My grandpa and grandma took me to the 34th annual Don McNab Junior Tournament in Palatka, Florida, some 150 miles north of Tampa. This was a two day event over July 24-25, 2008, with Junior players in three age groups--12-13; 15-16; and 17-18. On Wednesday we played a practice round. I took notes.
The course is the Palatka City Golf Course, par 36-34, and measures about 6200 yards--another short course with Bermuda fairways and greens and a 1925 Donald Ross design.
The big news at the course was that Greg Norman flew his helicopter in to bring his son to the Azalea Golf Tournament (an adult tournament) last month landing on the course. Everyone said Greg was a nice guy and his son finished in the middle of the pack. After that, all of Palatka rooted for Greg in the British Open. You can read more about the course at the following link: http://www.palatkagolfclub.com/upcoming%20events.htm
I shot 74 the first day and was in second place in my age group behind Alex Perkins who shot 73. I played with Roman Cenizal, & Kelly Allen (78) from Jacksonville, and Matt King from St. Augustine.
It was a good group of guys who hit some great shots. It was hot and we drank a lot of stuff.
We stayed at the Quality Inn on the St. John's River which is about a half mile wide and flows north to Jacksonville. Grandpa says only five rivers flow north and then wants the names! (St. Johns, New, Amazon, Nile, and another one.) There were supposed to be Manatees and alligators, but we didn't see any. We ate at a great restaurant on the river and then had a good nights sleep.
The second day it was blazing hot at over 90 with high humidity and bright sunshine. My kind of weather (with sunscreen). We were allowed a caddy so grandpa hauled the bag in a cart. The pro Mr. Spanky Aaron said the caddy rules were the same as the PGA. He said, "The caddy could do anything but hit the shot!" Grandpa told Mr. Aaron I didn't want him hitting any of my shots--which I didn't say, but was true!
On Friday we were regrouped and I went off in the final group with Kelly Allen (78), Emmanuel (Nico) Pagkanlungan (76) from Naples, FL, & Alex Perkins (from Jacksonville) the leader with 73.
I shot the lowest score on the second day (75) and won over Nico by three shots. Alex got third. I shot 39 (three over) on the front and 36 (two over) on the back. At the turn Alex and Niko were only one shot back. I was even par on the back through 15 but then realizing I had a four shot lead I played conservatively and boggied the 16th and the 18th. There was no need for any chance at big numbers on those troublesome holes. I got another nice trophy.
Tomorrow grandpa and grandma go home to Pensacola and my Mom and Dad and I go to Disney World for the state Father-Child team championships. Two years ago Dad and I won our age group in the Father-Child and were state champs. We lost last year.
Many of these tournaments are nationally ranked by The National Junior Golf Scoreboard. You can check rankings at the following URL:http://www.njgs.com/
The course is the Palatka City Golf Course, par 36-34, and measures about 6200 yards--another short course with Bermuda fairways and greens and a 1925 Donald Ross design.
The big news at the course was that Greg Norman flew his helicopter in to bring his son to the Azalea Golf Tournament (an adult tournament) last month landing on the course. Everyone said Greg was a nice guy and his son finished in the middle of the pack. After that, all of Palatka rooted for Greg in the British Open. You can read more about the course at the following link: http://www.palatkagolfclub.com/upcoming%20events.htm
I shot 74 the first day and was in second place in my age group behind Alex Perkins who shot 73. I played with Roman Cenizal, & Kelly Allen (78) from Jacksonville, and Matt King from St. Augustine.
It was a good group of guys who hit some great shots. It was hot and we drank a lot of stuff.
We stayed at the Quality Inn on the St. John's River which is about a half mile wide and flows north to Jacksonville. Grandpa says only five rivers flow north and then wants the names! (St. Johns, New, Amazon, Nile, and another one.) There were supposed to be Manatees and alligators, but we didn't see any. We ate at a great restaurant on the river and then had a good nights sleep.
The second day it was blazing hot at over 90 with high humidity and bright sunshine. My kind of weather (with sunscreen). We were allowed a caddy so grandpa hauled the bag in a cart. The pro Mr. Spanky Aaron said the caddy rules were the same as the PGA. He said, "The caddy could do anything but hit the shot!" Grandpa told Mr. Aaron I didn't want him hitting any of my shots--which I didn't say, but was true!
On Friday we were regrouped and I went off in the final group with Kelly Allen (78), Emmanuel (Nico) Pagkanlungan (76) from Naples, FL, & Alex Perkins (from Jacksonville) the leader with 73.
I shot the lowest score on the second day (75) and won over Nico by three shots. Alex got third. I shot 39 (three over) on the front and 36 (two over) on the back. At the turn Alex and Niko were only one shot back. I was even par on the back through 15 but then realizing I had a four shot lead I played conservatively and boggied the 16th and the 18th. There was no need for any chance at big numbers on those troublesome holes. I got another nice trophy.
Tomorrow grandpa and grandma go home to Pensacola and my Mom and Dad and I go to Disney World for the state Father-Child team championships. Two years ago Dad and I won our age group in the Father-Child and were state champs. We lost last year.
Many of these tournaments are nationally ranked by The National Junior Golf Scoreboard. You can check rankings at the following URL:http://www.njgs.com/
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