Rick Woulfe, of Fort Lauderdale, the 2007 Senior Player-of-the-Year, leads a group of 12 amateur golfers selected to represent Florida in the 12th Southeastern Challenge Matches against teams from Alabama and Georgia. The Alabama Golf Association will host the 2008 Matches at Kiva Dunes Course in Gulf Shores, Alabama on October 18-19.

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 three Mid-Amateurs from the FSGA Two Year Points List were automatically selected to the team. Garrett Morrison, ranked first on the Two Year Points List in the Mid-Amateur Division, finished second in this year’s State Amateur Championship. Morrison also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and advanced to the match play portion of the event. Next on the points list, Jon Veneziano, of Eustis, won the 2006 Public Links Championship as well as the 2005 Mid-Amateur. A Mid-Amateur Four-Ball North Champion, Doug Snoap, of Apopka, is set to play for Florida. Snoap won the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball North in 2007 with his partner, Robert Parker. The first Committee pick, the 2007 runner-up in the Mid-Amateur Championship, Stephen Anderson, of Hobe Sound, was named to the team after qualifying for the 2008 Amateur Match Play Championship and a 4th place showing at the 2008 Mid-Amateur Four-Ball South. Jeff Golden, of Winter Park, qualified for the 2007 U.S. Open and fills out the second Committee pick. T.J. Shuart, of Coral Springs, qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and advanced to the match play stage, is the third Committee pick. The Committee has also chosen Jeff Williams, of Chuluota, for their fourth choice. Williams also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and advanced to the match play portion of the event. The winner of the State Mid-Amateur Championship will be offered the final spot and 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 2007 Senior Player-of-the-Year, Rick Woulfe, of Fort Lauderdale, is the top senior on the points list and will be playing in his 7th Southeastern Challenge Matches. Woulfe won four State Championships last year. Also joining Woulfe is Bruce Scamehorn, of Winter Haven, winner of the 2008 Senior Four-Ball Championship with his partner, Cail Pearce. Scamehorn was runner-up in the 2007 Senior Amateur Match Play Championship. Highly ranked seniors, Kim Schwencke, of Temple Terrace, and Ronnie Tumlin, of Saint Augustine, were selected by the Committee to complete the team.

Georgia won the Matches in 2006 with 32.5 points, while Florida was second with 15.5 points and Alabama finished third with 15 points at Hawk's Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Georgia. Florida and Georgia are tied in the series with 5 wins each and Alabama has won the Matches once.

Follow the Southeastern Challenge Matches at www.fsga.org.