2018 Golf Oklahoma June | July

Official publication of the Oklahoma Golf Association

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TABLE OF CONTENTS JUNE/JULY 2018 Volume 8 Issue 3

The Goods 10

Tom Bedell reviews the new Tiger Woods book while Ed Travis talks new irons

Chip Shots 13

• AJGA event comes to Tulsa • Dale McNamara and daughter Melissa to receive Iba Awards • New Clubhouse at The Patriot spectacular • Jeff Doherty’s career comes to odd end • PGA of America headquarters to Frisco?

• Patrick Reed reopens Ram Rock Course at Horseshoe Bay • Sign up for Hall of Fame fund-raiser at Oak Tree National

17

44 Destinations

24 Competition 24 31 31 32 34 36

Hot Springs Village compares favorably with major golf destinations

46

The golf only surpassed by the food in Cajun Country

Cowboys crush Alabama in NCAA

Departments

Arizona stuns Alabama OSU hosted women’s championship in 1979 Oklahoma City University rolls again High School stars shine bright Chris Tidland continues the good fight

Where we play 38 40 42

44

Winter Creek worth another look LaFortune Park Par-3 renovation Ransom Short Course at OU is a winner

6 8 8 9 50 51 52 53

Letter from the Publisher OGA ED Mark Felder USGA by David Thompson WOGA ED Susan Ferguson Superintendent’s Corner: Eddie Roach Instruction: Jerry Cozby Fitness: Clint Howard Schedules and results

On the cover The NCAA winning OSU Cowboys and Winter Creek Golf Club in Blanchard.

Support junior golf by contributing to the OGA Foundation Call 405-848-0042 for more information 4

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GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

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FROM THE PUBLISHER KEN M AC LEOD

Ruling the college roost A minor Twitter war broke out follow- and the Norman Regional at 14-under par. ing Oklahoma State’s otherworldly per- Oklahoma State won the 72-hole stroke formance in trouncing Alabama 5-0 in the play portion of the NCAA Championship at match play finals of the 2018 NCAA Cham- even-par and UCLA was 41-over in winning pionship at Karsten Creek. OU’s Brad Dalke the women’s stroke-play portion.

And that was without wind being a big wondered if OU would ever get an NCAA Championship at Jimmie Austin and would factor at any of the four events. There were other teams have had a better shot at tak- some breezes, but compared to what we ing out OSU on a different track. The Cow- went through for most of March and April, not really. boys Austin Eckroat A huge congratulareminded Dalke that tions to the staffs and he had struggled during organizing committees regional play at Jimmie and to the volunteers Austin. at each of these events.

Our take: We’re glad It takes a year or more to see the trophy stay of organization and dein state. There will be tailed planning to run ample opportunities any significant event to get a crack at each and the workload that other next year on nuwent into the NCAA etral grounds, including marathon of having the the 2018 championship men’s and women’s venue of The Blessings championships back-toin Fayetteville. And for back must have been anyone who throught staggering. Even for a Karsten Creek was difOSU AD Mike Holder shares a school and city that reficult, welcome to a real smile with Viktor Hovland. vere college golf like OSU torture chamber.

Following these collegians at the Big 12 and Stillwater, that had to be a strain to find Championship at Southern Hills, the re- that many volunteers to work the hours regional in Norman and the NCAA at Karsten quired in an event that went from dawn to Creek showed me one thing conclusively. dusk each day for two weeks.

I’m sure there were fires to be put out These are all truly remarkable golfers.

They are playing a game that is unfamil- at each, but to the fans and media, they iar to me, and even to many of the former all appeared to be executed flawlessly. The Cowboys and Sooners who came out to amount of little touches that went in to making each event special for the players watch all three championships.

The length and accuracy, the towering and coaches was also much appreciated by mid-to-long iron shots that carry 250 yards those we talked with. Well done by all.

It was great to see Mike Holder out with in the air and land softly, these are not things that are easily comprehensible to someone the first group in the match-play finale, overwho, regardless of age and technology, al- riding the marshals and telling them to let ways thought he was doing pretty good to the fans walk to the edge of each green to watch the action. Holder seemed genuinely hit a drive that far.

Watching Matthew Wolff and his team- touched that so many fans came out on a mates in the finals easily reach all four of 93-degree, humid work day and he wanted Karsten Creek’s par-5s in two shots, holes them to have the best experience possible.

Fortunately, the Cowboys made it memothat can measure up to 630 yards or more, without hitting fairway woods in many cas- rable with their incredible play throughout es, is a marvel. I asked many former Cow- and particularly on the final day against Alaboys who played on NCAA Championship bama. A final featuring Texas A&M and Alateams how far their 4-iron shots traveled in bama would have drawn only a few dozen college, and the consensus was from 190 to hard-core golf fans for each group.

Again, thanks to all who made each of 200 yards. .

Now those same shots are flying 250 to these events such a great success and reflect 260. And yet, all three of these great courses so well on Oklahoma. held up to where par was still a good score.

- Ken MacLeod Oklahoma won the Big 12 at 19-over par 6

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Volume 8, Number 3 Golf Oklahoma Offices Southern Hills Plaza 6218 S. Lewis Ave., Ste. 200 LIKE US! Tulsa, OK 74136 FACEBOOK.COM/ 918-280-0787 GOLFOKLAHOMAMAGAZINE Oklahoma City Office 405-640-9996 Publisher Ken MacLeod ken@golfoklahoma.org

FOLLOW US! @GOLFOKMAGAZINE

COO/Marketing Director A.G. Meyers agm@golfoklahoma.org Art & Technology Director Chris Swafford chris@golfoklahoma.org Subscriptions to Golf Oklahoma are $15 for one year (five issues) or $25 for two years (10 issues). Call 918-280-0787 or go to www.golfoklahoma.org.

Contributing photographers Rip Stell, Bill Powell Golf Oklahoma PGA Instructional Staff Jim Woodward Teaching Professional, Oak Tree National jwoodwardgolf@sbcglobal.net, 405-3482004 Jim Young Teaching Professional, River Oaks CC 405-630-8183 Pat McTigue PGA Professional pmctigue277@gmail.com Tracy Phillips Director of Instruction, FlyingTee vt4u@yahoo.com, 918-352-1089 Maggie Roller Director of Instruction, Cedar Ridge CC maggie.roller@sbcglobal.net, 918-261-1441 Jerry Cozby PGA Professional jerrycozby@aol.com, 918-914-1784 Kyley Tetley, PGA Professional The Golf Studio 918-232-6564 Oklahoma Golf Association 2800 Coltrane Place, Suite 2 Edmond, OK 73034 405-848-0042 Executive Director Mark Felder mfelder@okgolf.org Director of Handicapping and Course Rating Jay Doudican jdoudican@okgolf.org Director of Junior Golf Morri Rose morose@okgolf.org Copyright 2018 by Golf Oklahoma Magazine. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from Golf Oklahoma. Golf Oklahoma is published by South Central Golf, Inc.

MARK FELDER

OGA Executive Director

FROM THE OGA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Looking for a new champion in 2018 Brendon Jelley, winner of three OGA State Amateur Championships in the past four years, will be in Canada starting his professional career on the Mackenzie Tour when the 2018 State Am is held July 17-19 at The Patriot in Owasso.

The Patriot will be showing off its brand new clubhouse.

We’re fortunate to have the rotation of The Patriot, Southern Hills, Oak Tree National and Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club as our current host sites.

Cedar Ridge Country Club will step in to the rotation for Southern Hills in 2021 when that course is Brendon Jelley hosting the Senior PGA Championship.

Despite Jelley’s absence, there will be no shortage of talented contenders for the prestigious championship which began in 1910 at Tulsa Country Club.

Cody Burrows, the 2017 runner-up, is exempt for the tournament, but the other 63 spots will be filled through qualifiers at Lincoln Park in Oklahoma City and Bailey

DAVID THOMPSON

Ranch in Owasso.

The OGA is proud to announce its 2018 scholarship recipients. There are four $5,000 scholarships and five $2,500 scholarships.

Each of the $5k scholarships is named for a former OGA volunteer.

The Bill Barrett Scholarship goes to Nick O’Donnell of Oklahoma City, who plans to attend the University of Oklahoma.

The Roy Oxford Scholarship goes to Saxon Ross of Ardmore, who will be attending Murray State University.

The Corky Billen Schoalrship goes to Josie Patterson Nick O’Donnell of Chandler, who plans to attend Oklahoma Baptist. And the Gene Mortensen Schoalrship goes to Faith Hopkins of Bartlesville, who will attend Oklahoma State.

Other scholarship recipients are Alec Faith Hopkins Dominic of Sallisaw, who will attend the University of Oklahoma; Carson Little of Norman (UCO); Alexis Hack of Marlow (Southern Nazarene) and Chloe Black of Newcastle (UCO). Congratulations to all.

The Oklahoma Golf Association, through

USGA Regional Affairs Committee

a new agreement with the United States Golf Association, is running all the USGA championship qualifiers in the state. Here are the qualifiers coming up for June and July.

June 18: U.S. Boys and Girls Amateur qualifiers, Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course, Norman.

July 10: U.S. Amateur qualifier, Oak Tree National, Edmond July 23: USGA Senior Amateur qualifier, The Patriot, Owasso In addition to the State Amateur, the June-July time frame will include the OGA Stroke Play ChampionSaxon Ross ship on June 11-13 at Tulsa Country Club, the OGA Senior Amateur on June 18-21 at Muskogee Country Club and the OGA Senior Stroke Play Championship on July 11-12 at Oak Tree Country Club.

In addition to Josie Patterson these events, the OGA Foundation will be active this summer as well, raising money it donates to various organizations which support junior golf, as well as awarding scholarships. You can learn more at www.okgolf.org about the foundation or make donations.

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION

Toss those loose impediments Dillon Rust fired a 4-under 67 to lead the U.S. Open qualifier on May 15 at Cedar Ridge Country.

That kicked off the USGA qualifying season. The course played at just over 7,300 yards and proved to be difficult for many of the players. Rust was the only player who finished under par while three others – Rob Laird, Eli Armstrong and Brendon Jelley – shot even-par 71.

The Oklahoma Golf Association has taken on the responsibility for conducting USGA qualifiers this year. As Executive Director Mark Felder said, “we want qualifying to 8

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identify those players who can compete moving forward.” For that reason, the course was set to play with some extra difficulty.

The next qualifier on the schedule is the Junior Amateur that will be held June 18 at Jimmie Austin Golf Club in Norman. .

As promised in my last article, more on 2019 rule changes.

Penalty Areas is the term that will replace hazards. A couple of significant changes that will go into effect next year are that the player can remove loose impediments when the ball is in a penalty area and the player may ground his club in the penalty

area. This certainly provides extra assistance if the player decides to play the ball from the penalty area rather than take relief. Relief from a penalty area continues to be available similar to relief from today’s water hazards.

Also, loose impediments may be removed from bunkers and the restrictions for touching sand are relaxed although the player may not touch the sand to test or gain information about the condition for his next stroke or ground his club in front or immediately behind his ball in the bunker.

Go to USGA.org for additional information on these changes.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

SUSAN FERGUSON

WOMEN’S OKLAHOMA GOLF ASSOCIATION

President WOGA

Still time to join WOGA Fundraiser Be sure to mark Monday, June 25 on your calendar for the annual WOGA Fundraising Tournament to support the Girls Junior State Championship and our scholarship programs.

This year’s tournament will be at The Club at Indian Springs in Broken Arrow. The format is a four-person shamble and entry is $600 per team, which includes an awards luncheon.

Handicaps will be used. Sign up now at www.woga.us as the field is limited to the first 22 teams. We are also accepting spon-

Emilee Jackson

sorships at the levels of $1,000 and $2,000 which include numerous benefits as well as playing spots.

As mentioned, proceeds help support the Junior Girls State Championship, which this year will be conducted June 26-27 at Indian Springs. The championship flight is open to girls 12-17 with verifiable GHIN handicaps of 10 or less. Other flights are available for ages 8-17. For information, email Louise Blumenthal Johnson at jrchampionship@woga. us or call 405-833-2776.

Our 2018 Scholarship Award winners are

Faith Stewart

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

Faith Hopkins

Faith Hopkins of Bartlesville, Alexis Hack of Marlow, Emilee Jackson and Faith Stewart of Edmond, Kailee McCrary of Tulsa and Josie Patterson of Chandler.

Other notes: The WOGA Stroke Play/ Mid-Amateur and Senior Championships will be held June 11-12 at Dornick Hills Country Club in Ardmore. And the 100th playing of the WOGA State Amateur is July 23-26 at Meadowbrook Country Club in Tulsa. Be sure to play in what could be one of the final major events held at this historic club.

Kailee McCrary

Josie Patterson

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The

GOODS

Some things we like to do before and after the round

The Bookshelf Icons Redux by tom bedell

a sympathetic portrait; at the end Tiger is still standing, having gone through the crucible, with a shot at redemption.

If there’s a villain in the book, Earl Woods is the leading candidate, although Kultida indeed comes off as the original Tiger mom.

The pair devoted their lives to helping Tiger succeed to the extent he did, cultivating his killer instinct and laser focus between the ropes; but in the process Woods failed to fully develop basic human decencies, courtesies, compassion. He didn’t play well with others; he couldn’t empathize, particularly as fame and fortune overcame him with tidal force. Hence, the crackup.

The book has already become news in its own right, Tiger’s usual handlers dismissing it, issuing statements about the authors’ egregious errors; the authors, in their turn, battling back and defending their research.

I say forget all that, grab the book and give it a read. It just might be the best book — of any kind — you’ll read all year.

to shield him. I’ve met both men. Woods gave the impression he’d be just as happy if I evaporated on the spot; Palmer made me feel like we’d been best friends for years.

It was a gift Palmer had, but he also worked at it. As Chris Rodell makes clear in “Arnold Palmer: Homespun Stories of the King” (Triumph Books, $15), the man spent hours each day signing autographs on countless photos, letters, scorecards, golf gloves or what have you. One day a visitor showed up in Latrobe, Pa., with the same model tractor Palmer had used in Pennzoil commercials and asked him to sign it. Palmer signed it.

Rodell quotes Palmer’s consiglierie Doc Griffin on the simple truth about these requests: “He never said no.”

Palmer moved around and had other residences, most notably Bay Hill in Orlando.

But he always came back to his home town in the warmer months, endlessly playing the Latrobe Country Club, the course he grew up on, where his father, Deacon, was long the greenskeeper.

Palmer eventually bought the course.

Rodell lives in Latrobe and like other residents took random and frequent Palmer sightings around town as a matter of course. Rodell never sought to capitalize on his propinquity to Palmer, but the opportunities arose anyway, and he found himself often within the Palmer offices doing yet another interview with the man.

Though he had plenty of stories of his own, Rodell cast about for others’ takes on unexpected encounters with the King, and they’re here in abundance, most revealing Palmer’s down-to-earth common touch and his commonplace generosity. One might think a lengthy series of such tales would get a bit treacly, but Rodell writes with too much warmth and humor for that to be a problem. If anything, the book seems too short.

The real joy of Rodell’s book is not what it does, but what it seems to do: bring Palmer back to life.

With a lot of pre-publication publicity behind it, I knew I was going to have to read the new biography, “Tiger Woods” by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (Simon & Schuster, $30).

I wasn’t looking forward to it. Yes, both authors clearly have some chops — Benedict a special features writer for Sports Illustrated as well as a television and film producer, and Keteyian a CBS news correspondent and a contributor to “60 Minutes,” have a total of 21 previous books between them.

But what new were they going to come up with about the most media-saturated golf personality going, one I’m not particularly interested in in the first place?

The answer is, after meticulous research and some 400 interviews with more than 250 people over a three-year period, quite a bit. But the new information — Earl Woods being buried in an unmarked grave, an indepth look at Tiger’s first serious relationship in high school, the doubt cast on a story about Tiger’s early brush with racism — is just one aspect of this absolutely riveting narrative.

The way the authors’ new research blends in with the familiar trajectory of Tiger’s rise and fall makes for a tale that transcends the spor t sw r it i ng genre. We’re in Shakespearean territory here, with a central character whose Arnold Palmer parents push Golf journalists who have been him to reach the around a while know that Arnold heights of a choPalmer was a magnetic personalsen path, who ity, adored by both men and womeven surpasses it en. Therein lies at least one tale, in almost superhuabout the differing styles of jourman fashion, benalistic eras. No one ever wrote fore he pitches into about Palmer’s personal life. It just the void of scandal, wasn’t done then. loss and injury.

But it may also be that the Caddyshack Yes, all of Tiger’s In “Caddyshack: The Making of a Holqualities Woods lacked, Palmer had in sexual imbroglios are detailed, but this is hardly a muckrak- abundance — the ability to effortlessly lywood Cinderella Story” (Flatiron Books, ing approach. It’s not far-fetched to call this connect with others — and this also served 26.99), Chris Nashawaty goes deep on the 10

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GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

background of what may be the funniest sports comedy ever made, back in 1980.

Although, at the time, the Hollywood Reporter critic wrote, “To attempt a critical evaluation of Orion’s new ‘Caddyshack’ is a little like describing the esthetic qualities of an outhouse.” The Boston Globe said, “`Caddyshack’ represents everything that is wrong with contemporary film comedy….

It presupposes an audience with the collective intelligence of a lobotomized ape.”

Well, we know better now, right? And we’ve got that going for us. Nashawaty’s book transcends the sportswriting genre, too, if only because it’s not really about golf at all, but about show biz, even if a nascent effort about the film originally appeared in Sports Illustrated. Indeed, Nashawaty’s day job is as the film critic at Entertainment Weekly.

Which is not to say there aren’t a few golf nuggets sprinkled about, like former PGA Tour pro Tom Nieporte giving Michael O’Keefe (who played Danny Noonan) lessons, after which O’Keefe played golf every day for six weeks to get his swing in shape before filming began.

Or that the film’s Bushwood, a supposedly elite country club in Illinois, was actually the William Mitchell-designed Rolling Hills course in Davie, Florida — now named Grande Oaks.

Nashawaty goes back to eventual “Caddyshack” producer and co-writer Doug Kenney’s early days at the Harvard Lampoon, his founding of National Lampoon, the making of “Animal House,” the debut of “Saturday Night Live” and how all the actors, writers and crew members’ careers eventually wove together and brought them to southern Florida for 11 weeks of frenetic drug-induced partying. Oh, yes, and making a film, too.

As Tiger Woods can attest, success can be a bitch. The story of the late Kenney’s early achievements and subsequent out of control drug use and death at 33 is the continuing dark thread and cautionary tale here, though even his funeral accounts for moments of rueful humor.

But with insights from the likes of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Harold Ramis (who was directing his first film and basically learning on the job), Nashawaty’s account of the many backstage antics on set almost can’t help but be entertaining and funny.

Did someone step on a duck?

Tom Bedell once played at Grande Oaks with no interference from gophers or explosions.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

Trinidad Santiago: A Dominicanborn cigar with Cuban soul by patrick little

I like pairings. Scotch and cigars. Butch and Sundance. Laurel and Hardy.

So, I was excited when I got my hands on the new Trinidad Santiago Toro. This pairing is between Altadis and legendary cigar maker Rafael Nodal.

Rafael’s philosophy focuses on the small batch approach, using only the most select, aged tobaccos to create unique flavors and aromas. The cigar is puro cigar crafted from Dominican Cuban seed tobaccos grown in the Cibao Valley. The Trinidad Santiago Toro is, in a word, complex, but what else would one expect from Nodal.

The cigar is nutty and sweet on the dry draw with firm construction. Once lit, the cigar opens with creamy flavors or molasses but nutty flavors are predominant. It

is not a spicy smoke by any means, rather rich in overall body with a bit of nutmeg on the retro hale. As the cigar develops further there are faint notes of leather, citrus with nuts and earth still controlling the main flavors. The body of the Trinidad builds from medium to medium-full. The finish of the smoke has well-balanced pepper notes and subtle sweetness which is quite strong on the retro hale. The cigar had a great construction, with a smooth, clean draw and a good burn.

This cigar was delightful to smoke. I simply touched on most of the notable aspects of the Trinidad, but there are a lot of interesting things going on with this smoke. The flavor profile changes kept me interested throughout.

This is a cigar for the end of the day, to relax and reminisce on your day at the links.

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

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EQUIPMENT

New irons for a new season by ed travis

Every golfer is looking for additional distance, but we also want control of the ball’s trajectory and could often use a little help for those swings when the ball isn’t exactly hit in the center of the clubface.

It’s no secret, club manufacturers have the same goal – making the game a little easier for us.

The latest irons have features to help us hit better shots by using performance enhancing materials and more effective clubhead designs.

The most sophisticated iron designs produce a higher ball launch with lower spin, so makers have decreased lofts to maintain approximately the same trajectory, a formula for more yardage whatever your skill level.

Most of us should start our quest for replacement irons by looking at the gameimprovement category since they generally provide the kind of help we need, but don’t overlook the super game-improvement models. More accomplished golfers can evaluate offerings in the players category and the emerging category of players-distance irons.

As we have said many times, any new club purchase should be preceded by a visit to a professional club fitter. The cost is usually less than $150 and quite simply it is the way to help you hit effective shots more often, but perhaps just as important, it is an investment in your future enjoyment of this maddening game.

Golf Oklahoma researched the 2018 iron models with emphasis on those suitable for average players and picked the ones we feel should be on your short list of potential choices. Our list is alphabetical by manufacturer and prices are with steel shafts.

Callaway Golf Callaway’s game-improvement iron this year is the Rogue which features its 360 Tour Edge Hot Launch 3 irons 12

Cobra King F8 driver

Face-Cup design with a variable thickness face to make the sweet spot larger. Tungsten weights, specific for each iron loft, are used to optimize ball launch and spin and urethane inside the clubhead provides impact dampening for better feel and sound.

A set of six irons, 5-iron through pitching wedge (44°) is $675. Also available for the same price are the lighter weight Rogue X which has stronger lofts (41° pitching wedge) and longer shafts.

Mizuno The use of a higher strength alloy gives the JPX 900 Hot Metal an ultra-thin face to improve ball speed for added distance and the cup face design moves the center of gravity deeper in the clubhead for more forgiveness. The Power Frame construction pushes weight to the perimeter to increase the MOI and provide more stability. The sole of the JPX 900 Hot Metals uses Mizuno’s Triple Cut Sole for smoother turf interaction from almost any lie. A set consisting of 4-iron through pitching wedge (45°) with a 50° gap wedge is $800.

Ping The G400 irons are being called its “game enjoyment” model using its COR-Eye Technology in the face to produce more ball speed without lessening the control needed to stop the ball on the green. The top rail undercut cavity helps produce higher ball speed and a higher launch plus the perimeter weighting has been increased for more forgiveness. The badge in the cavity has been made larger to produce a better sound and feel. And we like the Hydropearl Chrome finish which has some practical benefits, shedding water and lowering turf drag.

Available from 4-iron to lob wedge with a 44.5° pitching wedge at $125 per club.

TaylorMade Golf The TaylorMade M4 irons fit neatly into the game-improvement category and use face-stiffening ribs in the toe and heel. The design is called RIBCOR and it concentrates energy from the face flexing at impact to the center of the face for added distance as well as to help produce a more forgiving club. Since the toe has less flex, RIBCOR also decreases dispersion. Face slots

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Callaway Rogue iron concept

and a sole channel TMaG calls a Speed Pocket provide added help especially when impact is low on the face. A set of 4-iron through attack wedge with a 43.5° pitching wedge is $900.

Titleist This year the 718 family incorporates a new member, a players-distance category model tagged the AP3 complimenting the reworked versions of the familiar AP1s and AP2s. AP3s fall between the two stablemates with a traditional look at address and slightly more offset than the AP1s but a wider sole than the AP2s. The face has Titleist’s L-Face insert and there are interior tungsten weights towards the heel and toe. Longer irons, 3-iron through 5-iron, are a hollow blade design and 6-iron through pitching wedge (43°) have an undercut cavity. The price is $185 per iron.

Tour Edge Golf The hot new club family from Tour Edge is the Hot Launch 3 and the irons fall in the super game-improvement category with design improvements from the previous model. The undercut cavity has been made larger moving weight low and back for more forgiveness.

Weight has been added to the toe to enlarge the sweet spot in the variable thickness face and the hosel has been notched to reduce weight. We were particularly attracted to these high quality HL3 irons because of the price. A set of 4-iron through pitching wedge (44°) sells for $490.

Ping G400 Iron Cavity illustration.

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JUNE/JULY

CHIP SHOTS

AJGA event seeks teams, volunteers Volunteers and a few teams to support the Junior-Amateur are still needed in advance of the new AJGA Gateway Mortgage Group Tulsa Junior July 24-26 at the Oaks Country Club.

Maggie Roller, director of instruction at Cedar Ridge Country Club, golf coach at Class 2A state champion Regent Prep and mother of three talented junior golfers, has spearheaded the organization of the first American Junior Golf Association event to be held in the Tulsa area in many years.

The event will be first class all the way. Not only are the 79 contestants fortunate to play a great A.W. Tillinghast design such as Oaks Country Club, Roller’s organizing committee has lined up gifts, entertainment, clinics and more to make the experience memorable for the young players who will compete.

There are still a few spots available for teams in the Junior-Am Fundraiser on July 23.

Teams of three amateurs pay $1,000 and play with a junior golfer. All contestants receive golf balls, tournament shirts and hats. Proceeds from the Junior-Am will help support the AJGA’s Ace Grant scholarship fund and the Folds of Honor. To enter, email Roller at Maggie.roller@sbcglobal.net.

More volunteers are also welcome. To sign up, go to www.volunteersignup.org/MC99R. The AJGA has been a proving ground for many of today’s brightest PGA Tour stars, including Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia, Lexi Thompson, Paula Creamer and Stacy Lewis.

To enter or for more information on the tournament, go to www.ajga.org. A local qualifier is scheduled July 22 at Page Belcher Golf Course. The organizing committee also has six exemptions to award and is requiring those seeking the exemptions to write a paper detailing why they should be selected.

Those selections will be made on June 18.

The new Gateway Mortgage Group Tulsa Junior will be the first of two AJGA events in Oklahoma in 2018, along with the Ping Invitational Oct. 5-8 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater.

In addition to Roller’s efforts, the tournament is possible due to the generosity of the sponsors led by Gateway Mortgage Group.

CEO and gubernatorial candidate Kevin Stitt, stepped forward to be the title sponsor and help make the event first class for all the contestants. Other major sponsors are Bama Pie, Mabrey Bank and Tahlequah Hospital.

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Chip

SHOTS

News around the state Sponsored by

Natural born coaches: Dale, Melissa to receive Iba Award by ken macleod

If not for the insistence of her late husband Jim McNamara, there would be no Iba Award ceremony this summer for Dale McNamara and her daughter Melissa Luellen. No historic legacy of national championships, All-Americans and conference titles.

Dale was the state’s most decorated amateur, a fierce competitor who won the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur Championship a then-record seven times between 1956 and 1975. She loved to play. When her alma mater called and asked her to become a volunteer coach for the start of a new women’s team in 1974, she wasn’t exactly thrilled.

“I said, ‘I can’t do that. I’ve got children (daughters Melissa and Cathy). I had never coached anyone before in any sport. But my husband Jim said, ‘Give it a try, you’ll love it.’ “ That nudge was all it took to start Dale McNamara on her way to a Hall of Fame career. She found that she was a natural at coaching and managing diverse and strong personalities and blending them into a cohesive unit. Tulsa quickly became the most prepared and respected women’s golf program in the nation and stayed that way for 26 years.

The story of Dale’s legacy at TU is well documented. Four national championships, 80 tournament victories, 28 AllAmerican players including Nancy Lopez, Kathy Baker, Kelly Robbins, Jody Rosenthal, Stacy Prammanasudh and, of course, Melissa, who won the 1988 individual NCAA championship while leading TU to its fourth and final national championship.

“I sit here and think about my life and all the wonderful things that have happened and how did we ever get in this situation,” said Dale, now 82. “It all comes back to being part of this city. We love it and it has loved us back.”

She still remembers vividly the final round of that magical day at the New Mexico State University course in Las Cruces.

“I don’t even remember walking back up the hill to the 18th green, I was floating,” Dale said. “I knew the team had won and Melissa was playing so cool. Just talking about it, I get tears in my eyes. You couldn’t 14

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have written a script like that.”

Fast forward 11 years and Melissa was coming to the frustrating end of her playing days. She had lost full status on the LPGA Tour and was having to battle through Monday qualifiers. She met her parents at a hotel room in Palos Verdes, where TU was playing in a tournament nearby.

“I sat there and told them I wasn’t having any fun, that the joy of professional golf was gone,” Melissa said. “Mom said, I think you would make a great coach. I didn’t know the first thing about it, but I really had no other plans and hadn’t given much thought to life after playing. I put my resume together and next thing you know, Judy MacLeod hired me.”

Just like her mom, Melissa took the TU job with no coaching experience but was an immediate success. She knew the game and she had learned much from the best.

“Looking back, my appreciation for my mother being a coach increased a million fold as soon as I took the job,” Melissa said.

“She learned how to be a great coach and had a natural affinity for it. She had a knack for combining personalities so the team would be competitive but also be supportive of each other. She made it a natural environment.

“I had always been a people pleaser and had to learn how to set boundaries. Mom, when she spoke, those girls listened. There was no question who was in charge.”

Melissa took over the TU program in 2000 and led the Hurricane to seven titles, including back-to-back Western Athletic Conference and Central Regional crowns.

The 2002 team finished 12th in the NCAA Championship, following which she went to Arizona State, where she won a national championship in 2009 and had nine other top-10 finishes. She became the head coach at Auburn in 2015 and this spring led the Tigers to their first NCAA Championship berth since 2013. Auburn lost a tiebreaker at the 54-hole cutline.

It was a thrill for both mother and daughter to be able to share having the championship close to Tulsa.

“I always think of my life kind of like 18 holes,” Dale said. “When you get to my age, you’re on the back nine. Having Melissa come here for the NCAA and also being

Melissa Luellen and Dale McNamara able to share this honor, it’s like making an eagle on the last par-5.

“I’ve been so blessed. From starting up the golf program through the excitement of doing good things with it, having Melissa deciding to take up the game seriously, then playing for Tulsa, winning the national championship. All the friends that have helped her on the LPGA Tour and in her collegiate career.”

Notes: The Iba Awards were created in 1994 by the Rotary Club of Tulsa to recognize an influential male and a female premier athlete for their success in their sport, and more importantly, for being positive role models who give back to their communities – not only by donating to worthy causes, but by being personally dedicated and involved in their chosen charities.

The awards are named after Henry P. Iba, former Oklahoma State University basketball coach and coach of three U.S. Olympic basketball teams. The keynote speaker will be Doug Gottlieb of Fox Sports Radio and a former OSU basketball player. The master of ceremonies will be Dave Hunziker, the “Voice of the Cowboys” on the Oklahoma State Cowboy Radio Network.

The prestigious black-tie-optional event will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa on June 18.. Its presenting sponsor is Tom Rinehart. Proceeds benefit the Rotary Club of Tulsa Foundation, which supports local and area non-profits benefitting young people and the club’s International Projects Committee.

For table sponsorship information, contact the Rotary Club of Tulsa online at ibaawards.com or call 918-584-7642.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

New

clubhouse at The Patriot dazzles

xxxxxxxxxxx

by ken macleod

OWASSO – The Patriot now has a clubhouse to match the grandeur of its golf course and mission.

Members were delighted and nearly 400 turned out in late May when the new 24,000-square foot clubhouse opened with a special ribbon cutting, dedication and party.

Most of the ground floor now open is dedicated to member dining and comfort, including a 300-seat ballroom, spacious member dining room with a huge pizza oven, and separate rooms for those 21-andover, including Russell’s Tavern, a mixed grill which extends into the Bond Board Room and the Sisemore Saloon, a men’s grill.

Including the Meshri Family Dining Room and The Rooney Barrel Room, a wine room with private storage for 120 mem-

The 300-seat Founders Hall ballroom at the new clubhouse bers, each of the rooms honors an owner, including Sanjay Meshri, Tom Russell, Paul Sisemore, Dan and John Rooney and David Bond.

Those men have patiently steered the club through a rough start to a point where it now has more than 400 members, including more than 100 national members and many from the burgeoning Stone Canyon real estate development.

The clubhouse was built by Lambert Construction of Stillwater and Tom Hoch Designs of Oklahoma City

did the interior design. The fantastic artwork that lines the hallways and rooms was curated by artist and former soldier Josh Butts, who also personally created four of the paintings.

Each of the 18 holes at the Patriot honors an American hero and much of the artwork is tied in with those same heroes, as well as American heritage and pride. The artwork alone is worth a future story and tour.

“Josh Butts is an incredible guy and did a fantastic job with the art work,” said Will Dierinzo, the membership and sales director who doubled up as the construction manager for the clubhouse project. “He was critical in helping us put together the art col-

Members can relax in comfort at the Sisemore Saloon, above, or on the patio overlooking the first tee.

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The pro shop will eventually move into the space where the restaurant was located and the women’s locker room will be there as well. The current pro shop will be expanded and be the site of the men’s locker room. All of that work should be completed by the end of the year.

A pool and pool house are also under construction and scheduled to open in July.

It will have a half-way house with a minibar for golfers making the turn as well as a unique market and ice cream The Rooney Barrel Room offers private wine storage and an intimate setting. parlor where patio area, the professional staff led by members can pick up a gallon of milk and a head pro Derrick Vest will soon move to a carton of eggs on the way home.

“It will be a great convenience for the temporary building while the reconstruction of the existing restaurant and pro shop neighborhood and a really unique and cool use of a small space,” Dierinzo said. takes place. lection, which really helps tell the story of The Patriot.”

While members can now luxuriate in all of their options for food, drink and entertainment, which also includes a beautiful

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Gooch, FlyingTee are partners Oklahoma-based golf entertainment company FlyingTee, and PGA Tour rookie Talor Gooch announce a new partnership.

The agreement will promote the FlyingTee brand, golf in Oklahoma, and the positive impact of athletes such as Gooch, on the sport and the state.

“Talor Gooch is an imTalor Gooch pressive young player with all the skills to become a winner on the PGA Tour, so it’s our privilege to join forces with Talor, in support of his career,” said John Vollbrecht, FlyingTee Founder and CEO. “Talor will represent the FlyingTee brand on the PGA Tour, by adding our logo to his golf bag, but that’s just the beginning.

We look forward to many opportunities to work together to highlight Talor’s progress, FlyingTee’s continued growth, and our shared passion for the game of golf.”

Gooch is a Midwest City native and a three time All-American at Oklahoma State University. He went pro in 2014 and secured his PGA Tour card last August.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

Play Oak Tree National with a Hall of Famer The Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame Classic, a fund-raiser for the Hall of Fame’s scholarship and Everett Dobson Award programs, will be held July 16 at Oak Tree National in Edmond.

This year’s event will consist of five-man teams along with one current Hall of Fame member or other prominent professional golfer in a shamble format.

Cost is $500 per player or Gil Morgan $2,500 per team.

There will be a shotgun start at 9 a.m. at Oak Tree National, site of the 1988 PGA Championship, 2006 Senior PGA Championship and most recently the 2014 U.S. Senior Open, among other championship events.

Breakfast will begin at 7:30 a.m. and lunch will follow play.

Quality tee gifts and prizes will be awarded. Entry forms are available online at www. oklahomagolfhof.org. Please email forms to ken@golfoklahoma.org or call 918-280-0787 for more information.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

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Doherty steps down,

ing career — the most impressive golf dynasty in state history — but it doesn’t take away from Doherty’s impact on the players he coached. by scott wright “You can’t argue with the success he EDMOND — Van rides. Team dinners. had,” former player Sam Humphreys, who now plays at the University of MissouriHanging out on the driving range.

The moments Jeff Doherty’s former Ed- Kansas City. “He never took it too serious, mond North players recall with the greatest and that’s one of the things that made him a great coach for all the joy happened because of talent that he had. golf, but involved very “He was a player’s little of it. coach. He let us do what Sure, all the victories we needed to do to sucand the trophies — esceed. My best memories pecially the state chamare of him on those trips. pionship ones — were He was funnier than any special moments of their of the players were.” high school golf careers.

His players fondly reBut years later, the hucall Doherty’s sense of man moments with their humor and the pranks he coach resonate with the orchestrated, especially most significance. on the road.

“Those are the best His fun side was vital memories of high school to the bond he desired to me. By far,” said Mito create in what is still chael Hampton, who — even in a team atmoplayed for Doherty from Jeff Doherty and Nick Heinen sphere — an individual 2009-12. “We always had fun, and that’s the part I miss about play- sport.

“He had a great balance of being fun, but ing team golf, those moments with coach when it was time to be serious, he was seriDoherty and my teammates.”

Now that Doherty’s illustrious coaching ous,” Humphreys said. “One day at the state career at high school powerhouse Edmond tournament and Karsten Creek, I was in the North has come to an end, it has led to more fairway and I was talking to Doherty. I was reflecting for Doherty and those who played in between clubs and he was talking me for him — a list that stretches from current through it.

“Later, one of the kids I was playing with pros like Kevin Tway, Robert Streb and Will Kropp to college players at Oklahoma State, came up to me and was like, ‘Man, I wish Arkansas, Wichita State and beyond. And my coach would help me like that.’ And Doherty did. He treated it like a college promany more in between.

In 20-plus years at Edmond North, he gram, and that’s why for many years there, coached 12 state championship teams, 17 we could’ve competed with some colleges.”

Doherty will be the first to tell you that, All-State players, seven state medalists, three current touring pros and 25 total Divi- as a coach, he was blessed with more talent than he knew what to do with. His first job sion I signees.

Doherty retired from his position just be- was to not mess it up.

When a player like Tway showed up at fore the Class 6A regionals in late April, and a couple weeks later, the Huskies went on practice, it was Doherty’s job to find the best to win their 13th state championship in the avenues for him to flourish, not to start analast 14 years with Doherty’s former assistant lyzing his swing.

So he focused on the areas where he was Brock Van Cleave coaching the team.

The end to Doherty’s career was unex- most strongly able to impact his players in a pected, stemming from a team discipline positive way.

He built team chemistry, and fostered it issue in mid-March that festered under the surface as the season went on. The specif- in a way that it would carry over from one ics of the issue, and Doherty’s motivation to year to the next, bridging from the teams of Tway, Streb and Kropp to the recent groups retire, remained private.

It was a sour end to a decorated coach- that included players like Hayden Wood,

finishing with 12 state titles, lifetime of memories

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Alec and Nick Heinen, Tyson Reeder, Austin Eckroat, Humphreys and many others.

From a golf perspective, he wasn’t going to tinker with the swing of a player who was already working with a teaching pro. But being a decent player himself, he understood course management. So his pre-tournament team meetings and on-course discussions focused heavily on that aspect.

He also relied on his ability to connect with his players, regardless of their personality type.

“I was the hot head,” Hampton said.

“Three holes into a 36-hole tournament, I made the mistake of throwing my bag down really hard. I broke my driver, 3-wood and 5-wood. I called Doherty. ‘What do I do? I don’t have anything.’

“He got me new clubs, then he told me, ‘Hey, you’ve still got a good family. You’ve got your girlfriend. You’re not failing school.

This is one tournament.’ And I ended up playing it even-par from there to the house.”

Every time Edmond North finished a segment of team qualifying, they would go to dinner as a team.

“The boys always invited me, and I never missed one,” Doherty said. “If they thought that much of me, that they want the coach to come and have dinner with them — I took it as a sign of respect from those kids, and that we had built a relationship.”

In maintaining the program’s on-course success over his more than 20 years, Doherty reminded his players of the team’s expectations, but he didn’t harp on them.

He believed in his players, and they responded with confidence. And he never let them think a trophy was the only thing that mattered.

“He instilled the expectation that we’re not just gonna come win the tournament, we’re gonna win it by 30 or 40 shots,” Humphreys said. “But team camaraderie mattered so much to him. Doherty was a big reason why the guys I played with are some of my best friends, and still are to this day.”

Tway recently called Doherty to say he had reserved some tickets for his old coach at Colonial for the Fort Worth Invitational that Tway would be playing in.

“I know winning state championships is great,” Doherty said. “At the end of the year, when you know you had a great relationship with your players, and they respected how hard you worked, and years later, they’re asking you to come watch them play, that’s just unbelievable to me.

“That’s going to mean more than anything to me going forward. I meant something to them in their life. I was somebody besides a coach to them.”

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

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New neighbor? PGA plans move to Frisco by art stricklin

FRISCO, Texas – With a final decision likely just weeks away, all signs continue point to the PGA of America moving its national headquarters from West Palm Beach, Florida, where it’s been since 1965, to the new Panther Creek development in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas, according to multiple sources involved in the complex project.

Plans for the huge new development, which have already been reviewed by the PGA of America board that will ultimately make the final decision, will include a championship layout designed by Gil Hanse and another course to be done by Beau Welling along with a par-3 short course.

There will also be a large PGA Teaching Academy along with a luxury hotel and commercial and housing development.

Since Golf Oklahoma contributor Art Stricklin broke the top-secret story on the project in March, the PGA of America and its partners in Frisco have continued to work non-stop to make it happen.

PGA of America Executive Director Pete Bevacqua played in the AT&T Byron Nelson

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The meeting was a chance to brief the Pro-Am on May 16, at Trinity Forest Golf Club along with Trinity Forest and Panther headquarters’ employees on the potential Creek developer Jonas Wood and other TF move after many were blindsided with Stricklin’s original story on March 7. officials.

“My gut tells me we’re moving to Texas,” “There is not much update to report.

We’re are working hard and it’s still looking said one longtime PGA employee who was good, but it’s not done yet,” Bevacqua said at the mandatory meeting. “But I don’t know why you would have in a brief interview bean all staff meeting if fore his pro-am round. you’re not going to “We can’t announce making some kind of it until it’s official, but announcement.

You we should have a final just lose credibility.” decision in 30-to-45 The move cannot days.” become official until It was at least his voted on by the PGA fifth trip to North Texas of America executive since last fall to review the site and meet with PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua. board. While the board has had extensive brieflocal politicians and deings on the project and seen architectural velopment officials.

“I been here enough to know all the good drawings of the new Frisco headquarters, a Bar-B-Que spots and cigar shops,” Bevacqua final vote has not yet been scheduled.

The complex and secretive project promsaid jokingly.

In mid-May, a mandatory all-staff meet- ises to radically reshape the public golf landing was held in the Florida headquarters to scape in North Texas and should provide update employees on the status of the move, the state its first major golf championship in more than 50 years. most likely to Frisco.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

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Frisco officials and Hanse would be responsible to delivering a championship golf course, which would be open by 2020, to host a future PGA Championship, Ryder Cup or other PGA professional event.

“One of the reasons we decided to move the PGA Championship to May (beginning in 2019) is to be able have our major at newly built courses or other courses in a new areas.

We are very excited to able to do this,” PGA of America Chief Operations Officer Darrell Crall said.

Hanse, who is one of golf’s most popular architects now since his work with the Olympic golf course in Rio in 2016, has already contracted to do some renovation work at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.

According to three different PGA of America sources, longtime Texas golf pro Jimmy Terry will be hired as general manager of Panther Creek, coming from a similar role he filled at PGA Golf Club at PGA Village at Port St. Lucie, Florida. The PGA announced last May it was selling its semi-private facility there along with the PGA Learning Center, and earlier closed the PGA Hall of Fame.

Crall said in May 2017, the PGA put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) on a new headquarters building and site, and attracted more than 100 proposals, but eventually gravitated

toward Frisco, a booming and upscale suburban community close to the international DFW airport and with the last large open plot of land in the city.

Crall has some connections with Frisco community leaders and golfers from his time there as executive director of the Northern Texas PGA. Many PGA officials consider the current national headquarters old, outdated and out of space along with being located near a golf course the PGA of America does not control.

The fact the USGA is doing extensive renovations to its headquarters and the PGA Tour is moving to new buildings has only added to the PGA of America’s unease with its current space.

During the last several years, Frisco has aggressively sought and acquired the Dallas Cowboys’ impressive new headquarters and practice facilities, the Dallas Stars hockey headquarters, the FC Dallas professional soccer team and the Frisco RoughRiders minor league baseball team along with the national video games museum, not to mention dozens of powerhouse new business companies.

To help seal the deal with Frisco officials and give them a preview of what could happen in their city, the PGA invited several city elected officials to Quail Hollow CC last year

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for the 2017 PGA Championship, wining and dining them and introducing them to heavy hitters in the golf organization.

Frisco mayor Jeff Cheney said he was prohibited from making any official comments about the project until an official announcement, but was excited about the golfing future in his city.

But by moving to what is currently a huge, dirt and creek-crossed field which is surrounded by major freeways, the PGA will be able to recreate what it had at Port St. Lucie, located 90 miles from any major population center.

Future plans at Panther Creek will include the headquarters of the Northern Texas PGA, which will be working alongside the Frisco ISD on a unique junior golf program along with a possible luxury hotel.

The PGA Championship, which will be golf’s second major championship after the Masters starting in 2019, has already been awarded to sites through 2024. Crall said the organization could award another one of its major tournaments, likely the Senior PGA Championship first as a trial run before the PGA Championship. The first open American Ryder Cup site is 2028.

Officials estimate the economic impact from a PGA Championship at $100 million.

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Patrick Reed tees off at Ram Rock at Horseshoe Bay.

Masters champion Reed helps reopen Horseshoe Bay Resort's Ram Rock course

family.

Horseshoe Bay is a 54-hole HORSESHOE BAY, Texas – San Antonio golf resort and the only place native and reigning Masters champion Pat- in the world to have three Robrick Reed helped reopen the renovated Ram ert Trent Jones Sr. courses on Rock golf course at the Horseshoe Bay Re- the same property. The other sort on May 22, striking a mighty drive off courses at Horseshoe Bay are the elevated first tee while being surround- Slick Rock, which was renoed by city officials, resort management and vated and reopened in 2016, and Apple Rock, which will invited guests. undergo a restoration much like For the record, Reed found the fairway.

Then he retired to glad-handing, posing was done at Ram Rock beginfor photos and duties with the assembled ning in August.

The resort also is building a new clubmedia. By doing the latter, Reed missed out on the best part of the day – playing Ram house to serve both the Ram Rock and Rock, a course famous for being a demand- Apple Rock courses.

Ram Rock has been restored to its origiing and unforgiving test of golf designed by nal glory as intended by the designer Robert Trent Jones.

Reed, who calls Horseshoe Bay his sec- through his own son’s legacy company, the ond home, was all smiles in the Texas heat, Robert Trent Jones II team as led by Austin resident and design associate Mark Voss. and it’s easy to understand why.

The work renovated bunkers on the He has enjoyed quite the year, winning the Masters in April as the highlight to a course, trimmed trees throughout the season that has been uber-successful, with routing and returned the putting surfaces, more than $3.8 million in tournament win- which were notorious for being overly segmented, undersized and just too difficult, to Jones’ original configurations and width and playability.

“Many of the greens had shrunk through the years with the mowing patterns that were used,” Voss said. “They just got more difficult and somewhat unfair over the years. We returned them to a more playable, but still challenging, level.

“The bunkers had migrated and grown and morphed into these unoriginal shapes. We reduced the bunker areas by 40 percent.”

A bagpiper heralds the reopening of Ram Rock.

The course, which opened in 1981, has earned respect for its toughness nings since October.

When Reed wants to relax, he and his and as one of the stoutest tests of chamfamily head to Horseshoe Bay, located pionship of golf in the United States; Ram about 45 minutes outside Austin, where Rock has been named the hardest 18-hole he can play golf in the morning and get on layout in the state of Texas and has been Lake LBJ after lunch. To him, the Highland singled out as one of the nation’s outstandLakes is the spot to get away from his busy ing golf courses by many publications and schedule and simply spend time with his golf journals. by steve habel

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With narrow fairways, natural streams, plenty of water and sand, rock gardens, granite outcroppings, blind tee shots and all manners of trees, bushes and plants, Jones held nothing back to challenge golfers on Ram Rock. This is a roller-coaster ride of a course – you are constantly going up and down and from side to side – and sometimes just survival of the 18 holes seems like an accomplishment.

While the course still demands its pound of flesh, the restoration has made it infinitely more playable and – dare I say it – fun.

Ram Rock is a par-71 layout that features more than 60 bunkers lining fairways and greens with water coming into play on 10 holes. The bentgrass putting surfaces offer fast and true tests while the fairways are a high-quality and pristine Bermuda.

One of the most noted holes is Ram Rock’s treacherous island green par-3 No. 4, where you must accept the challenge of a 191-yard carry to the middle of the green after zeroing in on a shallow putting surface surrounded by water and sand.

Ram Rock continues to earn respect for its championship test of golf and is not for the faint of heart. But if you’ve played it before, you’ll like it a lot more now. Those that haven’t tested their game on the Ram should relish the challenge.

The course restorations and clubhouse construction are parts of an overall $60-million renovation project at the Horseshoe Bay Resort, a sprawling 7,000acre Hill Country resort The resort’s multiyear renovation and expansion project will be completed in early 2019.

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COMPETITION ROUNDUP

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From left, Matthew Wolff, Zach Bauchou, Viktor Hovland, Kristoffer Ventura, Austin Eckroat and Brendon Jelley.

Cowboys dominant in final, look for repeat final eight for match play, the only school in the country to do that for the past three et’s not forget that when Oklaho- years in succession, then took Auburn to the ma State completed a historically final hole of the deciding quarterfinal before successful season by becoming losing 3-2.

That setback ended a very successful seathe first top-seed to win the national championship, it was Alabama that son and deprived everyone of the Bedlam the Cowboys crushed, but it was Oklahoma matchup in the semifinals that the fans, Golf that they succeeded.

The NCAA National Championship will reside in the state for another 12 months before these same two teams will be among the favorites when the 2019 championship is held at an equally difficult course, The Blessings near Fayetteville, Ark. Again, it will be a morning drive for fans Channel and the producers of the documenof both schools and both schools should be tary “Driven” craved. But there may well be huge factors in deciding where the trophy Bedlam in the Ozarks next spring.

The Sooners won five times, including resides for another 12 months.

Ryan Hybl and his Sooners backed up the Big 12 Championship and Norman Retheir national championship by making the gional. In Quade Cummins, Blaine Hale and by ken macleod

L

Brad Dalke, the “Burly Boys” is a lineup of physically imposing characters capable of bashing most teams into submission. Also back are Garett Reband, Thomas Johnson, Riley Casey and Lane Wallace, with Logan McAllister of Oklahoma City leading a talented class of four recruits.

The Sooners bid goodbye to senior Grant Hirschman, who has been a rock of consistency for four years, starting nearly every event, twice earning honorable mention AllAmerica honors and tying for the Big 12 Championship individual honors this spring at Southern Hills. His career scoring average of 72.19 ranks third in school history and he will be spending his summer on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada to start his professional career.

“I think this year has to go down as one of the great years in Oklahoma golf history

“I guess I knew when people started congratulating me on 15,” ­- Coach Alan Bratton

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GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

COMPETITION ROUNDUP and next year has the potential to be really sages after crushing Alabama 5-0 to win good,” Hybl said. “We’ve got a solid group the school’s 11th national title before it was of eight or nine guys who should be real time to get back to work, first running the Cowboy Golf Camp and then paying attention to the never-ending recruiting battles.

Although Kristoffer Ventura was the only starter to complete his eligibility, OSU’s vaunted depth this year will be a different story in 2018-19. The Cowboys lose seniors Brendon Jelley, Sam Stevens and Stratton Nolen, and junior Nick Heinen turned professional. That leaves just rising senior Hayden Wood and incoming freshman Rasmus Neegaard-Petersen from Denmark to fill out the fifth and sixth spots in the Cowboys’ lineup. OSU has four early commitments for the following year, but depending on injuries or any other unexpected defections, Bratton may have to move to shore up the team’s depth.

“We may look at adding somebody, “ Bratton said. “But I like the guys we have coming back. Hayden Wood set the all-time scoring record in the U.S. Amateur strokeplay portion last year. And the four guys who started are pretty darn good.”

A happy Viktor Hovland.

Matthew Wolff, Zach Bauchou, Viktor Hovland and Austin Eckroat give the Cowcompetitive.”

OSU coach Alan Bratton didn’t even have boys a quartet that is hard to match. Wolff time to read all his emails and text mes- dazzled the crowds at Karsten Creek with OU’s Blaine Hale, one of the Burly Boys.

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GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

presented by and was a first-team his length, accuracy and touch. He All-America selection, needs aneagled the par-5 opening hole at other year of seasoning before about 550 yards with a 3-wood, considering the PGA Tour.

4-iron, then actually hit driver, “He has a lot of growing up to 4-iron on the 630-yard par-5 ninth do, just like any 19-year-old,” Brathole, flying his 4-iron shot 255 ton said. “His skill set is very good, yards in the air. but he knows there are areas he Bratton said the Golf Channel needs to work on. You need to announcers were having a hard grow as person in the world and time believing Wolff’s distance, be prepared mentally and physiannouncing he was hitting an cally before you go out there.

8-iron on the 179-yard uphill par-3 “But he has incredible clubseventh hole when he was using a head speed and is clearly a very wedge. good athlete. The way he uses the Like the fans at Karsten Creek, ground and the leverage is amazBratton stuck with the one match ing. He and Kris Ventura can hit and was generally unaware of their irons as far as they want to.” what his other golfers were doEckroat also dazzled with his ing, except for a glance at the long-iron play and the freshman scoreboard by the ninth green. He from Edmond North finished in didn’t realize that Wolff’s 15-foot the top 20 through 72 holes of birdie putt on the 15th hole was stroke play than won all three to end the contest until he saw matches, justifying Bratton’s faith streams of fans running from other when he made him the fifth starter holes. for postseason ahead of several ac“I guess I knew when people Matthew Wolff is a budding star. complished upperclassmen on this started congratulating me on 15,” deep team.

Bratton said. “I had not paid attention to the impact on Matthew.”

The impact that players from Oklahoma other matches and didn’t want any kind of Bratton said Wolff , who won the Phil reaction to what was going on to have an Mickelson Award for best college freshman are having on both the current and defend-

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COMPETITION ROUNDUP ing champions is remarkable. Jelley, Wood, Heinen and Eckroat all contributed at various times for OSU while Dalke, Cummins and Johnson helped OU and Wallace and McAllister are candidates to contribute in 2018-19.

“It’s a real credit to Morri Rose and the work he’s done with the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour,” Bratton said.

“We had a lot of kids from Oklahoma competing in this,” Eckroat said. “A couple of my high school teammates, some of the kids on OU. It really speaks well to the strength of Oklahoma golf.”

Bauchou and Hovland shot 29 and 31, respectively, on the front nine in the title matches. Both were among the best players in college golf during the Cowboys’ run to seven consecutive victories this spring, 10 overall and 11 if you count the NCAA as a stroke-play and match-play event, as Bauchou did afterward.

Eckroat was locked in a close duel with Alabama’s Davis Shore when he reached the ninth hole and saw all of his teammates were tied or comfortably ahead in their matches.

“That was the moment I knew I was going to be a national champion,” said Eckroat, who won the Class 6A state championship at Karsten Creek as a 5-foot-7 freshman who

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weighed about as much as new coat of paint. “I was super excited. I looked at (assistant coach Donnie Darr) and smiled and we both knew.”

Bratton won as a player in 1995 in OSU’s epic takedown of Tiger Woods, Notah Begay and Stanford.

He was pleased that representatives of all previous 10 OSU national champions were in attendance, even going back to Labron Harris’ 1963 champions as Don Lackey and Roy Bays were on site.

“We’re really standing on the shoulders of those guys,” Bratton said.

Or as Jeff McMillian, who was on the 1980 championship team, said while fans roared around the 15th green when Wolff clinched the championship.

“There is no place in college golf like this!”

Austin Eckroat was a Cowboy hero.

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Arizona stuns Alabama to take women's title STILLWATER – Arizona’s Haley Moore was like, OK, I’m all square sank her final putt in a playoff to push the going into the last hole of Wildcats past Alabama, 3-2, on May 23 at the national championship, Karsten Creek Golf Club to win the 2018 so I know I need a birdie to NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Champi- win, so I just played it as just a normal hole, regulaonship, hosted by Oklahoma State.

It was the Wildcats’ third team national tion hole. I feel like with that, I felt myself just with title.

With the team score tied 2-2 in the fi- more confidence. I was defnal and their individual match all square, initely more nervous, but I Moore and Alabama’s Lakareber Abe re- just got over the ball, and I turned to No. 18 for a playoff. Abe’s ap- just hit it by the hole.”

For Laura Ianello, it was proach shot landed in a bunker just in front of the green, while Moore’s went her first national champileft off the fringe, barely rolling into the rough. Abe’s chip rolled past the hole and she eventually two-putted. Moore chipped it on the green and sealed it with a single putt, securing the trophy.

“I just told myself, I handled 7,” Moore said. “It’s basically the same hole, I just told myself it’s a regulation hole again, because in my mind I OU’s Sydney Youngblood

The happy Arizona Wildcats after defeating Alabama to win the national championshp. Arizona was the No. 8 seed after advancing in a playoff.

OSU’s Emma Broze

onship as Arizona’s head coach but her second national championship as a Wildcat – back in 2000 she was on the national championship team as a player.

Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho won the individual title at 8-under 280. OSU’s Emma Broze, playing as an individual, shot even par and placed 12th. Oklahoma made the field as a team, but failed to make the 54-hole cut to 15 teams. Julienne Soo advanced as an individual and tied for 19th.

OSU hosted women's championship in 1979 by ken macleod

The NCAA Women’s Golf Championship was held in Stillwater for the first time in May, but it was not Oklahoma State’s first time to host a national women’s collegiate golf championship.

Before the NCAA began to administer women’s athletics, that task fell to the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. The AIAW held a national golf championship through 1982 and it was played in 1979 at Stillwater Country Club.

Ann Pitts Turner (then Ann Pitts) had just started her Hall of Fame coaching career at GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

OSU in 1976 when the opportunity came to host the championship. “ T h e y were asking for venues,” At left, SMU celebrates its championship. At right, OSU’s Lew Erickson, Pitts recalled. right, confers with head coach Ann Pitts.

“Being naïve, I volunteered. But I was really proud of StillThere were 24 teams and most players water and OSU and we ended up being the stayed at the Holiday Inn, then the only hohost in 1979. I wanted to showcase Oklahoma State University and get us on the map.” See OSU 1979 page 33 W W W.GOLFOKL AHOMA.ORG

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COMPETITION ROUNDUP

Stars capture 11th NAIA National Championship Top-ranked Oklahoma City University wrapped up its 11th men’s golf national championship in the NAIA Championships held May 15-18 at TPC Deere Run in Silvie, Ill. Oklahoma City captured its second national title in three years by 13 shots over second-ranked Dalton State (Ga.). Rupert Kaminski topped the Stars by finishing tied for sixth individually to collect alltournament honors.

Garrison Mendoza, David Meyers and Gaston Romero of the Stars also took alltournament nods by finishing among the top 15.

Oklahoma City was the last team to have four golfers earn all-tournament accolades

when the The NAIA champions from Oklahoma City University, from left Carson Stars won Fields, Rupert Kaminsky, Gaston Romero, Kyle Blaser, Garrison Menthe 2013 nadoza, David Meyers and Peri’Don Castille. tional crown in Salem, Ore. All five Stars turned in top- tinued to play to our strengths.”

The Stars finished as the only team un25 showings as Peri’Don Castille finished der par at 9-under on the par-71, 7,066-yard 22nd.

In 2017-18, OCU nabbed seven tourna- course. OCU fashioned a 290-282-276ment wins and three second-place finishes 279–1,127 over the four days to set the program record for a 72-hole total. OCU in 11 events.

“Obviously I’m very proud of these bested its championship-winning score guys,” said Oklahoma City coach Kyle Bla- of 280-288-289-291–1,148 from the 2013 ser, who has directed the Stars to all 11 of NAIA Championships.

Defending its championship the followtheir national crowns. “They really didn’t have their best stuff on Tuesday, but gradu- ing week on the women’s side, OCU strugally got it going. They had some early ad- gled and failed to make the cut, missing by versity, but really stayed positive and con- 12 shots.

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GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

OSU 1979, continued from 31 tel in Stillwater, while others were put up in dorm rooms. Pitts-Turner and a small staff of administrators in women’s athletics did most of the work surrounding the event, including lining out all the volunteers.

Southern Methodist won the tournament, played at about 5,800 yards at Stillwater CC. OSU’s team consisted of Lew Erickson, Patty McGraw, Becky Neal, Brenda Lunsford and Alisha Ogrin (now Smales).

Erickson is now a prominent banker in Tulsa and heavily involved with the USGA. McGraw-Coatney went on to win a record nine Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association state amateur championships, married Stillwater CC head professional Chuck Coatney and is currently involved in interior decorating and antiquing.

Neal went into nursing and worked for a prominent neurosurgeon in Dallas. Ogrin is back at OSU as a professor in the college of business. Lunsford is a teacher in South Africa.

“They’ve all done really well,” Pitts-Turner said. “Looking back, I was really proud and excited to have hosted the event and I think it helped showcase OSU and put us on the map.”

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H IGH SCHOOL R EV I EW

The kids are all right Roller, Hopkins, Scarberry among individual champs by scott wright

OKLAHOMA CITY — Maggie Roller readily admits she’s not as relaxed as her husband on the golf course.

Bill Roller, the longtime Jenks golf coach, has more than two decades of experience watching his teams try to compete for state championships.

Maggie, on the other hand, is fairly new at it. Technically, she’s in her fourth year coaching the Regent Prep boys golf team, though the school has only had enough boys to field a full team the last two seasons.

In those two years, the team has included her son, James, which added to Maggie’s a n x iousness at the course for the Class 2A state tournament at Lake Hefner’s North course in May. R e g e n t Prep swept the titles, winning the team championship by 41 strokes over Lincoln Christian.

James Roller shot a threeday total of 11-under-par 205 to win by one shot.

Faith Hopkins “I was a little nervous,” Maggie Roller said with a smile, suggesting she was more than just a little nervous watching her sophomore son 34

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been a force for more than a decade, the girls team hasn’t seen nearly as much success, falling off after winning seven in a row from 1997-2003.

However, led by a pair of top-10 finishers in Emily Jackson and Grace Griggs, Edmond North fired a final-round 331 to win by 21 shots over Jenks.

chase the title.

“He’s a fighter.

Class 5A I played golf in Individual chamcollege, and I pion: Nina Lee, ColProud mom, Maggie Roller with son James. never had linsville that fighter mentality, that killer instinct.

Lee opened with a first-round 70 at He has it.”

Muskogee Country Club, which was too Both James Roller and his Regent Prep wet for the second and final round, closing team finished second a year ago, in a seathe door on a state chamson where putting a full team on the course pionship for Lee. She was still a challenge. was three shots ahead “Last year, we had to pull a guy in from of teammate Madison baseball to come play,” said Jackson White, O’Dell. the oldest player on the team as a junior.

Team champion: Dun“This year, we have more than enough to can play, and we can just focus on golf. I think The Demons repeatNina Lee the next few years are going to be real ed as champs with a good.

26-stroke victory in the rain-shortened “I was in eighth grade when they started event. Brooklyn Bostick shot 74 and Gentry the team, and the rest of these guys were Cox 76 to lead the way. in seventh grade or younger. It’s been basically the same guys working together to Class 4A get here.”

Individual champion: The title was the first OSSAA team state Chloe Black, Newcastle championship in any boys sport for Regent With a final-round Prep, which joined the association in 2014.

67, Black, who is bound “Our first state championship for our for Central Oklahoma, school is pretty sweet,” James Roller said. pulled off the biggest “After finishing second last year, this feels rally of the year, chargChloe Black awesome.” ing from four strokes Here’s a look at how all the high school back for a one-shot victory at Lake Hefner’s state championships turned out: South course. Hilldale’s Jordan Clayborn finished second with rounds of 73 and 71.

Team champion: Plainview Girls Class 6A With four players finishing in the top Individual champion: Faith Hopkins, Bartlesville seven, Plainview shot rounds of 305-309 Playing at home on for a 614 total and a 16-shot victory over Hillcrest Country Club Hilldale to repeat as champion. in Bartlesville, Hopkins posted a first-round 71 to Class 3A open a four-stroke lead Individual champion: Faith Hopkins and closed with a 75 to ShaeBug Scarberry, Puredge Bixby’s Natalie Gough by two shots. cell Only one other player was within 10 shots Scarberry, who is of Hopkins. bound for the University Team champion: Edmond North of Tulsa, didn’t want the Though the Edmond North boys have ShaeBug Scarberry double-bogey on the GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

18th hole from her first round at the state tournament to be her last hole as a high school golfer. But rain washed out the final round at Norman’s Westwood Park, and Scarberry — with a round of 70 — was crowned champion for the third time in her Purcell career.

Team champion: Purcell With Scarberry, who is bound for the University of Tulsa, and Jade McCurdy, who shot 71, leading the way, Purcell edged Lone Grove by 11 shots to take the title for the fourth time in five years.

Class 2A Individual champion: Sydney Manning, Cashion After competing at the Class 5A and 6A levels her first three years of high school, Manning Sydney Manning found herself in 2A and shot 80-77 for a 157 total and a two-shot win over Cordell’s Megan Brown.

Team champion: Tishomingo Tishomingo was the only team to shoot below 375 in any round, doing it twice with scores of 362 and 366 for a 728 total and a 29-stroke victory at Aqua Canyon Golf Course in Guthrie.

Boys Class 6A Individual champion: Brock Polhill, Edmond North Polhill, who is bound for Wichita State, started the final round trailing by two shots, but with a Brock Polhill final-round 67, he pulled away for a four-stroke victory. Owasso’s Austin Enzbrenner was second.

Team champion: Edmond North For the 13th time in 14 years, the Huskies ended the season on top. With seniors Polhill and Blake Blaser leading the way, along with freshman Jordan Wilson, Edmond North edged Owasso by 15 shots at Forest Ridge Golf Club in Broken Arrow.

Team champion: Guthrie Led by Luke Morgan, who was under par in the first two rounds of the tournament, Guthrie pulled out an unexpected state title at Cimarron Trails in Perkins. It was the school’s fourth boys golf title and first since 1998.

Class 4A Individual champion: Matt Braley, Cascia Hall Coming up big in crunch time, Braley shot a final-round 65 to pull away for a five-shot victory over Heritage Hall’s Matt Braley William McDonald. Braley shot 5-under-par 205 in the 54-hole tournament.

Team champion: Heritage Hall The Chargers entered the tournament as Brock Polhill won Class 6A at Forest Ridge. the favorites and held to form, with three players finishing in the top 10. After opening Pasture. with a 1-over-par 281, Heritage Hall finished Team champion: Regent Prep at 868 to defeat Plainview by 27 shots.

While Roller’s individual title was a nail-biter, Regent Prep left little doubt in the team race, carding its two best rounds Class 3A Individual champion: of the season, 299 and 305 to open the Jaxon Dowell, Oklahoma tournament, ultimately winning by 41 shots over Lincoln Christian.

Christian With Oklahoma signee and nationally ranked Logan McAllister of Christian Heritage in the Jaxon Dowell field, Dowell had to do something special to come out on top, and he pulled that off in the second round.

Dowell fired a 7-under 63 to take control of the tournament, with McAllister finishing third, and Christian Heritage freshman Drew Goodman — who shot 64 in the second round — finishing as the runner-up.

Team champion: Oklahoma Christian In addition to Dowell’s sparkling play, Wesley Sachs, Carson Tewell and Said Powers all fired at least one round in the 60s to help Oklahoma Christian to a fiveshot win over Christian Heritage at Oklahoma City’s Trosper Park.

Class 2A

Class 5A

Individual champion: James Roller, Regent Individual champion: Prep Grayson Wallace, GuyAfter opening the mon tournament with a 7-unRepresenting the der 65 at Lake Hefner’s Oklahoma Panhandle, North course in OklaWallace was consistent homa City, the sophothrough the three-round James Roller Grayson Wallace tournament, more Roller shot backposting scores of 73-72-73 for a 218 total and a to-back 70s to pull out the one-shot win over defending champ Kolton Baber of Big three-shot win.

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COMPETITION ROUNDUP

For the love of the game

PGA Tour experience. He’s had success on the Web.com Tour with two wins (2008 and 2009). After only nine Web.com events in 2017, Tidland has already logged five events on the Adams Pro Tour in 2018.

“It was just a long road,” Tidland said. “I’m 100 percent of what I’m gonna be. It’s not my 38-year-old self before the surgeries.”

A key factor in Tidland’s drive to get back to the PGA has been being around by patrick prince the Oklahoma State golf team. He’s a volunteer coach for the Cowboys and being You’ve got to admire Chris Tidland.

Despite multiple setbacks that might have surrounded by hungry, talented golfers has forced some to give it up, Tidland is still helped reinvigorate Tidland.

“They have gotten me to kind of fall in dreaming big.

At an age when most pro golfers might love with golf again, like I did when I was a start considering the Champions Tour, the kid,” Tidland said.

Tidland and OSU coach Alan Bratton have former Oklahoma State two-time All-Ameribeen best friends since they arrived on camcan is taking dead aim at the PGA Tour.

At 45, the odds would seem to be against pus together in 1990. They were part of the him, but he’s not letting that stop him. He’s 1995 OSU national championship team, the focused, determined and resilient – and for one that beat top-ranked, Tiger Woods-led the first time in a while, there’s reason for Stanford in a playoff.

“I’m very lucky that Alan and Donnie optimism.

“There was some good stuff,” Tidland said (Darr, assistant coach) kind of let me be after recently tying for 10th at the Adams Pro around them,” Tidland said. “I’ve always felt Tour’s Muscogee Creek Nation Casinos Real like hopefully I’ve given something back to Okie Championship, which included four the program, but I feel like I’ve gotten much pain-free rounds with 36 holes on the final more out of it than I put in.”

Said Bratton: “He’s always looking to try day. “I’m still trying to get my legs under me being back playing. It’s coming slower than I and help Oklahoma State golf in any way was hoping, but my body feels the best it’s he can. Anytime you get someone with that type of passion for the program and that felt post-surgeries.” sort of experience, we Tidland’s career took would be foolish not to an unexpected turn in take advantage.”

2012 when he had sur Tidland’s wife, Amy, gery after tearing his lawho is the administrabrum in his right shoultive assistant for the der. The labrum is a type OSU men’s and womof cartilage in the shoulen’s golf teams, also has der socket that helps seen the benefit of being keep the ball of the joint around the OSU playin place. ers.

Noted sports ortho “It’s been such a pedic surgeon Dr. James huge motivation,” Amy Andrews operated on said. “You don’t want Tidland’s shoulder then to be 45 getting beat up and again in 2013 and by the 18- or 19-year2015. For five years, reolds. So I think it kind habbing his shoulder Chris Tidland and caddie Alan Bratton was Tidland’s full-time look over a putt in the 1995 U.S. Open. of keeps him at the top of his game and makes job.

“I just made a lot of peanut butter and jelly it very competitive for him. We always say, sandwiches for my kids and lots of rehab, ‘Don’t let the old man beat you.’ It’s just a trying to get my game ready,” Tidland said great relationship.”

Tidland will most likely have to qualify of the five-year period when he played tournament golf sparingly. “Not to say I wasn’t to get into Web.com events this year. He’ll frustrated, but there was never a time when I also play more APT events. Earning a PGA thought this isn’t worth it or I’m tired of this.” Tour card can be a complicated process and A pro since the mid-1990s, Tidland has one that’s changed in recent years. But Tid-

Young OSU stars motivate Tidland

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land said he enjoys the process of working on his game and he’s now without discomfort in his s h o u l d e r, although his shoulder still gets sore and he has to perform exercises before and after each round.

“It’s been difficult,” Amy said. “Just watching him push through the pain and persevere, knowing he’s not finished play- Chris Tidland has overcome ing com- serious shoulder injuries. petitive golf yet, it’s very inspiring. I don’t think he wants to consider a Plan B. This is what he really wants to do.”

A benefit, however, to being injured so long was that it allowed Tidland to be at home more and watch his kids play their own sports. Had he been on the PGA Tour, he would have missed out on a lot. Chris and Amy, who have been married for 22 years and reside in Stillwater, have two kids: Jackson, 18 and Bella, 16.

“Both of our kids are competitive swimmers and he has not missed one swim meet,” Amy said. “My son played football for three years. He did not miss any games or any practices. That was just amazing.”

Even during those years at home, Chris rehabbed constantly trying to get back into playing shape.

“There’s no one more disciplined,” Bratton said. “It’s been incredible to watch him go through the rehab and all the discipline it’s taken to be able to get back competing. I’m glad to see him looking like his old self.”

Said Tidland: “So, there’s some encouraging things (with his game), but I’m playing on the Adams Tour at 45. Definitely not what I dreamed of, but I’m still getting to do what I love to do.”

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

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Development key for improved Winter Creek View from the tee box on the par-4 13th, which bends gently to the right. by ken macleod photos by rip stell

It was 15 years ago that Winter Creek last graced the cover of this magazine’s predecessor, South Central Golf.

At the time, the course had just undergone massive renovations, owners were enthusiastic about more than 450 home sites for sale and Blanchard was pegged as the hot new development site, with two other major golf projects under way at the same time.

Indian Ridge, one of the other projects that actually had nine holes fully grown in and ready to play, has since returned to its native state. Four Lakes, the expansion of an older nine-hole course into a full residential track, also is not open or being maintained on a regular basis.

Winter Creek, while having endured

The area on the scenic eighth.

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years of struggle, is still loaded with potential. The golf course, designed in the early 1990s by Rocky Roquemore of Atlanta for a project then known as Golden Eagle Golf Course, remains one of the state’s premier public layouts on outstanding terrain.

The key to its long-term success has been and remains unlocking the development’s potential in terms of lot and home sales. Lot prices were $60,000 to $150,000 back in 2003 when the course first opened.

Turns out that Blanchard was not the new Edmond and folks were not prepared to pay those prices to build there. Then along came the recession in 2008 led by the collapse in housing.

The property fell into receivership in 2012 and Legacy Bank, after getting its feet wet for a period of time, began to aggressively

market the course and real estate beginning in 2014, including hiring PGA professional Jarod Lundy in July ‘14 and more recently, superintendent Chad Weinrich, formerly of Scissortail Golf Course in Verdigris.

Lundy said the course was doing about 6,500 rounds annually when he took over, most of that in tournament rounds or rounds booked through discount websites. The previous bent grass greens were struggling when they were replaced with Champion Bermuda two years ago, and army worms soon attacked the new greens.

Now, however, thanks to the leadership of Lundy and Weinrich, the greens are mostly grown in nicely. A project to reduce the excessive square footage of bunkers is under way, along with plans to put in new liners and make the sand consistent in color and texture. That would correct really the only two major flaws left on what is otherwise a delightful golf journey.

The first hole, an uphill dogleg left to a green with some healing spots on it and around it, doesn’t create a great impression.

From there, however, the course begins to flow through a variety of terrain, the zoysia fairways are immaculate and the combination of woods, high prairie, lakes and occasional stately home provides a stunning backdrop for a course that should one day be an upscale private club if the neighborhood develops.

Until then, the public can enjoy Winter Creek for rates that are not much above GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

Green side on the par-3 sixth, a high point on the property. the public courses in Oklahoma City. You can get a weekend tee time including range balls, two bottles of water and tax for $60.

The course had 51 members in January 2015 and that has risen to 155. Tournament and daily fee play is up. Course conditions exceed any in recent years.

Still, the key to long-term success of the project remains the same as it was in 2003. Find the right price that will attract homeowners looking for a location close to Oklahoma City and Norman who appreciate a quiet, more serene location.

“I think Winter Creek is really just get-

ting ready to launch,” said Lundy, who worked at South Lakes in Jenks and Quail Creek in Oklahoma City before coming to Blanchard, which has a population of just under 8,000, up significantly from less than 3,000 when the course was built. It still needs its own community to be a base of support.

“It’s absolutely vital,” Lundy said. “We’re having a lot of success with people coming in from other communities to play, but if it’s going to be what it was designed to be, you have to have that bedrock community.”

And why not? Blanchard can be a pleas-

Located in Blachard, OK GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

Lake left on the par-4 18th. ant bedroom community for both OKC and Norman and other communities in the area are growing. It’s less than a 30-minute drive into Norman or south Oklahoma City.

Winter Creek has a stately clubhouse perched on a hill, a pro shop and restaurant that both have views of the tee boxes for 1 and 10, the 18th hole and solid practice facilities. In the evening, the course teems with wildlife, including wild turkey, deer, bobcat and more.

For more information on Winter Creek, go to www.wintercreekgc.com or call 405224-4653.

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39

W H ER E W E PL AY

Par-3 renovation takes shape by ken macleod

If you make a three-putt on one of the new greens at the Par-3 Course at LaFortune Park this fall, feel free to blame architects Randy Heckenkemper and his associate Connor Cummings.

If you roll in a 35-footer for birdie, however, give some credit to Virgilo Maldonado, known to all on the United Golf construction crew as Vicki. He is the one charged with taking the plans and input of the architects and making the greens come to life in his role as construction foreman.

Maldonado takes great pride in his job, coming in as early as 6 a.m. and even coming in on days off to make certain the greens are matching the vision of the architects and his own demanding specifications.

“On every well-designed and constructed golf course, there are guys like Vicki,” Heckenkemper said. “He makes it happen. He wants to make sure every detail is perfect.”

A late May visit found the construction crews of United Golf and Jones Plan busy on their tight schedule for completely rebuilding the popular course where so many Tulsa-area

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golfers got their start.

While some of the routing is similar, all of the holes have been redesigned and many of the changes are dramatic. The new lighting system will be four times brighter than the old and continuous cart paths will add to the experience.

The holes have been positioned to keep golfers farther away from the perimeter and keep balls a good distance from Yale Avenue and 51st Street. Holes will range from 97-to185 yards so most of us will be hitting every iron we own.

The greens will be Tif-Eagle ultradwarf Bermuda while fairways and roughs will be Latitude 36 Bermuda. Heckenkemper is hopeful there will be very little rough and most of the turf areas will be maintained at fairway height.

The $2.4 million renovation is part of a Vision Tulsa sales tax package that will also include new lights on the driving range. The par-3 course opened with nine holes in 1962 and added nine two years later. Play has fallen off in recent years due to several factors, including conditions, lighting, a general decline in golf rounds and competition for the casual

round from entities such as FlyingTee in Jenks.

H e c k enkemper, Richard Bales, the parks director for Tulsa C o u n t y, and Pat McCrate, director of golf Construction foreman Virgilo Malat LaFordonado and Randy Heckenkemper. tune Park, are all optimistic that rounds will increase dramatically from their 2017 level of just over 15,000 to well over 25,000 in 2019.

McCrate said he would be disappointed if rounds do not jump back to 25,000 or more in the first full year of operation.

“Having lights so you can actually see the ball and having continuous cart paths so there will never be days when you can’t take a cart will both be huge factors,” he said.

“The course will be attractive, fun and chal-

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

lenging. I’m really looking forward to watching it develop.”

Cummings, who has been the day-to-day point man for Heckenkemper Golf on the project, said he tried to put as much variety and interest as possible in the greens, much as his boss did when he redesigned the greens on the championship course at LaFortune Park in 2003.

“Previously a lot of the greens were flat and without much interest, with big round bunkers next to them,” Cummings said. “Now they are much larger with more movement.

We’ve got a variety of holes, some sloping front to back, back to front, or side to side.

Players will hit a wide variety of shots into the green and also from around the green. We want players to learn chip shots, pitch shots, flop shots.

“We’re striving for a balance out there between players learning the game and still making it fun for the more skilled players.”

McCrate said that balance is crucial.

“I’m not of the opinion that municipal means flat and round,” he said. “Nobody wants to play that anymore. These greens will have movement and they will have a tournament pin position if needed.”

The greens are scheduled to be sprigged in July and the fairways in August. The course is expected to reopen in October.

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41

W H ER E W E PL AY

Short course a shot in arm for OU

The fourth green on the Ransom Short Course. by ken macleod

As an architect, Tripp Davis may never have more fun than he did designing the four-hole Ransom Course which was dedicated just prior to Oklahoma hosting an NCAA Regional on May 14-16 at Jimmie Austin.

Into one green he poured his love of Perry Maxwell’s designs, particularly those at Prairie Dunes. The next was meant to honor Donald Ross and Pinehurst, with a raised surface sloping away on all sides. A third shows his respect for A.W. Tillinghast and a fourth for Seth Raynor.

Each has plenty of Tripp Davis in it as well, as the accumulation of all the classic courses he has studied and worked on over the years now goes into each of his designs.

The Ransom Course is part of the OU practice facilities and allows players on the men’s and women’s teams to practice a never-ending vari- Tripp Davis explains the strategy behind the Ransom Course.

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GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

ety of shots, from drivers to the most delicate of chips and pitches from all angles, on all slopes, in all wind directions.

“You can always beat balls at a driving range,” Davis said, indicating several players doing exactly that over by OU’s indoor/ outdoor team center. “What this course allows you to do is practice shots. Shots you will need in competition.”

Each green has several wicker basket style pins in various areas, including some positions that require extremely precise approaches to hold the greens. The firm greens use a new variety of bent grass called Pure Distinction. The fairways have Lattidue 36 Bermuda, developed at Oklahoma State. The tees are Zeon zoysia and the rough is Astro Bermuda.

There are 15 bunkers on the course and they also are positioned to provide a variety of bunker practice.

It was a labor of love for Davis, who played on OU’s 1989 national championship team and still resides in Norman.

He believes the addition of the Ransom Course, named for OU donor Charles Ransom, puts OU’s practice facilities and course – the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course – on equal footing or superior to any program in the country.

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43

DEST I NAT ION

Granada offers some of the most scenic holes in Hot Springs Village.

National treasure in the Ouachitas by pat mctigue

As a PGA professional, the primary characteristic on which I rate golf courses is the quality of the greens.

I did not play all eight of the courses in Hot Springs Village, but played enough to deduce that it is clearly a priority there to provide great greens and course conditions to visitors and residents. It’s a bonus when the fairways, bunkers, tees and green surrounds are excellent as well, and the HSV courses surpass expectations there as well.

During the last few years, there has been a shift in how HSV is marketing the unique mix of golf and lifestyle, turning more attention to attracting vacation traffic. This is a fantastic place for buddy trips, couples golf and corporate outings.

Tom Clark is the golf architect behind seven of the eight courses here (Edmund Ault, Clark’s former associate designed the first course, DeSoto) , and I found each layout to be challenging, yet playable, and incredibly scenic in all cases. Comparing other destination resorts (think Scottsdale, Myrtle Beach, Branson, etc.), I think you would be hard pressed to find those courses any more beautiful and well-conditioned than HSV. 44

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Not only is the Village a manageable half-day drive from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, you’ll likely spend significantly less money on lodging and green fees than the more popular destinations. A typical house rental for four golfers for a week can be as little as $800-$1000, and green fees likely around $60 per round. That’s easily half the price one would find in the more notable golf markets.

My host for the stay was Clara Nicolosi of RE/MAX, which is not only the leading real estate agency in the Village, but also serves as a one-stop shop for lodging, golf and other recreation in HSV. Information and booking can be found at VillageNightlyRentals.com, or by calling 800-304-9007.

I stayed in a three-bedroom two-bath house listed for rental for under $150 per night, that was clean and well-appointed.

Virtually all the property owners I spoke with began their HSV love affair with a golf vacation, so obviously that’s why RE/ MAX wants to be in the rental business.

Once a golfer takes a couple trips to the Village, it’s likely a permanent move will be considered. The agents I spoke with all agreed that new or near new properties can be purchased for $100 per foot or

even less, making it very comparable with property values in Oklahoma.

It’s apparent that the golf expertise and professionalism of Tom Heffer, Director of Golf and Mike Socha, Assistant Director of Golf, combined with the resources and guidance of Troon Golf Management has all the golf operations headed in the right direction. With the addition last year of Director of Agronomy Gary Myers, the courses are firmer, drier and in overall much better condition than in the past.

All the staff and property owners were gracious and helpful in every way, and welcome visitors heartily, which doesn’t always happen in some resort areas.

Beyond golf, there are good restaurants in Hot Springs Village, boundless recreation activities and an impressive fitness center within the gates. Tennis, pickleball, lake activities, hiking and bike trails, a dog park, a performing arts center and much more are waiting for non-golf days. Weather in the Village tends to be a bit cooler than Oklahoma in the summer, and tends to be a bit warmer in the winter, making it a true year-round golf environment. While HSV will always be primarily a retirement community, there GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

is a trend afoot where the average age is coming down a bit.

There are a few hundred children in the Village that attend nearby schools, so it’s likely there will be couples who will be empty nesters within 5-10 years. The underlying theme that I detected with everyone I spoke to was the outstanding lifestyle that property owners are afforded, and the idea that you don’t have to be extremely wealthy to enjoy a great retirement. Not only are there a great variety of amenities and facilities, but they all appear to be clean and well-maintained.

While there are many very attractive features in HSV, the quality of golf clearly is the driving force. There are eight courses open to property owners and vacation golfers, seven of which are regulation, and one executive course.

Diamante, the one totally private course, is more upscale and has a larger full-service clubhouse. The homes on Diamante tend to be larger and more opulent for a more discriminating buyer. Tom Clark’s design style brings a unique blend of playability and challenge. Driving areas are typically generous, and you can trust what you see.

Even on blind or semi-blind tee shots there are few if any hidden hazards await-

Water, left, bunkers right, but a generous green in the middle at Balboa Golf Club. ing your ball. Green complexes feature quite a bit of variety, and even when a flagstick is tucked back in a corner of the green and protected by bunkers, there are options to play to a less defended area of the green.

Look at hsvpoa.org for more information on all HSV’s courses and features.

I enthusiastically encourage readers to consider Hot Springs Village for your next golf trip, whether that’s you and your

spouse or your group of golf buddies. It’s very likely the outstanding golf in HSV will greatly exceed your expectations, and leave enough in your wallet that you can return frequently. What I found refreshing about HSV is a complete lack of pretense and fussiness. I heard many times people referring to HSV as the Best Kept Secret in the Country, and the goal appears to lose that title.

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45

DEST I NAT ION

Cajun country offers great golf,

by tom bedell

if you can pull away from the table long enough

L

Crawfish, gumbo, jambalya, etouffee, part of why author gained five pounds in one week.

ouisiana’s new tourism slogan, “Feed Your Soul,” seems right on the money to me, having just re- birds as Audubon himself turned from a southern tour of could have wished for, not the state, packing on five pounds in as many to mention more than a few days. And that’s with a daily round of 18 gators.

I landed in New Orleans holes.

Facts are facts, and there’s no getting and managed to launch my around the statistic that Louisiana heaves new dietary plan with a suin at fifth in the U.S. ranking of obesity. But perb Redfish Bienville dish at Dickie Brenwhat may be a problem for residents is a nan’s Tableau in the French Quarter. New positive boon for travelers, since the eating is Orleans is a jazz, blues and Dixieland town, which was certainly pleasant enough back at mighty fine in the Bayou State.

I’m certainly not complaining; the pounds the Bourbon O Bar at the Bourbon Orleans will vanish now that I’m home and I took Hotel, at the confluence of Bourbon and Orutmost pleasure in the varied acts of pack- leans streets.

But I had a hankering for something ing on the avoirdupois before, after and more down home, a bit of squeesometimes during rounds of zebox and Cajun wail, so I golf. I was there to play five wasn’t sorry when, afof the 15 courses on the ter a round the next Audubon Golf Trail morning at the sparscattered around the kling TPC Louisistate (five of them ana (fresh from with accommothe PGA Tour dations and stayZurich Classic), and-play packour group of golf ages). writers hopped The Trail is on a bus heading named for John due west. Before James Audubon, we began the grand who did much of turnaround back to his pioneering orniNew Orleans days later thological work in the we had cruised across the state, and also because all state on I-10 to barely 34 of the courses must have The sounds of New Orleans. miles from the Texas boror be aiming at the ecoder, and never too far from logical standards that confer upon them the status of an Audubon Co- Gulf of Mexico breezes. operative Sanctuary. Part of the certification process involves wildlife and habitat manage- Making the Rounds The historic district of St. Francisville in the ment, so golfers can count on seeing as many 46

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West Feliciana Parish is two miles long and one mile wide. There’s a lot of history here, not to mention classic Antebellum houses and an Episcopal church and cemetery almost enveloped by ancient live oaks and Spanish moss. Tourists flock here for the sheer Southern atmosphere and to check out the Oakley Plantation House, where Audubon lived for a time. (It’s now within the Audubon Memorial State Park.)

Audubon particularly liked to hunt for birds around nearby Thompson Creek.

Golfers can hunt for birdies at The Bluffs on Thompson Creek and put up for lodging there. When new owners took over the course two years ago they immediately had to confront catastrophic damage from two major floods within a single year. The course is still recovering in a conditioning sense, but the bones of an Arnold Palmer signature design are still strong. There’s a splendid view of an onsite chapel in the woods here, where many a marriage has taken wing.

Golf balls you hit, boudin balls you eat. We first ran into this local specialty at The Francis Southern Table & Bar. It’s basically made from pork and rice sausage, although freed from its casing, formed into balls, then seasoned and breaded and, naturally, deep-fried.

Goes well with deep-fried catfish and deepfried shrimp all on the same plate.

As a craft beer nut, I’m happy to report I GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

The fourth hole at Gray Plantation.

The Bluffs has recovered from two catastrophic floods.

was washing down all these fine meals with courses besides the Audubon Trail tracks to a seemingly unending series of beers from in- choose from in the state, including a resortTom Fazio track at L’Auberge dependent small Louisiana brewers, from the friendly Casino Resort. long-established Abita to NOLA Everyone seems to relative newcomers like Urto know about the ban South, Tin Roof, Bayou devastating effects of Teche, Port Orleans, Gnarley Hurricane Katrina in Barley or Crying Eagle, among 2005, the seventh-most others. intense Atlantic hurWe played at the delightful ricane ever recorded.

Gray Plantation Golf Course Hurricane Rita seems to in Lake Charles, a Rocky RoqueAbita, founded in 1986, be the forgotten storm, more design where lakes fittingly is a local favorite. though it’s ranked fourth. It come into play on 11 holes, and two of the par-3s are island greens. It should followed Katrina by less than a month and be noted that there are plenty of other piled on to its damage, particularly in Lake

Charles, the state’s fifth-largest city, long an important petrochemical center.

There’s little evidence of lingering harm today thanks to the economic bounty from L’Auberge and three other casinos (the Golden Nugget also has a golf course). We had another whiz bang meal at the L’Auberge’s Jack Daniels Bar & Grill presided over by its rock-star chef Lyle Broussard.

He brought out heaping platters of beef that might have daunted any dedicated trencherman, but also challenged us with fried oysters, bacon-wrapped Gulf shrimp and grilled redfish. Thanks to 26 beer taps on hand, I felt up to the task and later still managed to waddle over to the blackjack tables.

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47

One of the five lakes and 10 wetland areas at Atchafalaya, a must-play for both scenery and strategy.

Les Bon Temps We were lucky to have a double-dip of Cajun music the next day in Lafayette. The first helping was a hearty dose of fiddle and French accordion at the Mouton Plantation Bed & Breakfast, built in 1820 by Charles Mouton, son of the founder of Lafayette, Jean Mouton. Music is served up every evening along with Cajun hors d’oeuvres (crab pâté, anyone?), the house cocktail and a killer bread pudding.

We went blue that night, first at the Blue Dog Café, equally a restaurant and art gallery filled with the works of the late George Rodrique (many, indeed, of blue dogs). Then we wandered over to the Blue Moon Saloon, happily enough for Cajun Jam Night. Even if one is reluctant to try a two-step out on

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the floor it’s impossible to stay still once the syncopations of Cajun music get rolling and it was rolling with a good dozen musicians, including two-time Grammy nominated Cedric Watson playing a fiddle with an infectious grin. Well, I suppose we were all grinning. Ça c’est bon!

It takes a certain amount of courage to name a golf course The Wetlands, but it helps if the architect is a graduate of Nicklaus Design and LSU – and Frank Burandt scores on both counts. The course opened in 2006 and was deemed tournament ready from the start, hosting for four years the then-Futures Tour’s Louisiana Pelican Classic. Liz Janangelo carded a 29 for nine in the 2009 tilt here.

I had no such luck, but certainly enjoyed

the round on what is basically a wide-open affair, inviting players to grip it and rip it, as long as they keep an eye open for the marshy areas that run through the course, always agreeably festooned with cypress trees.

We played a scramble for our getaway round the next day at the Atchafalaya at Idlewild course in Patterson, which also opened in 2006, designed by Robert von Hagge. The course takes the native tree to heart, using 130,000 board feet of cypress for its Acadian-style clubhouse, and planting cypress stumps in the fairways for its distinctive 150-yard markers.

The course winds around five lakes and 10 wetland areas, and the corridors are ripe with live oaks and endless ribbons of Spanish moss. There’s a decent amount of

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

elevation to deal with, but it helps appreciate the views of the Atchafalaya Basin, the nation’s largest river swamp. The tees are named after indigenous animals. Only those who have overdosed on crawfish would play from the 7,533-yard Gator tees, when more forward options (Eagle, Owl, Otter or Turtle) are available.

Our visit took place in mid-May, and we wisely played all our rounds in the morning, before the heat rose into the 90s with considerable humidity to contend with as well.

The bonus, besides tremendous value to be had with more than reasonable greens fees, is that the day stretched ahead with more eating and drinking to be done, or other places to visit — such as the craft distillery Bayou Rum in Lacassine or the McIlhenny Tabasco factory tour on Avery Island.

Then there was the houseboat tour we took from Lake End Park in Morgan City on our last night, along with a jambalaya feast for dinner. This cruise up the bayou, gliding along besides the ancient stands of cypress in the sweet evening air and shifting shades of crepuscular light, seemed like the ultimate grace note. I don’t think it would be going too far to say that it fed the soul.

When not on the road, Tom Bedell lets the good times roll at his home in Vermont.

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49

SU PER I N T EN DEN T’S COR N ER

Building a home for champions by eddie roach

If you are an avid golfer in Oklahoma, then you have most likely heard about changes occurring at the University of Oklahoma’s Jimmie Austin Golf Club.

It has been no secret that there has been a significant amount of construction and renovation going on at “The Jimmie” over the past several years. So much so, that the running joke amongst my peers has been “What are you all working on now”?

Over the past six years we have renovated and re-grassed the tee boxes, bunkers, collars and approaches. We have built brand new holes on numbers 8, 9, 10, 11 and 18 green complex, completed renovation of the practice facilities for the golf course, constructed an 800,000-gallon underground water storage tank, built a new pumping station, and constructed a state-of-the-art Turf Care Facility.

While we still have a few small-scale projects to keep us busy for the next few years, it is safe to say that the larger pieces of construction and renovation are complete for now. We will be hosting NCAA Regional

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Championships for men and women over the next three years, so I am very ready to get back to a “normal” maintenance routine.

During all the mayhem of construction, one of my favorite things to see built was the Ransom Short Course for the OU men’s and women’s golf teams. It was the vision of the men’s coach, Ryan Hybl, who wanted to create a championship caliber practice facility that would allow golfers an opportunity to replicate any situation they may see during competition. It was through Mr. Jerry Ransom’s kind donation that this plan could come to fruition.

After a few discussions and meetings, Tripp Davis and Associates was hired as the golf course architect to make the vision a reality. With influence from Hybl, Tripp Davis designed a four-hole, loop golf course, that has the reflections of many different golf architectural styles. Construction of this facility was not going to be easy, as this site was one of the main utility corridors leading to the golf course. It was a nightmare of a job, logistically speaking. But, we knew how important this facility would be for the future of

Ransom Course upgrades OU facilities. these programs. And like anything, if there is a will there is always a way. Course Crafters was the golf course builder that was hired to complete the work, and did an amazing job.

The facility turned out better than any of us could have imagined.

In May 2017, while the finishing touches were still being put on the Ransom Short Course, the OU men’s team won the national championship. The vision and work ethic that Hybl instilled into this program was finally paying off. Hybl has proven himself to be a great coach, and an even more amazing man. He instills a passion for competition and greatness into everyone around him, and that passion is reflected in the facilities that have been created at the Jimmie Austin Golf Club. That same passion and greatness was also built into the Ransom Short Course, where champions are made.

Roach is the superintendent at Jimmie Austin.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

I NST RUC T ION

Best lessons are often on the course There is a difference between learning to play golf or learning to just hit the ball.

It seems to me over the years that a lot of golfers taking a golf lesson are learning from their instructor Jerry Cozby how to hit a golf ball rather than how to play golf -- that is to have fun and shoot as low a score as possible.

A typical lesson and the problem as I see it: 1. A student meets – maybe for the first time – with a professional on the lesson tee.

2. On the lesson tee the grass is perfect and level, the fairway is wide and there are a few targets. In other words, everything is perfect for the student to hit a golf ball.

3. Lesson starts by the professional asking the student to hit a full shot.

4. Professional works on student’s swing and the problem is analyzed.

5. Student starts hitting it a little better, maybe great or the student gets really frustrated.

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

Sound familiar? It happens every day all across the country.

Here I’m offering a better process to start a lesson and teach a student how to play golf.

1. Spend the first 10-15 minutes determining what the student would like to accomplish. Find out the student’s age, athletic background and strangely enough, profession. That actually may assist the professional with the best approach to teach. Also of interest is to determine if there are any physical disabilities or limitations.

2. Maybe in the first lesson you watch the student play a few holes. I’ve been asked if I thought I could help someone’s game.

My answer is always, “I don’t know, let me watch you play a few holes.” By doing that I’m able to see the weak and strong parts of that person’s game and know exactly where to start the lesson.

3. If the student has a weak short game in terms of chipping, pitching or putting, I’ll start there every time. Good fundamentals in the short game will lead to lower scores and fun once the student understands it is a different game than the full swing.

4. Once the student understands and knows how to practice the short game, then it is time to move on to the full swing.

5. I prefer starting on the full swing by checking grip, posture and balance. Once that is accomplished, I take a hard look at the swing plane and go from there.

If a student is serious about playing golf, we try to spend some time on the course during the lesson even if it is just one hole. Simply because the grass and lie are not perfect, the fairways vary in shape and width and there are undulations to deal with as well. I realize that not everyone has the time or desire to learn how to play golf as I see it and all the student wants is a quick fix. If that’s what the student wants, I’ll go in that direction unless it won’t accomplish their goals.

Most PGA professionals that I know have a passion for teaching the game. Ask your professional to teach you how to score better. He knows how to help you enjoy The Game more than just hitting the ball.

Jerry Cozby is a member of the PGA of America and Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame.

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GOL F FI TN E SS

Could chubby muscles be the real cause behind the loss of power, distance and consistency off the tee?

Article 1 of a special three-part, intramuscular fat series Dear Golf Okla- the conclusion of a report from Comprehen- based muscles” — the strength in your legs sive Physiology, where they state: “The lack — are of vital importance. At the address homa Reader, What you are of regular exercise [fatty muscles] is the AC- position the weight of your body is close about to discover TUAL CAUSE of at least 35 known chronic to 50-50, but as you initiate the backswing over the next three articles is going to be the diseases — to include at least six kinds of and coil into the right leg (for a right-handed golfer), you’ll transfer about 75% of your most significant yet under-publicized infor- cancer.”

In other words—and this is somewhat weight by the time you’ve reached the mation you’ve ever read on the subject of golf fitness. In truth, the implications of this shocking—carrying too much fat inside your top. The quality of your leg-drive, then, is groundbreaking information far exceed your muscles can cause chronic diseases in much logically dependent on the quality of your golf game. What you are about to learn is vi- the same way smoking causes lung cancer. muscle tone. The more marbleized the thigh tal to your overall health, longevity, and qual- Cause and effect, in other words. It’s a truly muscles, the less power one can generate.

Not only that, but the more intramuscular revolutionary discovery: Too much fat inside ity of life. fat invades the muscle, Before we begin, a Thigh (Quadriceps) Muscle Thigh (Quadriceps) Fat Thigh (Quadriceps) Bone the stiffer the muscle disclaimer: Because the becomes. I know, … it unique topic of fat-filled seems counterintuitive. muscles (otherwise But research confirms, known as intramuscular “… Increased fat imfat), on the performance paired muscle stiffens of golf is limited, some 40-Year-Old ACTIVE Thigh Muscle 70-Year-Old INACTIVE Thigh Muscle 74-Year-Old ACTIVE Thigh Muscle the tissue. If you put 5 of what you are about to percent fat into muscle, read may seem anecdotal. you’d imagine that you’d lose What is not anecdotal, however, 5 percent of the contractile is the profoundly researched, part of the muscle. But when peer-reviewed, hard science beyou look at the muscle perforhind how too much intramuscumance, it’s reduced by far more lar fat can negatively affect your than 5 percent. When you put health, fitness, and performance.

Real MRI of 74-Year-Old Sedentary Male Real MRI of 74-Year-Old Triathlete Male fat into the muscle, it changes Because when too much fat the way the whole tissue responds … It acmakes its way into a person’s 700+ muscles your muscles can make you sick!

Not to mention how a lack of muscle qual- tually has to work against the fat when it’s (called intramuscular fat), the invasion systematically breaks down the very defenses ity can affect your golf game. Consider this: contracting.”

The bottom line is the more high-quality and life force of your metabolism. As fat When you swing your golf club, the head bores its way deeper and deeper into muscle of the club can exceed 100+ miles per hour. muscle you have, absent of intramuscular tissue, it systematically marbleizes the mus- Amateur golfers typically use about 90% of fat, the more reserve power you have just cle making it weak, unstable, and unable to their muscular strength ability when driv- waiting to explode into your golf swing. ing off the tee. A comparable intensity level The optimal surplus contained in wellprotect your immunity.

As proof, let’s take a look at these two sets to that near maximal effort would be if you trained, strong muscles is your best bet at of thigh muscles. Both men are 74 years of age. walked into a gym and picked up a weight more power and longer distances. So, why The image on the left is from a man who is that was so heavy you could only lift it only not start a good strength training program sedentary, while the picture on the right is the four times, but not five. Then imagine strik- today? Both your golf game and your qualing a golf ball 20-30 times with comparable ity of life will thank you. thigh of someone who works out regularly.

Now, I ask you to consider for yourself: intensity over 18 holes.

Clint Howard is the Owner/Director of Golf And if more distance off the tee is what Which of these men seem healthier to you?

Which, if they were golfers, would stand a you are after, then consider where power Fitness Systems and is recognized as one of the better chance of having more energy over 18 originates from. Power in the golf swing Top 50 Golf Fitness Professionals in the counholes … more consistency over 30-40 ball (and in every ground-based sport) originates try by Golf Digest. PGA Tour Pros, Oklahoma strikes … and more power and distance off from the ground up. That means kinetic State Men’s and Women’s golf, University of the tee? Most importantly, which do you energy moves from the ground through the Tulsa golf, and many other collegiate and high legs, though the hips, back, torso, shoulders, school golfers, world long drive champions, and think lives a higher quality, healthier life?

Intrigued? Consider this: Science has in- arms, and finally out the end of the club, golfers of all levels go to Clint and Golf Fitness dexed 35 known chronic and deadly diseases where, hopefully, the ball takes off like you Systems to improve their body, and their game.

To learn more, call 918-296-7418 or go to www. that originate from the same root cause — a shot it out of a cannon.

That means the quality of your “ground- GolfFitnessSystems.com lack of physical strength and activity. That’s Clint Howard Golf Fitness Systems

52

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GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

SCH E DU L E S & R E SU LTS : More at w w w.gol fok la homa.org COLLEGE MEN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP AT KARSTEN CREEK GC, STILLWATER (PAR-72) MAY 25-30 MATCH PLAY QUARTERFINALS OKLAHOMA STATE DEF. TEXAS A&M 3-1-1 Viktor Hovland (OSU) def. Chandler Phillips 1-up (19); Matthew Wolff (OSU) def. Dan Erickson 4 and 3; Kristoffer Ventura (OSU) and Walker Lee, halved; Austin Eckroat (OSU) def. Brandon Smith 1-up; Andrew Payse (Texas A&M) def.

Zach Bauchou 1-up.

AUBURN DEF. OKLAHOMA 3-2 Blaine Hale (OU) def. Jovan Rebula 4 and 3; Trace Crowe (A) def. Quade Cummins 1-up; Ben Schlottman (A) def. Garett Reband 5 and 4; Brandon Mancheno (A) def. Grant Hirschman 3 and 1; Brad Dalke (OU) def. Wells Padgett 4 and 3.

Other results: Duke def. Texas 3-2, Alabama def.

Texas Tech 3-2.

SEMIFINALS OKLAHOMA STATE DEF. AUBURN 3-2 Hovland (OSU) def. Rebula 4 and 3; Crowe (A) def. Wolff 2 and 1; Schlottman (A) def. Ventura 5 and 4; Eckroat (OSU) def. Mancheno 3 and 2; Bauchou (OSU) def. Padgett 4 and 3.

Other result: Alabama def. Duke 5-0.

FINAL OKLAHOMA STATE DEF. ALABAMA 5-0 Hovland (OSU) def. Lee Hodges 4 and 3; Wolff (OSU) def. Davis Riley 4 and 3; Bauchou (OSU) def. Jonathan Hardee 8 and 7; Ventura def.

Wilson Furr 3 and 2; Eckroat (OSU) def. Davis Shore 1-up.

Stroke play Team leaders: 1, Oklahoma State 287-285-285295 – 1,152; 2, Duke 291-287-276-306 – 1,160; 3, Texas Tech 284-287-290-300 – 1,161; 4, Oklahoma 285-293-290-295 – 1,163; 5, Auburn 300-280-290-297 – 1,167; 6 (tie), Alabama 294279-301-294 – 1,168 and Texas 289-291-295-293 – 1,168; 8, Texas A&M 293-289-289-298 – 1,169; 9, Vanderbilt 287-292-287-304 – 1,170; 10, Kent State 288-291-293-299 – 1,171; 11, Illinois 289-291301-295 – 1,176; 12, Arkansas 296-289-291-303 – 1,179 13 (tie), Arizona State 296-289-295-302 – 1,182 and Clemson 285-294-299-304 – 1,182; 15, North Carolina 296-289-297-305 – 1,187. Note – 15 teams were cut after 54 holes.

Individual leaders: 1, Broc Everett (Augusta) 70-70-70-71 – 281 (won playoff); 2, Brandon Mancheno (Auburn) 72-68-71-72 – 281; 3, Doug Ghim (Texas) 71-69-70-72 – 282; 4 (tie), Ivan Ramirez (TT) 67-72-71-73 – 283 and Dylan Meyer (Ill.) 72-69-73-69 – 283; 6, Scottie Scheffler (Texas) 67-74-70-73 – 284; 7 (tie), Matthew Wolff (OSU) 71-73-69-72 – 285 and Brysn Nimmer (Clemson) 64-75-68-78 – 285; 9 (tie), John Augenstein (Vanderbilt) 70-69-73-74 – 2867 and Phillip Knowles (N. Fla.) 73-73-68-72 – 286; Other scores: Austin Eckroat (OSU) 71-70-7276 – 289, Blaine Hale (OU) 69-73-72-77 – 291, Grant Hirschman (OU) 76-75-71-73 – 295, Quade Cummins (OU) 68-73-77-78 – 296, Kristoffer Ventura (OSU) 72-77-76-72 – 297, Zach Bauchou (OSU) 75-71-77-76 – 299, Mason Overstreet (Ark.) 76-76-73-74 – 299, Tyson Reeder (Ark.) 77-67-77-78 – 299, Garett Reband (OU) 80-78-78-72 – 308.

NCAA NORMAN REGIONAL AT JIMMIE AUSTIN OU GC, NORMAN (PAR-72) MAY 14-16 Team scores: 1, Oklahoma 283-284-283 – 850; 2 (tie), Brigham Young 295-278-278 – 851 and North Florida 288-283-280 – 851; 4 (tie), Arkansas 288-293-280 – 861 and Auburn 288-285288 – 861; 6, Florida State 293-284-285 – 862; 7, Virginia 297-281-285 – 863; 8, Pepperdine GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

295-274-295 – 864; 9, Nevada 294-285-288 – 867; 10, San Diego State 290-290-290 – 870; 11, Missouri-KC 293-297-291 – 881; 12, Sam Houston State 301-289-298 – 888; 13, Navy 323-302-296 – 921; 14, Prairie View A&M 315-316-312 – 943.

Individual leaders: 1, Travis Trace (NF) 70-70-75 – 205; 2, Patrick Fishburn (BYU) 7-66-69 – 206; 3, Quade Cummins (OU) 69-72-67 – 208; 4, Blaine Hale 67-69-73 – 209; 5 (tie), Peter Kuest (BYU) 74-70-66 – 210 and Joshua McCarthy (Pepperdine) 74-65-71 – 210; 7 (tie), Dillon Woods (NF) 73-68-70 – 211, Trace Crowe (Auburn) 70-69-72 – 211, John Park (FSU) 72-70-69 – 211 and Blake Abercrombie (SDS) 70-72-69 – 211; 11, Garett Reband (OU) 72-71-69 – 212.

Other OU scores: Grant Hirschman 75-72-74 – 221, Brad Dalke 75-72-81 – 228, NCAA COLUMBUS REGIONAL AT THE OHIO STATE SCARLET COURSE, COLUMBUS (PAR-72) MAY 14-16 Team scores: 1, Oklahoma State 281-278-285 – 844; 2, Illinois 284-278-290 – 852; 3, UNLV 282293-292 – 867; 4, Northwestern 292-291-285 – 868; 5, Texas Tech 297-288-285 – 870; 6, Penn State 293-295-289 – 877; 7, Michigan State 303290-291 – 884; 8, Wake Forest 299-296-292 – 887; 9, Louisville 300-306-292 – 898; 10 (tie), Tennessee 306-298-296 – 900 and Jacksonville 300-301-299 – 900; 12, Yale 312-302-300 – 914; 13, Cleveland State 309-310-310 – 929.

Individual leaders: 1, Kyle Mueller (Mich.) 7369-66 – 208; 2, Matthew Wolff (OSU) 70-69-71 – 210 and Zach Beauchou (OSU) 71-68-71 – 210; 4, Nick Hardy (Ill.) 71-68-72 – 211, Hurly Long (TT) 70-70-71 – 211 and Ryan Lumsden (Northwestern) 75-70-66 – 211; 7 (tie), Viktor Hovland (OSU) 73-70-69 – 212 and Adam Blomme (TT) 73-70-69 – 212.

Other OSU scores: Kristoffer Ventura 70-71-74 – 215, Austin Eckroat 70-74-74 – 218.

NAIA CHAMPIONSHIP AT TPC DEERE RUN, SILVIE, ILLINOIS (PAR-71) MAY 15-18 Team leaders: 1, Oklahoma City 290-282-278279 – 1,127; 2, Dalton State 284-282-290-284 – 1,140; 3, Texas Wesleyan 289-287-281 – 1,141; 4, Coastal Georgia 280-285-291-286 – 1,142; 5, Keiser 279-293-287-285 – 1,144; 6, Northwestern Ohio 291-295-291-279 – 1,156; 7, Taylor 280-297-289-298 – 1,164; 8, Wayland Baptist 288-290-295-292 – 1,165; 9, William Woods 289289-283-307 – 1,168; 10, Victoria BC (289-302294-285 – 1,170.

Individual leaders: 1, S.M. Lee (DS) 69-68-66-69 – 272; 2, Jack Dyer (Keiser) 66-74-71-69 – 280; 3 (tie), Ben Kendrick (Cumberlands) 71-68-6973 – 281, Rowan Lester 73-70-68-70 – 281 and Mark Johnson (CG) 69-72-71-69 – 281; 6 (tie), Rupert Kaminski (OCU) 70-72-66-74 – 282, Andrew Williamson (WB) 70-70-70-72 – 282, and Harrison Stafford (CG) 74-72-67-69 – 282; 9 (tie), Garrison Mendoza (OCU) 74-68-72-69 – 283 and Gaston Romero (OCU) 72-71-70-70 – 283; 11 (tie), David Meyers (OCU) 75-73-68-69 – 285, Erik Jonasson (Keiser) 68-77-72-68 – 285 and Jake Bauer (Johnson & Wales) 72-71-6874 – 285.

Other OCU scores; Peri’Don Castille 74-71-7271 – 288.

WOMEN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP AT KARSTEN CREEK GC, STILLWATER (PAR-72) MAY 18-23 Match Play Quarterfinals Alabama def. Kent State 4-1, Southern Cal def.

Duke 3-1-1, Arizona def. UCLA 3-2, Stanford def.

Northwestern 3-2.

Semifinals Alabama def. Southern Cal 3-1-1, Arizona def.

Stanford 4-1.

Final Arizona def. Alabama 3-2.

Stroke play Team leaders: 1, UCLA 294-279-297-291 – 1,161; 2, Alabama 292-286-284-299 – 1,161; 3, Southern Cal 291-298-296-283 – 1,168; 4, Northwestern 299-293-290-291 – 1,173; 5, Stanford 308291-291-290 – 1,180; 6, Duke 298-298-293-293 – 1,182; 7, Kent State 296-299-296-293 – 1,184; 8, Arizona 301-291-288-305 – 1,185; 9, Baylor 31-295-287-290 – 1,185; 10, Arkansas 308-300289-289 – 1,186; 11, Furman 312-293-294-289 – 1,188; 12 (tie), Washington 303-300-299290 – 1,192, Florida State 301-294-299-298 – 1,192 and Texas 309-300-291-292 – 1,192; 15 (tie), Louisville 301-300-302-296 – 1,199 (won tiebreaker) Individual leaders: 1, Jennifer Kupcho (WF) 65-74-70 – 280; 2 (tie), Bianca Pagdanganan (Arizona) 71-68-71-72 – 282 and Andrea Lee (Stanford) 77-69-71-65 – 282; 4, Cheyenne Knight (Ala.) 70-69-70-74 – 283; 5 (tie), Jaclyn Lee (Ohio St.) 72-72-66-74 – 284 and Morgane Metraux (FS) 70-72-74-68 – 284; 7 (tie), Kristen Gillman (Ala.) 73-72-70-72 – 287, Mariel Galdiano (UCLA) 75-69-72-71 – 287, Lauren Stephenson (Ala.) 74-69-70-74 -- 287, Gurleen Kaur (Baylor) 79-71-69-68 – 287 and Lilla Vu (ULA) 72-68-75-72 – 287; 12, Emma Broze (Okla. St.) 73-74-70-71 – 288.

OU scores: Julienne Soo 76-72-71-72 – 291.

Did not qualify – Hannah Wood 77-77-73 – 227, Valerie Tanguay 75-80-74 – 229, Sydney Youngblood 79-77-80 – 236, Kaitlin Milligan 87-77-77 – 241.

OKLAHOMA GOLF ASSOCIATION SPRING FOUR-BALL AT CLUB AT INDIAN SPRINGS, BROKEN ARROW (PAR-72) MAY 21-22 1, Rick Bell/Don Cochran 69-64 – 133 (won playoff); 2, Jeff Cox/Joby Dutcher 66-67 – 133; 3, Rob Laird/Tyler Hunt 71-65 – 136; 4 (tie), Ty Burke/Jake Van Hooser 70-69 – 139, Austin Hackett/Aaron Lee 71-68 – 139 and Jeff Coffman/Brian Birchell 69-70 – 139; 7 (tie), Stephen Fox/Kevin Bishop 70-72 – 142 and Matt Willingham/Casey Paul 72-70—142.

OGA SENIOR SPRING FOUR-BALL Michael Hughett/Kirk Wright 63-64 – 127; 2, Bruce Maddux/Jim Roberts 66-67 – 133; 3, Michael Alsup/Ken Kee 71-64 – 135; 4, Jeff Oakes/Mitckey Tettleton 68-69 – 137; 5, Orville Stephens/Warren Murray 68-70 – 138.

U.S. OPEN LOCAL QUALIFIER AT CEDAR RIDGE CC, BROKEN ARROW (PAR71) MAY 15 Qualifiers: 1, Dillon Rust 67; 2 (tie), Rob Laird, Eli Armstrong and Brendon Jelley 71; 5, Greg Mason 72; 6, Logan McCracken 72 (first alternate); 7, Chris Worrell 72 (second alternate).

WOGA STABLEFORD AT LINCOLN PARK WEST, OKLA. CITY MAY 15-16 Overall champion: Angie St. Geme/Sheila Bond 108.

A flight: 1, Darlene Crawford/Anne Cowan 96 (won scorecard playoff); 2, Cherie Rich/Lorie Harnd 96; 3, Kimberlee Bell/Shari Baldridge 91; 4, Marna Raburn/Teresa DeLarzelere 90.

B flight: 1, Janieire Hagen/Melissa Higgins 97; 2, Bobbie Langford/Elizabeth Langford 94; 3, Joyce Washam/Pat Richard 93 (won scorecard playoff); 4, Andrew Lewis/Patti Shaffer 93.

C flight: 1, Carol Varley/Rose Whatley 99;. 2, Fran Derrick/Nancy Ford 93; 3, Anita Hasenmyer/Diane Burns 91 (won scorecard playoff); 4, Carolyn Schultz/Melanie Schad 91.

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SCH E DU L E S & R E SU LTS : More at w w w.gol fok la homa.org HIGH SCHOOLS BOYS MAY 7-8 CLASS 6A AT FOREST RIDGE GC, BROKEN ARROW (PAR-72) Team leaders (12 teams): 1, Edmond North 292295-294 – 881; 2, Owasso 298-295-303 – 896; 3, Edmond Memorial 309-303-306 – 918; 4, Norman North 300-311-310 – 921; 5 (tie), Union 314-308-308 – 930 and Stillwater 312-301-317 – 930’ 7, Bixby 320-312-322 – 954.

Individual leaders: 1, Brock Polhill (EN) 71-73-67 – 211; 2, Austin Enzbrenner (O) 73-70-72 – 215; 3, Carlos Gomez (U) 72-73-71 – 216; 4, Jordan Wilson (EN) 72-70-76 – 218; 5 (tie), Carson Griggs (Sand Springs) 78-71-73 – 222 and Gabe Replogle (Broken Arrow) 70-76-76 – 222; 7, Kyle Peterson (Bixby) 76-73-76 – 225.

CLASS 5A AT CIMARRON TRAILS GC, PERKINS (PAR-72) Team leaders (12): 1, Guthrie 316-317-322 – 955; 2, McGuinness 313-324-326 – 963; 3, Bishop Kelley 318-328-328 – 974; 4, Coweta 329-326-332 – 987; 5, Tahlequah 331-324-336 – 991; 6, Guymon 341-328-331 – 1,000.

Individual leaders: 1, Grayson Wallace (Guymon) 73-72-73 – 218; 2, Davis Woodliff (BK) 69-75-77 – 221; 3, Luke Morgan (Guthrie) 70-71-85 – 226 and Jax Johnson (Tahlequah) 73-78-75 – 226; 5, Kevin Farmer (Lawton Eisenhower) 77-76-75 – 228; 6 (tie), Logan Meehan (Coweta) 78-78-73 – 229 and Isaac White (Duncan) 75-76-78 – 229.

CLASS 4A AT BUFFALO ROCK, CUSHING (PAR-70) Team leaders (12): 1, Heritage Hall 281-294293 – 865; 2, Plainview 309-305-281 – 895; 3, Poteau 313-289-307 – 909; 4, Elk City 311-306-

312 – 929; 5, Cascia Hall 310-313-308 – 931; 6, Tuttle 306-318-326 – 950.

Individual leaders: 1, Matt Braley (CH) 71-6965 – 205; 2, William McDonald (HH) 65-72-73 – 210; 3, Ryan Ward (Poteau) 73-67-71 – 211; 4, Saxon Ross (Plainview) 72-74-69 – 215; 5 (tie), Alec Dominic (Sallisaw) 73-72-71 – 216 and Tyler Neher (Plainview) 77-71-68 – 216.

CLASS 3A AT TROSPER PARK GC, OKLA. CITY (PAR70) Team leaders (12): 1, Okla. Christian School 276-277-292 – 845; 2, Christian Heritage 285-278-287 – 950; 3, Holland Hall 299-297294 – 890; 4, Kingston 308-297-296 – 901; 5, Kingfisher 317-307-312 – 936; 6, Sulphur 335321-328 – 984.

Individual leaders: 1, Jaxon Dowell (OCS) 6663-71 – 200; 2, Drew Goodman (CH) 69-6470 – 203; 3, Logan McAllister (CH) 69-66-71 – 206; 4, Logan Brooks (Berryhill) 69-71-72 – 212; 5 (tie), Matthew Osteen (Kingston) 71-71-71 – 213 and Wesley Sachs (OCS) 67-72-74 – 213.

CLASS 2A AT LAKE HEFNER GC (NORTH), OKLA. CITY (PAR-72) Team leaders (12): 1, Regent Prep 299-305315 – 919; 2, Lincoln Christian 321-306-333 – 960-; 3, Crossings Christian 315-318-336 – 969; 4 (tie), Turner 319-325-330 – 974 and Big Pasture 320-327-327 – 974; 6, Tishomingo 345-325-330 – 1,000.

Individual leaders: 1, JP Roller (RP) 65-70-70 – 205; 2, Kolton Baber (BP) 69-65-72 – 206; 3, Justice Hatman (Turner) 70-72-68 – 210; 4, Connor Boydston (BP) 71-73-74 – 218; 5, Dominic Stevens (Crescent) 74-72-76 – 222; 6 (tie)< Reagan Streck (LC) 75-71-78 – 224 and Josh Grounds (Luther) 73-75-76 – 224.

WHAT IF MOST – IF NOT ALL – OF YOUR DISTANCE PROBLEMS ARE CAUSED BY FAT THAT HAS SECRETLY WORMED ITS WAY DEEP INTO YOUR MUSCLE TISSUE? AND WHAT IF YOU COULD REVERSE THE PROCESS IN ONLY A FEW WEEKS? GIVE ME 12 WEEKS AND I'LL HELP YOU REGAIN LOST MUSCLE ...

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CALL 918.296.7418 TODAY FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTARY GOLF BODY ANALYSIS & CONSULTATION

GolfFitnessSystems.com

GIRLS MAY 2-3 CLASS 6A AT HILLCREST CC, BARTLESVILLE (PAR-72) Team leaders (12): 1, Edmond North 3370-331 – 668; 2 (tie), Jenks 333-356 – 689 and Bixby 344-345 – 689; 4, Bartlesville 336-358 – 694; 5, Norman 351-360 – 711; 6, Broken Arrow 366-357 – 723; 7, Union 367-379 – 723.

Individual leaders: 1, Faith Hopkins (Bartlesville) 71-75 – 146; 2, Natalie Gough (Bixby) 75-73 – 148; 3, Madison Smith (Southmoore) 79-75 – 154; 4, Hayden Meiser (Norman) 81-78 – 159; 5, Faith Belmear (Owasso) 81-79 – 1609; 6, Emilie Jackson (EN) 82-79 – 161; 7, Emma Shelley (Bartlesville) 84-78 – 162.

CLASS 5A AT MUSKOGEE GC (PAR-71) Team leaders (12): 1, Duncan 314; 2, Collinsville 340; 3, Carl Albert 344; 4, Durant 346; 5, McGuinness 361; 6, Coweta 367.

Individual leaders: 1, Nina Lee (Collinsville) 70; 2, Madison O’Dell (Collinsville) 73; 3, Brooklyn Bostick (Duncan) 74; 4 (tie), Jaclynn Unger (Noble) and Gentry Cox (Duncan) 76; 6, Olivia Schmidt (McG) 77.

CLASS 4A AT LAKE HEFNER (SOUTH) GC, OKLA. CITY (PAR-70) Team leaders (12): 1, Plainview 305-309 – 614; 2, Hilldale 316-314 – 630; 3, Grove 337-347 – 684; 4, Pauls Valley 356-370 – 726; 5, Newcastle 372-360 – 732; 6, Ardmore 371-365 – 736.

Individual leaders: 1, Chloe Black (Newcastle) 76-67 – 143; 2, Jordan Clayborn (Hilldale) 73-71 – 144; 3, Katie Finley (Plainview) 72-76 – 148; 4 (tie), Keirsten Riggs (Grove) 75-79 – 154 and Reagan Chaney (Plainview) 75-79 – 154; 6, Adeline Norton (Plainview) 79-76 – 155.

CLASS 3A AT WESTWOOD PARK GC, NORMAN (PAR-70) Team leaders (12): 1, Purcell 322; 2, Lone Grove 333; 3, Marlow 345; 4, Dickson 366; 5, Verdigris 368; 6, Eufaula 378.

Individual leaders: 1, Shaebug Scarberry (Purcell) 70; 2, Jace McCurdy (Purcell) 71; 3, Taylor Towers (Rejoice Christian), Josie Patterson (Chandler) and Mikaela Rinderman (Mt. St. Mary) 72; 6 (tie), Izzy Lette (Lone Grove) and Maddi Kamas (Kingfisher) 73.

CLASS 2A AT AQUA CANYON, GUTHRIE (PAR-71) Team leaders (12): 1, Tishomingo 362-366 – 728; 2 (tie), Henryetta 380-377 – 757 and Washington 379-400 – 779; 4, Pawnee 373-408 – 781; 5, Frederick 399-400 – 799; 6, Mooreland 408-409 – 817.

Individual leaders: 1, Sydney Manning (Cashion) 80-77 – 157; 2, Megan Brown (Cordell) 82-77 – 159; 3 (tie), Abbi Green (Henryetta) 83-82 – 165 and Sara Armstrong (Crossings Christian) 81-84 – 165; 5, Morgan Landes (Dale) 81-85 – 166; 6, Alexa Benedict (Burns Flat-Dill City) 82-85 – 167.

ADAMS PRO TOUR REAL OKIE CHAMPIONSHIP AT MUSKOGEE CC (PAR-70) MAY 17-19 1, Daniel Miernicki 62-64-64-71 – 261 ($20,000); 2, Vincent Whaley 65-67-62-69 – 263 ($10,400); 3, Eric Ricard 68-65-64-69 – 266 ($6,935); 4, Curtis Reed 69-66-64-68 – 267 ($4,590); 5, Charlie Holland 66-68-67-67 – 268 ($3,980); 6 (tie), Michael Gellerman 68-67-6670 – 269 and Ben Crancer 65-68-67-69 – 269 ($3,315); 8 (tie), Dillon Rust 68-68-67-67 – 270 and Ben Hargis 65-68-69-68 – 270 ($3,037.50); 10 (tie), Chris Tidland 66-67-70-68 – 271, Chris Worrell 70-66-65-70 – 271, Brandon McIver 6667-67-71 – 271 and Zakhai Brown 69-66-67-69 – 271 ($2,786.25).

GOLF OKL AHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2018

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Get engine, transmission and other powertrain protection for as long as you own your vehicle at no additional cost.