College Golf

Phil Hendrickson has gotten serious about his golf game, and he's starting to get some serious results. Hendrickson made great strides in his sophomore season at Eastern Kentucky University, and he's continuing to play well in his summer schedule as well. He said his sophomore year went much better than his first because he came to realize the importance of working on his game. "I had a pretty solid year last year, but my first year I didn't work as hard as I could have," Hendrickson said.

Last week's article has raised a lot of questions regarding the use of statistics, most of which pertain to putting. As we record our statistics and compare these results with tour players, it gives us the ability to recognize our weaknesses. But there are exceptions. Just because you are hitting greens in regulation does not necessarily mean that you should have a good putting day. Hitting 14 greens in regulation and having 38 putts tells me that the problem could mean something more than just putting woes.

It's time to spring forward - three weeks earlier this year. Golfers are rejoicing. Bus drivers are teed off. Roger Durham, transportation director for Casey County schools, says the change to Daylight Saving Time this weekend will be a disadvantage in the morning. "It's getting break of daylight at 6:30 right now. My drivers would rather drive in the daylight rather than the dark. " Casey County has buses on the road by 6 a.m., but the majority don't pick up kids until 6:30 a.m. "Darkness is always a little disadvantage with driving, but I guess we'll live with it. " Tyler Griffith, a member of Centre College's golf team, is happy about change.

Obviously the idea of this column is to provide golf tips and educate you with golf information. This column, like my individual golf lessons, searches for the answer as to how or why we do not score better. Often we search for swing faults and simply assess the physical aspects of golf. Generally as we ride to the driving range I like to discuss with my students their latest rounds. I want my students to assess their ability, both strengths and weaknesses. It is important to give my students the opportunity to express their concerns.

Coach John Maupin continued to construct what could be a serious challenger for a NAIA National Women's Golf Championship in the next few years. The first-year Lee University coach recently announced the signing of Sloane Skinner from West Jessamine High School "I am so excited to be adding Sloane Skinner to our team for next year," Maupin said. "She is someone who is going to step in and have an immediate impact on our team. Sloane has already shown that she has the ability to shoot good scores in big tournaments and I know that will continue here at Lee. " Skinner has been playing golf on a competitive level since the sixth grade.

Is there any other area golf accomplishment that compares with Centre College senior Chris Morris winning the NCAA Division III¿national championship? He became the first Centre golfer ever to win the title and it made me wonder how that compared to two other feats — Danville’s Ben Fuqua becoming the only area player ever to win the state high school championship and Boyle County’s Phillip Hendrickson sweeping the State Amateur and Kentucky Open in the same year. Bruce Brown has had a hand in all three accomplishments.

My long-time friend, the late R. Michael "Bo" Grant, introduced me to the writings of the late, great Lewis Grizzard.Grizzard was a humorist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Bo read his columns while a law student at Emory University. The first Grizzard book I read was the hilarious "Elvis Is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself. " One of my most cherished possessions, given to me by Bennett Hastie, is an autographed copy of "I Took a Lickin' and Kept on Tickin' (And Now I Believe in Miracles)

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Centre College golf teams finished second at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournaments that concluded Sunday at Horseshoe Bay Golf Course here. Senior Chris Morris was the overall winner in the men’s tourney with a 2-over par 218 total for the 54-hole event. He shot a 2-under par 70 on Sunday. “I'm pleased with how Chris performed during the past three days,” said Brian Chafin, the director of golf at Centre. “He has worked extremely hard this season, as well as over the past four years and he deserves to have this type of success.” Sophomore Grant Hinton)

It's not hard to see why the Kentucky section of the PGA has picked Old Bridge Golf Club pro Bruce Brown as one of its nominees for Kentucky Junior Golf Leader. Brown, the 2004 Teacher of the Year for the Kentucky section, does so many things to promote junior golf that they are almost impossible to list. But here are some: Old Bridge is the home for several high school golf teams as well as the Centre College golf teams. The course also hosts four junior events each year as well as several free clinics.

Ben Banks expected more out of his golf game, and he wasn't getting it. So after starting the season with a couple of so-so tournament showings, the Boyle County junior decided he needed to do more to get the scores he expected. It was a move that paid dividends right away, as Banks led the Rebels in their next tournament and has become one of their best scorers over the past couple of weeks. And he said the results are starting to show what he believed all along, that he is a much better player than he was a year ago. “Everything's improved a little bit,” Banks said.