Back to Blogging

I have not been a very good blogger, but will try to do better. With the website, facebook, twitter, and eblasts, there is not much time left to blog. This has been the busiest summer for the association and the MJGA. we will have 48 tournaments in 2010. We are spending a lot of time in the office in September. Which is nice, so we can get caught up. I will try some back blogging, but mostly doing a better job from here forth.

The USGA hosts the Biennial Men's State Team Championship. This year it is being played in Sonoma County in California at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa. The MGA sends three players to represent Mississippi. Team Mississippi for 2010 will be Fletcher Johnson, Lane Pippin, and Scott Rhodes. I am going as the captain and we are all looking forward to a great trip. Hopefully I will make some time to blog about our trip.

Ronnie Posey and Brother Sandifer Win Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball

The Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball has been played concurrently with the State Four-Ball since 2006. The field of 21 senior teams (players over the age of 50) teed it up at Windance Country Club April 23-25, 2010, for the 2010 Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball. The team of Davis Sellers and Curt Miller lead the first round with a round of three under par 69. The first round was interrupted several times with weather delays. the entire field came back out Saturday morning to finish their first round. The duo of Ronnie Posey and Brother Sandifer fired a six under par 66 on Saturday to take the lead heading into the final round on Sunday. Posey and Sandifer were paired with Ricky Sims and Bobby Maddox in the final round. Posey and Sandifer shot one under 71 in the final round to finish at 7 under par 209. Tied for second place were defending champions, Russ Aldrich and Peter Marks and Bobby Maddox and Ricky Sims four strokes back at three under par 213.

Thanks to everyone for playing in the Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball. A special Thank you for David Lee and his staff for a great state championship. The course was in fantastic condition and we thank Gavin and his staff for a job well done as well.

Alan Ellis and Robert Pannell Win State Four-Ball

Alan Ellis and Robert Pannell led the 2010 State Four-Ball at Windance Country Club wire to wire through multiple weather delays to claim their first state championship. Ellis and Pannell shot 6 under in the first round which was suspended on Friday at 3:30 pm due to dangerous weather. They completed the first round and shot two over par 74 in the second round on Saturday. The Greenwood duo held a slight lead heading into the final round. Paired with Ben Snow and Stephen Yelverton in the final pairing in the final round, Ellis and Pannel held on by firing 4 under par 68 on Sunday to win by three over Snow and Yelverton. Ellis and Pannell finished the tournament at 8 under par 208. Snow and Yelverton finish with 5 under par 211. Scott Rhodes and Ham Bates of Jackson shot one over par 73 in the final round to finish at one under par 215 for the tournament and secure third place. Bates and Rhodes were the defending champions from 2009 at Hattiesburg Country Club. Monty Hilton and Hall Lusk, III finished in fourth place at even par 216. Rounding out the top 5 tied for fifth place are local MS Gulf Coast Golfers, Tim McCabe, Jr. and John Carter and Mickey D'Angelo and Bo Mandal at one over par 217.

Congrats to all the players for great playing in the 2010 State Four-Ball at Windance CC. Thank you to the staff at Windance Country Club for a great state championship

Sims, Keeton and Sears

Ricky Sims in the center holding his Patrick Farms Senior Division Trophy. On the left is runner up Charlie Keeton and on the right is third place finisher, Ray Sears. This is the first year for the Senior Division of the Patrick Farms Invitational, which kicks off the MGA Tournament Season.

Ellis and Sims Win Patrick Farms Invitational

Once again, the weather was perfect for our first sanctioned tournament of the year. The highs reached the upper 70s with only a few clouds in the sky and a light breeze during the second round. The conditions were ideal for great scoring.

The course proved just as tough on day two as it did on day one, but Alan Ellis of Greenwood managed to hang on and win the first event of the year. After carding a 69 in the first round, Ellis shot a one-over par 37 on the front nine, but bounced back with an amazing 32 on the back nine for a solid 69 and two day total of six under par 138. In second place was Lane Pippin of Ocean Springs who also fired a 69 in the final round. He shot two under par 142. Lee Gladden rounded out the top three with two rounds of even par.

Winner of the Senior Division was a familiar name, Ricky Sims of Canton who posted a 72 on Sunday for two day total of three under par 141. Four shots back was Charlie Keeton of Brandon at 145. Rounding out the top three was Ray Sears of Jackson at 146.

The MGA wishes to thank all of those who participated as well as Jay Coalter and Bitt Hammons adn all the staff at Patrick Farms GC for hosting the first event of the MGA season. It was a huge success. For complete results visit our website http://www.missgolf.org/.

MGA to Assist with Collegiate Tournaments

The Mississippi Golf Association's staff and volunteers are working two collegiate tournaments this weekend. Ole Miss Men's and Women's Golf teams are hosting tournaments. The Rebel Invitational is Friday, April 2- Sunday, April 4 at the Ole Miss Golf Club in Oxford. There are 21 teams and 12 individuals teeing it up at 8:00 am on Friday. This is the second annual tournament with Tulane winning the inaugural event. Players will play 18 holes each day.

The Reunion Invitational will be played Monday, April 5-Tuesday, April 6 at Reunion Golf and CC in Madison. This is the third invitational for the men's golf team. Twenty teams will be teeing it up Monday for 36holes of play with 18 holes being played on Tuesday.

Three Mississippi teams- Ole Miss, Mississippi State University, and Southern Miss have teams playing both of the tournaments. If you are in Oxford or Madison, come on out to support college golf in Mississippi....Admission is free to both tournaments. Thank you to my staff and volunteers for working these tournaments. They are the reason these tournaments are successful

State Four-Ball/Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball

The golf season is upon us and we are ready for the Mississippi Golf Association's State Four-Ball/Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball. The State Four-Ball is being played at Windance Country Club in Gulfport. Entries are open online and invitations have been mailed to members. The State Four-Ball has three divisions- Regular, Senior, and Super Senior. Don't miss out on the first State Championship of 2010!