The association is holding its annual Fall Fore Golf get-together at Whispering Woods Golf Club on Sunday and any woman from Moore County or beyond is invited to come out and join the party, according to chapter President Susan Furr.
The schedule calls for lunch to be served at 2 p.m., followed by 18 holes of golf at 3 o’clock. Betsye Hamilton of the USGA will be the guest speaker.
The organization is open to women from Moore and surrounding counties, according to Furr, and is an ideal tool for fun and networking, regardless of profession.
Persons interested in attending or obtaining more information can contact Martha Tattersall at 949-2767, or Furr at 246-1107.
Palmer Rerun: If you missed seeing the Palmer Cup on The Golf Channel last week, not to worry. Sometimes they come back.
The Palmer Cup, an annual Ryder Cup-style event that pits eight elite college golfers from the United States against their counterparts from Europe, was contested at The Kiawah Island Club’s Cassique course earlier this summer, July 10-11. It was shown on The Golf Channel Sept. 4, and an encore presentation is scheduled for Oct. 4 from noon to 2 p.m.
Although the outcome of the Palmer Cup is not in question — Team Europe defeated Team USA 14-10 in the two-day event — the telecast is both exciting and entertaining. It includes the opening and closing ceremonies as well as highlights from the first day’s four-ball and singles matches, and the second day’s foursomes and singles matches. Commentary, course overviews, and interviews and profiles of all the players will be interspersed throughout the program.
Players of note who competed in this year’s Palmer Cup include: Bill Haas (Wake Forest), a two-time PING All-American and 2003 South Carolina Amateur champion; 2002 U.S. Publinks champion Ryan Moore (UNLV); Chris Nallen (Arizona); Adam Rubinson (TCU), winner of the 2003 Rice Planters Invitational; and Brandt Snedecker (Vanderbilt), who won the 2003 U.S. Publinks just two weeks after the Palmer Cup. Haas, Moore, Nallen and Rubinson were selected to the U.S. Walker Cup team one month after their appearance in the Palmer Cup.
Tarheel Tour: Matt Cannon of Huntersville holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the $4,500 first-place check in the Tarheel Tour’s Stonebridge Open at Stonebridge Golf Club in Monroe last week.
Cannon, who played collegiately at Old Dominion, was one shot off the lead entering Thursday’s final round. He fired a four-under 68 to finish at 11-under 205. He passed second-round leader Josh Wilson of Monroe, but wound up tied for first at 205 with Stefaan Van den Heever of South Africa and Korky Kemp of Greensboro. Van den Heever fired 67 in the final round, while Kemp had a tournament-best 66.
The playoff began and ended on the par-4 10th when Cannon hit a wedge shot from 75 yards to 12 feet. He drained the birdie putt, while Van den Heever was unable to answer with a 10-foot birdie putt of his own. Kemp’s second shot flew the green.
The tour takes a three-week break before resuming play with the Cabarrus Classic, Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Cabarrus Country Club in Concord.
Men on the Bag: Skip DeWall, former publisher and shareholder at golf publishing giant Sleeping Bear Press, has launched a new publishing agenda with Ann Arbor Media Group, which will publish 12 golf titles under the imprint Sports Media Group in 2004.
The first book will be the story of the Augusta National Golf Club caddies titled “Men on the Bag”, written by Ward Clayton, formerly the sports editor at The Augusta Chronicle. Soon to follow will be a series of books under the banner “Vintage Golf Series Edition.”
“Men on the Bag” reveals a unique side of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. From Gene Sarazen and “Stovepipe” to Ben Crenshaw and Carl Jackson, these legendary caddies help provide insight into golf’s great champions and Augusta National’s elite golf club.
Clayton gets the inside story on some of the game’s greatest moments, and the story of the men who witnessed them in an intimate way. Meet “Cemetery”, who was once left in the morgue for dead, and was given his nickname by President Eisenhower; “Iron Man”, Arnold Palmer’s caddie who once asked the King, “Are we chokin’ ” only to have Arnie finish with a par and two birdies to win the 1960 Masters; Willie Peterson, who lived life on the edge as he helped Jack Nicklaus to five of his record six Masters titles; and “Pappy”, Willie Stokes, who caddied for Henry Picard, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan and Jack Burke Jr. during Masters victories and is revered as the club’s best caddie ever.
Scheduled for release in February, “Men on the Bag” is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn about an untold side of golf. Stay tuned for ordering instructions.
