Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Golf column: Strong fall has CCU teams looking forward to spring

The Coastal Carolina University men's and women's golf teams have reason for optimism next spring considering record-setting performances and impressive individual accomplishments in the fall season, which has concluded for both after four events each.

The CCU women got a team win and individual win by senior Aruka Felgueroso, and set both 18- and 36-hole team scoring records.

The men also earned a team win, had a pair of individual titles from seniors Sam Lyons and Dan Obremski, and set a team 54-hole scoring record.

"This team has showed they can be really, really good," said Allen Terrell, the men's head coach and school's director of golf. "We've been in contention just about every tournament we've been in."

The CCU men recorded three top-six finishes in its four events, beginning with a third out of 15 teams at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Iowa.

The Chants won The McLaughlin hosted by St. John's on Sept. 19 at the Bethpage State Park (N.Y.) Red Course with a school-record 5-under 835, four shots ahead of runner-up UNC Wilmington. The Chants' three single rounds between 277 and 280 rank among the top 14 rounds in school history.

Lyons tied for medalist honors with a final-round 67 for a 2-under 208 total, and Obremski tied for medalist honors in the next event, the Windon Memorial Classic in Illinois, at 1-over 214.

Lyons, Obremski and redshirt sophomore Drew Ernst all had fall scoring averages better than 73. "I think that is the first time we've ever had that," Terrell said. "I know I have three guys who can compete."

The Chants limped to a fall finish, however, with a 14th-place finish in the 15-team Ridges Invitational in Tennessee. Ernst was the top Chant in 19th at 1-over 217.

The Chants, who became accustomed to being a top 20 program nationally for a few years before missing the NCAA Championships in each of the past two seasons, are ranked 56th in the country by Golfweek magazine.

"It's frustrating," Terrell said. "We had an opportunity to maybe be in the top 15 teams in the country in the fall and instead we're closer to one of the top 50 teams in the country. That should really gets these guys to look closely at their games."

The CCU women got progressively better in the fall under coach Katie Quinney, who is in her first full season at CCU. They finished 12th in the 18-team Golfweek Conference Challenge in Nevada, sixth in the Bettie Lou Evans Fall Invitational in Kentucky, fourth in the Eat A Peach Collegiate in Georgia behind only Georgia, Florida State and Furman, and first in the CSU Wendy's Invitational at Coosaw Creek Country Club in Charleston.

The event had a marginal field that included College of Charleston, Memphis and Winthrop. The Chants annually struggled to crack the top 100 but are ranked 59th by Golfweek, though they're 0-13 against the top 50.

Felgueroso, of Madrid, Spain, won medalist honors by five shots in Charleston with a 2-under 74-66-140 for her fifth career win. The 140 tied the school record for a 36-hole event, and she carded a school-record round of 5-under 66, breaking the previous mark of 68 she shared with Ann Maness.

The Chants won the event with a school-record 36-hole 586 total - 19 shots ahead of runner-up College of Charleston. They also broke a school record with a 1-over 285 in the second round. Felgueroso tied for third at 3-over 147 in Georgia, tied for 36th in Kentucky and tied for sixth at 3-over 219 in Nevada.

The Chants were buoyed by the emergence of true freshman Jessica Alexander of Riverview, Fla. She started slow in her first collegiate event with a tie for 33rd in Nevada, then tied for third in Kentucky at 2-over 145, tied for 13th at 7-over 151 in Georgia and finished third at 5-over 147 in Charleston.

"Jessica Alexander is going to be a very special player at Coastal," Terrell said.

Junior Alicia Grier steadily improved her play since tying for 78th at 24 over in the season opener. She then tied for 21st at 15 over, tied for 17th at 8 over and tied for fourth at 6 over. "They've always had Aruka and have been working hard to get two and three scores," Terrell said.

Felgueroso has committed to playing professionally after her senior year, and Terrell has been regularly instructing her since mid-September. "Aruka has decided she wants to play professionally after college so she's probably been working harder than she ever has at her game," Terrell said.

That, among other things, bodes well for the Chants next spring.

Johnson done for '09

Myrtle Beach resident Dustin Johnson won't play again this year on the PGA Tour.

Johnson's final tournament was his attempted title defense at the Oct. 1-4 Turning Stone Resort Championship. Johnson is not playing in this week's Viking Classic in Mississippi, and will not play in the season-ending Children's Miracle Network Classic near Orlando, Fla., from Nov. 12-15.

Johnson will likely next play competitively in the 21st annual $3 million Shark Shootout Dec. 9-13 at Tiburon Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla. He received an invitation to participate this week. The tournament field consists of 12 two-man teams, and Johnson is not sure who his partner will be. Kenny Perry and Scott Hoch are the defending champions and are returning to defend. The pairings are expected to be announced on or around Tuesday.

Besides the Perry-Hoch team, host Greg Norman said he's playing with Fred Couples. The two were opposing captains in this year's Presidents Cup. Other players committed to the event include Tim Clark, J.B. Holmes, Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell, Jerry Kelly, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, Brian Gay, Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher, Justin Leonard, Chad Campbell, Scott Verplank, Mark Calcavecchia, Chris DiMarco, Fred Funk, Nick Price, Jeff Sluman and Boo Weekley.

CCAGC wrapping up

The Coastal Carolina Amateur Golf Club is concluding its season on Nov. 7 with its Club Championship at the Grande Dunes Resort Course. The top 32 players based on year-to-date points qualify and 30 are competing for the tournament title. Of those, three have a chance to be named the club champion with the most points on the season.

The Club Championship prize pool is $1,200 in gift certificates. The winner gets 60 percent, second gets 30 percent and third gets 10 percent. The winner also receives a certificate for a free entry into the 2010 PGA Tour Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship.

The three finalists for the club championship are points leader Walt Wysk of Myrtle Beach, Chris Gibson of Myrtle Beach, who is 450 points behind, and Gene Falls of Manning, who is 1,900 points behind Wysk. The winner receives 2,000 points.

Tee times begin at 12:20 p.m.

The full experience

A group of four participants in the First Tee of Myrtle Beach advanced to the final round of the Golf Channel Invitational at Callaway Gardens Resort in Pine Mountain, Ga., and may get some air time on Golf Channel in December.

Peter Yan, 15; Thomas Garavito, 14; Anthony Anderson, 12; and Ethan Hood, 11, placed eighth out of 14 teams competing in the challenge. The top nine qualified to play with celebrities and executives from golf organizations and businesses around the globe on Monday. Each qualifier captained his or her own team. A one-hour highlight show of the event is scheduled to air on Golf Channel in December.