Bradenton's Ginger Howard makes 2016 LPGA Tour debut
Bradenton's Ginger Howard made her first appearance of the year in an LPGA Tour event last week in Prattville, Ala. However, the IMG Academy alumna's participation in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic didn't yield any cash as she missed the cut following an 83-76--159 for the first two rounds.
The LPGA Tour is off this week, before returning with the Kingsmill Championship next week in Willamsburg, Va.
Manatee County represented well at the 2016 Sarasota City Men's Amateur Championship that concluded last weekend at Bobby Jones Golf Club.
Both defending champion Antoine Santarelli and Phil Walters finished in the top three. Walters, who is a past champion of the event that has seen the likes of former PGA Tour players Paul Azinger and Scott Dunlap win, nearly won the tournament again.
After posting the tournament's lowest round, a 68 in the second round, Walters climbed into contention with a 74 in the final round on Sunday.
But Sarasota's David Perna outlasted Walters in a sudden-death playoff. Meanwhile, Santarelli fired a 70 in the final round to finish two shots out of the playoff with a 290 total for the 72-hole tournament split over two weekends.
Lakewood Ranch High's Drew Angelo fired a pair of 68s for an 8-under-par 136 total in the recent Florida State Golf Association's Florida Junior Tour event in Boynton Beach.
But that 8-under-par score netted Angelo a tie for second place in the 13-15 year old boys division at Indian Spring Country Club's East Course. Angelo and Palm City's Alexander Vogelsong finished one shot behind Port St. Lucie's Fred Biondi, who won his second FJT title in as many starts.
The first step to playing in the United States Open begins next week at a couple of Donald Ross-designed courses.
The U.S. Women's Open is conducting one of three Florida sectional qualifiers Monday at Bradenton Country Club. The tournament features 36 holes in one day, with players having a morning and afternoon round. Both waves are in two-hour blocks with the first tee times for each session starting at 7:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. off the front and back nines. The top performers advance to the U.S. Women's Open, which is held July 7-10 at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, Calif.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Open local qualifier is slated for Tuesday at Sara Bay Country Club. Tee times are from 8 a.m. until 10:02 a.m. off both sides, with the top players securing passage to the sectional qualifiers. There's only one sectional qualifier, and that is at Jacksonville's Timuquana Country Club on June 6. Qualifiers from the sectional stage earn berths into the U.S. Open, which is scheduled for June 16-19 at the famed Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.
Both local qualifiers are open to the public to attend.
HOLES-IN-ONE
On Tuesday, May 10 at Peridia Golf and Country Club, Flo-Ann Weaver aced the 120-yard 13th hole with a 3-wood. Witnesses were Pat Townson, Barb Wendrich and Jane Martin.
-- Jason Dill
This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bradenton's Ginger Howard makes 2016 LPGA Tour debut ."