Wake Forest Athletics
Monday Morning Golf Report
1/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Jan. 11, 2010
The PGA Tour's 2010 season got underway last week as Geoff Ogivly won the SBS Championship on the island of Maui. This week, the tour holds its first full-field event at the Sony Open and former Deacons Bill Haas and Webb Simpson are both in the field.
Haas had his second-straight season of over $1 million in earnings in 2009, finishing 61st on the money list with just over $1.4 million. He made 16 cuts last season with four top-10s. His best finish came at the Valero Texas Open in May where he had a share of the lead late in the back nine on Sunday only to finish in a tie for third.
Simpson had a tremendous rookie campaign in 2009, finishing 70th on the money list with over $1.2 million in earnings. It was his start last year that jump-started his season as he finished tied for ninth at the Sony Open and tied for fifth at the Bob Hop Classic the following week. He also picked-up a pair of top-10s later in the season at the Barclays (8th) and the Turning Stone Resort Championship (T7th).
After the Sony Open this week, the Tour will head to the mainland for the Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, Calif., next week and the San Diego Open the following week.
Billy Andrade was also seen strolling the fairways last year on the PGA Tour but this year he'll be covering the action for the Golf Channel.
Wake Forest will once again have a strong contingent on the Champions Tour led by Jay Haas. Haas had 11 top-10s in 21 events last season including back-to-back wins at the Greater Hickory Classic and the Senior Players Championship. He made over $1.75 million in 2009 and will be in contention for the Charles Schwab Cup again in 2010.
Scott Hoch and Gary Hallberg also had good seasons in 2009 and look poised for another strong year in 2010. Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins, Joe Inman, Jay Sigel and Leonard Thompson will also be in action this season on the senior circuit.
The Champions Tour will hold its first event on Jan. 22-24, at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
Kyle Reifers had a productive year on the Nationwide Tour last season. Even though he didn't earn his PGA Tour card, he did qualify for the Tour Championship and earned full-time status in 2010. He will be joined on the Tour by former Deacs Len Mattiace and Ron Whittaker. The 2010 Nationwide Tour schedule is not yet complete but should start sometime in February.
The LPGA Tour will have a number of fresh faces this year and one of those belongs to 2009 graduate Nannette Hill. Hill made it through LPGA Q-School in his first try this past December and will get to play a number of events this year. She also has full-time status on the DURAMED Futures Tour after finishing 10th at that tour's qualifying tournament.
Laura Diaz has been the Deacons' lone representative on the LPGA Tour in the past years. Despite not having the most successful 2009 campaign, the former All-American is enjoying some time off as she awaits the birth of her second child in early February. She plans to rejoin the Tour later in the spring.
After opening with a pair of tournaments in Singapore and Thailand in February, the first scheduled event for the LPGA Tour here in the States is the LPGA Classic on March 25-28, in Carlsbad, Calif.
Closer to home, the EGolf Professional Tour, which used to be the Tar Heel Tour, will feature a handful of former Deacons. Doug Manchester, Cortland Lowe, Chad Wilfong and Michael Capone will all compete at some point on the tour. The EGolf Tour features 18 events from February through October and all events are within driving distance of Charlotte, NC. The first scheduled event is at the Palmetto Hall Golf Club in Hilton Head, SC, on Feb. 17-20.
Current senior Dolores White enjoyed a good run at the Harder Hall Women's Invitational last week. She held a share of both the 36 and 54-hole leads after starting with rounds of 70-69-74. Despite finishing with an 82 in very harsh conditions on Saturday, White finished tied for ninth. The Harder Hall is a prestigious women's amateur event played yearly in Sebring, Fla. Some of the past winners include Carol Semple Thompson, Christie Kerr, Beth Bauer, Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressell and Stacey Lewis.
On the men's side, senior Brendan Gielow is playing this week in Melbourne, Australia, at the 2010 NEC Master of the Amateurs. He received an invitation by virtue of his Porter Cup victory last summer. The event is being held at the world famous Yarra Yarra Golf Club on Melbourne's legendary sandbelt.
Gielow opened the event with a round of 2-over 74 on Monday and is currently tied for 15th. The 2010 NEC Master of the Amateurs Green Jacket Champion will receive an exemption into the 2010 Porter Cup, the Players Amateur, the Dogwood Invitational, and the British Amateur Championship.
Players Mentioned
