Jacksonville Golf News

TAMPA, FL – The First Tee of Miami came back from five strokes down to win the boys 13-15 age division by six shots at the Palm Course at Walt Disney World the weekend of August 12. Marcelo Huarte and Stefano Diaz each fired a 69 to contribute to the team’s second round total of 138. Along with teammate Jaime Rodriquez, The First Tee of Miami finished with a strong tournament total of 289 for the division title.

Playing the Magnolia Course, the Greater Orlando Junior Golf Tour maintained their first round lead to capture the girls 13-15 age division by four strokes. Team members Samantha Marks, Cindy Feng and Simin Feng played a part in the team’s success with totals of 146-149 for each round.

TAMPA, FL – Raj Nahal defeated Chris Kennedy 1- up in the final match to win the 16th Amateur Match Play Championship at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach on August 9-12.

After wining five matches each, Nahal, of Eustis, and Kennedy, from Bradenton, met in the finals of the 2007 Championship.

“I was excited to play Chris since I knew him from junior golf,” said Nahal. “I knew it was going to be a good match.” Nahal, 19, a University of South Florida sophomore, took an early lead after making birdie on the second hole. “I made double on that hole twice this week so I just played it safe and hit the ball in the middle of the green,” said Nahal. “That gave me a lot of confidence.” Kennedy, an incoming freshman at University of North Florida, brought the match back to even with a par on #3. Nahal birdied the 5th hole and made par on the 6th hole to go 2-up. “I was just hitting the ball well and putting it in the fairway,” said Nahal. The match was all square after Kennedy birdied holes seven and 11. Nahal then went 2-up after Kennedy couldn’t get up and down and made two consecutive bogeys on holes 15 and 16. Nahal stuck to his game plan of “making pars and letting my opponent make the mistakes.” Kennedy narrowed the gap to one winning the 17th hole. On 18, Kennedy’s 15-foot birdie putt lipped out to give Nahal his first State Championship.

St. Augustine, FL - The World Golf Hall of Fame's fourth-annual Putting Championship will begin Saturday, August 25 and continue through the first two weekends in September. The tournament will take place at the World Golf Hall of Fame Putting Course at World Golf Village and will offer amateur golfers the opportunity to test their putting skills against other amateurs in Northeast Florida.

The Putting Championship will allow participants the chance to win more than $10,000 in prizes. Prizes include: golf for one year at World Golf Village courses and other Northeast Florida courses; one- week passes for the 2008 PLAYERS Championship; lessons for two at The TOUR Academy TPC Sawgrass; Wilson golf clubs; stay and play packages at the Renaissance Resort and Laterra Resort & Spa at the World Golf Village; PGA TOUR STOP gift certificates and golf at TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley course.

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL – The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, located next to the World Golf Hall of Fame and the St. Johns County Convention Center in St. Augustine, Florida, has captured Meetings & Conventions magazine’s prestigious “Gold Tee Award” for 2007. The highly respected award is given annually to the world’s finest golf resort properties, and this marks the third consecutive year that the 301-room resort has won the honor.

Winners of the Gold Tee Award were nominated and selected by the readers of the magazine based on the overall experience, including overall staff attitude, quality of guest service, range of recreation facilities, quality of the guest rooms and meeting facilities, proficiency of handling reservations, and availability of technical/support equipment. All winning golf properties will be highlighted in Meetings & Conventions’ special Golf Guide issue published in July.

Keith Fergus said he was inspired watching the movie “The Rookie” the night before he won the inaugural Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach. In the movie, high school baseball coach Jim Morris (played by Dennis Quaid), takes one last whirl at the big eagues with his 95 mile-an-hour fastball.

Fergus, who coached golf at the University of Houston, and is called “coach” by everyone he knows, just channel-surfed and caught the movie right when one of the players said, “Coach, it’s your time.” It was his time, for Fergus in winning his first Champions Tour event, and for developer Bobby Ginn, who’d dreamed of hosting an event on the First Coast since his arrival in the early ‘90s.

The question around Jacksonville has been–where can golfers go in one stop and get everything they need? The best lessons, equipment, and fitting available under one roof.

Great Golf Learning Center, formerly located at the beach has relocated is operation inside Jacksonville’s #1 and largest golf retail store, Edwin Watts Golf located at the southwest corner of I-95 and Butler Blvd.

Great Golf Learning Center is Jacksonville’s largest indoor training center using laser and video feedback. Their goal is to provide the golfer with knowledge, feedback and the ability to solve their swing problems.

Clyde and Libby Wilkes own and operate their helicopter business in Fernandina Beach, FL. It is not uncommon to hear the whir of helicopter blades over Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport as Clyde instructs his many students to be private pilots, or tearn commercial, instrument or other helicopter certificates and ratings.However, it was in early 2005 that they realized that there was a need for golf course owners and other land developers to be able to see their property from the air and that there was no other aircraft better suited than a helicopter to fly low and slow and obtain those special close in views.

How do you compete with the “Big Boys” of the golf equipment industry, who have many years head start in marketing and manufacturing, not to mention deep, deep pockets to fund their ventures? Two veterans of the front lines of the golf industry wars, Richard Merk and Bret Larsen are trying to do it in a revolutionary way, one club at a time, one charity tournament at a time with their launch of Upswing Golf early this year.Merk, a former member of the senior executive teams at TaylorMade and then Callaway, and Larsen, a former VP of Manufacturing and then Golf Club Development at Callaway, have come together to try to bring the “average” golfer access to top quality equipment without the expense the “brand name” companies tack on to their clubs for marketing, advertising and endorsements.

The Rosewood model at Eagle Landing is an upscale, luxurious home within a spacious master-planned community. The home gives residents plenty of living space with 5,128 square-feet, five bedrooms, and four-and-a-half baths. Buyers will enjoy spacious master suites on both levels, a bonus room, media room and game room.

An outdoor summer kitchen with a stacked fireplace makes entertaining even more enjoyable. The centerpiece of Eagle Landing is the Clyde Johnston-designed 18-hole course that promises to be one of the best in the area. Six sets of tees, from youth to championship tees, allow the course to play as easy or as difficult as desired.

Hampton Golf Clubs is proud of their relationship with LandMar Group, LLC. Their commitment to excellence in creating communities that live is matched by Hampton Golf’s desire to make each golf experience as great as the game itself! From the time yoe arrive at the bag drop, until the time you leave the parking lot, you are our first priority at Hampton Golf. The Team Members take pride in their role and are committed to bringing you innovative services (cold towels on hot summer days, shoe shining, club cleaning and car detailing) and the following original programs: