AJGA Blog

News & Notes: AJGA Girls Championship

By: Alexis Witman & Stephanie Dittmer, AJGA Communications

TWITTER FRENZY: At the Players Meeting on Friday night, Tournament Director Julie Kickbusch challenged the girls in attendance to use the AJGA’s Twitter hashtag for the event, #AJGAGirls, when they were talking about or posting pictures of the event. During the tournament weekend, girls posted photos with Nancy Lopez, chatted about clothing choices for the final round and broadcast their scores. Check out their conversations here.

PB&J: Tournament Co-Chairman Scott Hipp prepares infamous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the field every night and hands them out the next day to girls making the turn. Mrs. Hipp has a special strategy in preparing over 90 sandwiches a day – mixing the peanut butter and jelly in a bowl together before putting it on the bread.

A LEGEND IN OUR MIDST: On Saturday night, Nancy Lopez was honored with the 2012 Betsy Rawls Award. The Betsy Rawls Award is given in honor of great service, dedication, and contribution to women’s golf. Past honorees include; Betsy Rawls, Betsy King and Cindy Davis.

Nancy Lopez started playing golf at the age of eight and turned professional following her sophomore year of college. During her rookie year, Ms. Lopez won nine events, including five consecutive wins, and took home both the Player of the Year and Vare trophies. During her career, Ms. Lopez earned an astounding 48 LPGA victories and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame. In 1990, Ms. Lopez competed in the inaugural Solheim Cup for the U.S. Team, and in 2009, captained the victorious United States team in the PING Junior Solheim Cup.

During Saturday’s Betsy Rawls Legacy Dinner, Ms. Lopez shared stories spanning from the beginning of her career to more recent accomplishments with the PING Junior Solheim Cup. Following the dinner, Ms. Lopez took the time to take photos and sign autographs with much of the field and their families.

Sunday afternoon, Ms. Lopez addressed the field, their families, and many Greenville community members in a clinic held at Furman Golf Club. Ms. Lopez shared about the importance of practice, school, and keeping a positive mentality as you play the game.

Look through photos of Nancy’s visit to the AJGA Girls Championship on our Facebook page.

FUTURE TIGERS: Four players in this week’s field; Jessica Hoang, Ashlan Ramsey, Sloan Shanahan, and McKenzie Talbert have committed to continuing their careers just 45 minutes down the road from the tournament site at Clemson University. All four players could be spotted proudly wearing the Tiger’s orange and white during their rounds.

CONTINUING CAREERS: 20 of the 78 girls in the field have already verbally committed or signed National Letter of Intents to play college golf around the country. University’s represented include: University of Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Michigan State. Over 25 university and college coaches took to the Furman Golf Club course during the tournament rounds to scout for future members to add to their teams.

News and Notes: Woodward Video Junior at The Greenbrier

By Amanda Herrington and Colvin Hedgepeth, AJGA Communications

The Woodward Video Junior at The Greenbrier is a 54-hole stroke play competition played on the par-70 Meadows Course at The Greenbrier. The event features 99 boys and 33 girls, ages 12-18, from 24 states and two countries. The Boys Division played the course at 6,607 yards while the Girls Division played the course at 5,871 yards.

KING OF THE HILL

Hill Herrick, Head Golf Professional at The Greenbrier

The Greenbrier has seen many traditions, including the 29-year tenure of Hill Herrick, head golf professional at The Greenbrier. Herrick, who casually throws around terms such as “dragon’s teeth” and “punchbowls” to describe the unique features of the courses at The Greenbrier, has shared a part of golf history and experienced the modern age of grandstands and reality television, Big Break Greenbrier will air on the Golf Channel next month, unfold on the game.

“I’ve met thousands of guests and had the chance to be associated with maybe the most famous amateur, Billy Campbell, and the most famous golf professional, Sam Snead,“ Herrick said. “Golf is a very historical game so to hear all of Sam’s great stories, and talk to those people who played with Bobby Jones and all these famous golfers from 100 years ago, it’s a really neat thing.”

The AJGA is part of Herrick’s story as well, as Herrick and AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin were teammates at Michigan State. With stops made by the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour, Herrick welcomes the AJGA as a premier golf organization.

“There’s not a lot of difference,” said Herrick, who has seen five years of AJGA play at The Greenbrier. “It’s amazing how good theses players are.”

HANDFUL OF HISTORY

The golf shop at The Greenbrier is home to many pieces of golf history, while the greens hold memories of legendary golf.

- While the AJGA teed off on The Meadows Course, three other courses make up The Greenbrier, including the private Fazio-designed Snead Course, The Greenbrier Course and The Old White TPC.

- Woodrow Wilson was one of the first golfers to play The Old White in April 1914.

- Built in 1924, The Greenbrier Course was renovated by Jack Nicklaus in 1977, in preparation for the 1979 Ryder Cup.

- Host of the 1979 Ryder Cup and 1994 Solheim Cup, making The Greenbrier the first of only two locations to have hosted both the Ryder and Solheim Cups. (Muirfield Village accomplished this feat in 1998).

- In 1994, The Greenbrier named Sam Snead as Golf Professional Emeritus, a position he held until his death in 2002. Tom Watson continued the tradition and is the current Golf Professional Emeritus. Memorabilia of Sam Snead and Tom Watson line the halls of the golf shop.

- Countdown clocks can be seen throughout the resort, counting down the seconds to the 2013 Greenbrier Classic. At time of post, the clock reads 301 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes,27 seconds.

 

The Old White TPC, one of The Greenbrier’s three championship courses, was designed by Jack Nicklaus.

IN THE BUNKER

Bunkers usually conjure a negative nuance in the context of golf; once a ball is discovered in the despised sand, shoulders instantly shrug and frustration leaks from the affected player. At The Greenbrier, the term ignites a new meaning beyond an undesirable course element. The government created The Bunker as a confidential safe haven for Congressional royalty in case of a nuclear attack; the bunker is wedged within the hillside of The Greenbrier’s West Virginia Wing. In 1992, the refuge was decommissioned after the secret spilled outside the mountain valleys. Now, the Bunker is a prized attraction of America’s Resort, providing guests the chance to tour war history buried beneath the Appalachian Mountains.

The Junior PLAYERS in the Twitterverse

By Chris Richards, AJGA Communications

Professional caddies and access to the TPC Sawgrass TOUR locker rooms are part of recreating THE PLAYERS experience. All 78 players were granted the use of lockers used by a pro at the 2012 PLAYERS Championship, and for Grant Hirschman, his PLAYERS experience also included an interaction with his locker-mate Trevor Immelman.

 

Federico fights back

By Chris Richards, AJGA Communications

For Italy’s Federico Zucchetti, Saturday started with two steps backwards. Fortunately for him, he rebounded and ended up taking 27 steps forward.

After hitting his opening tee shot out of bounds on No. 10, a double bogey marked the start of his round on Dye’s Valley Course. Next came the most difficult par 3, the 227-yard 11th, which on the day yielded just five birdies, one of which was made by Federico.

The comeback continued on No. 12, where he holed his approach shot with his pitching wedge from 105 meters (or, as we say in America, 115 yards). Suddenly, 2-over became 1-under. Three more birdies and zero bogeys followed, and the result was a 4-under-par 66 and an improvement of 27 spots on the leaderboard.

“It’s not easy because after a double-bogey, you get upset,” said Federico, who is tied for seventh at 1-over-par. “I hit a very good shot on 11 and then I made 2 on No. 12, so it was easy for me to keep moving ahead.”

Making his AJGA debut this week, Federico said that the strength and diversity of the field have impressed him the most.

“In Europe we play a lot of tournaments, but it’s all European players,” said Federico, whose last start in the States was the Dixie Amateur last December. “Here, we have European guys, American guys, and it’s great.”

A different kind of cookout

Morgan Seeley, AJGA Communications

At the end of a round juniors can always be found on the driving range, but at this year’s Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf, juniors spent their evening a little differently. Juniors spent their Friday evening with the athletes from The Golf for Autism Summer Camps presented by Help Us Golf (HUG) and Healing Every Autistic Life (HEAL), and Special Olympics Area 5.

Fourteen athletes from HUG/HEAL and almost half of the field came out to show off their skills, competing in chipping, putting and “Big Break” challenges. Each athlete was paired with a group of juniors where they competed in teams and learned a few new tricks.

In attendance was junior Matt Gilchrest of Southlake, Texas, who particularly appreciates the relationship they build with the HUG/HEAL athletes.

“It is an awesome experience to share what we love with what they love,” Gilchrest said. “We make a special bond, doing what we both enjoy, especially if we can help them get better at it. All around it is just a great experience.”

This mindset of sharing is seen in the other juniors like Michael Pisciotta of Alpharetta, Ga. Pisciotta would like to see these activities at all Invitationals because of the feeling the juniors get from participating.

“It is really nice to just have fun with the HUG/HEAL athletes and treat them like they aren’t any different,” Pisciotta said. “I wish that we had events like this at every Invitational. I think a lot more juniors come to these events because it makes you feel great.”

With the array of things that make this tournament exceptional for the juniors, Gilchrest hopes that they are able to give the HUG/HEAL athletes the same experience.

“You see a lot of them celebrate and put their arms up in the air, it is just a great moment,” Gilchrest said. “It makes the event even more special, and turns the focus from how special they make it for us to how special we make it for other people. We want to give them the same feeling we get coming to this event at their own event.”