Party time at the Tulsa Golf Expo

Contact: Ken MacLeod, 918-280-0787 or ken@southcentralgolf.com.

TULSA - The Tulsa Golf Expo is back with a new Friday Night Party presented by River Spirit Casino and a host of other entertaining options for the entire family.

The Expo, to be held Feb. 12-13 at Central Park Hall at Expo Square, offers spectacular savings on equipment and apparel, free lessons from PGA professionals, free golf and Golf Digest subscriptions, entertaining speakers and much, much more.

Expo hours and dates this year are Friday, Feb. 12, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Party hours Friday are 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and admission is $5 during that time. Seniors 55 and over are $5 for the entire show. Regular price is $8, discount coupons are available at www.southcentralgolf.com which are not valid with any other specials.

The Friday Night Party is a new event featuring live music from guitar virtuoso (and golf professional) Mark Galloway, $1 beers and finger foods while they last and special contests, including the opportunity to outdrive World Long Drive Champion Sean “The Beast” Fister (with a considerable head start).

All the other great features of the Expo will be open as well, including the latest technology from major manufacturers in our 100-foot hitting net, the $10,000 putting contest presented by Slotline and Page Belcher/Mohawk Park Golf Courses, a Closest to the Pin contest and a Birdie Ball contest, all for great prizes.

The long drive contest this year is sponsored by Bridgestone and Golf Club of Oklahoma with the winner receiving a foursome with lunch at the Golf Club and other prizes. Battle Creek Golf Course in Broken Arrow is giving away a free green fee to every entrant to the Expo. Combine that with your free Golf Digest subscription and free copy of the 2010 South Central Golf Directory and every entrant is way ahead. We also have an outstanding list of door prizes lined up including golf trips, clubs, balls and numerous free rounds of golf to fine area courses.

General admission tickets are $8 available at the door. Seniors 55 and over are $5 and all attendees to the Friday Night Party from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. are $5. Children 17 and under are free with a paid adult. Discount coupons can be found at www.southcentralgolf.com/expos. They are not valid with other promotions such as senior rate or the $5 party rate.

Contact: Ken MacLeod, 918-280-0787 or ken@southcentralgolf.com.

TULSA - The Tulsa Golf Expo is back with a new Friday Night Party presented by River Spirit Casino and a host of other entertaining options for the entire family.

The Expo, to be held Feb. 12-13 at Central Park Hall at Expo Square, offers spectacular savings on equipment and apparel, free lessons from PGA professionals, free golf and Golf Digest subscriptions, entertaining speakers and much, much more.

Expo hours and dates this year are Friday, Feb. 12, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Party hours Friday are 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and admission is $5 during that time. Seniors 55 and over are $5 for the entire show. Regular price is $8, discount coupons are available at www.southcentralgolf.com which are not valid with any other specials.

The Friday Night Party is a new event featuring live music from guitar virtuoso (and golf professional) Mark Galloway, $1 beers and finger foods while they last and special contests, including the opportunity to outdrive World Long Drive Champion Sean “The Beast” Fister (with a considerable head start).

All the other great features of the Expo will be open as well, including the latest technology from major manufacturers in our 100-foot hitting net, the $10,000 putting contest presented by Slotline and Page Belcher/Mohawk Park Golf Courses, a Closest to the Pin contest and a Birdie Ball contest, all for great prizes.

The long drive contest this year is sponsored by Bridgestone and Golf Club of Oklahoma with the winner receiving a foursome with lunch at the Golf Club and other prizes. Battle Creek Golf Course in Broken Arrow is giving away a free green fee to every entrant to the Expo. Combine that with your free Golf Digest subscription and free copy of the 2010 South Central Golf Directory and every entrant is way ahead. We also have an outstanding list of door prizes lined up including golf trips, clubs, balls and numerous free rounds of golf to fine area courses.

General admission tickets are $8 available at the door. Seniors 55 and over are $5 and all attendees to the Friday Night Party from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. are $5. Children 17 and under are free with a paid adult. Discount coupons can be found at www.southcentralgolf.com/expos. They are not valid with other promotions such as senior rate or the $5 party rate.

In addition to River Spirit, the Expo is sponsored by The Sports Animal 1550 AM and 97.1 FM, Cox Media, Golf Digest, and Southern Journeys,

For booth or sponsorship information, please call 918-280-0787 or go to www.southcentralgolf.com/expos.

Seminar times announced

There are some amazing stories to be heard at the 2010 Tulsa Golf Expo.

If you want to hear passion, listen to Air National Guard Major Dan Rooney of Broken Arrow talk about Patriot Day, the national program he began to help the families of servicemen killed or wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, and all the wonderful things it has done and plans to do.

If you want to hear about the most nerve-wracking day in golf, listen to new Indian Springs Country Club head professional Michael Boyd describe what it was like on the final day of PGA Tour qualifying school a few years back when he came out of nowhere to earn his tour card for the first time.

If you want to know what it’s like to hit a golf ball 515 yards, there is no one better to describe it than Sean “The Beast “Fister, the three-time world long drive champion.

If you want to know what it’s like to try to tell Gary Player, Chi Chi Rodriguez or Craig Stadler what they’re doing wrong, then Marshall Smith, teaching legend from Miami, Okla., is your man.

Game improvement for you and your family? We’ve got that covered with the area’s top teachers, such as Janice Gibson of the First Tee of Tulsa, Holley Hair of Tee Town Golf Ranch, Tracy Phillips of the Buddy Phillips Learning Center and Paul Clagg of South Lakes Golf Course. Pat McTigue and the staff of GolfTec will be doing swing analysis throughout the show in the hitting net and other PGA Tour professionals will be giving free lessons throughout the expo.

Seminar speaker bios

Sean “The Beast” Fister

Little Rock’s own Sean “The Beast” Fister won the Long Drivers’ Association Re/Max World Long Drive Championship as recently as 2005 and three times overall (1995, 2001). An entertaining and informative speaker, Fister also has written several books on long driving. In 2005 he became the oldest person at 43 to win the world championship. His longest recorded drive is 515 yards and his highest recorded swing speed is 171.2 miles per hour.

Marshall Smith

An Oklahoma legend, Marshall Smith has been teaching the secrets of the game to the greats of the game and the rest of us for more than 60 years. His latest book, “A Lifetime of Lessons” details decades of swing tips from the master.

Smith has worn a lot of hats in his career, that of banker, insurance agent, part-owner of the Tulsa Drillers, a motivational speaker, author of three books and a dedicated worker for children’s charities. He has been the golf instructor for such luminaries as Chi Chi Rodriguez, Gary Player, Walt Zembriski, Craig Stadler, Glen Day, Matt Gogel and Todd Fisher. One of Mickey Mantle’s best friends, Marshall raised thousands of dollars for the Oklahoma Make-A-Wish Foundation through the Mickey Mantle Charity Classic at Shangri-La, which brought hundreds of famous professional athletes to the state. Marshall’s philosophy of KISS, keep it simple, stupid, has helped golfers from the PGA Tour to the kid next door make sense of this sometimes indecipherable game.

Janice Gibson

Janice Gibson is the director of the Tulsa chapter of First Tee. Born and raised in Tulsa, Gibson played high school golf on the Nathan Hale boy’s team from 1976-79, then played four years at Oklahoma State, where she graduated in 1984 with a degree in business administration. The next stop was the Future’s Tour, where Janice won three of seven events in 1985 before moving on to a 12-year career on the LPGA Tour. She is a PGA Class A teaching professional and has been the director of instruction at the First Tee of Tulsa since its inception in 2001.

Tracy Phillips

Phillips is the director of the Buddy Phillips Learning Center at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, which is open to outside lessons. Phillips started playing golf at age three and by age 16 was the #1 ranked junior player in the U.S. Tracy is a Jenks high school graduate and was an All American at Oklahoma State University.

After college Tracy pursued a professional playing career in the mid 80’s and gained insightful knowledge from private instruction with Hank Haney, Harvey Penick, Jim Flick, and Peter Kostis.

Tracy’s teaching skills are enhanced through the combination of vast playing experience and complete understanding of the golf swing. He is currently working with LPGA professional Kelli Kuehne, has been a Class A PGA Professional since 1992, and has over 20 years in golf instruction. He recently was voted one of the top 50 teachers in the United States by Golf Range Magazine.

Holley Hair

Former TU golfer and head coach Holley Hair is Director of Instruction and co-owner of the Tee Town Golf Ranch in Broken Arrow. She is currently working on developing a huge junior program at Tee Town, a nationally ranked teaching facility.

From 1992-94, Hair spent two years as the head golf instructor at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Dallas, Texas. She conducted over 800 private lessons and was the primary golf instructor for top junior golfers in the Dallas area.

Since 1987, Hair has been a LPGA Class A member, and has served as tournament coordinator for three Central Section Championships. She was recognized as the LPGA Section Teacher of the Year in 1993, and the LPGA Section Professional of the Year in 1997. Hair has also been recognized as one of the top-50 Female Instructors by Golf for Women Magazine in 2000, and was rated as one of the top instructors in the region by Golf Digest in 2001 and 2002.

Dan Rooney

Dan Rooney, 35, is an F-16 pilot in the 125th Fighter Squadron of the Oklahoma Air National Guard and has served three tours of duty in Iraq, flying numerous dangerous missions. He is also a PGA professional and started the national program called Patriot Golf Day to raise funds for the families of U.S. service men killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. An Oklahoma native who played college golf at the University of Kansas, Rooney is also heavily involved in The Patriot, the new Robert Trent Jones II course set to open in May in Owasso.

Pat McTigue, GolfTec

A PGA member since 1990, Pat McTigue opened the first Oklahoma branch of Golftec, the innovative high-tech teaching system, with a Tulsa-based store in 2008. The two-time South Central Section Player of the Year and his staff will be giving free swing analysis in the hitting net throughout the Expo.

Michael Boyd

Boyd, a native of Tulsa who played his collegiate golf at TU, earned his PGA Tour card for the 2007 season with a great performance at the Q School finals. He made nine cuts in 21 events and failed to keep his card, but has some interesting stories and memories from his one season on the tour. Now the head professional at Indian Springs Country Club in Broken Arrow, Michael has two young boys to teach as well as a large membership.

Tulsa Golf Expo
Seminar Schedule

Friday:
12:30: Marshall Smith
1:30: Sean “The Beast” Fister
2:30: Paul Clagg, South Lakes Golf Course

Saturday:
10:30: Janice Gibson, First Tee of Tulsa
11:30: Holley Hair, Tee Town
12:30: Sean The Beast Fister
1:30: Michael Boyd
2:00: Dan Rooney
2:40: Tracy Phillips
3:30: Marshall Smith