Saturday, November 7, 2009

Tie for 11 at The Optimist Junior Tournament of Champions

On November 7-8, 2009, in Winter Garden Florida at Orange County National on the Crooked Cat Course the Optimist Clubs held there second major tournament of the year. This is one of several junior tournaments considered "Majors." Gary shot an opening round of +4 76 on day one to tie for 17 of 60 invited players. Today he shot -2 (34) on the front side and moved as high as 6th. He finished with a +1 (73) and tied for 11th. There were players form 7 foreign countries, two Canadian Provinces, and 14 states. They played the 6900 yard championship course where the rating is 73.7 and the slope is 132.  This was tough playing on a difficult course against top competition, and both days had significant wind.  Here is the link to the final scoreboard: Orange County National Crooked Cat  
Next up are tournaments around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Gary Finishes Tied for Fifth at Regionals Golf; Chamberlain Fails to Advance

Chamberlain Junior Gary and Riverview senior star Ian McConnell (committed to Liberty University Golf) were tied for the lead in the clubhouse with nice rounds of 76 at the tough Summerfield Crossings Golf Course. It is Ian's home course, the home course of his Riverview High Team, and he is the club champion. It must have been difficult as they waited more than two hours for the finish of other players knowing they had done their best and only time would tell the outcome. Word spread that Paul Demick of Wharton had played the front nine in two under 34 and Logan Hand of East Lake had shot 35.

In the end 76 was tied for fourth individual out of fifty players, but only the two low individual not on a team and the two low teams advance to the State finals. The low five scores of all players were 70, 73, 75, 76 and 76. The final advancing individual and team results were not available at the time of this writing but are available here online under Class 2A Region 4 Results, Boys.

The Chamberlain Team had a tough day at Regionals and will not advance.

It was a successful rebuilding season for Coach Bill Workman's squad with a very difficult beginning. Three experienced players from last year were lost from the team this season. One was disqualified in training season, one chose to do home schooling, and one transferred schools. We are proud of the team effort, and of Gary's success as District Champ.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Gary Wins Individual District Golf Championship; Chamberlain High School Finishes as Second Team

Today at Temple Terrace Golf Club in Tampa Gary won the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) District 10 (Tampa) Class 2A Championship with a score of 75. He was 3 shots clear of the second place finisher on a tough day of wind on a difficult course.

Here is a portion of the article from the "St. Petersburg Times" website:
TEMPLE TERRACE — It was hard to ascertain which was louder Tuesday afternoon: the yellow-and-black size 11 golf shoes on Chamberlain junior Gary Buffington's feet, or the statement he made with his putter.

On a bright day in which the chill in the air subsided but the wind never did, Buffington used his putter — not to mention course prudence — to win the Class 2A, District 10 tournament against a daunting field at Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club. Click here for the rest of the "St. Pete Times" article.

Here is a link to the other Tampa Bay Area newspaper article in the Tampa Bay Tribune.

Gary's Chamberlain High School team, which was seeded seventh, finished a spectacular second in the ten team district with teammate Ben Lagos shooting a career best score of 81. Jake Schuyler shot an 86 with a strong back nine of 41. Hunter Chewning came in at 87 and Jeff Anderson at 88 for a team total of 331. This was nine strokes behind first place Plant High School and seven strokes ahead of third place Gaither High School. All three schools will advance to the Regional Tournament next Monday (October 26). The other seven high school teams competing in the Florida Class 2A District 10 were: Alonso, Hillsborough, Jefferson, King, Leto, Sickles, and Tampa Bay Tech.

The three District 10 teams (Gaither, Plant, and Chamberlain) now advance to the Region 4 tournament at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club where they will compete against the top three teams from Districts 11 and 12. From the regional tournament the top two teams and the top two individuals not on a winning team will move on to the FHSAA championship on November 3-4 at Silver Springs Shores.

Chamberlain High Girls team member Mika Grant qualified as an individual for the Regional Girls Tournament with a score of 92. Her Chamberlain Girls Team did not finish in the top three so Mika will advance as an individual. Here is the article on the girls district tournament.

See the October 13 entry below for further playoff information and links to the FHSAA, and the golf courses for both the Regional and the State Tournaments.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Chamberlain High School Regular Golf Season Ends


Chamberlain High School Golf Team: Ben Lagos, Coach Bill Workman, Jake Schuyler, Andrew Hudson, Gary Buffington, Jeff Anderson, and Hunter Chewning. Not pictured are Billy Goldthorpe and Evan McCarl.

At MacDill Air Force Base Golf Course in Tampa (Central Command for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) Gary shot one under par 34 to tie for the match medalist honor in the last high school golf match of the 2009 season. His team finished second in the three team match with their lowest score of the season at 159. Several teammates shot their lowest scores of the season so they are rounding into shape for district, regional and state competition.

This year the team played 12 matches and Gary was low man for his team in all 12 and low man overall (won the match) in 8 of the 12 and finished second the other 4 with an overall stroke average of 36.83. Check his national ranking at this link.

Now the team will enter District 10, Region 4, and Florida State playoffs.

The District 10 Tournament will be 18 holes at Temple Terrace (click) on Tuesday October 20.

The Region 4 Tournament will be 18 holes at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club (click) on Monday October 26.

The Florida State Tournament will be November 3 and 4 at Silver Springs Shores (click), The Country Club, 565 Silver Road, Ocala, FL 34472.

Here are the FHSAA rules for post season play and advancement to state playoffs:

205.05 Advancement of Teams and Individuals.
(1) District Tournament to Regional Tournament. The top three lowest scoring teams and the top three lowest scoring individuals who are not members of the top three lowest scoring teams in district tournament shall advance to the regional tournament to which they are assigned. To be eligible for individual honors on the regional level a student-athlete shall compete for individual honors on the district level.
(2) Regional Tournament to FHSAA Finals. The first- and second-place teams and the two lowest-scoring individuals who are not members of the advancing teams in each regional tournament shall advance to the FHSAA Finals. The individuals must be within five (5) strokes of the lowest-scoring individual to advance.

Here is a link to the Florida High School Athletic Association site. Click here.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Tie for 20th at the Florida State Golf Association Rio Pinar Junior Classic (click for results)

Gary shot 76-75 to finish tied for 20th earning 40 FSGA points this week-end at Rio Pinar the long time site of the Citrus Open PGA tour event in the 1960's.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Gary Featured in Tampa Bay Tribune Article

Today he was featured in an article in the Tampa Tribune newspaper. Click Tampa Bay Tribune to review the article.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Gary Places Fifth in Living Fuel Junior Open on the Hurricane Tour

In a two day event in Tampa Gary was well off the lead after day one, was under par through eleven holes on day two and near the lead, but then faltered coming in to finish fifth. Click here for results.