News and Observer, 2015-05-13 C MY K SURBANIAK@NEWSOBSERVER.COM THE NEWS & OBSERVER
aB
Wednesday May 13, 2015
Sports
Cropped page 1ST
Page: 1B
SECTION, ZONE: SPORTS, FINAL 22:40:41
+
Broughton falls short
Late games
Capitals move up the leader board but finish 2nd to Pinecrest for 4A boys’ golf title. 6B
For results from games that finished too late for the print edition, see nando.com/sports.
XXSP
e TeamA XX, T e TeamA XX, T e TeamA XX, T More scores, p
newsobserver.com/sports
Hard lessons from buses that go bump in the night Jeff Daniels knows the feeling. He still has it once in a while, when he’s riding a bus that veers onto the rumble strips. He knows how the Carolina Mudcats felt when they were jarred awake as their bus tipped onto its side, how they’ll feel the next time they have to get on a bus. Daniels was the head coach of the Albany (N.Y.) River Rats of the American Hockey League in February 2009 when their bus slid off a snowy mountain highway, flipped onto a guard rail that tore through the side of the bus and ended up on its side in the median in the middle of the night. Four players and a broadcaster were seriously injured. “Even to this day, even trying to sleep on the bus is tough for me to do,” said Daniels, recently dismissed by the Carolina Hurricanes as coach of the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. “I have that reaction as soon as I hear the rumble strips – I grab the armrest right away. It’s something that doesn’t leave you. But if you want to work and play in the minors, there’s a lot of bus travel and a lot of late-night bus trips. It’s something you have to battle through.” In terms of injuries and damage, what happened to the River Rats was worse than what happened to the Mudcats, who had seven players treated and released after their bus crashed early Tuesday morning in Columbus County while traveling from Salem, Va., to Myrtle Beach, S.C. But the circumstances were otherwise all too familiar – and jarring. “Especially seeing the bus the Mudcats were
U.S. Open Golf Qualifier
Commentary
Luke DeCock
SEE DECOCK, PAGE 5B
Mudcats’ team bus involved in morning crash Bus tips over near Whiteville sending several to hospital By Ron Gallagher
rgallagher@newsobserver.com
CHADBOURN Several members of the Carolinas Mudcats organization were hospitalized for a time, but released, after the team’s bus wrecked on a Columbus County road early Tuesday The bus was taking the squad from a victory in Salem, Va., to a planned three-game series in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the organization said. “We’re obviously very fortunate,” said Joe Kremer, vice president and general manager of the Mudcats. No players had broken bones and all were being taken to Myrtle Beach, he said. Tuesday night’s game against the Pelicans was postponed, and the Carolina League website said no makeup date had been scheduled. Kremer said a series in early June might be an opportunity for a double-header to make up the game. The bus, owned by Abbott Trailways Passenger Bus, was westbound on Clarendon Chadbourn Road near Whiteville when it ran off the right side of a curve, hit a ditch and turned on its side about 3:45 a.m., State Highway Patrol Sgt. Michael Baker said. Troopers said seven people who complained of minor pains from the crash were taken to Columbus County Regional Hospital. Kremer said he had been told the bus was following a detour on an unfamiliar route when the crash happened. There were about 30 players and Mudcats staff on the bus, troopers reported, and the ones not hurt were taken on a county school bus to the county Emergency Operations Center in Whiteville. “Some guys will probably have to not play for a few days,” but the team should be back to normal quickly, Kremer said. The Mudcats are a Class-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
LES HIGH - THE WHITEVILLE NEWS REPORTER
Chadbourn-Klondyke Fire & Rescue personnel carry an injured passenger Tuesday.
+
Lottery results
CAROLINA Tues. mid 9-9-5 PICK 3 Tues. late 9-8-4
PHOTOS BY CHUCK LIDDY - cliddy@newsobserver.com
Vincent Torgah, who turned pro in 2003, says he is a self-taught golfer: “I learned by watching other people, watching tournaments on television.” Torgah, 29, shot 1-over-par 73 Tuesday at Duke University Golf Club.
Pair travel a long way for Open qualifier at Duke GHANAIANS FAIL TO QUALIFY, BUT THEIR SPIRITS AREN’T DAMPENED By Chip Alexander
2015 U.S. Open
calexander@newsobserver.com
DURHAM A U.S. Open local
qualifier was held Tuesday at Duke University Golf Club, but two of the golfers hardly were locals. Vincent Torgah and Stephen Klah traveled from Ghana to tee it up. Some trek, too. Torgah and Klah, both professionals, first went to Las Vegas to practice and play, then made the trip to Durham for the qualifier. “It was a bit challenging,” Torgah said. “We missed our flight here, but at least we are here, which is the important thing. It’s a good experience.” Neither played well enough to advance out of the qualifier, a first step toward competing in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. Torgah shot 1-over-par 73 and Klah shot 78. Five sectional qualifying spots were available, and Cory Renfrew of Canada was the medalist with a 66. Lanto Griffin of Blacksburg, Va., shot 68, one stroke ahead of Carter Jenkins of Raleigh, Jake Kennedy of Mount Ulla and Brandon Hagy of Los Angeles. Hagy was a four-time AllAmerican at Cal-Berkeley and
When: June 18-21 Where: Chambers Bay, University Place, Wash.
in Ghana. Torgah, who turned pro in 2003, said he is a selftaught golfer. “I learned by watching other people, watching tournaments on television,” Torgah said. The U.S. Open, British Open, Masters … Torgah said he took in as much as he could, then tried to emulate the golf swings as best he could.
Long wait Golf gets scant attention in Ghana, a country of 27 million people on West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea. Nor are there many pro golf tournaments in a nation that adores its football (soccer) stars. “Maybe two or three in a year,” said Torgah, who is from the coast city of Tema. “You might stay home six months Stephen Klah is pumped after making birdie on his first hole waiting for a tournament.” Tuesday, but he finished his round at 6-over 78. Torgah and Klah were encouraged to make the trip to the the recipient of the 2014 Byron of golf instruction through the U.S. by Gabe Dakwa, a Ghana Nelson Award, given for athlet- years. native who lives in California ic and academic excellence. He In contrast, Torgah and Klah and made the golf arrangehas played PGA Tour events first were caddies before they ments in Las Vegas. Charles this year and received the best were allowed to play the game SEE QUALIFIER, PAGE 3B
Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte
Simpson makes clean break with putter
Pinehurst to host 2019 U.S. Amateur
By David Scott
By Luke DeCock
dscott@charlotteobserver.com
Webb Simpson is all in with h i s n ew, s t a n d a rd - l e n g t h putter. He’d better be. His old putter is permanently out of commission, on display – in two pieces – in the trophy case of his home course at Quail Hollow Club. That’s because long anchor putters such as the one Simpson used to win the U.S. Open and three other PGA Tour events, will be banned in 2016. This will be the last time the Wells Fargo Championship, which begins Thursday at Quail Hollow Club, will see the longer putters. Players have been able to prepare for the rule change since 2 013 , t h e ye a r i t wa s a n nounced. Simpson, a Raleigh native, was one of those who didn’t immediately switch to the standard club. But before he left for last fall’s Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan, Simpson decided he needed to begin feeling comfortable with the standard putter on his terms, rather than wait another year before he would be forced to. With his wife, Dowd, as a witness, Simpson grabbed the 44.5-inch putter that played
CAROLINA Tues. mid 4-8-7-9 PICK 4 Tues. late 4-8-6-4
Copyright 2014 Olive Software PAGE: 1B,
ldecock@newsobserver.com
STUART FRANKLIN - GETTY
Webb Simpson won the 2012 U.S. Open in San Francisco using a long anchor putter; he stopped using it last fall.
such a key role in his 2012 U.S. Open victory, put it over his knee and snapped it in half. It stayed behind in Charlotte, while the new putter accompanied him to Japan. “It was great that I only took the new putter to the Dunlop Phoenix,” said Simpson, who had been using a long putter since his college days at Wake Forest. “I didn’t have a game plan for it. I was going to have to do the best I could with what SEE PUTTER, PAGE 3B
Still basking in the success of hosting the U.S. Open and the Women’s Open in consecutive weeks last summer, Pinehurst Resort and Country Club landed another prestigious U.S. Golf Association event Tuesday night. The USGA and Pinehurst announced that the resort will host the U.S. Amateur in 2019, using the No. 2 and No. 8 courses for stroke-play qualifying and the No. 2 course for match play, the Donald Ross track that was the venue for the U.S. Open in 1999, 2005 and 2014. Pinehurst hosted the U.S. Amateur in 2008 using the No. 2 and No. 4 courses for stroke play and No. 2 for match play. It also hosted the event in 1962. “We are pleased to welcome the USGA’s oldest championship to Pinehurst once again in 2019,” Pinehurst owner Robert Dedman said in a statement. “As long as there has been golf at Pinehurst, we have celebrated the contributions amateurs have made to the game. To serve as the site of the U.S. Amateur will be an especially proud moment for Pinehurst, and it reflects the passion for
ALL OR Tues. mid 2-3-5-8-9-16-17-19-20-21-22-24 NOTHING Tues. late 2-6-8-11-14-15-16-17-18-20-21-24
PUB. DATE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015
CAROLINA Tues. 20-22CASH 5 24-26-32
amateur golf we share with the USGA.” This is the second USGA event on the schedule for Pinehurst, which will host the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in 2017, the third edition of that new tournament. With the long-rumored U.S. Amateur officially headed to Pinehurst, attention now turns to the return of the U.S. Open. In June, outgoing Pinehurst president Don Padgett II said he expected it wouldn’t be long. “Do we know exactly which year? No,” Padgett said. “But they’re coming back, and we’ll probably host an Amateur before we host an Open.” The USGA has awarded Opens through 2021, with The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., expected to host in 2022 and Los Angeles Country Club in 2023. Also on the Sandhills golf radar: The Women’s Open could return to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club for a fourth time at some point in that rough time frame, potentially as early as 2020. DeCock: @LukeDeCock or 919-829-8947 MEGA Tues. 14-30-33-36MILLIONS 44 MB2 x5
2015-05-13 17:40:09 C M Y K