PGA Tour Q-School: Couple locals on verge to advance

Two Bradenton Prep alums, Byeong-Hun An and Arnond "Bank" Vongvanij, are on the verge of making through the first stage of PGA Tour Q-School.

Vongvanij sits with a 206 total, good for a tie for fourth, with one round to go at PGA Golf Club's Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie.

An, the 2009 U.S. Amateur champ, is also in Port St. Lucie and is tied for 12th place following a 209 total.

The top 22 and ties progress to the second stage held at multiple venues in mid-November.

Meanwhile, former Lakewood Ranch High and Florida State University star Seath Lauer has faded following a solid opening round.

Lauer fired a first-round 71, but ballooned to a 79 on Day Two. A third round 73 means Lauer, who went all the way to the final stage from pre-qualification last year in his first-ever Q-School attempt, is tied for 65th.

Part-time Palmetto resident Sam Osborne has recovered from his opening round disaster. Osborne carded a 79 in that round, but has since posted back-to-back under par rounds (68-70) and is 1-over for the event.

That score puts him six shots behind the current cut line for advancement.

The final round is Saturday.

On Thursday, the other Florida site - St. John's Golf & Country Club in St. Augustine - concluded with one West Florida Golf Tour player missing by six shots.

Valrico resident Matthew Galloway played consistent golf, but it wasn't good enough. Galloway's worst round in the 72-hole tournament was his first round 72. From there, he carded rounds of 71, 70 and 71 for a 4-under par 284 total.

Players at 10-under par 278 or lower cracked the top 22 (and ties) needed to progress.

PGA Tour Q-School: First Stage update

Logo provided by the West Florida Golf Tour

Several West Florida Golf Tour and other area players are playing their first stage of PGA Tour Q-School this week at two Florida venues.

Here's how they've fared thus far in the 72-hole tournament:

St. John's Golf and Country Club, St. Augustine

Matthew Galloway has been consistent through two rounds with a 72 and 71. However, that's only put the Valrico resident in a tie for 34th. The top 22 and ties advance to the second stage held in mid-November.

PGA Golf Club (Wanamaker Course), Port St. Lucie

Arnond "Bank" Vongvanij leads area hopefuls following the first round on the east coast. The former Bradenton Prep and University of Florida standout fired a 67 and is tied for fourth place.

Seath Lauer, who played at Lakewood Ranch High and Florida State University, sits just outside the top 22 needed to progress. He's tied for 28th place following a 1-under par 71.

Byeong-Hun An struggled on Wednesday. The former U.S. Amateur champion, who attended Bradenton Prep, is tied for 44th after a 73.

Part-time Palmetto resident Sam Osborne also struggled in the opening round. The Englishman posted a 79, and is tied for 73rd in the 77-player field.

Prep golf: Manatee County Championship

Friday's in the fall are usually reserved for prep football, but this week also marks the annual Manatee County Golf Championship.

High school players get to test their skill at The River Club on Friday with a shot at becoming the next county champ.

Lakewood Ranch has dominated the competition, winning eight team titles in the past 10 years.

Ramsey Touchberry won last year's county individual title as a freshman.

The Mustangs are currently 65-0 in all competitions and are heavily-favored to win another county crown.

To read more about the event, click here.

Tee times can be found below:

(PHS-Palmetto; BHS-Bayshore; SEHS-Southeast; MHS-Manatee; BCS-Bradenton Christian; St. Steph.-Saint Stephen's; LRHS-Lakewood Ranch; BRHS-Braden River)

11:00 AM	1	PHS	TONY BERKY		12:51 PM	1	LRHS	RAMSEY TOUCHBERRY
	2	BHS	ALEC ACKERMAN			1	BRHS	TONY OSBORN
	3	SEHS	WILLIAM KELLY
					12:57	2	LRHS	CONNOR BALDWIN
11:09 AM	1	PHS	ADAM ALVIS			2	BRHS	AUSTIN ACKLIN
	2	BHS	ANDREW KURUTZ
	3	SEHS	ERIC WEINSTEIN		1:03 PM	3	BRHS	TYLER COLEMAN
						3	LRHS	DANNY WALKER
11:18 AM	1	PHS	MIKE BERKY
	2	BHS	CAMERON POWELL		1:09 PM	4	BRHS	ANDREW HAMMETT
	3	SEHS	MATT HARDY			4	LRHS	KYLE BENSON
11:27 AM	1	PHS	LUKE BAFIA		1:15 PM	5	LRHS	HUNTER SAGAR
	2	BHS	RYAN BOESSMAN			5	BRHS	MAX EVERETT
	3	SEHS	NICK LOWREY
					1:21 PM	6	LRHS	DYLAN HOGAN
11:36 AM	1	PHS	MATT PLETCHER			6	BRHS	RYAN HINTZE
	2	BHS	NICK OSORIO
11:45 AM	1	PHS	TYLER FREE
	2	MHS	MATT STEPHENS
11:54 AM	1	BCS	DUNCAN SIKKEM
	2	ST. STEPH.	CONNER LYNCH
	1	MHS	WYATT HOFFMAN
12:03 PM	2	BCS	JACK KNOWLES
	3	ST. STEPH.	CHI CHI WONG
	1	MHS	SAI GADAM
12:12 PM	2	BCS	CALVIN MORLEY
	3	ST. STEPH.	JACK CEN
	1	MHS	NICK O'NEIL
12:21 PM	2	BCS	LANDRY MILLER
	3	ST. STEPH.	BRENDEN WORTHY
	1	MHS	ADAM SMITH
12:30 PM	2	BCS	JORDAN MILLER
	3	ST. STEPH.	GARRETT BARNES
	1	MHS	COLE JOHNSON
12:39 PM	2	BCS	PHILIP KNOWLES
	3	ST. STEPH.	JARED DELROSE

College golf: USF/Waterlefe Invitational

Bradenton's Christina Miller is on fire so far in the University of South Florida's fall season.

She's played three tournaments, winning two and placing third in the other.

The second tournament victory came Tuesday when Miller edged teammate Amy West to capture the individual title at the USF/Waterlefe Invitational, a nine-team event at Waterlefe Golf & River Club.

Miller's entered the final round tied for the lead after a 69 in Monday's afternoon round.

She finished with a 74, but it was good enough as West carded a 73 on a difficult scoring day in East Manatee.

College golf is emphasized in the spring, when the season begins to take shape for programs aiming to capture a national championship in May or early June.

It's a great start for Miller's career with the Bulls, having transferred after her freshman year at the University of Mississippi this fall.

To read more about Miller, click here.

The Monday Recap: Beware Flying Hot Dogs

So Tiger Woods returned to golf this past week, but the former world No. 1 was attacked on Sunday.

A fan threw a hot dog at Woods, while he was putting on the seventh green during the final round of the PGA Tour's Frys.com Open.

Now, while the act was deplorable and the offender was dealt with by security, Woods shouldn't take headline status away from Bryce Molder, Briny Baird or Rickie Fowler.

Molder and Baird went into a six-hole playoff, when Molder finally outlasted Baird.

Woods finished a distant tie for 30th, 10 shots behind, but showed life in his golf game with a third consecutive 68 to close out the tournament.

And Fowler finally shed the winless tag moniker with his first professional victory overseas against a solid field including reigning U.S. Open champ Rory McIlroy.

So while a spectator put Woods on top of several media outlets talking points on Monday, players like Molder, Baird and Fowler deserve the recognition instead.

Especially with Woods falling so far down in the world rankings and refusing to play any more Fall Series events in preparation for the President's Cup where he received a captain's pick from Fred Couples.

Woods, though, is scheduled to play the Australian Open as a precursor to next month's President's Cup.

To read more about the flying hot dog incident, click here.

Prep golf: Donald Ross Memorial Invitational Notes

A couple tidbits from Monday's Donald Ross Memorial Invitational:

• Record-breaker? Wow, the Lakewood Ranch boys team looks unstoppable. After posting a program-record 283 last Saturday at the prestigious Qdoba Tournament of Champions, the Mustangs went four shots better in Monday's 18th edition of the Ross to run their record to 65-0 this season.
• Rules are rules: Despite that incredible total, Lakewood Ranch senior Hunter Sagar might want to review his scorecard a bit more carefully in the Manatee County Championships on Oct. 14 when the Mustangs tee it up next. Sagar signed for a score higher than he actually made. In the Ross event, players are only responsible for individual holes. Sagar made a three on Sara Bay Country Club's sixth hole, but he signed for a four. If it had been the reverse, signing for a score lower than one made, Sagar would have been disqualified. The most famous scorecard blunder in golf history came in 1968 when Roberto De Vicenzo lost the Masters for an incorrect scorecard. Sagar should note that painful history lesson, so to avoid any off-course slip ups that could derail the Lakewood Ranch boys team's pursuit of perfection and a state title.
• Where are the girls teams? Sure it's an invitational, but only two county girls teams competed Monday. Those two schools were Lakewood Ranch and Manatee. There was no Saint Stephen's, even though Yvonne Zheng had a stellar 2010 campaign resulting in a high finish at the Class 1A state tournament. Nor was Braden River, which is in a rebuilding phase following last fall's Herald Girls Golfer of the Year Kristin Swindell graduated. Southeast wasn't there either, though the Seminoles did have a boys team participating along with Saint Stephen's, ODA and Cardinal Mooney's boys.
• The mystique is still there: For an old course, Sara Bay still stands the test of time. Donald Ross certainly knew what he was doing in the early 20th century when he built Sara Bay. The course definitely has an Augusta National feel to it with the trademark undulating greens. It was so bad that Lakewood Ranch's Connor Baldwin remarked how he witnessed a six-footer from a playing competitor turn into about a 20-footer due to the lightning-quick greens. With such fast greens, the old jewel near Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport can still hold its own. And then some.