Catching up on how the local golfers are faring during a busy Arkansas State Golf Association designated season:
Heading into the Conway Country Club Junior Stroke Championship last week, Conway had the second-place golfer in both the junior girls and junior boys Player of the Year standings, according to the latest lists.
UPDATE: With her win at her home course, Conway's Summar Roachell moved ahead of Taylor Fisher and now leads the standings. She has three more ASGA tournaments scheduled. And Austen Moix, who was second to Nicklaus Benton of Cabot, moved closer to him after his win at Conway CC.
In standings through the Trusted Choice Insurance Youth Classic qualifier at RidgePointe Country Club in Jonesboro July 1-2, Summar Roachell, just 13, trailed 17-year-old Taylor Fisher of Hot Springs by just five points, 435-430. Austen Moix was second behind Nicklaus Benton of Cabot in the boys race. Those standings, through the First Community Bank Junior Stroke at The Course at River Oaks in Searcy July 7-8, showed Benton with 611 points and Moix with 460.
Results of the Conway Country Club Junior Stroke, which concluded Friday, were not included.
Other locals on the junior boys list are Landon Hearnes of Mayflower, ninth with 160 points; Christopher Stalnaker of Conway, 23rd with 63 points; Josh Rittman, 30th with 50; Matthew Dail, 35th with 34; Blake Darnell, 45th with 16; and Ethan King, 52nd with 6.
Brooke Enderlin of Conway is tied for 13th in the girls standings with 80 points, which she gained with her win in the Monticello Country Club Junior Stroke. She is followed by three locals tied at 21st: Alyssia Duvall of Greenbrier; Jessie Moix and Maegan Wade, all of whom have 40 points. Heather Moix is tied for 26th with 30; Jennifer Hegeman is 334d with 16.
In other Player of the Year standings updated through the Fourth of July Classic at War Memorial Park in Little Rock, Wes McNulty of Pine Bluff leads the amateur standings with 490. Kirk Brown of Mountain Home, a former University of Central Arkansas golfer, is 10th with 142.25 points; Lyle Middleton of Conway is tied for 12th with 110; Rusty Ramsey is tied for 23rd with 70; and Jason Cuthbertson is tied for 27th with 60.
Jay Fox of Little Rock, who will be inducted into the UCA Sports Hall of Fame in September, leads the mid-senior race with 480 points. Greg Dunseath of Conway is tied for ninth with 100, followed locally by Randy Lloyd, 17th with 61; Carter Rickman of Greenbrier, 19th with 53; and Dane Glover, 24th with 40.
In the senior race, Oscar Taylor of Hot Springs Village leads with 483 points. Doug Odom of Greenbrier is tied for 49th with 10 points. Glenn Hickey of Little Rock leads the super-senior race with 650 points. No Faulkner County golfers are ranked in the super-senior division.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Several local golfers have posted good finishes in the various designated tournaments over the last few weeks to add to those point totals.
Austen Moix tied for 13th and Christopher Stalnaker 27th in qualifying at Hot Springs Country Club for the United States Junior Amateur. Matthew Mabrey of Little Rock led the 36-hole qualifier with 65-72137; Moix shot 74-75149 and Stalnaker 81-78159.
Summar Roachell won the Greers Ferry Lake Junior Classic at Red Apple Inn in Heber Springs. She shot 82-78160 and beat Laura Beth DuBois by seven strokes. Roachell won the 12-13 division by 47 strokes.
Stalnaker tied for fifth in the boys 16-17 division with 75-79154. Ethan King tied for seventh at 82-75157. Tim Netherton finished third in the 14-15 group with 76-82158. Chase Netherton was fifth in the 12-13 division at 79-86165.
As reported here last week, Moix led state qualifying for the Big I Junior Classic with his rounds of 74-63137 at RidgePointe Country Club in Jonesboro. Stalnaker tied for 10th in the boys division at 76-75151. Josh Rittman finished at 79-78157; Landon Hearnes shot 83-77160; and Matthew Dail fired 80-84164, Roachell finished fifth in the girls qualifier at 85-84169.
At the K.B. Rand at Searcy Country Club, McNulty won the amateur title at 69-68137. Brown, the former UCA golfer, finished fifth at 76-69145. Fox won the mid-senior division at 70-71141. Greg Dunseath and Dane Glover finished third and fourth, respectively. Dunseath carded 72-76148; Glover was at 76-74150.
Fox also won the mid-senior title at Hurricane in Bryant with 67-71138. Jeff Handly, a former Harley O. Weatherly Four-ball champion, took sixth at 80-71151. Dunseath tied for eighth at 76-79155. Stan Lee of Heber Springs, a former UCA golfer and Conway resident, won the senior division at 68-73141.
UPCOMING ASGA EVENTS
Up next on the Arkansas State Golf Association designated schedule is the Ben I. Mayo Junior Stroke, Hardscrabble CC, Fort Smith, July 14-15; South Arkansas Junior Stroke, El Dorado CC, Lions Club GC in El Dorado, Camden CC, July 14-16; Chuck Morton Memorial Junior Stroke, Big Creek CC, Mountain Home, July 17-18; Ouachita Valley Invitational (amateurs, seniors, super-seniors), Camden CC, July 18-20; Tom Milliken Memorial Junior Stroke, Harrison CC, July 19-20; Eagle Crest Men's Stroke (amateurs, mid-seniors, seniors, super-seniors), Alma, July 19-20; Hot Springs Country Club Junior Stroke (boys and girls), July 22-23; ASGA Match Play Championship (amateurs), Harbor Oaks, Pine Bluff, July 24-27; NEA Open (mid-seniors, seniors, super-seniors), Sage Meadows, Jonesboro, July 26-27; U.S. Amateur qualifying (amateurs and mid-seniors), Harbor Oaks GC, Pine Bluff, July 28; ASGA Mountain Valley Junior Stroke Championship (boys and girls), Pine Bluff CC, July 29-31; and the Willis Watkins Memorial (amateurs, mid-seniors, seniors, super-seniors), Conway CC, Aug. 2-3.
See the ASGA's Web site at www.asga.org for entry information.
(Golf writer Donna Lampkin Stephens may be reached at donnaken@mac.com).
