Golf page: Notes from the rough

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Area aces

Ray Cherry sank a hole-in-one on No. 4 at Brown Acres on April 19. He used a 4-iron for the 169-yard shot witnessed by Mac Muserove, Scott Smith and Charlies Stone.

Joe Miller, a 64-year-old Chattanooga CPA, got his first hole-in-one Friday at LaFayette Golf Course. He holed a 155-yard tee shot on No. 14 with a 6-iron, as witnessed by Terry Haupt.

TPC birdies mean First Tee bucks

Hamico Inc. has announced that it will donate $5 to The First Tee of Chattanooga for every birdie made in five high-profile Chattanooga TPC series events this summer.

Hamico, the foundation arm of Chattem, is challenging participants to match its donations. So if a golfer makes three birdies during the Brainerd Invitational, Hamico is asking golfers to match the foundation's $15 donation. More than a dozen of the area's top amateurs, including Richard Keene, Chris Schmidt and Randy Yoder, are committed to the matching program.

"There are a few goals with new partnership," said FTC president Mike Jenkins. "One is to obtain needed funds; the other is to get the name of First Tee out there more; and the third is to get golfers involved in the program.

"It's easy. Just making a birdie helps."

The five tournaments are the Brainerd Invitational, the Signal Mountain Invitational, the men's Metro, the Cleveland Invitational and the Chattanooga TPC.

"Each tournament will donate $150 right from the start," Jenkins said. "We'll have a banner on every scoreboard and bring a lot of attention to the community."

Scratch signs on with Gateway

The Gateway Pro Tour, a mini-tour based in Arizona, announced Monday that Chattanooga-based Scratch Golf has signed on as a sponsor for the 2011 season.

Scratch, a custom golf club manufacturer that grinds clubs in Chattanooga, has pro golfers on every major tour using its clubs, including David Duval and Kristi Kerr.

"We want to be working with up-and-coming players who are headed toward better things," Scratch president and CEO Ari Techner said. "This helps them in terms is getting to know about our product. It's a good tour and a good deal for us."

TWC women set for nationals

Tennessee Wesleyan College won by 27 strokes in the Appalachian Athletic Conference women's tournament last week at Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain and qualified for the NAIA national tournament May 17-20 at Link Hills in Greeneville, Tenn.

Soddy-Daisy's Lexi Stewart joined AAC player of the year Stephanie Carr from Ontario as TWC representatives on the all-conference first team, and teammates Alaura Brogdon and Britany Rader were second-teamers. The Lady Bulldogs' Jeff Rice was coach of the year.

Carr was the tournament medalist by seven strokes, and Stewart tied for third with Brogdon tying for fifth in making the all-tournament team. Bryan's Samantha McCaleb was seventh, missing all-tournament by one shot.

Noll linking with Strickland

Reigning GSGA player of the year David Noll Jr. of Dalton is teaming up for the first time with another of Georgia's top amateurs, Mark Strickland of Woodstock, in the Georgia Four-Ball this Friday through Sunday at Green Island Country Club in Columbus.