Notebook: New event added to pre-tournament festivities
8/1/2004A new event - a pro-am tournament involving high school girl golfers - has been added to the early-week schedule for the 2004 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
The nine-hole Pepsi Junior Pro-Am will be staged tomorrow at Highland Meadows Golf Club, starting at 3 p.m.
The event features 44 girls representing more than 20 area high schools. There will be 11 foursomes, each made up of four prep players and an LPGA professional, competing in a scramble format.
"I'm really excited about this new event," said Judd Silverman, the Farr Classic's tournament director. "I think it will be a wonderful experience for high school players to be inside the ropes of a tour event playing with an LPGA pro."
Silverman said some parents and friends of the competing players have agreed to pay a $100 fee to caddie, with all that money going to the Jamie Farr scholarship fund. The local Pepsi bottlers have pledged to match whatever amount is raised through caddie fees.
THE CELEBS: Singer Huey Lewis, actor Patrick Duffy, and game show host Chuck Woolery are first-time celebrities who will take part in Farr Classic events this year.
Huey Lewis & The News, with album sales of more than 12 million, will entertain at the pre-tournament gala dinner and show sponsored by ALLTEL on Tuesday evening at the SeaGate Centre. Comedian Tom Dreesen will also perform before an expected 2,000 guests.
Actor Ron Masak, Detroit Red Wings star Darren McCarty and Toledoan Jim Jackson, an NBA player and local businessman, will also take part in celebrity events along with tournament host Jamie Farr.
On-course events featuring one or more of the celebrities include tomorrow's Mercy Health Partners/Medical Mutual of Ohio pro-am starting at 8 a.m. at Highland Meadows; the Toledo Edison/Pro Medica Health System pro-am on Tuesday at Inverness Club; the Dana Celebrity/Pro Challenge at Highland Meadows Tuesday at 3 p.m., and the McDonald Financial Group/Key Bank Celebrity pro-am at the Meadows all day Wednesday.
The tentative team pairings for the Dana Celebrity/Pro Challenge include Masak with pro Lorena Ochoa, McCarty with Laura Diaz, Jackson with Jennifer Rosales, Woolery with Dottie Pepper, Dreesen with Beth Bauer, Duffy with Kelli Kuehne, Lewis with Karen Stupples, and Dana CEO Michael Burns with Kris Tschetter.
That six-hole event will played over holes 10-14 and No. 18.
QUALIFIER SITE: Because of the addition of the Pepsi Junior Pro-Am, the LPGA qualifier normally held on Monday afternoon of tournament week at Highland Meadows will instead be held tomorrow at Sylvania Country Club. The first tee time is scheduled for 11 a.m.
An undetermined number of players will compete for two available berths in the Farr Classic.
Among them will be two amateurs invited to qualify by the Farr's board of directors. They are Heather Zielinski, a Toledoan whose family belongs to Highland Meadows and who finished second in the recent Ohio Women's Amateur, and University of Toledo standout Breanne Hall.
COLLEGE STARS: Two college golfers, Brittany Lang of Duke University and Charlotte Mayorkas of UCLA, have accepted invitations to play in the Farr Classic as sponsor exemptions.
Currently ranked as the No. 2 women's amateur in the nation, Lang recently shot a tournament-record 66 en route to capturing the 2004 Women's Trans Amateur title. She also is the reigning champion of the Women's Western Open and the North-South Amateur at Pinehurst, N.C. A member of the 2004 U.S. Curtis Cup team, she also was the qualifying medalist in the recent U.S. Women's Public Links Championship.
Mayorkas finished fourth individually as a junior while leading UCLA to the NCAA women's team championship. She is ranked No. 4 among the nation's female college golfers.
2004 CHARITIES: The Farr Classic's permanent charities, the Ronald McDonald House and the Jamie Farr Scholarship Fund, will be joined by five others that have been designated to receive proceeds from this year's tournament. The Farr Classic has raised more than $4.4 million for local children's charities during its previous 19 years.
This year's beneficiaries include the Children's Rights Council of Northwest Ohio, the Girls Scouts of Maumee Valley Council, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Catholic Club and the Toledo Day Nursery.
JUNIOR CHAMP: Elizabeth Slusher, who will be a junior at Whitmer High, earned a $1,000 scholarship for her win in the recent Jamie Farr Classic Junior Girls Amateur held at the Detwiler Park golf course. Slusher will receiver her trophy as part of the 18th green ceremonies following the conclusion of next Sunday's final round of the Farr Classic.
The top-five finishers in both flights of the Junior Girls Amateur:
Gold Flight: 1. Elizabeth Slusher, Toledo, 77-79-156; 2. Angela Sparagowski, Sylvania, 86-75-161; 3. Bree Kiel, Sylvania, 80-83-163; 4. Alyssa Shimel, Perrysburg, 83-82-165; 5. Hilary Braun, Holland, 83-83-166.
Silver Flight: 1. Kaendall McVicker, Temperance, 97-91-188; 2. Jackie Stamp, Sylvania, 97-96-193; 3. Simone Short, Toledo, 92-102-194; 4. Claire Hamner, Sylvania, 95-100-195; 5. Alaine Costille, Whitehouse, 96-101-197.