Morgan, Tewell, Glasson in field for pro-scratch event at Oak Tree National

Oak Tree National will host a National Invitational Pro Scratch tournament Sept. 12-14 with top club and touring professionals competing with a scratch amateur for a purse of more than $15,000.

Gil Morgan, Mark Hayes, Willie Wood, Doug Tewell and Bill Glasson are among the Oklahoma professional golf stars who will compete in the inaugural event.

Danny Cline, chief operating officer of Oak Tree National, expects the event to be a huge success.

"The support that we've had from our sponsors - Negra Modelo, The Glenlivet and Grey Goose - and our own tour and teaching staff have ensured that," Cline said. "We expect tough competition from the best professionals and amateurs in the nation. Theis is a classic event that we feel will grow very quickly."

Oak Tree National, site of the 1984 U.S. Amateur, 1988 PGA Championship, 2000 PGA Club Pro Championship and 2006 Senior PGA Championship, will host the 2012 Trans-Miss and the 2014 U.S. Senior Open.

Stone Creek open while Olde Page greens regrassed

The 13^th hole at Stone Creek Golf Course at Page Belcher is a picturesque par-3 played from an elevated tee to a green defended by a pond that wraps around from the front to the right. There are two bunkers on the hillside to the left and another between the green and the pond.

It's normally one of the prettiest holes on the course, but lost some of its luster this summer when the green turned to mud. Another casualty of the extended heat wave affecting courses throughout the region.

A portion of that green is being resodded today, while the other greens at Stone Creek that have suffered this summer, such as 1, 5, 10 and 11, will be reseeded next week, according to Tom Wolff, general manager of Tulsa Golf.

Wolff wants golfers to know that Stone Creek remains open and except for the few green problems is in excellent condition. He said several local television reports gave the impression the entire facility was closed while trying to report on the conversion of the greens at the older Page Belcher course to Champion ultradwarf Bermuda.

Likewise, the Pecan Valley course at Mohawk Park remains open while Woodbine undergoes a conversion to Bermuda. Both Woodbine and Olde Page are slated to reopen in early October.

A check of the new Bermuda greens at Olde Page today revealed the sprigging is growing in nicely and some of the fine leaf blade on the Champion Bermuda is already evident.

"That's the greenest they've looked in a long time," Wolff said.

Tulsa Golf hopes to reopen the greens at both Olde Page and Woodbine in early October.

Tee-times for Stone Creek and Pecan Valley can be reserved online by visiting the website at:www.tulsagolf.org. Reservations can also be made by phone by calling 1-800-339-2997.

TaylorMade-adidas Staffer Edoardo Molinari Discusses Equipment

Rooney will be guest on Mastercraft Collision South Central Golf Hour

The South Central Golf Hour is proud to welcome Mastercraft Collision Repair Center as a new title sponsor for the radio show. And to announce that Dan Rooney, founder of Patriot Golf Day, will join us on air at 8 a.m. Saturday.

In 25 years of serving the Tulsa area, Mastercraft Collision, located at 7666 E. 46th Street, has established a sterling reputation for quality craftsmanship. Owner Wayne Paus and his dedicated staff, many of whom have been on hand for the full quarter century, are experts in their field. They do quality work and do it right the first time. In addition to collision repair, they also specialize in custom restoration.

Be sure to call Mastercraft Collision at 918-622-4232 and join the family of satisfied customers who give Mastercraft their ultimate compliment, which is their repeat business.

This week's show is going to be a special one. Joining us at the outset will be Major Rooney, who will give us an outline of all the special Patriot Golf Day events going on in Tulsa, across the country and at his home course The Patriot in Owasso. Dan has done incredible work to benefit the families of servicemen and women injured or killed in the line of duty.

After visiting with Dan, we'll move on to Jay Allen, Tournament Chairman of the P&G Northwest Arkansas Championship presented by Walmart, scheduled next week at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark. Twenty-eight of the top 30 players on the LPGA Tour are scheduled to play, including Michelle Wie, Cristie Kerr, world No. 1 Ai Miyazato and defending champion Jiyai Shin.

At the bottom of the hour our special guest will be Oklahoma State assistant coach Alan Bratton, who caddied last week for OSU junior Peter Uihlein as he won the U.S. Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in Washington.

And Champions Tour golfer Ron Streck will be on hand to give away a second spot in the Ron Streck Charity Golf Classic Sept. 14 at the Oaks Country Club, a $250.00 value. We gave away one spot to our listeners a week ago and will have two more next week for a full foursome of South Central Golf Hour regulars in the tournament

So be sure to join Dave Sittler, Tracy Phillips and Ken MacLeod at 8 a.m. Saturday on The Sports Animal, 1550 a.m. and 97.1 FM, for the Mastercraft Collision South Central Golf Hour. You can call in at 918-460-KYAL (5925)

In brutal golf year, Battle Creek greens stand out

By Ken MacLeod

The summer of 2010 has been incredibly trying for golf course superintendents from coast to coast, and none more so than those in the South Central Section.

The problems began with extreme cold temperatures in the winter months resulting in massive winter kill of Bermuda turfgrasses used on fairways and tee boxes. At the same time, the long winter followed by heavy rains in June transitioning into extreme heat in June, July and August wreaked havoc with cool season bent grass greens throughout the area.

In Tulsa, the combination of courses closed for long-planned renovations such as Tulsa Country Club and Forest Ridge Golf Course, along with those who have closed at least some holes for repair, has left golfers clamoring for tee times at facilities that are both open and have survived the summer in decent condition.

In the Tulsa area, two courses - Olde Page at Page Belcher and Woodbine at Mohawk Park - are closed until early October while Champion Bermuda greens are grown in to replace the struggling bent grass. Bailey Golf Ranch in Owasso will close nine holes for repair sometime after Labor Day to replace the grass entirely on greens 12-14 and reseed the others. Meadowbrook Country Club is giving its course a two-to-three week break to allow the greens to recover from heat stress.

Many other courses are facing the repair of at least 3-4 greens that either did not survive or were damaged by the excessive heat. Even Southern Hills Country Club, blessed with the latest technology and manpower to battle the elements, was not wholly unaffected by the searing heat in which ground soil temperatures soared into the 90s. Bent grass begins to suffer when soil temperatures exceed 84 degrees.

One course that was reeling this spring has rebounded beautifully and the way it did so may be instructive for others in future years.

Battle Creek Golf Course in Broken Arrow suffered winter kill damage to more than 40 percent of its fairways. The course did not have the resources to fully sod the affected areas, but it did have access to a specially designed row planter owned by Greenway Golf, which manages the course for the City of Broken Arrow. Unlike traditional sprigging machines which place the sprigs on top of the soil, the Greenway machine actually plants the sprigs two to three inches in the soil.

Patriot Golf Day activities this weekend

More than 3,500 golf courses are scheduled to participate in Patriot Golf Day activities scheduled over Labor Day weekend Sept. 3-6.

Patriot Golf Day raises funds for the Folds of Honor Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides educational scholarships for the children and spouses of military men and women disabled or killed while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Since its inception in 2007, Patriot Golf Day has raised more than $5.3 million, resulting in 1,163 scholarships awarded.

The foundation is the mission of Major Dan Rooney of Broken Arrow, Okla. Rooney is a F-16 fighter jet pilot with the Oklahoma Air National Guard and has served several tours of duty in Iraq. The Foundation is located at The Patriot Golf Club in Owasso, a course Rooney helped found.

At public facilities, golfers will be asked to add $1 to their green fees. Many private clubs solicit members for donations or raise funds in other ways. Two of the biggest supporters nationwide of Patriot Golf Day are Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa and Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow.

Southern HIlls members contribute funds that are matched by American Express, last year resulting in a donation that was among the largest contributed by a private club. Cedar Ridge has a variety of fund raising activities. As an example, Tracy Phillips, director of instruction at The Buddy Phillips Learning Center at Cedar Ridge, donates all of his lesson proceeds from Saturday's lessons to the Folds of Honor Foundation. On Sunday and Monday, he plays up to 54 holes of golf each day taking pledges for holes played, birdies made, etc.

Phillips said Cedar Ridge hopes to raise more than $10,000 for the foundation this year.