 |
| Jon Veneziano |
Jon Veneziano, 2006 Public
Links Champion and 2005 Mid-Amateur Champion, leads a
group of 12 amateur golfers selected to represent
Florida in the 11th Southeastern Challenge Matches
against teams from Alabama and Georgia. The Georgia
State Golf Association will host the 2006 Matches at
Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Georgia on October
14-15.
The Southeastern Challenge Matches are a biennial Ryder
Cup style match play competition pitting twelve man
amateur teams, eight Mid-Amateurs and four Seniors, from
Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The Matches consist of
four-ball, foursome and individual matches over two
days, with one point awarded to the winning team for
each match. One-half point is awarded to each side for
halved matches.
The top five Mid-Amateurs from the FSGA Two Year Points
List are automatically selected to the team. Jon Veneziano, ranked first on the Two Year Points List,
captured this year’s Public Links Championship as well
as last year’s Mid-Amateur. Next on the points list,
Paul Melson, of Plantation, won the 2006 and 2003
Mid-Senior Championship as well as this year’s Four-Ball
Championship with partner Edward Kenny, also named to
the team. Another Mid-Amateur Champion, Steve Carter, of
Jacksonville, is set to play for Florida. Carter, ranked
fourth in the standings, won the Mid-Amateur in 2004 and
the 2005 Four-Ball Championship after setting a new
tournament record. The 2005 Player-of-the-Year Kelly Gosse, of Inverness, was named to the team after winning
the 2005 Amateur Match Play Championship and advancing
to the semifinals of that same Championship this year.
Two-time Public Links Champion, Robert Parker, of
Sanford, completes the top five Mid-Amateurs in the
points standings while the Committee selects three
additional players. Melson’s partner in the Four-Ball,
Edward Kenny, of Lake Worth, was named to the team with
a second place finish in this year’s Amateur
Championship. Peter Dachisen, of Wesley Chapel, a
three-time Gasparilla Invitational winner, and an
additional member of the team will be named after the US
Mid-Amateur and/or the State Mid-Amateur will round out
the Mid-Amateurs to represent Florida.
The Florida team features four senior players including
the top two Senior players from the FSGA Two Year Points
List. The 2005 Senior Player-of-the-Year Rick Woulfe, of
Fort Lauderdale, is tied with Melson for second on the
points list and will be playing in his 9th Southeastern
Challenge Matches. Woulfe has won five State
Championships including this year’s Mid-Amateur
Four-Ball South. Also joining Woulfe is Bruce Scamehorn,
of Winter Haven, the 2004 Senior Amateur Champion.
Scamehorn was runner-up in this year’s Senior Amateur
Match Play Championship and won the 1995 State Match
Play, 1993 Mid-Amateur and 1992 Mid-Senior
Championships. Highly ranked seniors in the GolfWeek
rankings, Steve Earsley, of Hobe Sound, and Tim Miller,
of Venice, were selected by the Committee to complete
the team.
Georgia won the Matches in 2004 with 28 points while
Florida and Alabama tied with 17 ½ points each at The
Club at TwinEagles in Naples. Florida leads the series
with five wins, Georgia has four wins and Alabama won the
Matches once.
Track results at
www.fsga.org. |
