Gary Finishes 2nd at Greater Tampa Junior Golf Association Event at West Chase

Gary and his Number One Coach (His Dad) on the practice tee.


A couple of spiffy dressers, first Place Jacob Fleck and second place Gary Buffington

Gary finished second by one shot to Jacob Fleck in the GTJGA tournament at West Chase in Tampa. Starting with a double bogie six (blew his first drive into the middle of a lake) followed by two bogies on the next two holes, Gary hung tight to finish second. He shot 41 on the front and 37 on the back. He was five shots behind second place at the turn. This was another demonstration of his ability to come back and to never, ever give up. As he describes it, he has amnesia for bad holes! We were present for this tournament and are very proud of his toughness, although I did tell him it is better not to make a habit of having to make these great comebacks!

Third Place at State Junior Team Championship (click)

Gary shot five under par today and Charles shot even par as the Emerald Greens Junior Team finished third in the Florida State Golf Association Junior Team Championship.

Gary, and two friends Charles Silverfield and Skyler Estes teamed up at Orange Lake Resort near Orlando, Florida. They are representing their country club as the "Emerald Greens Junior Program (boys)" Team.

Skyler Estes was forced to withdraw after 12 holes on the first day from heat exhaustion. After forcing fluids and cooling under air conditioning Skyler was reported to be doing fine but unable to continue.

On day one Gary shot 73 and Charles shot 74 for a 147 total and a tie for 7th. The tournament scoring is the low two scores of a three person team for each day so Charles and Gary went it alone on Sunday.

Charles was well under par for much of the day and finished even. Gary had three birdies on the front to shoot two under. And then he birdied ten, eleven, and twelve with nice putts and then chipped in on sixteen for a total of seven birdies on the day. He had an unplayable lie penalty on 14 for a bogey (and a three putt on number six for his other bogey).

Gary's statistics for the day are as follows: Fairways-13; Greens-14; Birdies-7; Bogeys-2; Others-0; Putts-27; Penalty Strokes-1; 3-Putts-1; length of putts made-"a mile."

The 67 was tied for low round of the tournament and brought him to third medalist of the tournament. This tournament is used by the national junior golf rankings, and scoring average in tournament play is a large part of the rankings. See the two main ranking systems at the following links: National Junior Golf Scoreboard and Golf Week Junior Golf Rankings.

Click any of the highlights above for further information including an in depth study of the effects of heat.

22nd of 85 at USGA Amateur Qualifier (Click for leaderboard)

Gary shot one over par 73 and finished 22nd of 85 players at the US Amateur qualifier at Avila Country Club in Tampa. Today's fellow competitors were: former University of Florida Star (just graduated) Toby Ragland and University of Tulsa Star Ville Vaisanen (from Finland) each of whom shot 71. Gary, a rising junior at Chamberlain High School in Tampa, held his own in this adult competition. Toby has elected to not turn professional at this time and has signed as the new Assistant Golf Coach at the University of Central Florida (The Knights).

Gary's statistics for today's round were: 11 fairways, 11 greens, 30 putts, no penalty strokes (no water!), no bunkers, 3 up and downs (of 7), 2 birdies, and 3 bogeys. Gary's shot of the day was a 116 yard second shot off hard dirt under low hanging branches over water to an elevated green to 20 feet from the hole (against his caddy's advice!).

Warm-up at Avila

This was a great competition to test 16 year old Gary's golf progress. The "Amateur" has no age limits. A player must be a certified amateur of any age. Most all college stars and many former pros compete with many graduating college stars holding off professional competition to give the US Amateur one more try. A former "Amateur" winner gets many endorsements when turning professional.

This was the first event Gary played that allowed a caddy. I (the Grandpa) caddied with a cart for both days. It was a wonderful experience. How else could a doting grandpa get to spend time with a highly skilled grandson at a game we both love. It was too bad his father couldn't have had the job (working as Edwin Watts Golf Shop District Manager). He would have done a much better job. Jim Ragland caddied for his son, but it was a different story. Jim, in every way the gentleman, is a former professional player and as much as we study the game, some of their esoteric language wasn't even understood by me. Jim was able to read putts and advise Toby where the ball should enter the hole ("It should roll in at 4:30!) when I didn't know a right breaker from a left. But I did know the following (Thanks to Dave Pelz): 1) The line from ball to hole is not necessarily the target line, 2) make a decision for the target line, 3) line up with and putt on that target line, 4) keep the blade square to the target line, 5) hit the ball in the sweet spot. Gary did all day, and played like the champion he is.

Gary Shoots 78 in US Amateur Qualifier

On the 7000 yard Avila Country Club Course Gary shot 78 and is tied for 28th of 85 players in Amateur Qualifying after the first of two days of stroke play. Avila is a beautiful private club in Tampa and has Fred McGriff, Derek Jeter, and Wade Boggs as members.

As Gary told one of his friends, he started out leading the tournament on the first hole and last place on the second hole! He started birdie quadruple bogey. And then he proceeded to double his sixth hole (hole #15) and shoot a six over par 42 on the first nine. Then showing his usual grit and determination he played the second nine in even par 36 for the 78 with two more birdies and one double bogey. On the day he had four birdies, 27 putts, and hit 9 fairways and 10 greens. He had 3 penalty strokes (all water), and 5 (of 8) up and downs including one sandy.

Amateur qualifying is interesting in that mostly high ranking college players are entered. So today it was Gary (a rising high school Junior) against a University of West Florida golfer Jordan Rizzo (freshman this year but wears the hat now) and a Tulsa golfer Ville Vaisanen, from Finland. Years ago the USGA added a "Mid-Amateur" in which players had to be 25 or older. This eliminated the college players and the "soon to be pros" from the US Amateur Championship. However, it seems to have relegated the US Amateur to the college crowd. I was proud of Gary hanging in after a disastrous front nine and shooting a respectable score.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Tie for 66th at Optimist Junior World Championships

In the photo Grandma Millie has Gary try on a pair of John Daly's Loudmouth Slacks at the PGA National Golf Shop. Gary didn't buy although Grandma encouraged him to do so and may have bought them for his birthday. If he wears them we hope he chooses a different shirt!


Gary shot a nice three over par 75 on the Palmer Course at the PGA National Resort to finish in a tie for 66th in the Optimist Junior World Championships out of 141 players from 25 states and 22 foreign countries. Click here for the full scoreboard. Today's three over round included 15 pars and 3 bogeys. He missed the cut of the low fifty players (and ties) by 3 shots.

Today's fellow competitors James Bramlett of North Carolina shot 78 and Kevin Clarke of Virginia shot 79.

Today's statistics are as follows: 11 fairways, 9 greens, and 30 putts. Today there were no fairway bunkers, no penalty shots, and no 3 putts. His final score of 77, 80, and 75 (232) was three off the cut line of the low fifty players (229).

Gary showed he can hold his own with international competition. His ball striking was well above the average. If just a few putts had fallen he would have been easily within the top 30 or 40 players.

Tonight there was a presentation by the Academic Adviser of the David Ledbetter Academy on strategies for moving on to college golf. This is a good tournament with great competition, fun activities, camaraderie, and educational opportunity. Thanks to the Optimist Clubs and great volunteers.

Next week Gary will enter USGA Amateur qualifying at Avila Country Club in Tampa. This is a two day event and Grandpa Gary with help from Grandma Millie will be the caddy (with a cart!). Grandpa has already been informed he will not be reading putts!

Tied for 86th after day two of Optimist Junior World

Gary shot an 80 on the second day of the Optimist Junior World Championships on the Champions Course at PGA National at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Starting on # 10 he shot 42 and 38 on each nine. He hit seven fairways, ten greens and had 34 putts with three 3-putts. He was in five fairway bunkers and two green-side bunkers (both on the same hole where he made his only double bogey!). He had one birdie on his 17th hole, hole eight.

Today's fellow competitors Brad Cadigan and Chase Bryant (from Massachusetts and Oklahoma) shot 75 and 81. The scores of the whole field are available by clicking here. Having played the first two days on the Champions Course, home of the PGA Honda Classic, tomorrow he plays the third round on the Palmer course which is said to be somewhat easier with lower slope, higher rating, and more sinkable putts. The putting stroke looks good but the putts aren't falling. We hope a change of course will help. He needs to shoot near par tomorrow to make the cut of low fifty players and ties for Sunday's final round.

Tonight the tournament had a long drive contest and a "night glow" putting contest. These are social events for all the players both boys and girls.
The long drive contest was won by a Canadian Boy who hit his drive 320 yards--a screaming low trajectory hook that sent the measuring crew rapidly back down the fairway! Second place was 302 yards. The Girls contest had a winner of 264 yards.

Gary Tied For 68th after Day one of World Tournament

At the Optimist Junior World Championships (click) Gary is tied for 68th (of 144 golfers from 25 states and 23 countries) after shooting a first round 77 on the Champions Course of the PGA National Golf Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This is the home course of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic.

The full first day scores are available by clicking this link.

Statistics: Gary hit six fairways, thirteen greens, and had 35 putts with one three putt. Of his 13 birdie putts he had five lip outs and no birdies. He had thirteen pars and five bogeys in a great round of consistent and controlled golf. He played the famed "Bear Trap" holes 15, 16, and 17 in even par with missed eight and ten foot birdie putts.

His two fellow competitors from Chile and Massachusetts shot 74 and 80.

His two best shots of the day were the following: 1) tee shot on the Bear Trap #17 (175 yards over water to a green 70% surrounded by water) over the stick to eight feet past. He lipped out the birdie putt; and 2) A 113 yard shot from the down hill slope of a fairway bunker at number 18 to ten feet short of the pin. He lipped out this ten foot putt.

Tomorrow he goes off number ten at the Champions Course followed by a round on Saturday on the Palmer course. On Sunday there is a cut to the low 50 and ties who play the final round on the Champions Course.