Fall 2010                                                                                                                                Vol. 5,  Issue 3


Letter from the President

Congratulations are in order for Bobby Wyatt on his amazing round in the Boys’ State Junior Championship. Bobby shot a 57, the best golf score ever recorded on a 6500 + yards golf course, to win his fourth consecutive state junior. Congratulations, Bobby, and we look forward to watching your college golf career at the University of Alabama.

Bobby Wyatt’s success shows how important a good junior golf program is for the future of golf. It is in junior golf programs where our future leaders of the game are trained. If you are aware of any junior golf program in the state of Alabama, please email me at dypearce@bellsouth.net to tell me where the program is and contact information on who runs it. We would like to start networking with the these programs and the Dixie Section PGA. By working with these groups, we can bring more awareness and exposure to our state’s junior golf programs, and help prepare young Alabamians for greatness in the game of golf.

I’d also like to recognize and congratulate the following golfers for their victories in the AGA events that have been held since our last newsletter:

MAEGAN RICE - WOMEN'S STATE STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, SELMA COUNTRY CLUB,

 MICHAEL JOHNSON -STATE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, SAUGAHATCHEE COUNTRY CLUB

KATHY HARTWIGER & LEA GREEN - WOMEN'S STATE FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP, CYPRESS BEND,

STEVE HUDSON - STATE MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP, WYNLAKES GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

MIKE GREER & TOM JUNGKIND - STATE SENIOR FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP, GADSDEN COUNTRY CLUB

I would also like to thank the host clubs, PGA professionals, greens superintendents, and all the volunteers who made the 2010 AGA tournaments a tremendous success.

 David Y. Pearce, President

Alabama Golf Association
Wyatt Shoots 57 at Boys' State Junior Championship

Eighteen-year-old Bobby Wyatt made golfing history in July at the Boys’ State Junior Championship at the Country Club of Mobile. The three-time defending champion of the tournament finished with a 57, one of the lowest scores ever recorded in a tournament in the history of the game of golf.

“My most memorable moment of the tournament was the final hole of the second round,” Wyatt says.  “When I tapped in my final putt to record my career best round of 57, I experienced a feeling of excitement and relief unlike any other I have felt in my junior golf career. I feel that that was a round of a lifetime, and I will always remember the second round of my final State Junior.”

Wyatt, who headed to the University of Alabama this fall to join the men’s golf team, says his favorite part of the tournament was the fact that it was played on his home course. “I enjoyed that I was in a realm where I felt comfortable, and I am honored to have won my final State Junior in my hometown,” he says.

Wyatt began playing golf with his father when he was about three years old, and he took lessons from Woody Woodall at the Country Club of Mobile from ages five to 12. “He taught me the basic fundamentals of the game as well as the correct way to handle myself on and off the golf course,” Wyatt says. “Woody will always be an integral part of my success in golf and life as both a teacher and a friend.”

Currently, Wyatt takes golf lessons from Tony Ruggiero in Destin, Fla., and as a college player, he hopes to become a member of the first-team All-American as well as an academic all-American. “I hope to someday play on the PGA Tour as a professional golfer,” he says. “Fortunately, I have plenty of time to improve and grow as both a golfer and a person before I reach my long-term goals.”

 
Alabama Takes Fifth Place in USGA State Team Championship

In September, three of Alabama’s best golfers traveled to Santa Rosa, Calif., to compete in the USGA State Team Championship. In competition against the top golfers from every state in the country, the Alabama team, which included Steve Hudson, Robert Nelson and Glenn Northcutt, finished in fifth place with a two-over score of 428. First-place honors went to Kansas with a 423. Other top-five finishers included Rhode Island, Florida and North Carolina.

While the Alabama team didn’t finish on top, they generated lots of buzz, especially during the first day of the tournament. For Hudson, the most thrilling moments of the tournament came while watching Nelson’s first-day round. “While playing in front of me, [Nelson] turned at five under par and the whole place buzzing about what was happening,” Hudson says.

By the twelfth hole, Nelson’s score had dropped to eight under par. “The place was really going crazy and I was too,” Hudson says. “I had to be careful to not focus on his round more than mine. I am not sure if anyone has ever been eight under par during a round of a USGA tournament. It was electrifying!  He won a lot of fans for Team Alabama. People were saying we were the team to watch.”

For Nelson and teammate Northcutt, this year’s Men’s State Team Championship may have been the final amateur appearance. Both are heading to qualifying school this fall and hope to obtain their tour cards to compete professionally, Nelson on the Champions Tour and Northcutt on the PGA Tour.

While he’ll spend October practicing at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., and will head to qualifying in November, Nelson is proud to have been a part of the USGA Team Championship last month. “Representing the State of Alabama in an event that comprises all 50 states is quite an honor,” Nelson says.

Hudson, on the other hand, plans to stay in Alabama and continue golfing and making a difference in the process. “I think that any success I may have had is to better prepare me to give back to others,” he says. “My goal is to touch the lives of young people through this wonderful game called golf.”
The Old Committeeman
By Warren Belser

The ladies tee it up in a positive way

The Old Committeeman came into the XIX Hole and found his chair at the octagonal table but also found the Golf Chairman seated in what had become his chair. The Chairman, after the usual friendly greeting, began with a question. He asked, “Where have you been for the past two days?”

The O.C. answered, “I had some personal matters to attend to today and only had a little time to practice my putting, which is in dire need of repair. But yesterday I had the pleasure to play in one of those mid-week, late-afternoon games during daylight savings time at my good friend’s neighboring club. I have told you about them before. These matches are a catchall event for everyone who has or will miss out on a regular mid-week game.

“Now, I know,” continued the O.C., “that you want me to report on what is going on over at this club. The men are doing all right, but they need to manage their pace of play better and get their fellow golfers to post their scores in a prompt way. But when you turn to the women golfers in this club, things are alive and well. For example, you will find that these two problems do not exist with them. We all know there has been great emphasis on both lately. In fact, there were two recent articles about them in the AGA newsletter. As Chairman, you want to know precisely what did they do. I’ll tell you.

“First, with regard to posting scores, the ladies make peer review much easier by posting a daily list of who played and who posted scores. Apparently, they give the slow posters two weeks and, if not posted, they will receive a posting by the committee of their lowest scores of their last 20. Some of the committee members wanted to post par scores for the errant golfers, but their chairwoman said no, the lowest is good enough. And it has worked.

“The other thing they have done is to pick up the pace of play. You know about the USGA pace program using check points. In the ladies’ case, if you lose a full hole and don’t catch up with the group in front within two holes, you and your group must treat the delayed group to an elaborate afternoon tea on the veranda. The obvious exposure by this gesture has ended almost all the slow play among the ladies.

“Mr. Chairman, these are two examples that show these problems can be resolved,” continued the O.C. “I have more. The ladies at this club have put on a series of monthly golf matches in April, May, June, September, and October. It’s too hot in July and August in Alabama. These matches are similar to the monthly medal matches in British golf clubs. For example, there are individual stroke play matches off handicap, four-ball stroke play matches off handicap, and even Stablefords and others. I like this program and it gives us food for thought.

“Mr. Chairman, I’ll end my report by saying that at this club, the ladies tee it up in a positive way. More power to them.”

The Chairman replied, “Let me think about all this. We need to do a lot of talking about it. For now, I’ll say good night.”

The Chairman left and the O.C. asked James for any unsigned tickets. James reported that there were none. With that, the O.C. said, “Good night, James.”

“Good night, sir.”