Local golf tournaments in full swing as weather changes
Ralph
Gaillard
Golf-N
Around
As the weather is becom
ing more agreeable and
springtime is upon us, the
weekend calendars at local
golf courses are filling up
with tournaments. Most of
the organizations putting on
these tournaments donate
the proceeds to local youth
programs, scholarship
funds, and other community
activities that appreciate
and/or need the financial
support.
The Walkertown Wolf
Pack Boosters Plub will
have its first annual Walker
town Wolf Pack Fundraiser
Golf Tournament at Winston
Lake Golf Course Saturday,
April 6, The captain's
choice, team competition
tournament will have a shot
gun start at 9 a.m. Breakfast
and lunch will be served,
and a goody bag will be pro
vided to all participants.
Team prizes will be
awarded for first through,
third places. Individual
prizes will be awarded for
closest to the pin on several
holes and the longest drive.
The winner of a hole in one
on hole number 12 will
receive a Toyota sports util
ity vehicle. Pick up entry
forms at the E. Jerry Jones
Clubhouse at The Lake or
call Greg Woods at (336)
724-4875 for details.
The NAACP 15th annual
Sarah Marsh Scholarship
Golf Classic will be held
April 20-21 at Winston
Lake Golf Course. The tour
nament will have four
flights, and prizes will be
awarded to the top four fin
ishers. There also will be an
award for the longest drive.
Pick up entry forms at the
clubhouse at The Lake, or
contact Bill Tatum at (336)
784-8836 for more informa
tion.
The NAACP tournament
coincides with the dedica
tion of the E. Jerry Jones
Clubhouse at Winston Lake
Golf Course. The dedication
ceremony is scheduled to
commence at 1 p.m. on
April 20.
A permanent pictorial
display will be placed on
one of the walls in the
entrance area of the club
house. The display will
depict historical events at
the golf course since it was
built in the early 1950s.
Also, photographs with
biographical information of
eight PGA and LPGA play
ers who have a connection
with the golf course will be
displayed in the concession
area. Refreshments will be
served after the dedication.
The Winston-Salem
State Foundation will hold
its annual WSSU Golf Clas
sic at Bermuda Run Country
Club on April 26. The cap
tain's choice tournament
will have a shAtgun start at 9
a.m.
Prizes will be awarded to
the top three teams, and
there wj^l be individual
awards for closest to the pin
and longest drive. Entry
forms can be picked up at
the clubhouse at The Lake,
or call (336) 750-3161 for
details.
The Phi Omega chapter
of Alpha Kappa Alpha
sorority will hold its Phi
Omega Inc. Classic Golf
Tournament on April 27 at
Winston Lake Golf Course.
The captain's choice tourna
ment will have a shotgun
start at 9 a.m. This annual
tournament benefits low
income housing at the Ivy
Arms Apartments.
Team and individual
prizes will be awarded.
Entry forms can be obtained
at the clubhouse at The
Lake. You can also contact
Earnest Morris, golf profes
sional at The Lake, (336)
727-2703, or Geneva B.
Brown, tournament director.
(336) 724-9336.
I' ' ?' Or
Most of these local
events have registration
deadlines for their tourna
ments. However, if there is
still available space in the
tournament you can usually
obtain late entry by calling
the contact telephone num
ber. You also can take a
chance and show up at the
golf course the day of the
tournament. In most
instances, you and/or your
team will be allowed to par
ticipate.
So get your teams or
yourself together and play
in these tournaments. You
will meet some fine people,
have too much fun, and will
.give something back to the
community where you work
and live.
Until next time, keep it
in the fairway.
Scholarships and pro careers entice kids - and parents
BY BETSY PEOPLES AND
LEAH Y LATIMER
BET.COM
Think Kobe. Tiger Woods.
Venus and Serena, Kordell
Stewart. The successes of these
sports phenoms are inspiring
parents and kids around the
country to dream what once
only the exceptionally talented
dared envision: free rides to
college, lucrative careers and
celebrity endorsements.
Such sports dreams are more
than evident in the black com
munity. Northeastern Univer
sity's Center for the Study of
Sport found that two-thirds of
African-American boys aged
13 to 18 think they will make it
to the ranks of professional
athletes - even bench-warmers
and borderline players. At the
same time, the study found,
African-American parents are
four times more likely than
other parents, to share those
sports dreams with their chil
dren.
While football and basketball
are the most popular sports
among black youths. Tiger
Woods and the Williams sisters
have broadened the sports
horizons of many youths, 'J
"What we have seen over the
last four years are more minor
ity kids playing at the national
level for junior golfers." said
Barbara Douglas, managing
director of the National Minor
ity Golf Foundation.
Four of the NMGF juniors
are on Golf magazine's top 1(H)
list. One of them. Erica Battle
of Columbia. S.C.. just earned
a full sports scholarship to the
University of South Carolina.
Thanks to her father. Battle
started playing the game at age
7. Her goal is to play in the
LPGA tour one day.
Most youngsters will never
excel at such levels, but track
coach Willie Maull feels the
intensity from their families. "I
have parents who get upset
with me because their kids
don't get scholarships," said
Maull, track coach at Green
Run High School in Virginia
Beach. Va.
For most families sports are
just a healthy outlet that builds
body and character. In an age
defined by absent black
fathers, African-American men
strike a high profile at youth
athletic events in their commu
nities. As coaches, league com
missioners or just supportive
fathers, they bond with their
young sons and daughters in
scenes generally portrayed as
white, suburban and middle
class.
Most families also make aca
demics a priority. In the late
1990s, the NCAA stiffened
academic eligibility require
ments for receiving scholar
ships and playing intercolle
giate sports. The new require
ments, phased in during the
late 1990s, involve a formula
of standardized test scores and
grades, based on "core" high
school courses that include
advanced math, lab sciences
and social studies.
"I've seen so many parents
who prepared their kids to be
basketball players, but have no
knowledge of academic rules
and regulations for eligibility."
said Charles Farrell. director of
a Rainbow PUSH Coalition
project to extend minority
presence in professional sporty.
"If you're not preparing to take
the SAT, ACT or not getting
the right core courses, you're
going to have trouble."
According to the NCAA.
157.IXK) high school seniors
vie each year for 4.5(H) open
ings on college basketball
teams. As for football, 281.000
graduating high school players
seek 16.000 positions on col
lege teams.
"If you have a child who
demonstrates athletic prowess,
there are certainly ways to pur
sue athletic scholarships,"
Farrell continued, "hut I don't
think that realistically anybody
should bet the bank on just an
athletic scholarship."
The odds are worse for pro
fessional careers. Only 1.3 per
cent of those who even make it
to the college ranks will play at
least a year in the NBA. Only 2
percent of college players play
one year in the NFL. Super
stars who leave college early
or skip it altogether are even
more rare.
Farrell and others advise
families to explore untradition
al sports: swimming, lacrosse,
ice hockey, gymnastics and
wrestling. In basketball and
football, "you're competing for
a very limited number of schol
arships," said Vince Fudzie.
author1''of "Your Mind Is a
Muscle Too: How Student
Athletes Succeed in College
and in Life." A former football
player at the University of
Washington, he says colleges
want to diversity their athletic
programs, and African-Ameri
can students can be stand-outs
if they take on other sports.
Stephen Blunchard. 14.
hopes to play in the NBA one
day. He got cut from his team
last fall, but he's playing for a
community league now and
plans to try out for his school
team again next year.
"I try to get good grades, but
sometimes they slip. I know
what's at stake here. That's
why I try to study more and
stop joking around in class."
Most of his sister Stephanie's
summers are spent at camps
focused on track as she partici
pates in meets around the
country year-round.
"I have to work hard because
I want to run in the Olympics
someday." she said.
After school, both call to
check in with their mom at
work to run down their home
work for the day. Blanchard
reviews it when she gets home.
Stephanie has a 3.0 grade point
average: Stephen, a 2.5. Blan
chard strives for a healthy bal
ance because, in the end. she
knows there's more to life than
sports: "It's really all about
keeping them busy and out of
trouble," she said.
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