Dunedin's Bob Heintz wishes he would have visited one of the PGA Tour's conditioning vans before September. That's when he was playing in the Deutche Bank Championship in the Boston area. Heintz talked with a fitness instructor about the fact he wasn't playing his morning rounds well and wondered what he could do to prepare for the practice range before teeing off. The result was a 30-minute workout of stretching and exercising. Heintz has followed the plan closely this fall and is enjoying some success. He captured a share of 32nd in last month's Funai Classic at Lake Buena Vista and received $22,831, improving to $323,988 for the season with one full-field tourney to play.
"What I learned from that visit to the conditioning van and adopted for my pre-play routine has been huge," said Heintz, 35, who competes out of Countryside Country Club. "I learned how to get my body ready to play. That routine has helped me the past two months."
Though Heintz was 15-under par in the Funai Classic, his best performance in three years on tour, overall he doesn't rate his season that high. "The main objective is to keep your job by finishing among the top 125 on the money list. So far, I haven't done that. If I have to go back to the Qualifying Tournament in November, I will. I'm playing more aggressively, and I'm more confident." Heintz had hoped for a sponsor's exemption into last weekend's Chrysler Championship at nearby Innisbrook but said he wasn't surprised when Bradenton's Paul Azinger got the call. Heintz received an invitation to play in the Oct. 24 Pro-Am. Bob Heintz Sr., the Palm Harbor University High School athletic director, caddied for his son on the Copperhead course.
Q-SCHOOL: If Heintz doesn't earn enough in this weekend's Southern Farm Bureau Classic for 2006 exemption, he said he would play in the tour's second-stage qualifier at Lake Jovita Country Club in Dade City. That starts Nov. 16, then Heintz is hoping it's on to the Q-School finals.
Brad Quiri, who played for East Lake High and the USF Bulls, shot even par in a first-stage tournament last weekend at TPC Tampa Bay and missed the cut to advance. He won last year's FSGA Amateur Championship.
EAST LAKE WOODLANDS: Former JCPenney Mixed Team director Tom Jewell, 75, and Charlie Borowski won low net honors in last month's Member-Guest Tournament. They were 30 under for 59 holes. Tom and Ben Herron captured the championship flight. Patrick Herndon and Randy Wehling topped the third flight, and Eric Goldman and Darald Easter took the fourth.
COLLEGES: Sophomore Brittany Jones (East Lake High) led Youngstown State to a third-place finish in last month's Indiana-Purdue Fall Classic. Jones was in the top 10 with 79-80-78-237. CGA: Belleair's Matt Gesner edged Jeff Pett 74-75 at Pasadena to win a recent match. Using a handicap of 26, James Bakos took net honors with 63. Jim Montali and Jerry Steinmetz shared senior honors with 76. Dave Chilcote, with a 26 handicap, topped the net competition at 57. On Thursday at Lansbrook, Jeff Neugebauer tied Pett's winning 74. Darryl Dempsey's 78 was the runner-up score. Lyle Mosier won net honors (70) off his 9 handicap. In the senior division, Richard Bullock and Dennis Williams deadlocked at 75. Chilcote won net at 91-23-68.
WEST COAST WOMEN: Sarasota's Jeanne Rothe won the annual Mother Lassing Tournament at The Club at Eaglebrooke with 136 for two rounds, four strokes ahead of the host club's Kay Close. Innisbrook's Kim Hollister topped Flight AA (142). Countryside's Cindy McManaman took the Flight B title (143).
LARGO COURSE: A 12-under 50 won the biweekly scramble on Oct. 17. The winning team consisted of Pinellas Park's Bill Miller, Tom Wax, St. Petersburg; and Seminole's Larry Proehl and Lou Calisanto.
The municipal course's annual Ghouls and Goblins Glow in the Dark Halloween Tournament was played Saturday night with the aid of temporary lighting. Clearwater's Christine Schrage and Mike Brogan not only won the mixed-team category for the second straight year, they posted the tourney's best score (2-over 34) for nine holes in a scramble format. Mark Kiser of St. Petersburg and Mike Scott of Indian Rocks Beach topped the men's division with 37. Caroline Zimmerman and Claire Longman, both from Largo, took the women's crown (39).
PRO-AM: Seminole's Brittany Lincicome played in Cristie Kerr's Birdies for Breast Cancer Classic in Orlando on Oct. 22. Kerr - who, like Lincicome, jumped directly from high school to the LPGA Tour - finished third on this year's money list.
CLEARWATER TITLES: Andy Nall has captured the Clearwater Country Club men's crown three years. Based on available records, no one has won the men's or women's titles five consecutive times.
