Senior PGA Golf
senior pga golf
Praise par for U.S. Senior Open course
Two things should bring out the very best in the Champions Tour players this week. One is that they’re in a major championship, the U.S. Senior Open. And, second is that Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, Kan., pretty much demands you play well — or pay the price.
The famed Perry Maxwell course has “probably some of the toughest greens to putt that any of us have ever seen,” according to Jay Haas. And, remember, he played on Shinnecock Hills’ formica greens of the 2004 U.S. Open.
Then there’s the fact that, as Tom Watson said, “The rough is as deep as you’ll ever find in any major championship.”
Even so, everyone for the most part raves about Prairie Dunes as a fair and fun — if ferocious — test of golf. Combine the prestige of this course with the fact that the Senior Open is probably the most coveted of the Champions Tour majors, and it’s a perfect match.
Haas won the first major of the season, the Senior PGA Championship in May at Oak Tree in Edmond, Okla.
“Certainly it was one of my goals when I started playing Champions Tour golf was to contend and possibly win a major or two,” Haas said. “So it was an unbelievable boost for me to do that. I feel pretty good coming in here this week. What a great place we have got to play here.”
The Senior Open dates back to 1980, the same year that what was then called the PGA Senior Tour made its debut. Most of the biggest stars have won this title at least once, including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin.
Last year at the NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio, Allen Doyle put up a final-round 63 and then watched as several challengers faltered. He beat Loren Roberts and D.A. Weibring by 1 shot.
In 2004, Peter Jacobsen prevailed at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, when the players had to go 36 holes on Sunday because Friday play had been rained out. The two years before that, Watson was edged out of the title. In 2002, he lost to Don Pooley in a playoff, and in 2003, he couldn’t quite catch Bruce Lietzke on the final day.
Watson acknowledges this is the title he most wants now, and to win it in Kansas would be even better. But he’s coming off a tied-for-28th finish at the Greater Kansas City Golf Classic. He tied for 23rd in his event before that, the Senior PGA Championship.
“The status of my game right now is really kind of in flux,” Watson said. “I’m doing a few things right, but it seems like I’m hitting the occasional really bad shot. I don’t do that very often, so that’s the one thing that concerns me.
“But I’ve worked real hard around the greens this week, as far as trying to get the touch and feel around this type of turf. (It’s) very similar to Augusta National’s turf: very tightly knit, cut grass that can grab your club. It’s great turf to hit irons off of, but around the greens it’s very tight.”
Meanwhile, Roberts tied for 57th at LionsGate — so much worse than any of his other results on the Champions Tour this season, he almost seemed like an imposter. Roberts won his first three starts this year and was in the top 10 in his next seven before disappearing last weekend.
Like so many other players, he’s talked about being particularly motivated in majors on the Champions Tour. And even more so at Prairie Dunes.
“I really, really like this golf course,” Roberts said. “I heard about it for so many years. And I’ve been looking forward to coming here for years, as soon as it was announced.”
More praise for Prairie Dunes came from Fred Funk, who’s making his Champions Tour debut in this event. Funk has played in 19 PGA Tour events this season, with a top finish of tied for second.
“I kind of judge golf courses by: If you only have one to play the rest of your life, would you be tired of playing it every single day?” Funk said. “And I don’t think you would ever get tired of playing this golf course. I got to put that up there with Pebble Beach and Cyprus Point and Shinnecock.
“I played it one time, and I remember every golf hole. That’s unique in and of itself. Flying in here, it looked like everything was dead flat. Then you get here and it’s got these big sand dunes and the roly-poly greens, very extreme rough and beautiful trees.”
2006-07-07 17:18:18
Haas seeking 2nd major in row
Jay Haas, shooting for his second straight major senior title, reeled off three consecutive birdies and shot a 3-under 67 Thursday to share the first-round lead with Dave Barr in the U.S. Senior Open.
As expected, the heavy rough and roly-poly greens proved tough for the over-50 field, especially in the afternoon. Haas and Barr drew early tee times and were finished long before any of their closest pursuers and before winds kicked up and tightened the short-but-narrow Prairie Dunes course.
2006-07-07 17:17:51
English, Kueny lead the way at junior tourney
Last July around this time, Lakeview High's Matt Thompson won the Westfield Michigan Junior PGA State Boys' Championship at Bedford Valley Golf Club with a two-day, 1-over-par total of 145 via rounds of 73-72. Thompson, at that time age 15, then went on a week later to finish fourth in the country against some of the best 17- and 18-year-olds in the U.S. at the Westfield Insurance Junior PGA Golf Championship near Cleveland with a four-day total of 5-under 279 (68-73-68-70). But when Thursday's first round of the 31st annual Westfield Michigan Junior PGA State Championship got under way at Bedford Valley, Thompson was nowhere to be found. According to tourney officials, Thompson opted not to try to defend his Westfield state crown and instead is involved in an American Junior Golf Association event this week in Boyne (efforts to reach Thompson via phone on Thursday were unsuccessful). Nevertheless, some great scores were turned in during Thursday's action as Bedford Valley began hosting the prestigious event for the ninth straight summer. And leading the way for the boys was another golfer playing not in the 16-18 age division, but the 13-15. Charlotte High sophomore-to-be Blake English, 15, carded a 1-over 37 on Bedford Valley's front nine and then had four birdies and no bogeys on the back side for a 4-under 32, giving him a 3-under 69 total to earn first-day medalist honors heading into today's final 18-hole round. "I hit my driver almost perfectly every time today,'' said English, whose father, Ron, is the head professional at Charlotte Country Club and who won the Michigan PGA Senior Open at Bedford Valley in 1999 (Ron tied for second place in the Senior Open at Bedford Valley last month). "I struggled putting on the front nine today, but I got it back on the back nine ... and hopefully everything will carry over to (today).'' At stake for the first-place boys' and girls' finishers are berths in the Aug. 10-13 Westfield Insurance Junior PGA Championship at Westfield Group CC in Westfield Center, Ohio. Close on English's heels in the boys' division were four other golfers who shot par or better on Thursday: Haslett's Chris Mory, who had a 2-under 70 out of the 16-18 division; and Ortonville's Joshua Williams and Wolverine Lake's Tony Lis out of the 16-18 division, and Grand Rapids' Nick Sayles in the 13-15 division - all of whom had 72s. Leading the way for the girls Thursday was Laura Kueny of Whitehall with a super 2-over 74. Second was DeWitt's Elizabeth Nagel with a 77, and third was Ada's Kristina Langton with a 79. Kueny, Nagel and Langton are all out of the 16-18 division. Three golfers with local connections played in the boys' divisions Thursday. Augusta's Kyle Schau, a junior-to-be at Gull Lake High, shot an 87 in the 16-18 division, while Scotts' Jason Vanderklock (a freshman-to-be at Vicksburg High) and Battle Creek's Kevin Fields (a freshman-to-be at Harper Creek High) - both playing in the 13-15 division - shot 90 and 91, respectively. The lone girl with local ties who qualified for this year's tourney - Augusta's Jessica Capron, a junior-to-be at Gull Lake High - struggled during her first nine holes Thursday and then withdrew. But Fields and Vanderklock, despite their ups and downs around Bedford Valley's heavily-wooded and big-time-bunkered layout, stuck with it and are looking forward to their round 2s today. "I did well with my driving and my putting today, but my irons were coming up short of the greens,'' said Fields, 14, was nursing a sprained left ankle. Fields qualified for the state tourney by shooting a 92 last month at Binder Park GC during a Westfield qualifier - the same course where he shot an 86 at in early June at the annual Optimist Junior World of Golf state qualifier that earned him a spot in the Optimist district/state tourney at Davison CC near Flint. Added Fields, who said he has been playing in Kalamazoo Junior Golf Association events this summer and who said he hopes to make the Harper Creek varsity squad this fall: "I didn't shoot my best today ... but it's just a great accomplishment to be here.'' Vanderklock, who had a birdie on BVGC's par-5 16th and a par on the par-4 17th coming in, echoed Fields' sentiments. "It's just great to be here, playing against tough competition and trying to keep up with them,'' Vanderklock said. "I was hitting my tee ball pretty well today, but my putting wasn't all that great. Hopefully, I can do better (today).'' The only division that completed play Thursday was the Boys' 12-Under, which also played 18 holes. Grand Blanc's Bailey Truesdell finished first with an 83, followed by Grand Blanc's Kyle Cooper with an 87 and Vicksburg's Luke Tindall and Empire's Michael O'Brien with 95s. Today's tee times begin at 8 a.m., with the last tee time scheduled for 10:06 a.m.
2006-07-07 17:16:59
