A slight change of attitude helped an aspiring pro from Clearwater to clear a major hurdle.
Jenny Gleason, who missed the 36-hole cut at the LPGA sectional qualifier in Rancho Mirage, Calif., last month, rebounded at last week's sectional in Venice at Plantation Country Club.
The 24-year-old, a product of Clearwater High School and UNC-Greensboro, enjoyed a consistent 76-73-74-74-297 performance to tie for 14th and qualify for the Dec. 1-5 finals in Daytona Beach.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself (in California) and was very disappointed, even upset," said Gleason, who works part time as a golf shop attendant at East Lake Woodlands.
"After talking with my instructor, Kelly Thorpe in Greensboro, I entered last week's qualifier with a different attitude," Gleason said.
That approach, Gleason explained, was to relax, believe in herself and stay in the present rather than thinking about the past or the future.
"My attitude last week was to just have fun," she said. "I never paid attention to where I stood in the final round. But I kept believing in myself and was able to putt well all week."
Gleason played with exempt status on the Futures Tour this year, making the cut in 14 of 17 events. Her scores averaged 73.70, and she finished 44th on the money list with $8,000.
Someone recently suggested to Gleason that she did well financially. That was until Gleason reminded her that travel expenses to 17 events, including New Mexico, and $3,500 for each LPGA Q-School left her in debt.
"I love playing professionally, but it costs," Gleason said. "What I'd like to find is a sponsor."
Seminole's Brittany Lincicome, 19, tied for fourth at Venice to advance to the final qualifier at LPGA International. She finished 6-over 294 in the sectional, where just one player broke par.
CGA: Mitch Bentley, playing in the senior division of last week's match at East Lake Woodlands, produced Monday's best round (78). Dave Duncan won the regular division with an 80. Net honors among competitors under 55 went to Dave Jenquin (69). Tony Weigandt and A.J. Finales tied in seniors play at 70. Barbara Miller won the ladies net with 76.
LARGO SCRAMBLE: The winning team shot 12-under 50 on the par-62 city course Sept. 25.
The members were Dave Nagy of St. Petersburg, Dino Dominato, Seminole; John Colacicco, Largo; and John Eppard, Clearwater.
Eppard played on last week's winning squad, which included Largo's Marvin Parmeri, Clearwater's Tim Nievinski and Gene Nievinski of Beverly Hills.
The biweekly scramble is open to the public. Teams are formed by a blind draw. For information, call 518-3026.
WEST COAST WOMEN: Dean LaFerriere of Cypress Run posted 6-over 78 to win Flight A of the bay-area association's match at Hunter's Green last week.
Cathy Moss of the Vinoy tied for second (82) in Flight B, and teammate Nina Schmidt received a share of first (86) in Flight C.
PINELLAS INTERCLUB: A match at Dunedin Country Club has been moved to the Vinoy for Oct. 28 at 12:30 p.m.
COLLEGES: St. Petersburg's Mike Barbosa helped Georgia Tech finish a close second to Oklahoma State in last month's Ping/Golfweek NCAA Preview Tournament.
The event for the nation's top 15 teams was at the site of the 2005 championship, Caves Valley in Owings Mills, Md.
Barbosa recorded a 74-68-73-215 to finish 16th in a field of 75, third among teammates. Tech was 10 strokes ahead of Florida, which tied for fourth with Texas.
Danny Allen (Tarpon Springs High) finished second for Eckerd College in the Saint Leo Preview. Allen, a 2000 Times All-Suncoast first-team member, shot 231 for 54 holes.
Megan Riley (Largo High) is starting at NCAA Division II power Florida Southern for the fourth season. In last week's Wildcat Invitational, hosted by the University of Kentucky, she placed 63rd.
PGA TOUR Q-SCHOOL: At least three former Pinellas prep and college standouts are expected to compete this fall for a place on the world's major tour for 2005.
They are Bob Heintz (Countryside/Yale), Dan Stone (St. Petersburg/Florida) and Ryan Gildersleeve (Clearwater/South Alabama). Heintz, of Palm Harbor, has qualified twice.
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS: Seminole had its ups and downs last week in two close matches.
At a tournament Monday on their home course, Seminole Lake, the Warhawks lost for the first time this season. Palm Harbor University prevailed 159-160. But the following day, Steve Hoff's Seminole squad traveled to East Lake Woodlands to play against host East Lake. The Warhawks came away with a 152-155 victory, improving their record to 10-1.
The members of the winning team were Ben Drenth (36), Jon Dubbeld (36), Kyle Olson (38) and Danny Hausdorf (42). Nick Barshel and Mike Kowalski are other key members of the Warhawks, who return five of their top six players from last year's state tournament club.
"The fact that they won regionals last year and earned a place at the state tournament is a definite asset, or could be," Hoff said about dealing with pressure situations.
"However, how far the kids go this season depends on how bad they want to go. ... This has been a strange year, kind of weird. They lose on their home course and win at East Lake's home course."
The first major test of the postseason for the Pinellas County team will be the district tournament Monday at Tarpon Woods.
Four squads advance to regionals. The top contenders include Seminole, East Lake (12-4), Palm Harbor (18-2), Countryside (11-1), Clearwater (10-8) and Mitchell of New Port Richey.
Countryside dropped its first match of the season last week to Clearwater. They were tied after nine holes at 156. That led to a playoff, which the Tornadoes won on their home course, Clearwater Country Club.
PREP GIRLS: Northside Christian proved that last month's win over Saddlebrook Academy wasn't a fluke.
A week ago on its home course, Seminole Lake, the Mustangs took the measure of Saddlebrook to a wider margin, 153-160. Wendy Wenglasz led the charge with a par 36. She was followed by Dakoda Dowd, a sixth-grader with a 38, Danielle Jackson (39) and Sophie Dembroski (40).
Coach Dave Jackson's Mustangs (15-0) begin their state title quest in district play Monday at Belleview Biltmore Golf Club on Indian Rocks Road in Clearwater.
Team leader Danielle Jackson has a 37.5 nine-hole average based on par-36 layouts through seven matches.
HIGH SCHOOL NOTES: Seminole coach Steve Hoff helped guide the county's most recent individual state titlists. In 1996, Wink Amerman captured the boys 2A title. In 2002 and '03, Lincicome won the 36-hole matches.
Largo's Evan Jensen was the medalist (74) in last month's Pinellas County Girls Championship at Seminole Lake.
Palm Harbor University, paced by Courtney Harter, appears to be the county's top 2A girls team entering district competition next week.
Dowd, only 11, competed in the 13-15 division of a Southeastern Junior event in Athens, Ga., last month. Her 81-77 on the par-73 course forced a two-hole playoff for first place, in which she had to settle for second. There were 21 girls in the field. Dowd's 77 was the best score of the final day.
CHRYSLER CHAMPIONSHIP: The PGA Tour's final full-field event of the year has six of the world's top seven players set to tee it up Oct. 28 at Westin Innisbrook Resort.
Tickets are available at www.chryslerchampionship.com Volunteer caddies are needed for the Oct. 25 Pro-Am on the Copperhead course. For information, call 727 942-5566.
