Deloitte & Justin Leonard Reward Three Worthy Students

Here's the news release detailing the 2008 recipients of the Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarships:

The Northern Texas PGA, Deloitte and Justin Leonard are proud to announce the recipients of the 2008 Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarships. They are Cameron Allison, Yudilia Rocha, and Dramesha Spence. Each student will receive a scholarship in the amount of $20,000.

Created in 1998, the Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program has annually awarded scholarships to deserving students based on academic performance, extracurricular activities, community involvement and financial need. Since it’s inception, the Program has awarded nearly half a million dollars to 24 students.

In 2007, the Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program merged with the Northern Texas PGA Golf in Schools Program to provide scholarships to at-risk students who are learning to play golf. The project is a collaborative effort between Deloitte, the Northern Texas PGA and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ "Destination: Graduation."

Cameron Allison of W.W. Samuell High School is ranked 8th in his class and is a member of the golf team. He plans to attend the University of Texas in Austin and aspires to become a writer.

Yudilia Rocha of Thomas Jefferson High School plays on the golf, softball and volleyball teams while also playing in the band and volunteering at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas . She has been accepted to Texas Women’s University in Denton .

Dramesha Spence of Justin F. Kimball High School plays on the golf team and is also involved in volleyball and flag corp. This spring, she will be the first person from her family to graduate high school and attend college.

The Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarships are an incentive to keep students in school, while providing access to a college education to those who otherwise may not have the opportunity. The program is currently active in three Dallas Independent School District (DISD) high schools: Kimball, Jefferson, and Samuell. These schools were selected by DISD for the level of their need, lack of outside resources, and commitment of staff leadership to this project. The Golf in Schools Program was added in the fall of 2007 at these schools to provide an additional incentive and benchmark for teaching social skills and ethics to these kids.

Past scholarship winners have represented the NTPGA, Deloitte, and Justin Leonard with distinction and honor at fine universities such as the University of Texas , Yale University , Brown University , Baylor University , and Texas Christian University , as well as in the corporate world at Bain & Company, Fayez Sarotim & Company, NASA, and Paige & Hendricks PR.

Funding of the Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program continues through the generous support of Deloitte and its partners and employees.

U.S. Women's Open Local Qualifying

Time to check in on the local qualifiers for the U.S. Women's Open. One local qualifier took place in Kingwood at the Kingwood Country Club's Forest Course. Here are the golfers who qualified to move on to the sectionals:

Laurie Brower, Lubbock, 70
Michaela Cavener (a), Ponca City, Okla., 70
Lauren Johnson (a), The Woodlands, 74
Susie Redman, Spanish Fort, Ala., 74
Tanya Wadha (a), India, 74
Patricia Beliard, Houston, 75
Lisa McCloskey (a), Montgomery, 75
Adrienne McDonald, Mabank, 75
Sarah Zwartynski (a), Allen, 75
Lauren Baugh, Magnolia, 76
Stephanie Dukes, North Richland Hills, 76
Nicole Forschner (a), Canada, 76
Kaitlin Hovda (a), Weslaco, 76
Mariah Montoya (a), Lubbock, 76
Megan Vaughn (a), Lake Village, Ark., 76
Ashley Freeman (a), College Station, 77
Aurora Kirchner-McClain, Kingwood, 77
Amy Ruengmateekhun (a), Garland, 77

Other Texans making it through local qualifying and into the second round include: Randi Meadows, San Antonio, 80 (Lancaster, Pa.); Cristi Cano, San Antonio, 75 (St. Louis).

Results from all the local qualifiers to date can be found on the USGA Web site.

U.S. Open Qualifying Updates

Local qualifying is in full swing for the U.S. Open. Here are the results from recent Texas qualifiers, plus a few Texans who qualified to move on to sectionals from other locations. (Only qualifiers are listed.)

El Paso - Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course
Herbert Day Pan (a), El Salvador, 67
Chris Thomas, El Paso, 70

McKinney - Stonebridge Ranch Country Club
Adam Rubinson, Fort Worth, 65
Clark Dennis, Fort Worth, 68
Todd Rossetti, Garland, 69
Stuart Deane, Australia, 70
Edward Loar, Dallas, 71
Brock Mulder, Waterloo, 71

San Antonio Country Club
Robert Gwin, Houston, 65
Terrence Miskell (a), New Braunfels, 67
Brett Callas, Houston, 68
Casey Carnes (a), New Braunfels, 69
Ken Fothergill, Houston, 69
Brad Lardon, College Station, 69

Other Texans qualifying to move in include Andrew Dresser, Carrollton; Jay Reynolds, Austin; Chris Stroud, Houston; and Fred Brown Jr., The Woodlands.

More qualifying results are available from the USGA.

Preview: TGA State Four-Ball

The Texas Golf Association State Four-Ball takes place this week in San Antonio at The Club at Sonterra. Here's the preview from the TGA:

The 2008 State Four-Ball Championship, conducted by the Texas Golf Association, will be played from Friday, May 16, through Sunday, May 18, at the Club at Sonterra (North Course), located in the North Central Corridor of San Antonio.

A total of 48 teams will be vying for the 2008 title beginning Friday at 8:00 a.m. Format for the competition is 54-hole four-ball stroke play (better-ball of partners), with the field cut to the low 40 teams after 36-holes.

"This is a great opportunity for the Club at Sonterra, and we look forward to hosting the State Four-Ball," said Jeff Hunter, Director of Golf at Sonterra. "The golf course will be in excellent shape and should provide a great challenge for some of the state's top amateurs."

Terrence Miskell of New Braunfels, 2007 TGA Statewide Co-Player of the Year, is half of the defending championship team. He partnered with last year's other TGA Statewide Co-Player of the Year, Trip Kuehne of Irving, to capture the title at Horseshoe Bay. This year Miskell's teammate will be Jon Mathias of San Antonio, winner of the 2006 State Mid-Amateur and 2007 State Mid-Amateur Match Play.

Other former winners in the field include three-time champions Bill Steen and Chris Goodspeed (1996-97, 2002), and Alan Hill and Jeff Harvey (2001).

Designed by the architectural team of Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge, the 7,070-yard, par 72 North Course opened for play in 1985. In addition to this year's State Four-Ball, the North Course was also selected as the site of the 1987 Texas Amateur, won by Jimmy Adams of Beaumont.

Tee-times and parings for the first two rounds are posted on the Texas Golf Association's web site (txga.org). Once the action gets under way, live scoring updates and daily recaps will be available throughout the championship.

Pete Dye and Bruce Lietzke at TPC San Antonio

Here's video of a visit last month to the TPC San Antonio course by Pete Dye and Bruce Lietzke. Dye is the architect on the project's Canyons Course, on which Lietzke serves as the player consultant (Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia are the team working on the resort's Oaks Course).

Romo Fails in U.S. Open Qualifying Attempt

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo shot 75 on Tuesday at The Golf Club of Dallas, falling five strokes short of advancing in U.S. Open qualifying.

It took 70 to make it through the local qualifier and move on to the sectional. The USGA reported:

Romo, a scratch golfer who tied for 34th last month at the Azalea Amateur in Charleston, S.C., got off to a rough start in his qualifier, shooting 42 on the first nine before rallying with a 2-under 33 over his final nine holes to gain a bit of respectability from his round.

"I hadn't played golf in a week or so, and if you're trying to get your game in shape that's not enough," Romo told the Dallas Morning News. "It comes and it goes."

C'mon, Tony, I know you've got a celebutante to keep up with, but you "hadn't played golf in a week or so"? How about putting a little effort into it next time?

The golfers who did advance out of the Golf Club of Dallas qualifier are:

David Schultz, Dallas, 66
Jeff Burns, San Antonio, 67
Martin Flores, Mansfield, 68
Kelly Kraft (a), Denton, 69
Chris Parra, Dallas, 69
Ron Van Woesick Jr., Allen, 69
Hunter Haas, Fort Worth, 70
Dustin Risdon, Canada, 70

Houston's Champions Tour Event Changing Courses

The Champions Tour announced on Monday that the Administaff Small Business Classic is moving to a new golf courses. The Houston area's senior circuit stop traditionally comes the week before the AT&T Championship in San Antonio, two weeks before the Charles Schwab Cup finale. It has been played since 2004 at Augusta Pines Golf Course in Spring.

But when the tournament takes place this year, Oct. 17-19, it will on the Tournament Course at The Woodlands Country Club. This is the course formerly known as the TPC of The Woodlands, and it hosted the PGA Tour Houston Open from 1985 through 2002.

"We have matured as a tournament in a short period of time and felt the next step was to move to a golf course that has a rich history in the professional ranks," said Bryan Naugle, Executive Director of the Administaff Small Business Classic. "A majority of the current Champions Tour players have played the Tournament Course through the years and we know they will enjoy coming back to familiar ground. Also, as we look to the future, we want to provide more not only for Administaff and our other sponsors, but for our spectators. We know we have found that opportunity with this venue."

Current Champions Tour players who are past winners of the Houston Open durings its years at TPC Woodlands include Raymond Floyd (1985), Curtis Strange (1986, 1988), Jay Haas (1987), Tony Sills (1990), Fred Funk (1992) and Phil Blackmar (1997).

Added Naugle: "We can not thank the ownership and staff at Augusta Pines enough for giving us a wonderful start. They not only provided great enthusiasm but worked long hours to help us conduct our first four tournaments."

Walker Wins Third Straight on Adams Tour

Three Adams Golf Pro Tour Series tournaments for Mark Walker, three victories. Walker's third consecutive victory on the tour came on Sunday in the Capital One Classic at Ellendale Country Club in Houma, La.

Walker finished with a 4-stroke victory over Adam Swope to claim the $15,000 first-place prize money. Bobby Hutcherson was third, six shots behind Walker.

Walker won the Coca-Cola Wal-Mart Classic last week, and the Firewheel at Garland Classic the week before that. The tour is off this week, then returns with the The Inn of The Mountain Gods Classic in Mescalero, New Mexico, May 15-18.

Top 5
Mark Walker, Hurst, 66-70-69-68--273
Adam Swope, Tampa, Fla., 69-72-68-68--277
Bobby Hutcherson, Memphis, 68-74-68-69--279
Brian Kortan, Albuquerque, N.M., 72-68-71-69--280
Brett Callas, Houston, 72-72-67-69--280
Greg Sonnier, Lake Charles, La., 72-70-69-69--280
Michael Arnaud, Beaumont, 67-69-74-70--280
Stuart Deane, Brisbane, Australia, 71-68-69-72--280
Full Results

Tony Romo Ready for Another Shot at U.S. Open

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo loves golf. And he's very good at it. And this year, he's going to be at the site of the U.S. Open anyway. So he might as well try to play in the tournament, right?

Actually, attempting to qualify for big-time professional golf tournaments is nothing new for Romo. He has tried multiple times to qualify for the U.S. Open and for the Byron Nelson Championship. He hasn't succeeded yet, but he hasn't embarrassed himself, either.

The USGA reports:

A year ago, the 28-year-old Romo nearly qualified for sectionals in Dallas, shooting even-par 72. He also recently posted a respectable 3-over 73 at the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas during the pro-am for the PGA Tour's EDS Byron Nelson Classic. And in April, he tied for 34th at the Azalea Amateur in Charleston, S.C.

Scott Verplank, the 1984 U.S. Amateur champion, served as his pro-am partner at the EDS Byron Nelson Classic

"He's a good player," Verplank told the Dallas Morning News. "Obviously, when he's not playing football, he spends a little bit time playing golf."

Romo's local qualifier for the U.S. Open takes place May 7 at The Golf Club of Dallas. Hunter Haas, Jaxon Brigman and Scott Gutschewski are among the others in the field, so head out to Golf Club of Dallas and watch the qualifier if you're in the area.

As for why Romo will be at the site (Torrey Pine Golf Course, San Diego, Calif.) of the U.S. Open already: He's one of the three celebrities (the others are Justin Timberlake and Matt Lauer) taking part in the Golf Digest U.S. Open contest. The three celebs, plus one "regular" golfer - the contest winner - play Torrey Pines on June 6, just prior to the Open.

Blackmar Back in the Game

Nice article about a nice guy in the Austin American-Stateman. The nice guy in question is Phil Blackmar, the Corpus Christi native and resident (his father, Fred Blackmar, was the head pro and teaching pro at the CC-Naval Air Station course for decades), University of Texas graduate, longtime PGA Tour.

During his time on tour, Blackmar epitomized the journeyman PGA Tour golfer. Many years he struggled to keep his card. But Blackmar's talent was as big as the 6-foot-7 man - he just had trouble harnessing and controlling it. But because of that talent, he managed to win three times in his career. Might not sound like much, but that's the same number of wins as Chris DiMarco now has.

Blackmar finally gave up the struggled in 2000, but eventually found that he missed the competition. And now he's back in the middle of competition, on the Champions Tour. This week in Austin, at the FedEx Kinko's Classic, he's playing the senior circuit for the eighth time.

Describing golf for ESPN and USA, a job that put him in the middle of tournaments without the anxiety of playing them, helped Blackmar realize what he missed. His perspective changed.

He longed again for the chase.

"That's addictive," Blackmar said. "That was what I loved. As time passed, that part of me started coming back."

The time away had mended what needed mending, he said.

He used to be too hard on himself. He used to seethe at bad luck. He used to brood when he didn't play to his expectations. He used to allow his mood to affect his relationships.

"I still liked the game," Blackmar said. "I just didn't like what the game had done to me."

He practiced for a year for the Champions Tour.

He and his family had talks.

He simplified his swing and began to train his mind again to compete.

He granted himself a chance.

"He's definitely come back from the grave," said his friend and caddie, former tour player John Adams.

While Blackmar might have sometimes seethed on the course, he has always been generous and a gentleman off the course. It's good to see him back on tour.

Read the full article. (Note: If you're asked for login info, visit bugmenot.com.)

(Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)