Golf

There have been many factors and changes that have occurred in golf over the last 50 years. It is hard to determine which change has had the most influence. The development of the golf ball had an immediate impact on distance. The replacement of wooden shafts with steel shafts improved distance and also increased accuracy. Now we are again experiencing controversy regarding U-grooves and V-grooves. Besides the technological advances, we have seen changes in other facets.

Tryouts for the Boyle County boys golf team will be held July 15 at 12 noon at Old Bridge Golf Course. All players planning on playing on the team should report to coach Alex Jarman then.

STANFORD — There was confusion over what Stanford-Lincoln County Industrial Development Authority member Dwayne Greer was proposing to the group Tuesday that drove the meeting to a record, near three-hour length. It had long been rumored that several board members wanted the authority to help bail out the Dix River Country Club, and when the topic surfaced, former Stanford Mayor Eddie Carter was quick to tell the group, “If we give a private country club $5,000, I’ll be run out of town.

Results from the Musselman-Dunne Junior Golf Tour Championship Monday-Tuesday at Big Spring Country Club in Louisville: GIRLS Ages 16-18 1. Christina Hill, Danville 81-87-168 +26 Ages 14-15 8. Natalie Wesley, Liberty 93-88-181 +39 BOYS Ages 14-15 5. Nick Patterson, Harrodsburg 78-84-162 +18

Quite often I am asked about the importance of having a U.S.G.A. handicap. Is it necessary and what does a handicap actually do for me? Obtaining a handicap actually does serve many needs. Many golf tournaments are flighted by handicaps. This allows each flight to have a winner. It gives everyone an opportunity to compete with players of similar skills. Having an accurate handicap also serves as a tool to gauge one's improvement. Most players set a goal at the beginning of the year to achieve a certain handicap by the season's end. In order to realize one's improvement, or lack of improvement, this handicap will be the basis by which to make this assessment.

On the way home from my daughter's last college golf match last weekend, I pondered many golf tournaments we traveled to, the number of different courses that we walked and the times I got to spend with Meredith and my husband Graham Johns. Several years ago, Robert Fulghum wrote a book, "All I Need To Know, I Learned In Kindergarten. " The book consisted of essays that centered around what we learned in kindergarten are often life's lessons. Many of them hold true in our everyday life and are often simple things we tend to overlook.

A friend of mind told me he was thinking about taking up golf but didn't want to have to remember all the rules I bring up each week. He wanted to know if there were some alternative rules he could play by. Absolutely. The rules of golf are for the competitive golfer. Please allow me to suggest several changes for the purely recreational golfer. Scoring Don't keep score. But if you insist on doing so, consider the following creative scoring options. Some girls' high school matches and tournaments use the "circle 8" scoring system.

West Jessamine junior Grace Rose shot a 76 in the first round of the girls' golf state championship on Tuesday. Rose, the lone Jessamine County representative, had a strong back nine to stay near the top of the leaderboard heading into Wednesday. After a pair of double bogeys and a bogey to finish the front nine at 5-over-par (41) she came back with two birdies and bogey on the back nine to drop to 4-over. She was 1-over on the back nine and was 2-under in the final eight holes.

Danville's Andrew McKinney shot a 74 Thursday and is tied for 18th going into today's final tound of the 54-hole Natural Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior tournament at Ashland's Bellefonte Country Club. McKinney finished with a two-day scored of 70-74 - 144, tying him with  John Augenstein and Bryce John. Patrick Martin, who had a two-day score of (137) leads the tournament by two strokes.

Korey Coleman fired a 2-over-par 74 to finish second in Saturday’s Joy Invitational Golf Tournament played at Wild Turkey Trace in Lawrenceburg. Lincoln assistant coach Kevin Bandura had high praise for the Lady Patriot senior’s performance in the 18-hole tournament. “I thought Korey played exceptionally well considering it rained off and on during the early part of the tournament, and the course exhibited the effects of the excessively hot and humid weather conditions we have faced for the past month or so,” he said.