Sarasota Open welcomes disc golfers

Friday, May 20, 2011

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

By Thomas Becnel

This weekend, some of the best disc golfers in Florida will compete in the Sarasota Open. Next weekend, some of the most enthusiastic disc golfers will compete in the Sarasota Amateur Championships.

What does this mean? This means that casual and curious disc golfers can go out watch this weekend - admission is free - and then apply what they’ve learned next weekend. Both tournaments are sponsored by the Sarasota Sky Pilots, the local disc golf club.

In disc golf, players throw discs toward chain-link baskets that serve as holes. Scoring is the same as regular golf, with pars and birdies and bogeys.

The Sky Pilots have several hundred members – too many for one tournament weekend. “We’ve had to split it up for about 10 years now,” said Tim Willis, a former club president, “because it fills up.”

On Saturday, the Sarasota Open will begin at 9 a.m. on the executive course of the Bobby Jones Golf Club, 1000 Circus Blvd., off Fruitville Road. This will be a treat for the disc golf crowd. “It’s such a nice place to play,” said Willis. “The rough there is as good as the fairways at North Water Tower Park.”

On Sunday, the Sarasota Open will continue at 9 a.m. at North Water Tower Park, 4700 Rilma Ave., off 47thStreet. This woodsy course used to be famous – or infamous – for holes surrounded by thick tangles of brush. “The park is much more cleared out than it was in the past,” Willis said. “And we have regular work days.”

The best Sarasota players include Bryan Moore and Gregg Hosfeld, who has won senior national championships.

BRITISH COURSE FINALLY REOPENS AT BOBBY JONES

October 9, 2008

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The renovated British Course at Bobby Jones Golf Club opened Oct. 1 and City of Sarasota dignitaries teed it up in an official opening day tournament. Then, the fun begins on the weekend.

More than 100 members and friends of the Sarasota Bay Parrot Head Club got into the swing of things with cold beverages, costumes and Jimmy Buffett tunes to jazz up its Alzheimner’s charity tournament.

In the first week, everyone wanted to get a glimpse of the $250,000 new greens on the British Course, which had been closed since May.

Bobby Jones may be the only club in America with a municipal price tag, but a country club feel. It costs $7 to walk nine holes and $11 to walk 18 on the two courses, and right now that is a deal, especially for the British.

The one major change on the British on the par-3 fourth hole, but it only affects low handicappers, who play from the back/blue tees.

The tee box was moved back and considerably to the left. It plays about 175 yards and is all carry over a lake. The good news is that there is no angle and a direct shot takes a right greenside bunker out of harm’s way.

Play the course on a weekday in the mid- to late-afternoon, and you won’t have anyone in front or behind you. Normally, that’s a perk reserved for country clubs. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Upcoming events

The City of Sarasota Junior Tournament will be held Oct. 18-19 at the Bobby Jones Golf Club. This is a nationally ranked tournament. To enter, call Paul Michaud at 955-8097, Ext. 4. Entry fee is $35.

Susan Martin has been promoted to Manager of Bobby Jones Golf Course, replacing Ray Grady

JULY 10, 2008

RADIO SRQ

By RadioSRQ

Sarasota, FL: Susan Martin has been promoted to Manager of Bobby Jones Golf Course, replacing Ray Grady who resigned this week. “I’m excited and looking forward to getting to know the golfers here at Bobby Jones,” said Sue Martin, Bobby Jones Golf Course Manager. “It’s a wonderful facility. I look forward to working with the employees and moving the golf course forward.” Martin has been employed by the City of Sarasota since 2005 as the Manager of Recreation and Sports. Her duties have focused on the smooth operation of Ed Smith Stadium and the Skate Park.

Bobby Jones is the 45-hole municipal facility operated by the City of Sarasota. The course opened with 36 holes in 1927, and another nine hole course was added in 1977. Bobby Jones Golf Club has received 1st place Readers Choice Awards from the Herald Tribune for Best Public/Semi-Private Golf Course eleven times in the past twelve years.

Sarasota Golf Complex Work Under Fire

April 22, 1992

SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

By SALLY B. KESTIN  Staff Writer 

The city of Sarasota wasted $1.8 million on a botched renovation of the municipal Bobby Jones Golf Complex, according to three of the city commissioners.

"We just got taken to the cleaners," Commissioner Nora Patterson said Tuesday of the renovation of the American Course, completed in 1988. She said the project was "badly done" and a waste of money.

Mayor Jack Gurney said the greens and tees on the course still need work.

“The layout is basically screwy,” he said. “You’ve got fairways crossing fairways. It was not a successful renovation.”

Commissioner David Merrill called the project “a total financial disaster.”

The commission voted 3-1 Monday, with Merrill dissenting, to look at alternatives for operating the golf complex, which has lost money since the renovation.

Deputy City Manager Peter Schneider said Tuesday that the city learned after the project was finished that greens and irrigation system hadn’t been properly constructed.

Schneider said he did not know how the problems occurred.

Schneider, whose duties include overseeing the golf complex, said he arrived in March 1988 after most of the work had been completed. At the time, “there was no reason for me to believe there was anything wrong,” he said.

The city attorney looked into whether a claim could be filed against Prince Contracting, the private contractor that did the job, but “concluded we did not have a basis to proceed with a claim,” Schneider said. “There was not sufficient evidence to go after them.”

No one from Prince Contracting could be reached Tuesday evening. 

Legends Had Tee Times at Bobby Jones GC

July 4, 1990

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Tee Times For Legends, Even Jones

By CHRIS ANDERSON Staff Writer

In 1926, golf course architect Donald Ross had a field of dreams.

If you build it, they will come.

Far-fetched? Maybe not. With a vision from Ross, the Bobby Jones Golf Course was built on city property in Sarasota. And they came in droves. From Walter Hagen to Babe Ruth, from Tommy Armour to Dizzy Dean, celebrities and golfing enthusiasts alike lined up to play the Augusta National of its time.

And yes, the course’s namesake -  Bobby Jones – played there too.

Very few people who play at the Bobby Jones Golf Complex today are aware that Jones stalked the same fairways some 60 years ago. Even the general manager of the complex, Ray Grady, wasn’t so sure himself. But a call from ABC Sports producer Frank Hannigan before this year’s Chrysler Cup tournament prompted an inquiry.

“They called about three weeks before,” Grady said. “He (Hannigan) said, ‘I understand there’s a lot of heritage connected with your course.’ Verbally, I heard Jones had played out here, but I’d never seen it in fact. I said I’d check up on it.”

Then came a long shot stroke of luck. It turned out Grady’s wife, Sue, works with the former Melody Johnston (now Melodoy Pulikowski). Upon her husband’s insistence, Sue Grady asked Pulikowski if she was any relation to Everett Johnston. Pulikowski said yes and that Everett Johnston was her grandfather.

Everett Johnston had been general manager at the old Bobby Jones course, a job he started in 1926, even before the course was completed. Through the years, Johnston had kept a scrapbook detailing the events of the course. The book was passed to his son, Francis (who, at 18, legally changed his name to Everett) Johnston of Sarasota, Melody’s father.

“My mom passed it down to me and told me to take care of it,” Everett Johnston said.

Grady asked to see the memoirs. What he saw astonished him.

“I called (ABC) back and told them I’ve substantiated Bobby Jones was here,” Grady said, “A lot of people didn’t know for sure.”

ABC later ran a brief feature on Bobby Jones and the course during this year’s Chrysler Cup.

One of the articles in the scrapbook was from the Sarasota Herald, dated Feb. 13, 1927. The account was as follows:

“Sarasota’s Bobby Jones Golf Course was officially dedicated Sunday afternoon when Bobby himself cut the strands of red, white and blue ribbons that barred the first tee and amid the cheers led by Jules Brazil drive the first ball of the day straight and true down the first fairway.”

There are now 36 holes at the Bobby Jones golf course: 18 on the American course and 18 on the British course. Each nine is named after the golf courses where Jones won golf’s Grand Slam in 1930. The American has Merion (front) and Interlachen (back) and the British has St. Andrews (front) and Hoylake (back).

The original 18 were made up of the Hoylake and Interlachen nines. St. Andrews was added in 1952 and Merion in 1967.

On the day before the course’s dedication in 1927, however, it was rumored that the course was still without a name. Some felt it should be named in honor of Col. J. Hamilton Gillespie, Sarasota’s first mayor.

(It has been documented that Gillespie may have been the first person to play golf in the United States. Gillespie arrived in Sarasota from Scotland in 1885. It is said one of the first things he did upon arrival was play golf.

Gillespie, who died playing the game on Sept. 7, 1923, is credited with introducing golf to Florida. Gillespie originally built a few golf holes in 1886 in downtown Sarasota, not far from where the present main Post Office building sits.

The USGA recognizes St. Andrews in Yonkers, N.Y., as the birthplace of golf in the United States. The St. Andrews club was built in 1888. But even noted columnist of his day, Joe Williams of the New York World Telegram, supported Sarasota’s claim to having the first golf course in the U.S.

“The Sarasota Golf Club preceded the Yonkers by two years,” wrote Williams on March 21, 1935.)

The executive layout at the Bobby Jones complex today, which was opened in 1977, is named in Gillespie’s honor.

At a party on the eve of the course’s opening in 1927, it was suggested and agreed that Bobby Jones would be the namesake. Jones’ name was alluring and after all, he was the opening guest of honor. Jones was in the midst of an eight-year reign as golf’s premier player, in which he would win 13 of the 21 major championships from 1923 through 1930.

For participating in the course’s opening, Jones – an amateur throughout his career – was presented a Pierce Arrow automobile. Jones partook in a stroke-play match with Louis Lancaster as his partner. Watts Gunn and Jim Senter were the opponents.

Gunn placed second in the National Amateur in 1926, a tournament won by Jones. Lancaster was the President of the West Coast Golf League, and Senter was the low man on the Sarasota city league team.

A crowd of 1,500 attended the match, watching its competitors play in high winds. Jones and Lancaster won the match by eight shots. Jones shot 73 (38-35) for the round and Gunn came in with a 75 (38-37).

From that day, the course’s reputation spread high, far and wide. “Your municipal golf course is without a doubt one of the finest in the United States,” J.H. Wier, appointed by President Calvin Coolidge to make a survey of the country’s municipalities, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

The greens fees at the course, which has always been owned and operated by the city, was 75 cents when it opened. They are now $6 in the summer and $11 in the winter.

Many of golf’s great names have played the course. So have a host of baseball players. Even some that have plaques in Cooperstown.

In 1931, Bob Burke, Lloyd Brown and Roy Spencer of the Washington Senators played every during the winter. Ted McGraw, a National League umpire, was also a member. In 1932, Donie Bush, manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1930-31, joined.

The best-rated amateur of the club in ’32 was E.G. Braxton, who played for the Milwaukee Amateur Baseball Club.

In 1933, the club held a baseball players’ tournament. Among the participants were Dusty Rhodes of the Boston Red Sox and Dizzy Dean and Jimmy Wilson of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 1935, Don Newburn won the City Championship at the course, beating Paul Waner of the Pirates and Wes Farrell of the Red Sox.

Even Babe Ruth himself played the course. Johnston said at one time he had a photo of the Bambino in his collection.

Ruth also was a friend of Jones. Ruth appeared in a Warner Brothers instructional golf tape with Jones in 1930-31 as part of a series. The critically acclaimed tapes were recently released.

Golfing greats flocked as well. In 1934, George R. Jacobus (then president of the PGA) was named pro at Bobby Jones. From the Sarasota Herald, “Mr. Jacobus is the czar of golf as Judge Landis is to baseball.”

Golfing immortals Tommy Armour, Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen also played the course. Helen Hicks, a Women’s National Open champion, played as well.

There were also several interesting (if not strange) games that were played in the early days.

In 1928, the area caught a glimpse of “Indian golf” in which a team of archers played a team of golfers. For the archers, targets were set up in the middle of the green. They were shot at until the bull’s eye was hit. Low score won the hole.

In 1930, there was an event called a “tombstone tourney.” Each golfer was looted a certain number of strokes. When a player ran out of the allotment of shots, a tombstone was placed on the very spot.

The player that expired the farthest on the course was declared the winner.

Thanks to Donald Ross and Bobby Jones, everyone’s game has improved. If only a little.

Bobby Jones Resignation Marks Continued Strife

January 4, 1982

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

By ROBIN SIMMONS, Herald-Tribune Reporter

The assistant director of Bobby Jones Golf Club, Steve King, is quitting – one of at least 81 city employees who have left the club in the past five years.

City officials say the turnover in that kind of operation, either in the public or private sector, is not uncommon.

King said recently that he no longer wanted to work under Manager Martin Alden because of their persistent personality conflicts.

King, who intends to submit his resignation today, also claims that he has been pressured to quit.

Alden was recently accused of criminal mischief by one of the club waitresses, Pat Collins. He has since been exonerated of that charge.

Collins, who has accused Alden of letting the air out of one of her car tires, was fired immediately following a jury verdict.

Another club employee and groundskeeper, Jim Thornburg, who testified on behalf of the prosecution, was also fired soon after the trial.

Kind said Alden had tried to get him fired since the trial and had given him poor evaluations on his job performance.

Alden was away on vacation and could not be reached for comment. But Parks and Recreation Director Howard Ermisch said both he and Alden have merely informed King recently that he was not working up to par.

“Let him resign…good for him,” Ermisch said emphatically. “King hasn’t had any pressure to resign. That’s nonsense. We have just squared him away on his responsibilities, that’s all.”

But numerous other city employees in the club’s restaurant have reiterated King’s complaints, accusing Alden of being insensitive, demanding and unfair to the workers. The employees talked only on condition that their names not be used.

All employees interviewed by the Herald-Tribune said they have not filed complaints about the alleged problems because they fear they will be fired if they do.

The club employs a total of 46 persons for the restaurant and golf course. Since 1976, there had been a complete turnover of employees twice, according to records from the club.

City Manager Ken Thompson said any city employee can speak without fear of retribution. He also said a high turnover rate is not uncommon in restaurant operations, including those in the private sector.

“It’s always like that with the waitress-level groups,” said Thompson. “There has been unhappiness there (among the employees at the club), and there will continue to be unhappiness.”

“The club has always been a generator of complaints.” He said, “but which never warranted action against Alden.”

Thompson noted that Alden was appointed to the golf club job more because of his experience with park maintenance for the golf course rather than on managerial skills 

“I guess the employees cannot stand management that demands work,” Ermisch responded.

Gator Creek, Bent Tree To Host Open Qualifying

May 13, 1981

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

By JIM ACHENBACH, Herald-Tribune Reporter

Included in the collection are amateurs Bob Michael, Paul Azinger and Bob Petehaeur and professionals Rick Pearson, Joe Steneik, Lew Smither III, Mike Toale and Tony Chapin. All are from Sarasota except Bradenton golfers Pearson and Chapin.

Question: Who was the only golfer to advance through last year’s Sarasota qualifier and end up at the Open?

Answer: Jim Dent, the long-hitting veteran of the pro tour who nobly survived the Open’s 36-hole cut at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

Pearson, the assistant pro at Bobby Jones Golf Club, has drawn the honor of playing with Dent. 

The Sarasota City Championship gets underway the weekend of May 23-24 at Bobby Jones Golf Club. The tournament annually draws the top talent from around the Sarasota area.

The 72-hole event, in which Paul Azinger scored a dramatic sudden death victory last year, will conclude on the weekend of May 30-31. The European Course at Bobby Jones will be used for all four rounds of the tourney.

The entry fee for the City Championship is $35, and entry forms are available at many area golf courses. For more information, contact the Bobby Jones golf shop.

Flights in the event are determined after 36 holes and prizes are awarded on the basis of 72-hole gross scores. The tournament is commendably run each year by manager Martin Alden and assistant manager Steve King of Bobby Jones.

Question: Who has won the City Championship since its revival in 1972?

Answer: Charlie Altman, Phil Young, Tim Schroyer, Jay Williams, Lew Smither III, Ralph Raymond Jr., Carter Parry Jr., Bob Michael and Paul Azinger. No golfer has been able to win it twice.

BEST-BALL CHAMPS REPEAT

Monday, October 6, 1980

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Paul Azinger and Bonnie Graham successfully defended their Sarasota City Best-Ball Golf Championship in action Sunday at Bobby Jones Golf Club, adding a 66 to the 62 they fired in the first round.

Azinger and Graham, with their 16-under-par total of 128, won the event by a whopping seven strokes over two teams, Bob Michael and Mike Healy, and Dan Smith and Lee Bennett. The Michael-Healy duo shot 66-69, while the Smith-Bennett team had a 67-68.

Azinger, a member of the golf team at Florida State University, fired a 62 on his own ball in the first round as he and Graham pulled away to a four-stroke lead. The two increased the margin the second day as they teamed well together in the best-ball competition, in which a team used its lower score on each hole.

City To Renovate Bobby Jones Greens

June 3, 1980

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

By JIM ACHENBACH

If golf courses could talk, the British Course at Bobby Jones Golf Club might say, “Well, they won’t have good old Bobby Jones to kick around any more.”

With the conclusion Sunday of the Sarasota City Amateur Golf Championship at the city-owned Bobby Jones facility, local golfers have seen the last of the highly criticized greens on BJ’s British Course. All the greens will be torn up and replanted, so players in next year’s City Championship will compete on brand new putting surfaces.

For a municipal facility, Bobby Jones does the job that it is intended to do. Its 45 holes of golf provide an extensive recreation facility for Sarasota residents.

Still, to be honest, the greens at Bobby Jones are the worst in the area. It’s no secret. BJ’s British Course is a superb tournament course, and the City Championship is always a well-organized and well-run event. But the greens, because of all the foreign grass they contain, annually become the subject of debate and controversy.

Players often watch in horror as their putts zig-zag across the greens. Sometimes the frustration turns to humor, as was the case this year with one of Sarasota’s leading amateurs. After missing several short putts during the day, the golfer turned to his playing partners on the 16thgreen and said, “I’m almost afraid to hit this putt because I might damage some of the exotic plants growing between my ball and the hole.”

“We’ve had this in the works for three or four years,” confirmed Bobby Jones manager Martin Alden. “We had a good winter season, and now we’ve got the funds to go ahead with it.”

Starting June 17, the greens on the British Course will be completed stripped of grass. The soil will be torn up to a depth of eight or 10 inches and enriched with various ingredients.

Next comes a fumigation process, which is designed to stop diseases, insects and weeds. All the greens will be covered with canvas for at least 48 hours after they are sprayed.

Finally, the greens will be graded and then planted with Bermuda grass (the 328 strain). About two months after that, the greens will be playable.

“The course actually will be shut down only about two weeks,” said Alden. “We will cut some temporary greens, and golfers will play on those until the new putting surfaces are ready.”

In the two weeks that the British Course is closed, other maintenance will be performed. Alden says the fairways will be sprayed to get rid of unwanted weeds and grass. In addition, several of the tees will be leveled and smoothed.

“We want the best golf course we can get.” Alden said, “Maybe next year we can work on the American Course. We’re always trying to improve the facility.”

Sarasota’s Paul Azinger, who won the city title with a sudden death victory over Marty Herring of the University of South Florida, used a 25-year-old Tommy Armour Iron Master putter during the tournament.

Azinger paid $70 for the putter, which is a collector’s item and currently has a market value of about $125.

Not content with the way he is driving the ball, Azinger also is waiting patiently for a new driver from Sarasota club-maker Joe Powell. The 20-year-old Azinger who will be a junior at Florida State University, recently started using a new set of Ben Hogan Apex irons.

Azinger, Graham Capture Best-Ball

Monday, October 15, 1979

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

By Jim Achenbach, Herald-Tribune Sports Reporter

Paul Azinger and Bonnie Graham turned back a challenge from Scott Dunlap and Mike Domalske and captured the Sarasota City Best-Ball Golf Championship with a record score Sunday in action at Bobby Jones Golf Club.

Azinger and Graham, who opened the team event with a spectacular 8-under-par 64, added a 69 Sunday to finish the 36-hole competition with a 133 total. Dunlap and Domalske were two strokes back at 135 after rounds of 65 and 70.

Greg Howe and Tim Fieldhouse finished third with a 136 score, as teenager golfers dominated the tournament. Among the top three teams, only the 22-year-old Graham is not a teenager.

The 15th and 16th holes proved to be pivotal for Azinger and Graham.

With Dunlap and Domalske just two strokes back after 14 holes of the final round, Domalske hit the par five 15th with his second shot but then three-putted and failed to pick up a stroke.

Dunlap sank a 25-foot birdie putt at 16 to put the pressure on Azinger, who responded with a 12-foot birdie putt of his own.

“We were a solid team,” said Azinger, a student and member of the golf team at Brevard Community College in Cocoa. “Bonnie made a big putt at No. 9 that was very important, and I followed that with a birdie at No 10.”

Graham banged home a 20-foot par putt at the ninth hole to prevent a bogey for the team, and then Domalske faltered with a three-putt effort on the same hole.

When Azinger hit a wedge shot with a foot of the cup at the 10th, Domalske and Dunlap fell another shot behind. They were unable to close the gap to less than two strokes, and the title belonged to Azinger and Graham.

The tournament marked the first time Azinger and Graham played together in a team event. Graham is the son of Bonnie Graham Sr., owner of Village Green Golf Club in Sarasota.

Azinger is the No. 2 man on the Brevard golf team, behind Sarasota’s Rick Stallings. He finished second to Bob Michael in this summer’s Sarasota City Championship at Bobby Jones.

For the 36 holes of the City Best Ball, Azinger totaled 11 birdies as he continually bombarded the flag with iron shots.

Looking at flight competition, the most impressive victories were posted by three separate teams. Curtis Timm and Bill Early in first flight, Tom Russell and Larry Kibler in second flight and George Howel land Dick Olsen in fifth flight. All three teams produced three-shot triumphs in their flights.

Championship Flight

Paul Azinger and Bonnie Graham, 64-69 – 133. Scott Dunlap and Mike Domalske, 65-75 – 135, Greg Howe and Tim Fieldhouse, 66-70 – 136, Bob Hinson and Ken Sharpe, 68-69 – 137, Bob Michaela nd Mike Healy, 64-73 – 139, Rick Stallings and Tim Shrover, 69-71 – 140, Phil Wagoner and D. Litton, 69-71 – 140.

First Flight

Curtis Timm and Bill Early, 71-68 – 139, Ron Clayton and Tommy Holmes, 70-71 – 141, Clyde Mumma and Clay Lundquist, 70-73 – 143, Wayne Powers and Jim Achenbach, 70, Rick Kertikowski and Dan Gallagher, 70-77 – 147, Bill Montgomery and Rick Westover, 70-77 – 147, Steve Foster and Dale Dickinson, 70-77 – 147, Glen Tate and Mike Harris, 70-77 – 147.

Second Flight

Tom Russell and Larry Kibler, 71-68 – 139, Stu Molyneaux and Rudy Alabach, 72-70 – 142, Dale Mast and Dick Howard, 71-73 – 144, Bud Pearson and Paul Reese, 71-73 – 144, Don Stephenson and Colin Coniger, 71, D. Knowles and Gordon Powers, 71-74 – 145, Brent Pinkerton and Ron Wander, 72-73 – 145, Pete Swanz and Gary Smither, 72-73 – 145.

Third Flight

Chris Tanner and Tom Leverone, 73-72 – 145, David Alden and Tom Swain, 73-73 – 146, Wd Schmidt and Tommy Thompson, 73-74 -147, John Graw Sr. and John Graw Jr., 73-74 – 147, Gary Hamilton and Jody Hudson, 73-74 – 147, Bill Koy and Marshall Manning, 73-75 – 148, Joe Dana and Chris Edwards, 73-75 – 148.

Fourth Flight

Don Hines and Walter Capatino, 74-71 – 145, Jim Shatley and Bill Brennan74-71 – 145, Ken Marshall and Randy Concello, 75-71 – 146, Bill Dunlap and Walter Mike Domalske, 74-73 – 147, Larry Treiber and Jeff Winston, 74-73 – 147, Ralph Raymond Jr. and Earl Goodrow, 74-73 – 147.

Fifth Flight

George Howell and Dick Olsen, 76-75 – 151, Bruce Mohr and Dale Hosfeld, 76-78 – 154, Pat Feheley and M Gardella, 76-80 – 156, Bill Hanmna and Phil Merritt, 77-80 – 157, Terry Miller and Wibie Hiner, 77-80 – 157, Russ Hess and Paul Davis, 77-80 – 157, Terry Nutter and Ted Gallo, 77-80 – 157, Borden and Malcolm Borden, 76-81 – 157.

Sixth Flight

Jack Betz and Red Ermisch, 79-75 – 154, Tim Eisnaugie and Steve Ricks, 78-78 – 156, Jim Hobson and Jim Hobson, 79-78 – 157, Jerry Stilley and Russ Kines, 78-79 – 157.

Seventh Flight 

George Kaver and Bruno Yankarelli, 80-83 – 163, Marty Miller and Jack Craig, 80-84 – 164, Ned Eisberry and Jim Parks, 80-84 – 164, Fred Runnells and Russ Weldy, 83-81 – 164.

This Week in Golf History March 3-9

February 21, 2003

By Golf Channel Digital 

March 4, 1979

Mickey Wright has a teen-ager on the bag 19-year-old Paul Azinger of Sarasota at the Bent Tree Classic in Sarasota. Azinger drew Wright’s name out of a caddie pool and caddied four days, one in the pro-am and three in the tournament.

Best Ball Deadline Near

July 13, 1976

Sarasota Journal

The entry list in this weekends’ Ladies Partners Best Ball Golf Championship has reached 35, and Bobby Jones Golf Club assistant manager Leo O’Grady anticipates at least 15 more entries before Wednesday’s 5 P.M. deadline.

The event, which will be held at Bobby Jones and is co-sponsored by Bobby Jones and the Sarasota Journal has attracted some of the finest women amateurs on the West Coast of Florida. Among the contestants are three-time Ladies Four-County champion Judy Coates of Sarasota and this year’s winner, Betty Jean Hood of Bradenton.

Coate’s partner will be Judy Colvin, while Hood will be teamed with Betty Hyslop.

Also entered in the competition is Jean Azinger and her partner, Liz Charles, the latter a former Indiana state women’s champion.

The tourney was conceived by Bobby Jones manager Martin Alden, who wanted to give women in the area a major partners tournament, something they have not had in the past.

Those wishing to enter must register at Bobby Jones before 5 p.m. Wednesday. The 36-hole event will take place Saturday and Sunday.

Golfing Great Bobby Jones Dies At 69

December 19, 1971

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“We have lost the greatest figure in golf that this country has ever produced, the world has ever produced.” – P.J. Boatwright, executive director of the United States Golf Association

Florida State Junior Golf Championship

August 12, 1971

The Evening Independent

SARASOTA– Bobby Jones Golf Club British Course

Last July, Bobby Jones hosted the state junior golf tournament. Only Gary Koch, a Temple Terrace golfer who has played the course frequently, broke par. He had a 213 on a par 216 for 54 holes.                                                                                

Florida Boys Junior Golf Championship

1970   Bobby Jones Golf Club 

Age 16-18   Gary Koch, Sarasota 69-72-72-213

Age 13-15   Bob Prindle III, Lake Park 75-80-77-232

1969

Age 16-18   Gary Koch, Sarasota

Age 13-15   Jim Peeples, Tampa

1968

Age 16-18   Gary Koch, Sarasota

Age 13-15   Bob Dyke, Eau Gallie

1967

Age 16-18   Mike Killian, St. Petersburg

Age 13-15   Gary Koch, Sarasota

“Bogey Man” A Buddy

July 10, 1970

The Evening Independent

SARASOTA– For most of Thursday’s second round in the Florida Junior Golf Championship, St. Petersburg’s Buddy Alexander was in second place. At the end, though, he was deadlocked for the top spot with Gary Koch, the defending champion from Tampa.

Tampa’s Koch bogeyed each of the final two holes on the Bobby Jones Golf Club course and settled for a 69-72-171 total. Alexander’s figures are identical.

Close behind the co-leaders are St. Petersburg’s Pete Wells, whose 71 left him at 142 and John Duggan of Fort Lauderdale. Duggan carded a 72 for the same total.

Struggling home in 75 was first-round leader Jay Rickles of Miami Beach. Rickle’s opening 68 placed him fifth at 143. He’s tied with Miami’s Gene Rucker.

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