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Golf

Familiarity helps host to capture club pro title

By DAVE THEALL
Published July 6, 2004

When the club professionals of the PGA's West Central Chapter held their annual championship at Old Memorial in Tampa late last month, the pro most familiar with the course took the title.

Host pro and general manager Marc Carter, 35, won after a playoff with Rodney Cook of Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto. They tied at 148 through 36 holes, necessitating the playoff, which Carter won with a par 4 on the 411-yard 15th for his second chapter title.

Innisbrook's Lew Smither III tied for third, 79-72-151, but was left to wonder "what if" after a confrontation with an official on the first tee.

According to Smither, the director of Troon Golf Institute, a starting official tried to assess him a two-stroke penalty for being late. According to Smither's watch and another player's he wasn't late. Furthermore, there wasn't an official clock on the first tee, as is the practice with PGA Tour events.

Though Smither wasn't penalized, he had two triple bogeys by hitting balls that were lost, contributing to his opening round of 7-over.

"I tried to hold it together as best I could," Smither said. "But another factor is how challenging that course is. Carter said it's as tough as any U.S. Open course."

Focusing only on his game the second day, Smither shot par on the strength of excellent bunker play and chipping. He got up and down for pars three of four times he landed in greenside bunkers. Overall, he hit 12 greens in regulation and finished with three birdies and three bogeys.

Smither won the chapter championship in 1991 at Bardmoor when he was playing more. As the years passed, he spent more leisure time with family and less working on his game, he said.

"Now I'm working diligently on my short game, including putting, looking ahead to (next week's) Club Pro Championship qualifier at Lake Jovita," Smither said. "I'm at a stage in my life where I'm able to focus on competitive golf."

Smither's best competitive round was a 7-under 65 at the 1981 Florida Open in Port St. Lucie where he tied with PGA Tour star Paul Azinger of Bradenton. His best overall round was a 9-under 63 in Venice.

Smither, a teaching pro, offered a few tips for young golfers:

First, he said, practice all parts of the game on the range and around the greens. Then get on a course to apply what you've practiced and evaluate it. Third, spend more time practicing where it's most needed.

PRO-AM: The Kids Helping Kids tournament last week at Innisbrook produced a team of winners consisting of pro Paul Sylvester of St. Andrews Links, former Devil Ray Tony Saunders, Lee McCoy, plus Mark and Matt Bernard.

Lansbrook's Steve Roach helped his team take second. Mark Stroud Sr., Mark Stroud Jr., Jon Berger and Steve Milialek rounded out the group.

Jim Slattery of Belleair, Evan Jensen, Westin Jensen, Eric Pacana and Brock Nicholas of Innisbrook finished third.

Chris Slattery, head pro at the Copperhead course where the fund-raiser was played, shot 71 to capture pro honors and $1,000.

CHAPTER NOTE: Tampa's Fred Ridley, the president of the USGA, will be the main speaker at the chapter's awards dinner July15.

NATIONWIDE TOUR: Two Countryside High graduates had very low rounds in the Reese's Cup Classic in Hershey, Pa.

Bob Heintz of Palm Harbor shot a final-round 66 to share 23rd place. Kevin Durkin finished two strokes better, tying for 13th after 7-under 65 on Saturday.

JUNIORS: Dakoda Dowd of Clearwater won the girls division of the TPC Tampa Junior Classic by 11 strokes, shooting 83-77-160.

At Golfweek's Father/Son Open at Doral in Miami, Dunedin's Stephen and Andrew Turker tied for fourth in the Second Flight. Andrew is a junior on the golf team at Cornell. Stephen's score was also paired with his daughter, Dana, for second place in the Third Flight.

Juniors interested in playing in the Gary Koch Pro-Junior, July 22 at TPC of Tampa Bay, should call Dan Withers, of the PGA's West Central Chapter, (727) 643-9039, to apply. Girls and boys 10-18 are eligible.

TAP-INS: Brittany Lincicome's sterling play at last week's Women's U.S. Open, including her opening round of 6-under 66 to take the first-round lead, was among her final tournaments as an amateur. She will play in next month's 104th U.S. Women's Amateur, Aug. 9-15 at the Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pa. Virada Nirapathpongporn of Thailand is the defending champion.

Three area golfers who missed the cut at the 59th Women's Open were Jenny Gleason of Clearwater, Marilyn Lovander of St. Petersburg and Beth Bauer of Odessa.

[Last modified July 5, 2004, 20:22:06]