Golf Bag: Moore Women Am June 18-19

Staci Creech, the third-grade schoolteacher who scored a surprise win in last year’s Moore County Women’s Amateur Championship, promised she would be back to defend the title in 2012.

If she was serious, now’s the time to send in the entry form as the 34th annual event is accepting entries for the June 18-19 playing at Woodlake Country Club in Vass.

The format remains the same — 36 holes of gross stroke play with players flighted by handicap index. There is no qualifying for flights.

The entry fee is $100, and the deadline is June 13. Players must be female amateurs at least 18 years old.

They must have an established 18-hole USGA handicap and be a Moore County resident or a member of a golf club in the county.

The entry includes golf with a cart for two days, range balls and lunch on Tuesday following play.

A practice round is available to each participant for $25 preceding the tournament.

Prizes will be awarded to the champion as well as to three places in each flight, other than two prizes in the flight in which the champion is seeded.

Creech, who was playing in her first Moore County Championship last year at National Golf Club, scored three birdies in the final round to nip six-time winner Patty Moore.

Creech shot 70-72—142, using three birdies to catch and pass Moore, who shot 69-74—143.

Amanda D’Ostroph of Whispering Pines made a valiant effort to defend her title, shooting 72-72—144.

A field of 54 women competed last year.

For information, call Ginny Siedler at (910) 673-32400.

Winternationals: Jonathan DiIanni of Kernersville shot73-70—143 to win the junior-senior division of the Winternational Junior Series event held on Pinehurst’s No. 6 Course.

It was the second straight win for DiIanni, who moved up to sixth in the season-long points race with 200. He trails leader Micah Alexander of Durham by 87.5 points.

Trey Guy of Fayetteville took second place with 147, followed by Reggie Crews of Jacksonville and Coble Wright of Charlotte at 152. Guy is third in points with 260.

David Kocher of Charlotte shot 74-73—147 to win the freshman-sophomore division by nine strokes and move up to third in the points race with 200 points. He trails leader Alex Smalley of Wake Forest by 132.5 points.

There was a three-way tie for second between Smalley, Settle Court of Raleigh, Gray Townsend of Winston-Salem, and Hunter Oxford of Charlotte at 156.

The seventh event in the series will be held Feb. 18-19 on the Pinehurst No. 7 Course.

For information, call Peter deYoung at (910) 295-5661.

Amateur Tours: Two Pinehurst residents won flights and a Southern Pines player finished second in another last week as a field of 124 golfers kicked off the Golfweek and Senior Tour preseason schedule at Legacy Golf Links.

Ron Hockensmith of Pinehurst shot 74 to win Flight A, while Tom Kubla of Pinehurst won Flight B with 78.

Frequent winner Gary Strickfaden of Southern Pines shot 74 to finish second to Don Tabat of Lexington in the Championship flight.

Tabat staged a miracle comeback to win, shooting 41 on the front nine, but posting a 5-under-par 31 on the back for 72. He made birdies on five of the final six holes.

Michael Hawkins of Kernersville won Flight C with 86. Eric Friar of Whispering Pines tied for fifth with 89.

George Greer of Fayetteville shot 90 to win Flight D by seven strokes.

The senior tours will play another preseason event at Mid Pines Resort Feb. 18. Golfers interested in competing on either tour can contact tour director Bruce Hallenbeck at (336) 495-6556, or by email at behgolf@aol. com.

Tin Whistles: The team of Floyd Herndon, Charles Clack, John McPhaul and Bob Springer shot 87 to win the Tin Whistles Club tournament held on the Pinehurst No. 5 Course. The format was one best ball on the front nine and two best balls on the back.

Ed Guidice, Dave Brown, Pete Wilkinson and John Reglar were second, winning a card playoff after tying at 93 with the foursome of Bill Cantley, Ron Kukick, Jan Ludwig and Johnny Johnson.

eGolf Tour: The eGolf Professional Tour has been granted an exemption into the European Tour’s King Hassan II Trophy in Agadir, Morocco, to be contested at Golf du Palais Royal March 22-25.

The exemption will go to the eGolf Tour member who accumulates the most earnings through the first two events of this season:

The Palmetto Hall Championship presented by Westin Hilton Head Island Feb. 15-18, and the Oldfield Open Feb. 22-25.

The King Hassan II Trophy was recognized as an official European Tour event for the first time in 2010 as part of The Race to Dubai.

The event was first contested in 1971 and boasts past champions such as Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Nick Price, Seve Ballesteros and Lee Trevino.

The 2012 edition will be contested at Golf du Palais Royal and Golf de L’Océan, with the former located inside the walls of the Royal Palace.

The purse for the 2012 King Hassan II Trophy will be 1,500,000 euros, or the equivalent of $1,915,649.