Greg Hardwig: Five local pros get shot at PGA Championship

Five area club professionals will tee it up Thursday with a shot at qualifying for the PGA Championship.

The newly named PGA Professional National Championship will be held at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y.

The National Championship was formerly known as the PGA Club Professional Championship. And the regional championships of the past have been eliminated. Instead, there is one, 312-player event, with the 20 low scorers earning berths in the 88th PGA Championship from Aug. 17-20 at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club.

Gene Fieger of Hideout Golf Club, John Lee of Imperial Country Club, Tom Mitchell of Estero, Nevin Sutcliffe of Greentree Resort in Lehigh Acres, and Steve Waugh of The Old Collier Golf Club are the local players in the field. Lee just won the South Florida PGA Open title at Naples Grande Golf Club.

The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties after Friday's second round. All four rounds will be on The Golf Channel from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

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The 22nd annual International Junior Golf Classic will be played July 7-12 at The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club.

Practice rounds will be July 7-8, with the adult/junior tournament on July 9. Tournament play will have 8 a.m. shotgun starts on July 10, 11, 12.

Age divisions are: 8-and-under (4 holes, July 10-11), 9-10 (9 holes each day), 11-13 (18 holes each day, white tees), 14-15 (18 holes each day, blue tees), 16-17 (18 holes each day, blue tees), 18 (18 holes each day, blue tees).

The overall boys winner will receive a berth in the Junior Orange Bowl Invitational.

The entry fee is $120, except for ages 8 and under it's $75. The entry deadline is July 3. Players ages 11-18 must carry or pull their own bags. For more information, call 261-2222.

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Nine golfers from Southwest Florida are playing in the 89th Florida State Amateur from Thursday through Sunday at Pine Tree Golf Club and Hunter's Run Golf & Racquet Club in Boynton Beach.

Naples' Lee Booker, Nick Santora, Josh Leppo, Gregory David and Loren David, Fort Myers' David Keepler, Jacques Legere and Bruce Sands, and Bonita Springs' Richard McPhail. The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties following Friday's second round.

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Naples' Rocco Mediate found the same fate on Friday afternoon that Bonita Springs' Peter Jacobsen and Fort Myers' George McNeill did earier in the day at the U.S. Open.

All three didn't make the weekend at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Mediate bogeyed five of his final six holes on his first nine, and shot a 7-over-par 77. That left him at 13-over-par and in a tie for 98th.

Jacobsen shot his second straight 76 for a two-day total of 12-over-par to tie for 82nd.

McNeill, who bogeyed three of his last five holes in the first round, continued his struggles in the second round, shooting an 82. McNeill had six bogeys, two double bogeys, and a triple bogey to go with one birdie for a 159 total to tie for 141st.

Michael Harris, the 2003 Beck's Open champion, had a chance at making the cut after a 1-over 37 on the front left him at 7-over. He was still at that score with seven holes remaining, but had three double bogeys and three bogeys to finish with an 81 and tie for 137th.

Mediate's not in the field for this week's Booz Allen Classic.

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Part-time Naples resident John Harris and part-time Estero resident Mike Hill are in the field for this week's Commerce Bank Championship in East Meadow, N.Y., on the Champions Tour. The tour was off last week.

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Bonita Springs' Catherine Cartwright and Naples' Kris Tamulis are both in the field for the LPGA Tour's Wegmans LPGA Classic in Rochester, N.Y. The tour was off last week.

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Fort Myers native Tommy Tolles tied for 13th at the Knoxville Open on the Nationwide Tour last week. Tolles and part-time Estero resident Chip Beck are in the field for this week's Chattanooga Classic.

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Meaghan Francella, who works with Naples-based instructor Tom Patri, tied for 21st at the Duramed Futures Tour's event in Decatur, Ill. Misia Lemanski, who works out of Eagle Creek Country Club, tied for 68th.

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Carl Santos-Ocampo of Naples, Connor Arendell of Cape Coral, and Daniel Mazziotta of Fort Myers were on the South team for the Florida Junior Cup event at Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando from June 14-15. The North and South teams ended up sharing the Cup, both with 19½ points.

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The sixth annual Joel Ingersoll Memorial Golf Tournament at Johnson & Wales University will be played on Saturday, July 16 at Pelican Marsh Golf Club.

Registration is at 7 a.m., with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., and lunch and an awards ceremony to follow. Sponsorships are available for $100, $500 or $1,000. The entry deadline is July 5. The player entry fee is $125.

Johnson & Wales University will match the net proceeds raised in the tournament. As of last year, over $85,000 had been raised through the scholarship fund for scholarships to Collier County students to attend Johnson & Wales. For more information, contact Lori Ingersoll Jaffee at 269-8633.

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Other upcoming golf events follow:

• Executive Women's Golf Association — League play every Monday at Arrowhead ($22), 596-1000, or The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club ($25), and Thursday at Tiburón ($35), 594-2040. Upcoming events: June 25, Pelican Preserve; Aug. 12, Florida Sectional Championship, Lely Resort; Nov. 2-4, EWGA National Conference, Palm Beach. For more information, go online to naplesewga.com.

• Tournament Players Association — Upcoming event: June 24-25, The Forest, $100 entry fee, stroke play. For more information, call Doug Oselett at 458-0754.

• Arrowhead Twilight Scramble — Each Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.. Started on April 19. The entry fee is $25 for the four-person scramble. There will be a blind draw for groups. Call 596-1000 by 2 p.m. each Wednesday.

• Collier County Women's Golf Association — Remaining schedule: Naples Heritage, June 23; Cedar Hammock, Aug. 11; Vasari, Aug. 18; The Glades, Sept. 8; Glen Eagle, Sept. 22; Vanderbilt, Sept. 29; Stonebridge, Oct. 13. Those interested in joining can contact Doris Roberts at 793-0644 or Helen Nulse at 353-6944.

• South Florida Junior Tour — Conducted by the South Florida PGA Section. Juniors must join the tour by going to http://sflorida.pga.com and clicking on Junior Golf. Remaining tournaments — June 26-27, Bonita Bay Club; July 19-20, Hammock Creek, Palm City; Aug. 1-2, Doral Resort & Spa, Miami; Oct. 7-8, The Club at TwinEagles, Naples; Nov. 11-12, Martin Downs Country Club, Palm City.

• Southwest Florida Junior Golf Association — Ages 8-18. Remaining tournament schedule — June 26, Fort Myers CC (18 holes), Whiskey Creek (9 holes); July 5, Port Charlotte CC (18 holes), TBA (9 holes); July 10, Shell Point CC (18 holes), Summerlin Ridge (9 holes); July 21, Worthington (18 holes), TBA (9 holes). The Nolan Henke/Patty Berg Junior Masters Invitational, July 24-29, Cypress Lake Country Club. July 31, Adult/Junior, Golden Gate Country Club. More information at swfjga.com.

• U.S. Kids Naples Local Tour — Ages 4-12. Schedule: June 22, Gulf Harbour; July 1, Eagle Creek; July 13, The Forest; July 20, Club at Renaissance; Aug. 7, Naples Grande; Aug. 12, Golf Club of the Everglades; Aug. 26-27, Tour Championship, Club at TwinEagles. More information: 1-888-3USKIDS or www.uskidsgolf.com.

• Rick Smith Golf Academy Junior Golf Camps — Remaining session dates are July 17-21, July 24-28, July 31-Aug. 4, and Aug. 7-11. Registration deadlines are three days prior to the first date of each session. Camps are for ages 7-17. Entry fees are $250, plus tax. Sessions are from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Family members can attend Friday's awards barbeque for an additional $15.

For the advanced junior golf camps, remaining session dates are July 17-21, July 24-28, and Aug. 7-11. There is a limit of 20 juniors for each session. Camps are for ages 7-17, with sessions from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. each day. A mini-tournament with trophies is held on the Thursday and Friday of each session. For more information, call 593-1111.

• WCI/Mercedes-Benz of Fort Myers Junior Golf Tour — Remaining schedule: June 27, The Colony (18 holes), Raptor Bay (9 holes), $25 entry fee; July 18, Gulf Harbour (18 holes), Pelican Preserve (9 holes), $25 entry fee; Aug. 1, Pelican Marsh (18 holes), Tiburón (9 holes), $25 entry fee; Tournament of Champions, Aug. 12, Hammock Bay. Junior golfers must also become members of the tour in addition to the tournament entry fee. For more information, go to www.wcijrgolf.com or call 498-8040.

• X-Factor Junior Golf Tour — Upcoming tournaments: July 15-16, Don Shula's Golf Club, Miami; July 29-30, Miromar Lakes, Estero; Aug. 5-6, University of Florida, Gainesville; Aug. 19-20, Hammock Bay, Naples; Sept. 2-4, Orange Lake, Kissimmee; Sept. 30-Oct. 1, Lake Jovita, Dade City; Oct. 28-29, Bonita Bay Club, Bonita Springs; Nov. 18-19, PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie; Dec. 31-Jan. 1, 2007, Tour Championship, World Golf Village, St. Augustine. For more information, call Karen Hannaford at 822-8590 or visit www.x-factorjuniorgolf.com.

• Cypress Woods Golf Academy — Remaining three-day camps, June 27-29, July 18-20 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Fee, $90 per student. Monday Junior Camp: July 3, 10, 17, 31 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee, $25. Weekend Junior Camp: June 24, July 8, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., $30. Call 592-7860 or e-mail golfpro@cypresswoodsgolf.com.

• Faldo Golf Institute/Kids Golf 4 Free — The new program allows adults and kids to play and learn the game together. Juniors age 15 and under can golf for free with a full paying adult after 3 p.m., and free lessons for juniors age 15 and under with full-paying adult. For more information, go to www.marriottgolf.com.

• LPGA Girls Club of Collier County — At Arrowhead Country Club on Mondays at 10 a.m. on June 26, and July 10, 17, 24, and 31, and Aug. 7. Girls ages 7-18. High school girls grouped together. Same with middle school and elementary school girls. Call 450-1165.

• Naples Grande Golf School — Three sessions, Tuesday through Friday, June 20-23, July 11-14, Aug. 8-11 from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. Players of all skill levels welcome. Ages 7-17. Entries limited to first 20 players. Fee, $150 per student per week or $40 per day. Deadlines for the three sessions are June 1, June 27 and July 25, respectively. Call Mark Durland at 784-2208 or e-mail him at m(underscore)durland@msn.com.

• Vasari Country Club — Three sessions, June 19-23, July 10-14, Aug. 7-11 from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. Ages 5-17. Fee, $100 per child for five days or $25 per child per day. Call 594-3959.

• Vineyards Junior Camps —June 20-23, July 11-14, July 18-21, Aug. 1-4 from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Fee, $150 per child per week. Call 353-0505. Junior golfers also are encouraged to check with their local club.

• American Red Cross Golf Tournament — Presented by Fowler White Boggs Banker. Friday at The Club at TwinEagles. Continental breakfast, 7 a.m.. Shotgun start, 8 a.m. Awards luncheon, 12:30 p.m. All money raised will benefit the local Red Cross Chapter. The minimum team donation is $1,250. Sponsorships are available from $1,250 to $5,000. Call Mary Lee Conner at 596-6868, ext. 12. Fowler White Boggs Banker is a law firm with offices throughout Florida, including Naples.

• Healthy Start Golf Classic — Saturday at West Bay Club in Estero. The entry fee is $150 per golfer or $500 per foursome. Sponsorships are available ranging from $200 to $3,000. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m., with breakfast from 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m., and a 10 a.m. shotgun start. Lunch and awards follow golf.

The four-person scramble benefits Healthy Start, a non-profit 501C(3) serving Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties since 1992. To register, visit www.healthystartswfl.com. The entry deadline is June 20. For more information, call 425-6920, 425-6926 or 464-8838.

For more golf information, including instruction, please go online to www.naplesnews.com/npdn/sports. To submit an item for the golf column, send a fax to 263-4816 or e-mail gshardwig@naplesnews.com.