Open, and for his careful and thoughtful renovations of courses designed by A.W. Tillinghast, one of the most talented designers in the so-called Golden Age of American golf course architecture.

Tillinghast designed Tulsa Country Club when it became an 18-hole course in 1920.

Some holes have changed considerably over the years due to the clubhouse changing locations and updates by other architects, including Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish.

Yet there are still essentially 15 holes that Tillinghast routed.

No holes are being rerouted for the latest renovation, but nearly every hole will

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change, with some of the changes being subtle and others quite striking.

All of the mounding that has been pushed up around the greens is being eliminated in favor of a more classical Tillinghast bunkering look. Greens and tees have been repositioned to create a greater variety of shot angles into the green and introduce more risk-reward concepts. Along those lines, the course will have fairway bunkers for the first time.

“The changes are sort of back-to-thefuture,” Jones said. “We took a Tillinghast course and put his stamp back on it though we didn’t have all the records (some have been lost due to fire and floods over the years.) In the 70s, you had all these courses with massive bunkers and mounds around the green (a style favored by his father). So we’re going back from that, but at the same time we’re taking into account these young guns who hit it so far off the tee.”

Greens will have an opening for shots played along the ground, but you will have to be correctly positioned off the tee to use them. Otherwise golfers will be forced to carry the ball to the correct part of the green.

“I think for the better player, he’s going to really have a new challenge,” Jones said. “We want to put your mind in gear. You’ll play better if we define the shots and see what

you can do. If you’re just hitting into wide open spaces, it’s like going on automatic pilot. Hopefully we’ll make you play better because there is more to think about.”

The new thinking starts at the outset, as the first green has been moved back and to the right while the fairway was leveled so as not to send shots down the left side shooting off into the rough.

Each hole is getting similar treatment, tee boxes or greens moved, angles varied, distances lengthened or shortened, bunkers added or removed, all designed to make golfers approach the hole in a new way even though fundamentally the routing remains the same.

The tie walls have been removed from the huge pond in front of the sixth green, it will now slope down to the water. The tee box has been moved to the left and the old teeing area will become part of the tee box for no. 10.

The greens will use a mixture of Tyee and 007 bent grasses, which should allow TCC to have tremendous speed on the greens when it prefers. The fairways will be either

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New Courses and Renovations sprigged or sodded with U3 Bermuda.

Although TCC lost many trees to a devastating ice storm in 2008, Jones has no plans to remove many of those that remain.

“The trees out there, like at Augusta or Pinehurst, are really essential,” he said.

“Without them, you don’t have to think about whether to hook it, cut it, go straight. They are an integral part of the strategy here.”

Jones had previously worked on Tillinghast designs at Quaker Ridge, Ridgewood, Beth Page Black and Baltusrol. Seven courses on which he’s worked have played host to the U.S. Open.

Tulsa Country Club will not be the eighth, but it has a strong history with the USGA, including hosting the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 2009. The club has made no secret it would like to have other prestigious events once the renovations are complete.

Members have been coming out frequentArchitect Rees Jones, TCC head professional Jeff ly this fall for tours while enjoying the work Combe and Jones’ design associate Bryce Swanson. done by Oklahoma City native Tom Hoch in

the clubhouse.

The pro shop has moved to the west and now is connected to the rest of the facility. Except for the corporate offices and ballroom dining, nearly all else has been redone, including lockerrooms, workout rooms, a new men’s grill and new cocktail lounge and member dining with views of downtown Tulsa.

“We’re absolutely thrilled with what Tom did in the clubhouse,” said TCC General Manager Jason Fiscus. “When Tom did the master plan, we didn’t know he would get the bid to be the contractor as well. That allowed him as a designer to implement and create what he envisioned in the design process.

“As we went through it, there are things he would change on the fly that really worked out well.”

Fiscus said the members are thrilled with the changes and the club is already seeing increases in food and beverage sales and dollars spent per member at the club.

Lake Murray opens new pro shop The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department marked the official grand opening of a brand new pro-shop and restructured 18-hole golf course at Lake Murray State Park in early October.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated course improvements and the new proshop building that were funded by money set aside for projects through the Capital Improvement Program which was approved by the legislature in 2008.

“Lake Murray State Park is Oklahoma’s first state park and we are pleased to unveil a beautiful and energy efficient pro-shop, as well as course renovations which are sure to please golfers for years to come,” said Hardy Watkins, executive director, Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.

“This project is a great example of how the Capital Improvement Program is positively advancing our facilities, allowing us to better serve visitors in our state park system.”

The state-of-the art pro shop is a showcase for this picturesque course, boasting a natural stone and wood architectural style with features incorporated to blend in with the existing historic CCC structures located throughout the park. Large windows around the building offer natural light while allowing visitors a first glimpse of the course. The inside light fixtures are fitted with compact fluorescent light bulbs that are easy on the eyes and energy efficient as well. In another energy saving effort, a geothermal heat and

The new pro shop and clubhouse at Lake Murray Golf Course offers golfers a vast improvement. air system has been installed, making this building the first in a state park facility to be built with this feature.

The pro-shop’s totally open ceiling exposes solid wood that lines and defines the main area. The outside patio on the westfacing side is open for visitors to relax and enjoy the beauty of the course.

“It just came out perfect,” said director of golf Wesley Chaney. “It’s very customer friendly, with the seating area and the big screen television. It’s a very relaxing atmo-

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sphere and we’re really proud of it. Now that we’ve got this facility, we’re going to be really competitive in the area.”

The layout of the golf course has also been improved. The troublesome former number two hole; which was a short, tight par-three, has been relocated so the new green – now the largest on the course – allows for more pin locations while also playing longer than the hole it’s replacing. The nines have also been flipped to alleviate congestion and allow golfers to finish near the new pro shop.

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Yani Tseng

Walmart’s LPGA support grows

NW Arkansas Championship has improved every year since inception

By Ken MacLeod Walmart is expected to take over the title sponsorship role of the Northwest Arkansas Championship beginning in 2011.

The official announcement should come in early November when tournament officials announce a date and purse for 2011.

The announcement will complete a cautious progression for the world’s largest public corporation which is headquartered in Bentonville, just a few miles from Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers. The retail giant was a presenting sponsor in 2010 after taking on a smaller sponsorship roll in 2007-09.

There was no title sponsor the first year in 2007. The tournament, shortened to one day by rain, lost money and its continuation was in doubt. Proctor & Gamble, a Walmart vendor with a large corporate office in Fayetteville, stepped in to take on the title sponsor-

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ship for three years, first in 2008 and 2009 with John Q. Hammons as presenting sponsor and in conjunction with Walmart in 2010.

Walmart has deepened its commitment to the tournament each year, and now seems convinced it is a stable and attractive event for northwest Arkansas.

Former Walmart executive Jay Allen, the tournament chairman, said the 2010 version, won by Yani Tseng by one shot over Michelle Wie, was the most successful event in terms of attendance and finances and he expects nothing but continued improvement from here.

“The feedback has been tremendous from the sponsors, fans and players,” Allen said.

“We’ve very pleased and expect this to annually be one of the top five LPGA events.”

Allen said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan was particularly encouraging while visiting the site.

“He told me our event was one of the best on tour and indicated that if that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have said anything to me at all,” Allen said.

Allen said specifics about the purse, dates and format (there is a small chance the event will switch to 72 holes) would all be announced in early November, but he said early fall remains the best option. He said there is likely to be a partnership with The First Tee again, as there was this year when youngsters from various local First Tee Chapters played with LPGA players in a best-ball format.

This year’s event, with a purse of $2 million, drew a field that included just about every LPGA star except Paula Creamer, who was nursing a sore thumb. Large crowds followed Arkansas native Stacy Lewis and also Wie, who shot a 7-under 64 in the second round to take command.

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Michelle Wie Tseng edges Wie for title From Wire Reports Yani Tseng, (67-68-65 = 200) the Rolex Rankings No. 5 player, turned in a strong final round to defeat Michelle Wie by one stroke and win the 2010 P&G NW Arkansas Championship presented by Walmart. Tseng, who began the final round three shots back of Wie, carded a 6-under-par 65 to finish the tournament at 13-under 200. The victory is the fifth of Tseng’s career and her third this season. With the win, the native of Taiwan earned $300,000.

Playing in the final group of the day, Tseng and Wie battled throughout the final round before Tseng secured the victory with a birdie putt on the 18th hole. Tseng earned the win behind strong play on the back nine that featured five birdies, including one on the par-3 15th hole that gave her a one-shot lead over Wie at 11-under. Tseng extended her lead to two strokes after Wie bogeyed the 16th hole.

Wie kept the pressure on Tseng with a birdie on the 17th hole that brought Tseng’s lead back to only one stroke. The duo battled on the closing par-5 18th hole with Wie sinking a birdie putt to move to 12-under and force

Stacy Lewis Photos by Rip Stell Tseng to make her birdie putt for the win.

Mika Miyazato finished the tournament in third at 10-under 203 after shooting the best round of the day at 7-under 64.

The victory is Tseng’s first non-major of the year as she previously earned victories at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April and the RICOH Women’s British Open in August.

Wie finished the tournament at 12-under-par 201 and was unable to secure her second consecutive victory. Wie entered Sunday’s final round atop the leaderboard

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after a second round in which she carded a 7-under 64, including a 7-under 28 on her first nine holes. Her 28 was the lowest ninehole score on the LPGA Tour this year.

Large crowds at the tournament swelled as the day progressed. Fans could sense an exciting finish as Tseng and Wie battled each other until the final hole.

Tseng was appreciative of all the support she received. Fans roared with applause as she returned to the 18th green to receive the champion’s trophy presented by Rogers, Ark. Mayor Steve Womack.

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Let your spirit soar at the Prairie Nebraska high plains resort is a golf purist’s dream

By David R. Holland VALENTINE, Neb. – Spend a night on the prairie and your life might be changed. On a moonless night stars appear as they did a thousand years ago with no ambient light to dim their staggering brilliance. For a city dweller it can be as quiet as you ever experienced.

Here, amidst the sand hills of Nebraska, golf purists say the only thing missing is an ocean to make this landscape just as it was when the game was born in Scotland.

The panorama is ever changing. It is delicate, but harsh. Golden grasses wave, red hawks, eagles and ospreys soar on the winds, a billion grasshoppers chirp.

This is a purist’s dream.

The Prairie Club made its debut this summer in the wild prairie of northern Nebraska.

It’s not the first golf destination in this part of the Midwest, but with two championship courses open, a par-three layout done and another 18 in design phase, it is certainly the most ambitious.

The sandy prairies that present a ribbon of rolling plains from Texas through Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and into South Dakota, were for years considered a kind of no-man’s land. Some tried to farm it, (there’s even a famous, ancient water source – the Ogallala Aquifer), but the soil is too fragile. Some brought in cattle and over-grazed it, but one day a light bulb went off in a golfer’s head.

This illumination belongs to Paul Schock, founder and CEO of The Prairie Club, who gazed on a panorama of Cleve Trimble’s

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2,500 acres of sand and hills that included the Snake River Canyon. But unlike private and exclusive sand hills stars named Ballyneal in Colorado, Sutton Bay in South Dakota, Sand Hills Golf Club and Dismal River in Nebraska and Prairie Dunes in Kansas, his thought was to make this accessible for everyone.

“There are plenty of barbed wire fences on the prairie,” said Schock, a venture capitalist and one of South Dakota’s most accomplished amateur golfers.

What Schock means by that is there will be no barriers if you want to play. “We’re about offering anyone the opportunity to experience world-class golf while at the same time creating an affordable membership that allows our members to come play as often as they want.”

Schock even studied the Bandon Dunes model – it is in the Oregon boondocks, but you might drive past quaint beach towns or wineries on your way. The Prairie Club is not all that far from one of America’s treasures – Mount Rushmore near Rapid City, S.D., the stark beauty of the Badlands and eastern Wyoming’s eerie Devil’s Tower.

Keep heading west and you will find Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

The semi-private golf club’s development began two years ago when Schock, an avid golfer and businessman from Sioux Falls, S.D., purchased that land after checking it out for its trophy trout fishing.

“I love the prairie, and there is something incredibly special about the quiet of the prairie in western Nebraska. Each time I’ve been on a trip to Sand Hills Golf Club,

and similar places like Sutton Bay or Bandon Dunes. I’ve been with people that I care about, and we have had the chance to share our lives in ways that just don’t seem to happen in the day-to-day rush of modern existence,” Schock said.

First came The Dunes Course, an 18hole championship layout designed by PGA Tour Player and golf course architect Tom Lehman, and golf course architect Chris Brands. There are six sets of tees stretch from 5,842 to 8,073 yards. But perhaps what distinguishes this course are the elevation changes, unending panoramas of sand hills, gigantic blow-out bunkers and a classic minimalistic links-style golf experience.

This is “prairie-links golf” at its purest.

And Schock has been a student of the game and its architecture. He thinks golf should be a walk in a park, not a housing development. And he has studied legendary designer Alister MacKenzie. “I believe the golf ball is round, and was meant to roll,” said Schock. “And, what makes golf shots most interesting is terrain where you roll the ball along toward the target. The ground should be fast, with natural undulations that call for a low, run up shot that slows down, speeds up, turns the right or wrong way.

“To me interesting design includes a hole that allows you to find your ball almost no matter where you hit it, and play it toward the green. The further you are off the target, the harder it should be to recover, but the recovery shot is one of the greatest aspects of the game. Fairways should be wide, greens should be big with natural and fun undulations, and bunkers should be mostly off to

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• South Central Golf Magazine

Club

the side, not in the way of the run up shot.

The course should be walkable, and possibly one of the great delights of the game is the tee box that is almost adjacent to the previous hole. I don’t mind walking a long hole, but I hate long walks between tees and greens, and so do most golfers.”

The Pines Course, the other 18-hole championship golf course, is blessed with the remnants of an ancient, nearby ponderosa pines forest that rolls along the banks of the Snake River Canyon. Designed by Graham Marsh, the internationally known touring golf professional, with 25 years of worldwide golf course design experience, this rugged beauty rolls out to 7,528 yards from the tips.

Prevailing prairie winds can, at times, be slowed down by the western wall of the canyon and the trees, creating an adventure in solitude on a late summer day with nothing but sounds from the insects or the migrating sand hill cranes.

The Prairie Club Lodge, which offers au-

At left and below inset, the Dunes Course. Below, the green on No. 11 on the Pines Course at The Prairie Club. Photo courtesy of The Prairie Club

thentic and relaxed dining, lodging accommodations (31 rooms), golf shop, and much more, is the centerpiece of after hours. The Prairie Club also will feature an expansive practice facility, which will allow members and avid golfers to hone every aspect for their game.

Another fun aspect to The Prairie Club is a “Horse” Course, which is set right on the rim of the Snake River Canyon and situated just off the lodge, this is a par-3 course with 10 holes takes the game of “basketball horse” to a golf experience. The golfer with “honors” picks a tee spot for each hole.

Next for The Prairie Club Noted minimalistic golf course architect Gil Hanse has been selected for the fourth course, called Old School. Hanse, who designed the popular Rustic Canyon in California, is GOLF Magazine’s 2009 Architect of the Year.

He will rout it along the rim of the Snake River Canyon, above a 300-foot canyon wall, and in view of an old historic schoolhouse built around the turn of the century. Geoff Shackelford and Jim Wagner will also be on the design team.

So you are coming to Nebraska. What else is available? Public courses in Nebraska you should check out include Wild Horse

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Golf Club (Dan Proctor, Dave Axland, 1999) in Gothenburg, ranked No. 60 on GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 You Can Play List. It is encircled by cornfields and has been called “Carnoustie of the Cornbelt”. It is also No. 1 on GOLF’s list: 50 Great Courses for Less Than $50” Bayside in is another Proctor/Axland affordable beauty in Brule, near Lake McConaughy State Recreational Area. Colorado award-winning designer Jim Engh is re-doing an old nine-hole course in Kearney renamed Awarii Dunes, for the Pawnee word “wind blown”. Engh says it will be a wild, Irish ride when it opens next year as an 18hole semi-private course.

“Awarii Dunes is a minimalistic course that is very undulating,” Engh said. “This will be my vision of Carne in Ireland. There will be two huge blowout areas that we are going to leave alone and let the wind roll over it like it wants.”

Nebraska is certainly not easy to get to, but golf purists from all over the world come here every summer. With The Prairie Club more are certain to make the pilgrimage.

For more information

The Prairie Club 888-402-1101 www.theprairieclub.com

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Ocean Club provides a nice escape Sand, sun, golf and glow worms, what more could you want?

By Art Stricklin PROVIDENCIALES, Turks & Caicos -- The Caribbean golf scene has been discovered and plundered more times than Christopher Columbus and all the pirates which once sailed these waters can boast about.

But recently, a relative newcomer has emerged on the Caribbean golf radar. Situated on a previously golf-less island, the 18hole championship Provo Golf Club on the small and scenic Turks and Caicos island nation is emerging as a golf gem.

While this collection of Caribbean charm stretches for hundreds of miles, located 90 miles southeast of Miami and just east of Cuba, the course itself is located right outside the capital city of Providenciales, hence the name, Provo Golf Club.

It first appeared as a nine-hole course in 1991 and was designed by Florida architect Karl Litton, but over the years it has grown in size as an additional nine holes was added several years ago, and it has begun to grow in acclaim.

It hosted the 2009 Caribbean Amateur Championship, attracting the best players

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from all over the region, but also has an active membership and regular resort play.

While the course lacks the dramatic seaside holes of some of the neighboring island courses, it makes up for this with one of the coolest 19th holes anywhere and boasts perhaps the most unique owner.

The Sultan of Qatar, better known to his friends as Shaykh Ahmad ibn Al. Yes, that sultan, one of the world’s richest men. The European educated Middle East ruler first became involved with the project when a college friend invested in the T&C island chain. He recommended the golf course as a nice addition to the variety of projects run by the Sultan’s HAB Group.

Of course, being the Sultan, he couldn’t just purchase the golf course. He also purchased the only water treatment plant on the island, making sure his Provo golf course was always green and lush.

His last in-person visit was five years ago with no public record of his score being mentioned.

The par 72 course, which is undergoing some back nine renovations, does at times live up to its princely reputation. While

the front nine is fairly challenging, routing among the marshes and dense vegetation, with water on six of the nine holes, the back nine is more interesting.

A large lake is currently under construction which will affect the drive on the par 4 10th hole along with the par 4 11th hole, the par 4 14th, and the green on the par 3 15th.

Another very attractive feature already in place is a huge wraparound lake which encircles the entire back of the par 3 17th green.

Like most Caribbean courses, the winter months are the busy times at Provo, when much of the U.S. seeks to flee cold weather.

Construction is taking place in the summer and early fall, but by the first part of December, the course will be transformed once again.

There are smaller lakes on several of the holes at Provo and several dozen bunkers dotting the course, which means while the 6,719 yard course may be located in a tropic paradise, scoring well may not be that relaxing.

When golf is finished for the day, by all means head over to the two-story clubhouse

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When the winter deepens, the Carribean beckons.   Photos courtesy Cheryl Andrews Marketing and find the Fairways Bar and Grill located on the second floor.

Windows encircle the golf gathering spot offering a view of the course, the surrounding landscape and the ocean in the near distance. There are large screen TVs showing golf, plenty of golf pictures and tournament notices on the walls, but what really makes it unique is hanging high overhead.

Dozens of course pin flags, from the PGA Championship at Southern Hills to the Ryder Cup at Vallaha and Stonebriar Country Club in Dallas, hang from the ceiling.

The tradition started several years ago as one grateful golfer presented the club a flag from his home course to thank them for a good round and now has grown to dozens of clubs and golf events, with more being added regularly.

The nearest and also one of the nicest lodging facilities is located directly across the highway from Provo GC, the Ocean Club and its sister property Ocean Club West.

This collection of fashionable condo units is perfect for all sizes of family groups.

There are small units with screened in

porches for a couple, and larger multi-bedroom units which can accommodate a large family and or multiple families.

Since both the Ocean Club and Ocean Club West operate as one unit within a mile of each other, there is a variety of restaurants, lighted tennis courts, spa workout facility and large, resort style pools with swim-up bars.

Of course, the largest and most natural pool, the Caribbean Sea is located just past the outdoor grill and pool, and is a constant draw of attention for thousands each year.

The Grace Bay Beach has been voted Most Romantic Beach in the entire Caribbean and the top beach in the region three of the last four years by a variety of travel industry surveys.

Two of the most popular non-golf or resort activities are the popular sunset cruise or the more rare and spectacular march of the glow worms. At least 3 nights a month, following a full moon, the sea worms perform a mating ritual where they come together causing them to cast a fluorescent glow in the water.

It seems they have proven they have the golf/relaxation balance just about right and have truly mastered the Art of Doing Nothing.

For more information, go to www.provogolfclub.com or www.turksandcaicostourism. com.

d

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Reaching full stride

Uihlein on a roll for OSU

Peter Uihlein rolls to the U.S. Amateur title at Chambers Bay. Photo by USGA/John Mummert

By Ken MacLeod Peter Uihlein enjoyed the recent reunion of Oklahoma State golfers in Stillwater. He looks forward to returning himself one day to share stories about his time in the orange and black.

It looks like the world’s top-ranked amateur will have plenty of tales to share. Already in 2010, he became the U.S. Amateur Champion, knocking off David Chung 4 and 2 in the finals at Chambers Bay, Washington.

Not a bad way to celebrate your 21st birthday.

Since returning to college, he’s helped lead OSU to the top of the collegiate rankings. He started the season by winning the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, then helped power OSU to victory in the Ping/Golfweek Preview at Karsten Creek with a tie for second.

Uihlein may have won that event as well but a shaky second-round 74 in perfect scoring conditions left him hot under the collar.

He sounded like the old Tiger Woods after pulling his tee shot left into the trees on the 16th hole, leading to a double bogey. But he regained his composure to finish par-birdie.

‘You almost never play Karsten Creek when the wind is not blowing,” Uihlein said.

“It feels like it should play a lot easier, but you’ve still got to patient. I got frustrated and started forcing shots. Even without the wind, Karsten Creek is still a good golf course.”

OSU coach Mike McGraw has been more than pleased with Uihlein’s development, though he points out there is plenty of room for growth.

“One of the things he needs to continue to work on is how to handle a round like today, when you shoot 74 on a perfect day. How do you respond when things don’t go well when they have been going so well. You’re not always going to be on top of the mountain, but that’s the time you grow and get better if you take the right attitude.”

After a slow start to his freshman year, Uihlein has been gathering momemtum since. McGraw points to a putt he made on the final hole in the first round of the 2009 Walker Cup, in which Uihlein compiled a 40 record.

“I think that putt gave him a lot of confidence and he’s been building on it ever since,” McGraw said. “Since that moment he’s had the confidence to do make important putts and do important things. And there is still a ton of things he would like to accomplish in college that he hasn’t yet.”

One of those goals will be to win the

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NCAA Championship, particularly since the 2011 tournament will be played at Karsten Creek May 31-June 5.

OSU has won the 54-hole stroke play portion of the NCAA Championships convincingly the past two seasons, but has been upended in the final match play sessions, including a finals loss last year to Augusta State. Will playing at home be a big advantage when it comes to the unpredictability of match play?

“The goal is to make it to match play and win that as well this time,” Uihlein said.

“Obviously, that hasn’t happened for us the last two years, but hopefully it will be different at Karsten Creek.

“Karsten is so difficult, especially when the wind blows. Playing there all the time should be an advantage. Plus I think match play will suit our games a lot on that course.

It will free us up to take some chances and make us a lot more dangerous.”

Please see Peter, Page 30 25

KGA Views Kim Richey

KGA Executive Director To borrow an expression from a younger generation – AWESOME! I’m talking about the September 15th win by Team Kansas of the 2010 USGA Men’s State Team Championship at Mayacama in Santa Rosa, California. And to add “SWEET” to the exclamation, Bryan Norton of Mission Hills was the overall medalist of the 153 player event.

I have been the Executive Director of the Kansas Golf Association for 18 golf seasons and this is by far the greatest and most exciting Kansas golf victory during my time!

Not since Deb Richard won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1984 as anyone from Kansas won a USGA title. In fact, the list of Kansans to win a USGA title is pretty short.

If you don’t count Tom Watson because he lived in Missouri when he won his U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, that leaves Richard plus Bill McDonald, Monty Kaser and Dick Sikes, all U.S. Amateur Public Links winners in 1964, 1966 and 1961-62, respectively, along with Jean Ashley Crawford and Miriam Burns, winners of the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1965 and 1927, respectively. That’s six champions in over 115 years! Now we

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(left to right) Kansas players Charlie Stevens, Bryan Norton and Tyler Shelton hold the Men’s State Team Championship trophy following their win in the final round of the 2010 USGA Men’s State Team Championship. Photo by USGA/Steven Gibbons have three more to add to the list.

Norton teamed with 2010 Kansas Amateur champion Charlie Stevens of Wichita and another seasoned veteran mid-amateur Tyler Shelton of Fairway to claim a four-stroke victory in the team stroke play 54-hole format where the high score of the three is discarded each round. The Kansas team posted rounds of 140-141-142 and their 423 was three-under par. Florida, North Carolina and Rhode Island all tied for second at 427, one-over par. I can’t wait to see my Executive Director counterparts Jim Demick (FL), Jack Nance (NC) and Bob Ward (RI) at our national meeting in November!

The victory was especially satisfying for Bryan. He has been very close to a USGA title before. Last year he and two other Kansans, Jon Troutman and Dodge Kemmer, finished as the runner-up team by only three strokes in the same USGA Men’s State Team event played in St. Louis. In fact, it was that experience that gave Bryan the mission and belief that Kansas could field a team that would win this year. He had Charlie and Tyler on the same positive page before they ever arrived in California! Bryan also finished as runner-up in the 2003 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship when he had to concede the final match after a torn calf muscle prevented him from walking after only 8 holes of the 36 hole final match.

After the runner-up finish in 2009, Bryan came to me with the idea that Kansas should use a subjective selection process for future teams. In other words, go get the guys that are playing the best at the time, rather than relying on a season-long points system. Our policy-making board of directors agreed with the idea and gave me the job of picking the team!

Well, it was easy to pick this team. Charlie Stevens won the Kansas Amateur at Prairie Dunes with an amazing display of steady play. He was the long-hitting replacement for Jon Troutman who is taking the year off from competitive golf with a new baby at home. And Tyler Shelton who has been a high level amateur competitor for several years after a few years as a professional on the Canadian and mini tours would bring even more experience to the team than collegian Dodge Kemmer had last year. Of course, there was never a doubt that Bryan Norton would lead this team! Cory Pavin should have it so easy!

My only regret is that my wife Roberta and I could not be with our team and their wives as they took the title “wire-to-wire”.

We were on the east coast administering a Trans-Miss event – so we were following the live scoring on our laptops. However, I did get to pick up the tab for the team’s late night celebration dinner.

Kansas can be justly proud of these three amateur golfers. They took on a national field with the top three players from all 50 states and showed them just how good golf is in Kansas. The championship trophy will soon arrive at my office with 2010 Kansas freshly engraved on the ring and it will have a new Kansas address until the summer of 2012 when the next championship is played in New Jersey.

Plans are in the making to celebrate the team’s victory in December, and the KGA will take the trophy “on tour” in 2011 to display at each of our KGA championships (all 15 of them!).

Congratulations Bryan, Charlie and Tyler!

You are each a USGA champion for the rest of your life!

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OGA Views Mark Felder

OGA Executive Director 2010 has been a great year for the Oklahoma Golf Association. We started the year at Tulsa Country Club for the Senior Spring Four-Ball. Mike Hughett and Eric Mueller were the champions with Tim McFarland and Rod Moody as the runners up.

On to Dornick Hills for the Spring 4-Ball.

Tripp Davis and Brad Purcell won a playoff on the first hole defeating David and Cole Wiederkehr.

We returned to Kickingbird for the Junior Boys Championship. The Stroke Play winner was Austen Fuller nipping Charlie Saxon who tied the course record in the first

PGA Views Barry Thompson

SCS Executive Director Despite the hot summer weather the SCS Junior Tour had more than 700 members register this year and participate in the 50 plus tournaments scheduled throughout Oklahoma and the southern part of Kansas. We had 138 young golfers participate in our Tour Championship that was held at Owasso Golf and Athletic Club at the end of July. Thank you to all of the courses and Golf Professionals that helped with another successful Junior Tour.

Congratulations Brian Ward, Wichita Country Club, for winning the Callaway Assistant Association Championship and thank you to Cary Cozby and the staff at Wichita Country Club for a great tournament. Brian

Superintendent’s Corner Brady Finton

Tulsa Country Club

Five years ago the management staff and the board of directors of The Tulsa Country Club had a strategic planning meeting. The meeting was set forth to discuss the overall infrastructure of the entire club facilities.

Now here we are in 2010 with a new zero entry pool that was completed in 2008, a 2.5 million dollar clubhouse renovation that reopened the on July 4, and we are now under construction on the golf course.

In 2008 we hired Rees Jones, Inc as our architectural firm to bring back AW Tillinghast design characteristics. Southeastern Golf is performing our construction and irrigation installation and EC Design is our irrigation design team. Rees Jones has performed reno-

round. The 16-18 Match Play champion was Ian Davis who defeated Taylor Moore 5 and 4 and the 14-15 Champion was Brendon Jelley who defeated Max McGreevy 4 and 2.

The State Amateur Championship at Cedar Ridge was next with Stephen Carney of the University of Tulsa defeating Andrew Green of the University of Central Oklahoma 5 and 4.

The Senior State Amateur at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club.was next with J Lavender defeating Mike Hughett and Ricky Lutz on the final day to capture the championship.

We moved to Quail Creek for the Stroke Play Championship next with Josh Creel of UCO winning by three strokes over teammate Colby Shrum and OU product Ben Klaus.

The Oaks Country Club hosted the Se-

nior Stroke Play where Mike Hughett got revenge on runner up J Lavender winning by 10 strokes. Richard Hunt won the Super Senior Divison over Bob Fouke.

The State Club Championship was next at the Golf Club of Oklahoma with the Golf Club winning the championship and Gaillardia capturing second place.

Oak Tree Country Club once again hosted the Oklahoma Open where Rhein Gibson held off defending champion Robert Streb and Ryan Spears with an outstanding, 54hole total of 11-under 199 to win the $10,000 first prize.

Mike Alsup concluded the competitive schedule by winning the Mid-Amateur Championship at the beautiful but difficult Patriot Golf Club in Owasso.

Thanks to all who have made this a wonderful year. See you in 2011!

Ward and Cooper Barrick, Gaillardia Country Club will represent the section Nov. 1114 at the 34th Callaway Golf PGA Assistant Championship.

Congratulations to Jim Woodward for his victory at the Senior PNC played at Muskogee CC. Woody’s score of 69-64 – 133 was followed by Jim Kane (137), Bob Ralston and Mike Gowens (139) all of whom also advance to the Senior PNC to be played Oct. 7-10 in Indian Wells, Calif.

In the Senior Cup Matches, the Arkansas Chapter came out on top with a 5-stroke advantage over the Western Oklahoma Chapter, followed by Kansas in third and Eastern Oklahoma in fourth. Playing for the Arkansas Chapter were the team combinations of Bill Agler - Fletcher White, Bob Ralston – Steve Ralston, and Rick Jenkins - Tim Zimmerebner. Thank you Sam Meredith and Muskogee CC for hosting the Senior PNC and Cup Matches.

Thanks to Mark Fuller and his staff at Oak Tree Country Club for hosting the very popular Pro-Assistant Championship this year.

Putting in the top performance of the day with a score of 98 from Terradyne CC was Greg Bray/Kyle Brannan and Greg Bray/ Bryan Arnold. Close behind with a score of 99 from Golf Tec in Tulsa was Pat McTigue/ Brian Thornburg. In fourth with a 100 from Golf Club of Oklahoma was Craig Walker/ Kyley Tetley. With a score of 101 from Quail Creek Golf & CC was Kyle Flinton/ClayAlbright to finish out the top five.

Paul Eiserman, Head Golf Professional at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers Ark., held a golf clinic for local high school girls in conjunction with the LPGA event at Pinnacle.

The event benefited the golf teams at each school as well as the South Central Section Foundation. Although this is the first year everyone is looking forward to this becoming an annual event.

vations on numerous Tillinghast courses such as Baltusrol, Bethpage and Winged Foot. Mr. Jones is also known as “The Open Doctor” because the USGA has used him for renovations on many courses that host tour events. Rees and the club set forth a design that would play just over 7,100 yards to a par of 70.

Jones and his team have designed a championship golf course keeping in mind all players abilities. We have added several tees to enhance each player’s experience. We are adding twice as many bunkers as previously.

Most of the new bunkering is in the fairways to create targets and strategic shot values.

The greens will be slightly larger than our current putting surfaces with subtle movements to create more favorable hole placements. The club has chosen Tyee and 007 as a 50/50 blend for our putting surface. We are renovating our tees and fairways with U3 Bermuda grass. Our collars will be Zorro

zoysia grass. All bridges are being replaced along with the infrastructure drainage.

Improved irrigation will be a huge benefit for my staff. We previously had single row irrigation on the tees and double row in the fairways with a greens loop. We are now going with a wall-to-wall system with individual head control throughout the entire property and a new state of the art pump station capable of pumping 1,800 gallons per minute. We built a new 1.33 acre irrigation lake to capture runoff water to help reduce our city water costs.

The timeframe for all this? We plan on sodding our green slopes and surrounds the first week of October and seeding our putting surfaces the second week of October. We will sod several fairways this fall and sod and sprig next spring to finish the fairways. Our expected reopening date is June 1, 2011.

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27

ASGA Views

Rules of Golf

ASGA Executive Director

OGA Rules Official

Jay N. Fox

Gene Mortensen

Oxendine, Mowry win first ASGA Women’s Player of the Year titles Julie Oxendine of Russellville and Jean Mowry of Hot Springs Village became history makers this year for the Arkansas State Golf Association. Oxendine became the first ASGA Women’s Player of the Year and Mowry became the first ASGA Women’s Senior Player of the Year for women 50 and older. Both will be honored at the Annual ASGA Awards Banquet Thursday, October 28 at Chenal Country Club.

The ASGA Women’s Committee, chaired

by Cippy Smith of Stuttgart, who is also Treasurer on the ASGA Board of Directors, spent a lot of time, energy and resources to develop or “designate” individual tournaments for women and senior women beginning in 2010. The flagship tournament was the Inaugural ASGA Women’s and Women’s Senior Stroke Play Championship mid-July at Hot Springs Country Club, won by Oxendine and Pat Elliott of Hot Springs.

Additionally, the ASGA added four “designated” tournaments in both divisions at Fianna Hills Country Club in Fort Smith, El Dorado Country Club, Pine Bluff Country Club and Russellville Country Club – each in the months of April, May, August and September. Points were awarded to the top finishers in each division and when the tally came, Oxendine was the run-away winner by 375 points and Mowry narrowly defeated Sharon Wilson of Fayetteville by 13 points, 350 to 337.

Oxendine had a perfect season on the ASGA Women’s Circuit and has long been the class of women’s golf in Arkansas winning eight Arkansas Women’s Golf Association Player of the Year titles. She competed in only four – winning at Fianna Hills by three strokes over Ulrika Belline of Fayetteville, the women’s stroke by three over Taylor Fisher of Hot Springs, Pine Bluff by 29 strokes over Rachel Rickels of Pine Bluff, firing rounds of 78-70, and Russellville Country Club by 12 strokes, with rounds of 76-72, over her niece Libby Croom of Russellville.

“I really wanted to win the first ASGA Women’s Player of the Year,” Oxendine said.

“It is always a good feeling to accomplish a

Jean Mowry, left, with Karol Easterwood. Mowry is the first ASGA Women’s Senior Player of the Year. goal. I am very competitive and always look forward to striving to accomplish something again or something new.”

Oxendine also earned a USGA Silver Medal as low qualifier for the USGA Women’s Mid-Amateur this year in Wichita, KS but did not make it into match play.

Mowry, (pronounced Mo-ree), played in four ASGA Women’s Senior Tournaments – and won three of them. She won the first one at Fianna Hills by six strokes over Wilson, and won the Oil Belt Classic at El Dorado Country Club by two strokes. Her only blemish came in the Inaugural ASGA Women’s Senior Stroke Play, finishing third and she closed the season with a win at the Senior Women’s Arkansas Golf Society (SWAGS) Stroke Play at Hot Springs Country Club mid-September, earning 45 points for the win while Wilson earned seven points in a tie for seventh – ultimately producing the margin of victory.

“To have repeated as AWGA Super-Senior Player of the Year three consecutive years and now to be the recipient of the Arkansas State Golf Association Senior Women’s Player of the Year award is very humbling,” Mowry said. “My husband, Clark is very supportive of me. When I want to enter a tournament, he is both encouraging and understanding.”

Mowry also won the season-ending ASGA Women’s Club Team Championship with partner Karol Easterwood. As this tournament is a team even, player of the year points are not awarded.

The 2011 ASGA Women’s Tournament Schedule gets another “major” added to the schedule with the Inaugural ASGA Women’s and Women’s Senior Match Play Championship.

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28

This is the final article for this season so I am going to take the liberty to discuss some items I have been thinking about, a “wish list” as it were. These are some situations I wish I could change and I suggest that many of you will agree.

First, in keeping with the Rules, I would like to discuss caddies and the troubles they can cause for players who do not use them on a regular basis. These problems most often arise where a young player signs up for the State Amateur or a USGA qualifying event and a family member, usually a father, is recruited to serve as the caddie and other family members are spectators.

The reason this appears on my “wish” list is that we see the same problems event-after-event.

Scenario No. 1. The player and his caddie are involved in a hunt for the player’s ball and the cart on which the player’s club are loaded is on the far side of the fairway.

A family member, wanting only to assist in the situation, moves the cart with the player’s clubs to a spot near the green and next tee so it will be more convenient. At that moment the player has two caddies in violation of Rule 6-4. The penalty is two strokes in stroke play. In match play, the status of the match is adjusted by giving the player’s opponent one “up” Scenario No. 2. Johnny Miller started a process many years ago whereby his caddie would stand behind him and help him line up the club with his desired line of play. This act prompted a change in the Rules so that at the point in time when the alignment was just right, the caddie would be required to move to one side before the player completes the stroke. That same practice is very popular in the LPGA so we see it done on TV all of the time. With family members acting as caddies, very often the caddie helps to line up the club to the line of play but remains on that line while the stroke is being made. This violates Rule 14-2, “ . . . a player must not (b). allow his caddie, his partner or his partner’s caddie to position himself on . . . an extension of the line of play behind the ball”.

I wish that when family members are going to be involved in a event that they take the time to find out what Rules apply to them. One good way to do this is to ask the starter for helpful guidance before the round begins.

For my next wish, I would like for all committees to comply with the Rules of Golf in the preparation of Local Rules and Notice to Competitors for events they are conducting at their clubs. By way of exam-

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ple, when conducting a stroke play event, Rules 3-3 permits a player to finish the hole with two balls if doubt arises as to how to proceed in a situation. Very often the Local Rules will say something like; “In the event doubt arises as to how to proceed with a situation, finish the hole with two balls and the Committee will decide.” Rule 3-3 is very clear on how to proceed and providing for the Committee to make the decision on which ball to count is not acceptable.

In order to properly invoke the procedure the player must, before any further action is taken, announce; (1). that he will finish

out the hole with two balls; and (2) the ball which he wishes to count if the Rules permit. In compliance with the Rules, the player selects the ball he wishes to count at the critic al time on the course and the Committee is not involved in that procedure. If both requirements have not been completed, the score with the original ball will count if it has been played in accordance with the Rules. The player must also report the situation to the Committee and, failing that, he is disqualified.

The final wish is for courses to eliminate “Red” tee markers. Elderly players and

those who have higher handicaps (above 25 for example) should play from tees that will provide the most enjoyment for their round.

Elderly gentlemen know that a Red tee is for the Lady golfer and there is stigma attached if he should use it. Chances are, if the course uses the “Blue” tees for the forward tee, all players who would gain a benefit from playing there will do so without hesitation. Golf is hard enough without “forcing” players to stretch their games.

Enjoy the Fall season as it presents the very best conditions to be out at the course.

Instruction Zone

determining goals and commitment level, frustration drives them away from golf almanaging expectations, prior instruction together. history, dispelling incorrect conceptions of So, if you’re nearing or at a point when Pat McTigue GolfTEC, Tulsa the swing and walking the tight rope of the you’re either going to get better or quit, usclients’ mental state. AND, we haven’t even ing our junkie analogy again, that’s what seen a swing yet! they call ‘rock bottom’. Do something about To a certain extent the deck is stacked it, or quit complaining. If it is worthwhile, against us as golf instructors. Facts are that it’s worth the effort and dedication. And The problem in answering that question golf is time consuming and expensive. A day while we’re at it, why wait till spring? Get to is simply that it is different for every golfer. of golf consumes 5-7 hours, which is time work over the winter, and have the hardest I see way too many golfers search for the that we are either not working or not with work done by February! perfect swing tip like a junkie waiting for a our family, and is generally not cheap. If we Marriage counselors have a great line, fix, with the result usually being the same. add a generous helping of utter frustration, and it applies to golf as well: Lower your Get the fix, and maybe you’ll get a short eventually we’ll find something else to oc- expectations and raise your commitment. term high. Meanwhile, a downward spiral cupy our time.

Give that a try before you consider divorcensues of fewer highs and devastating lows.

Simply put, our task is to get our clients ing yourself from the game!

If you’re nearing the bottom, read on, but if proficient enough to enjoy the game before Call GolfTEC at 918-622-3968. you’re still seeking the Holy Grail of short WINTERIZE YOUR GOLF GAME! term fixes, you won’t find it here. The reality is that: 1) Making swing changes will be much harder than you think, and 2) You cannot make significant changes in one or two lessons.

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29

Peter

Continued from page 25

Should the Cowboys prevail, don’t look for Uihlein to leave school early like recent Cowboy stars Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Casey Wittenberg and Charles Howell. “I’m here for four years,� said Uihlein, who is majoring in economics and whose father Wally Uihlein is one of the nation’s premier businessmen in his role as Chairman and CEO of Acushnet. “I’m just looking to keep getting better, keep doing what I can to help the team and improve as a

Stasi prevails at Wichita CC Meghan Stasi made history at Wichita Country Club in defeating Carol Robertson, 2 up, and winning the U.S. Women’s MidAmateur Championship on the 6,209-yard, par-72 William H. Diddel design.

Stasi, 32, of Oakland Park, Fla., joined Sarah LeBrun Ingram and Ellen Port as three-time winners of the championship.

Stasi hugged her father Mike Bolger - her caddie for all three victories - and then ambled over to do a television interview while wiping away tears. “Like Martha [Leach] said in her [recent players’ dinner] speech, she waited so long

player and a leader.�

Although Peter and his father will discuss life, business, school and sports, they do not discuss the golf swing. Peter has always been strong willed and self-driven, leaving home at age 13 to spend five years at the Ledbetter Academy in Florida, where he worked extremely hard to make himself into a world class golfer and athlete. He recruited OSU as much as the other way around, asking his father at an early age which college golf program was the equal of Duke in basketball. He sent a letter to former coach now athletic director Mike Holder announc-

ing his intention of making himself worthy of joining the Cowboy family.

That’s why it meant a lot of Uihlein to meet all the former greats when they gathered in Stillwater to tour the new football facilities, have a dinner, play Karsten Creek and attend OSU’s home game. “I got to meet a lot of great players and talk to them and get to know them,� Uihlein said. “They helped build OSU into what it is now. I want to help keep the legacy going.

I’m looking forward one day to coming back here and getting to hang out with them and tell my own stories.�

for her first win,â€? said Stasi. “And to just have one is incredible. ďż˝ The win today ranks up there with all the other wins. It’s been an incredible journey.â€?

It was quite the voyage on another sunsplashed day. Stasi, who showed no hint of nerves, was dialed in from the get-go.

Through the front nine she carded the equivalent of 4-under par with all of the match-play concessions. She recorded six birdies through the first 11 holes, only one of them conceded.

And all Robertson could do was watch helplessly as Stasi dropped in putt after putt. “She made five or six 10-footers in the first six holes and just when I thought I had

a chance - boom! - there’s another one at the bottom [of the hole],� said a dejected Robertson, who became a reinstated amateur on Sept. 5. “Right now it’s hard being so close, but she definitely outplayed me.�

Stasi continually talked about “seeing the line� all day, adding that it’s like being in the proverbial zone that athletes often reference. It helped her set the tone early, as she finessed in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 470yard par-5 fourth hole to go 1 up. She won the next hole when she drained an 8-foot birdie putt and took No. 7 after knocking in a 6-foot birdie putt, to get to 3 up.

Robertson, however, trimmed the lead with a well-timed - and much-needed - 30foot chip-in on No. 8.

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Schedules and Results PRO LPGA P&G BEAUTY NW ARKANSAS At Pinnacle CC, Rogers (par-71) Sept. 10-12 1, Yani Tseng 67-68-65 – 200 ($300,000); 2, Michelle Wie 68-64-69 – 201 ($181,326); 3, Mika Miyazato 69-70-64 – 203 ($131,539); 4, Inbee Park 70-70-65 – 205 ($101,754); 5 (tie), Kristy McPherson 70-68-68 – 206, Seon Hwa Lee 72-65-69 – 206, Jiyai Shin 71-69-66 – 206 and In-Kyung Kim 74-67-65 – 206 ($63,537); 9 (tie), Stacy Lewis 69-69-69 – 207, Juli Inkster 69-66-72 – 207, Na Yeon Choi 67-68-72 – 207, Ai Mayazato 71-69-67 – 207, Anna Nordqvist 70-70-67 – 207 and Song-Hee Kim 69-70-68 – 207 ($36,583); 15, Janice Moodie 68-69-71 – 208 ($28,789); 16 (tie), Karine Icher 70-69-70 – 209, Brittany Lincicome 70-68-71 – 209, Morgan Pressel 66-72-71 -- 209 and Brittany Lincicome 7068-71 – 209 ($25,315); 20 (tie), Amy Hung 71-72-67 – 210, Maria Hernandez 71-68-71 – 210 and Jee Young Lee 68-71-71 – 210 ($22,038); 23 (tie), Shi Hyun Ahn 70-74-67 – 211, Karin Sjodin 71-68-72 – 211, Suzann Pettersen 68-72-71 – 211, Kyeong Bae 7270-69 – 211, Chella Choi 70-71-70 – 211 and Azahara Munoz 69-71-71 – 211 ($18,631); 29 (tie), Stacy Prammanasudh 72-72-68 – 212, Gloria Park 67-73-72 – 212 and Sarah Kemp 73-67-72 – 212 ($15,586); 32 (tie), Cristie Kerr 72-71-70 – 213, Heather Bowie Young 72-72-69 – 213, Moira Dunn 71-69-73 – 213, Jean Reynolds 70-74-69 – 213, Meena Lee 71-71-71 – 213, Julieta Granada 75-66-72 – 213, Jane Park 73-67-73 – 213, Ilmi Chung 69-70-74 – 213 and Ji Young Oh 68-73-72 – 213 ($12,255).

NATIONWIDE WICHITA OPEN At Crestview CC, Wichita (par-71) Aug. 5-8 1, Jhonattan Vegas 65-68-67-64 – 264 ($103,500); 2, Roberto Castro 64-63-67-71 – 265 ($62,100); 3, Colt Knost 70-64-64-68 – 266 ($39,100); 4 (tie), Hunter Haas 6666-68-67 – 267, Matt Davidson 63-67-70-67 – 267, Steven Bowditch 64-65-66-72 – 267, Daniel Summerhays 67-66-66-68 – 267, Jin Park 69-63-68-67 – 267, Nick Rousey 67-70-67-63 – 267 and Tjaar van der Walt 65-66-69-67 – 267 ($20,084); 11 (tie), Paul Claxton 66-66-69-67 – 268, Chris Kirk 67-6963-69 – 268, Dan Buchner 64-66-69-69 – 268, Brandt Jobe 65-69-64-70 – 268, Scott Gutschewski 64-65-68-71 – 268 and Michael Putnam 66-68-65-69 – 268 ($11,788).

OKLAHOMA OPEN At Oak Tree (East), Edmond (par-70) Sept. 17-19 1, Rhein Gibson 68-66-65 – 199; 2 (tie), Ryan Spears 65-67-69 – 201 and Robert Streb 67-62-72 – 201; 4, Tyler Leon 69-65-70 – 204; 5 (tie), Jim Woodward 68-69-68 – 205 and Trent Whitekiller 68-67-70 – 205; 7 (tie), Ryan Hybl 66-68-72 – 206 and a-Oscar Stark 66-71-69 – 206; 9, Tyler Rody 70-64-73 – 207; 10 (tie), Brian Rowell 68-71-69 – 208, Derek Smith 70-68-70 – 208, Greg Mason 69-68-71 – 208 and Travis Woolf 72-71-65 – 208; 14 (tie), Connor McHenry 73-66-70 – 209 and Connie Pierce 66-72-72 – 209.

USGA U.S. WOMEN’S MID-AMATEUR At Wichita CC Sept. 24-30, Round of 16 Corey Weworski def. Jennifer Lucas 2 and 1; Robin Burke def. Ellen Port 3 and 1; Carol Robertson def. Diane Irvin 4 and 3; Sydney Wells def. Kelly Wilson 3 and 2; Carolyn Creekmore def. Kim Eaton 3 and 2; Meghan Stasi def. Kelly Postillion 2 and 1; Laura Coble def. Diane Lang 5 and

4; Brooke Williams def. Katy Treadwell 6 and 5.

Quarterfinals Burke def. Weworski 4 and 3; Robertson def. Wells 4 and 3; Stasi def. Coble 1up; Williams de. Creekmore 6 and 4.

Semifinals Robertson def. Burke 5 and 4; Stasi def.

Williams 4 and 3.

Final Stasi def. Robertson 2-up.

COLLEGE MEN PING-GOLFWEEK PREVIEW At Golf Mt. Olympic GC, Bremerton, Wash. (par-72) Sept. 27-28 Team leaders (15 teams): 1, Oklahoma State 290-287-285 – 862; 2, Washington 295294-295 – 884; 3, Arizona State 300-293-296 – 889; 4, North Carolina State 297-301-295 – 893; 5, Texas A&M 302-300-293 – 895.

Individual leaders: 1, Peter Uihlein (OSU) 69-71-71 – 211; 2, Morgan Hoffmann (OSU) 74-70-69 – 213; 3, Trent Whitekiller (OSU) 71-73-72 – 216.

Other OSU scores: Kevin Tway 76-79-73 – 228, Mark Johnson 78-73-82 – 233.

WOMEN SUSIE MAXWELL BERNING CLASSIC At Jimmie Austin OU GC, Norman, Okla. (par-72) Sept. 24-26 Team scores: 1, Arkansas 290-290-291 – 871; 2, Oklahoma 287-288-301 – 876; 3, Tulsa 290-302-302 – 894; 4, Mississippi 297294-304 – 895; 5, Texas State 312-300-304 – 916; 6, Middle Tennessee State 309-301-311 – 921; 7, Redlands CC 312-312-313 – 937; 8, Oklahoma City 318-323-322 – 963.

Individual leaders: 1, Emily Tubert (Ark.) 69-72-70 – 211; 2, Kelli Shean (Ark.) 69-71-73 – 213; 3, Anne Tanguay (OU) 7269-73 – 214; 4 (tie), Kristina Merkle 7273-74 – 219, Emily Collins (OU) 71-69-79 – 219 and Natalie Gleadall (Miss.) 73-71-75 – 219.

COLLEGIATE PLAYERS TOUR JIMMIE AUSTIN OPEN At Jimmie Austin OU GC, Norman, Okla. (par-72) Aug. 9-11 Men 1, Brandon Blevins 66-69-70 – 205; 2, Wesley Worster 70-71-69 – 210; 3, Jamey Taylor 66-71-74 – 211l 4, Jordan Perceful 67-74-71 – 212; 5, Travis Klutts 69-68-76 – 213.

Women 1, Brooke Baker 73-71-74 – 218; 2, Crystal Reeves 68-79-73 – 220; 3, Kelsey Kirkpatrick 77-72-73 – 222; 4, Whitney McAteer 76-71-77 – 224; 5, Kylie Bollenbach 77-77-73 – 227.

OTHER AMATEUR ARKANSAS STATE GOLF ASSOCIATION SENIOR STROKE PLAY At CC of Arkansas, Maumelle (par-72) Aug. 20-22 1, Stanford Lee 70-70-74 – 214; 2, Ken Golden 70-73-76 – 219; 3, Glenn Hickey 7474-72 – 220; 4, Oscar Taylor 80-72-70 – 222; 5, Bev Hargraves 74-76-75 – 225; 6 (tie), Dennis Young 77-73-76 – 226 and Mike Hale 74-76-76 – 226; 8, Roger Clement 81-73-75 – 229; 9, Jim Smith 74-79-79 – 232; 10 (tie), Bruce Dickey 73-83-77 – 233, Clark Fitts 7875-80 – 233, David Bunting 75-78-80 – 233, Keith Browning 76-80-77 – 233 and Robert

Green 75-80-78 – 233.

Baker 83) and Oklahoma City G&CC 228 Super Seniors: 1, Glen Talbert 74-68-73 (Tim Fleming 70, Mark Austin 85, Carl An– 215; 2, Sam McAllister 75-80-72 – 217; 3, derson 94, Cooper Johnson 73); Jack Jordan 82-77-75 – 234.

SENIOR STROKE PLAY KANSAS GOLF ASSOCIATION At Oaks CC, Tulsa (par-71) Aug. 16-17 SENIOR TEAM At Lawrence CC (par-72) 1, Michael Hughett 67-69 – 136; 2, WilSept. 27-29 liam Lavender 75-71 – 146; 3 (tie), Michael 1, Mark Elliott/Mike Grosdidier 67-72- Alsup 74-75 – 149 and Tim Nielsen 76-73 67 – 206 (won playoff); 2, Don Cox/Dave – 149; 5, Russ Hackler 74-76 – 150; 6 (tie), Harris 65-72-69 – 206; 3 (tie), Doug Ander- Shawn Barker 76-75 – 151 and Brent Taylor son/George McDonnell 64-75-68 – 207 and 73-78 – 151; 8, Paul Dickson 74-79 – 153; 9 R.J. Opliger/Tim Tyner 69-72-66 – 207; 5, (tie), Mark Allert 75-79 – 154 and Jim Curd Curt Kitson/Frank Roth 68-72-69 – 209; 6, Jr. 77-77 – 154; 11, John Donaldson 72-83 Doug Kaup/Bob Vidricksen 68-71-71 – 210; – 155; 12, Ken Kee 80-76 – 156.

7, Mark Addinton/Mike Shelton 65-73-74 Super Seniors: 1, Richard Hunt 74-73 – 212; 8 (tie), Andy Smith/Steve Groom 67- – 147; 2, Bob Fouke 77-74 – 151; 3, Jerry 76-70 – 213 and Kurt Beisner/Dane Ogden Greer 78-76 – 154; 4 (tie), Ted Milford Jr. 72-72-69 – 213; 10, Bill Quattlebaum/Ben 80-75 – 155 and Jim Arnold 78-77 – 155; 6, York 72-74-68 – 214; 11, Richard Stuntz/ Ron Kise 77-79 – 156.

Douglas Wilson 70-76-70 – 216.

STROKE PLAY HIGH PLAINS AMATEUR At Quail Creek G&CC, Okla. City At GC at Southwind, Garden City (par-72) (par-71) Aug. 2-4 Aug. 28-29 1, Josh Creel 62-65-69 – 206; 2 (tie), 1, Sean Thayer 73-72 – 145; 2, Grant Colby Sturm 67-65-77 – 209 and Ben Klaus Vollertsen 76-71 – 147; 3, Troy Keller 73-75 67-72-70 – 209’ 4 (tie), Andre Tourinho 75– 148; 4, Pete Krsnich 71-78 – 149; 5 (tie), 69-66 – 210 and Ian Davis 66-70-74 – 210; 6 Zechariah Potter 78-74 – 152 and Steve (tie), Hunter Sparks 73-68-70 – 211, Nathan Newman 76-76 – 152; 7 (tie), Eddie San- Chambers 68-72-71 – 211 and Robbe Trout chez Jr. 78-75 – 153 and Jorge Rubio 79-74 73-69-69 – 211.

– 153; 9 (tie), Riley Seitz 77-77 – 154 and AJGA JOHN CONRAD LABOR DAY Zach Cleland 81-73 – 154; 11 (tie), Mark Terranova 79-76 – 155 and Mike Greene CLASSIC 80-75 – 155.

At John Conrad GC, Midwest City, Okla. (par-72) KANSAS SENIOR AMATEUR Sept. 4-5 Boys At Crestview CC (North), Wichita (par-72) 15-18: 1, Casey Fernandez 71-68 – 139; 2, Aug. 15-17 Jett Johnson 70-71 – 141; 3, Alexander Hall Championship: 1, Bryan Norton 71-69 70-73 – 143; 4, Drew Posada 72-73 – 145.

– 140; 2, Don Kuehn 70-72 – 142; 3 (tie), R.J. 12-14: 1, Nick Heinen 76073 – 149; 2, Opliger 70-74 – 144 and Ward Zerger 71-73 Hayden Wood 73-79 – 152; 3, Brandon – 144; 5 (tie), Steve Groom 73-73 – 146, Ed Strathe 80-78 – 158.

Walsworth 74-72 – 146 and Frank Roth 77Girls 69 – 146; 8 (tie), John Bailey 70-77 – 147, 15-18: 1, Megan Blonien 71-73 – 144; 2, Kevin Handlan 74-73 – 147 and Doug Kaup Ashton Collier 75-74 – 149; 3, McCandren 75-72 – 147; 11 (tie), Mark Elliott 75-73 Lewis 74-76 – 150; 4, Alexandra Koch 73– 148 and John Alefs 75-73 – 148.

78 – 151.

Super Seniors: 1, Fred Rowland 74-75 12-14: 1, Maddie Luitwieler 80-86 – 166; – 149; 2, Dale Zimmerman 77-77 – 154; 2, Emily Folsom 85-86 – 171; 3, Sydney 3, Dick Landon 77-78 – 155; 4, David An- Youngblood 91-94 – 185. derson 75-80 – 155; 5, Wes Duperier 84-78 OJGT KICKINGBIRD FALL CLASSIC – 162; 6, Paul Keller 82-81 – 163.

At Kickingbird GC, Edmond (parOKLAHOMA GOLF ASSOCIATION 70) Aug. 28-29 MID-AMATEUR At The Patriot, Owasso (par-72) Boys 15;18: 1, Cullen Stahl 68-73 – 141; Sept. 27-28 2, Tyler Hargus 74-68 – 142; 3, Taylor Moore 1, Michael Alsup 73-69 – 142; 2, Craig 69-74 – 143; 4, John Cassidy 75-69 – 144; 5 Poet 72-73 – 145; 3, Kermit Frank 73-77 (tie), Ryon Fields 75-70 – 145, Casey Fer– 150; 4, Heath Myers 77-74 – 151; 5 (tie), nandez 73-72 – 145, Alec Heinen 73-72 Brian Key 75-77 – 152 and Brad Kropp 76- – 145, Blake Rhodes 70-75 – 145 and Matt 76 – 152; 7 (tie), Joshua Walker 75-81 – 156, Krutz 71-74 – 145; 10 (tie), Austen Fuller Brien Davis 73-83 – 156 and Nathan Coats 75-71 – 146, Thomas Malena 72-74 – 146 72-84 – 156; 10 (tie), Michael Hughett 84-73 and Jackson Ogle 72-74 – 146.

– 157, Brad Christianson 78-79 – 157 and GOLF INC (OKLAHOMA CITY) Kyle Jones 79-78 – 157.

SENIOR INTERCLUB STATE CLUB At Lincoln Park GC (par-70) At GC of Oklahoma, Broken Arrow Sept. 1 (par-72) Team: 1, Lake Hefner 263-269 – 532; 2, Aug. 30 Lincoln East 264-269 – 533; 3, Quail Creek 1, GC of Oklahoma II 220(Kyley Tetley 269-272 – 541; 4, Earlywine 270-279 – 549; 5, 76, Nick Fuller 69, Kelly Reed 75, Jim Rob- Trosper 271-279 – 550; 6, Surrey Hills 275erson 81); 2 (tie), Gaillardia CC 223 (Peter 283 – 558; 7, Lincoln West 281-279 – 560.

Vitali 77, Chris lee 77, Jon Valuck 69, Wade Two-Man Team: 1, Joe Bushee/Rick Ferguson 86) and GC of Oklahoma I 223 Kersey 63-63 – 126; 2, Shannon Friday/ (Craig Walker 71, Drew Duncan 80, Bob James Reid 62-66 – 128; 3 (tie), Mike Fouke 77, Richard Hunt 75); 4, Elk City Fauks/Randy Robinson 63-68 – 131 and G&CC 226 (Cory Smith 74, Russ Smith 74, Dan Langford/Andy Scott 64-67 – 131; 5 Dustin Gunkel 78, Craig Martin 90); 5 (tie), (tie), John Carver/Ricky Lutz 65-67 – 132 Jimmie Austin OU GC 228 (Lance Maxwell and Ted Milford/Bill Cornett 66-66 – 132; 7, 75, Kelsey Cline 70, Greg England 87, Jay David Henry/James Hill 65-68 – 133.

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