Texas State entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over Missouri State (MSU) and used a three-under par 69 from Alastair Jones to propel the t

The Texas State men’s golf team claimed the Bob Hurley Auto ORU Shootout for the second straight year, leading the 12-team field by ten strokes with a three-round tournament score of 902 at the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow, OK, Tuesday afternoon.

“We wanted to win,” Texas State head coach Shane Howell said. “We started the year slowly, but we’ve gotten better since and it was just time for these guys to step up and get a win and they did just that.”

Texas State entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over Missouri State (MSU) and used a three-under par 69 from Alastair Jones to propel the team to a 297 final round. MSU finished at 912, Sam Houston State took third place with a three-round score of 920, Stephen F. Austin finished one stroke behind the Bearkats for fourth place and Tulsa closed out the top five with a 926.

Individually, the Bobcats controlled the leader board as Michael Carnes, Jeff Gerlich, Carson Gibson and Jones all finished in the top 20. Tom Moore finished tied for 29th, finishing better than half the competition.

“This win was a total team effort and everyone contributed,” Howell said. “I think it shows the depth of our team. Our fifth man, Alastair Jones, stepped up big today with a 69. Every team member had a hand in the victory this week.”

Carnes fired a 75 in the final round and jumped from fifth-place to third to close out the tournament with an eight-over 224. Gerlich paired a 146 from the opening two rounds with an 80 a day earlier, dropping from the individual lead to sixth-place overall.

Gibson tied for 14th place, shooting a 79 for an overall score of 230. Jones’ 69 combined with a first outing score of 163 brought him to 20th place. Moore shot a two-over par, 74, a career low, for his top 30 finish.

“Although we won, we have a lot of room for improvement,” Howell said. “We will celebrate this victory and then get right back to work on Thursday. We have two big-time tournaments to finish the fall semester and we need to be on top of our games in order to compete.”

The men’s golf team will return to action Oct. 18-19 at the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio.

PGA TOUR EUROPEAN TOUR LPGA TOUR NATIONWIDE TOUR

Weibring will defend his title this week against a field that includes three of the four major champions from this season.

Senior PGA Champion Michael Allen is playing on the PGA Tour this week, while Senior British Open winner Loren Roberts, U.S. Senior Open champ Fred Funk and JELD-WEN Tradition champion Mike Reid will be at Baltimore Country Club with Weibring. Roberts won this title in 2007.

This is the fifth oldest event on the Champions Tour, dating to 1983. There have only been two playoffs and six players won this title in their first appearance.

Golf Channel will have two hours of coverage the first two days, while NBC takes over on Saturday and Sunday.

After taking next week off, the Champions Tour returns to action October 16th with the Administaff Small Business Classic, where Bernhard Langer won last year.

PGA TOUR

TURNING STONE RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP, Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort, Verona, New York - Dustin Johnson broke through for his first PGA Tour win at this event last year.

Johnson birdied the final two holes to deny Robert Allenby the title. Allenby has won four times on the PGA Tour, but is winless since the 2001 season.

The win for Johnson was especially important since he entered the event ranked 128th on the money list with the top 125 keeping their tour cards for the following season. Not only did he secure his tour card for two years with the victory, he soared into the top 50 on the money list.

Along with that, the win also helped Johnson secure spots in all four majors in 2009. He shared 30th at the Masters, tied for 40th at the U.S. Open, missed the cut at the British and shared 10th place at the PGA Championship.

The Turning Stone Resort kicks off the Fall Finish on the PGA Tour. With the race for the FedEx Cup over, the focus will be one those trying to keep their tour cards for next season.

Among those around the top 125 on the money list entering this week are former PGA Champion Rich Beem, former British Open winners David Duval and Todd Hamilton, Stuart Appleby, Tim Herron, Chris DiMarco and Harrison Frazar, who is No. 125 entering this week.

Golf Channel has coverage of all four rounds this week from 4-6 p.m. (et).

After a week off for the Presidents Cup, the PGA Tour returns to action in Las Vegas with the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Marc Turnesa was victorious there last year.

EUROPEAN TOUR

ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP, Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, Fife Scotland - The European Tour hosts its annual pro-am this week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The event rotates over three courses -- Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course at St. Andrews. The final round will be contested on the Old Course.

Robert Karlsson returned to action last week for the first time since May after dealing with an eye infection. Last year, Karlsson fended off Ross Fisher and Martin Kaymer with a birdie on the first playoff hole to secure his ninth European Tour title.

Former champions Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie, Lee Westwood and Nick Dougherty re all in the field this week.

Golf Channel will broadcast four hours of action the first three days, then five hours of play on Sunday.

The European Tour returns to Spain next week for the Madrid Masters, where Charl Schwartzel won in 2008.

LPGA TOUR

NAVISTAR LPGA CLASSIC, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail (Capitol Hill - The Senator), Prattville, Alabama - Lorena Ochoa parred the second playoff hole last year to defeat Candie Kung and Cristie Kerr to win the Navistar LPGA Classic.

The win for Ochoa was her seventh of the season, but first since May. She has won two events this season, but her last crown came in April.

The final round was close throughout as seven players had at least a share of the lead. The three players in the playoff finished one stroke clear of Song- Hee Kim and Shanshan Feng, while five more payers were two shots back.

Along with Ochoa, five of the top 10 players in the world are competing this week. Ochoa will be joined in the field by Suzann Pettersen, Kerr, Yani Tseng and In Kyung Kim.

Golf Channel will have tape-delayed coverage of all four rounds this week. After three weeks off, the LPGA returns to action with the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship, where Kung won last year.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

SOBOBA CLASSIC, The Country Club at Soboba Springs, San Jacinto, California - The Soboba Classic is a new event on the Nationwide Tour and will offer a $1 million purse.

The field this week will include 18 of the top 20 players on the money list. Only No. 1 Michael Sim, who graduated to the PGA Tour with his third win earlier this year, and Mathias Gronberg are scheduled to miss the tournament.

Golf Channel has two hours of coverage all four days. Next week is the Chattanooga Classic, where Arjun Atwal won last year.

Get swinging in support of Peace Ranch

The weather has been great, so keep those golf clubs out and join us for the sixth Annual Caledon Council Community Golf Tournament on Wednesday, September 30. The tournament will take place at Osprey Valley Resorts, located in the scenic Village of Alton.
This tournament is organized annually by the members of Town Council and the funds raised are donated to benefit the community. Each year there is a main not-for-profit organization that benefits significantly, along with smaller contributions to local organizations in each Ward.
The honourary Chair for this year’s tournament is Ward 3 / 4 Area Councillor, Nick deBoer. Caledon Council has proudly selected Peace Ranch as the not-for-profit agency to benefit from the funds raised at the tournament.
Peace Ranch has been serving residents in the Caledon community to provide supportative housing and recreational rehabilitation programs for those with mental illnesses since 1986. Nestled on over 25 acres, Peace Ranch provides an opportunity for adults with serious mental illnesses to work toward a more self-reliant and satisfying life through participation in a residential therapeutic farm community. We are proud that Peace Ranch is located in Caledon, as it is the only working residential, and one of only two therapeutic farm communities in Canada.
The goals of Peace Ranch are: to increase motivation; improve communication and social skills; improve physical fitness; reduce anxiety; improve coping skills; and increase job readiness.
This organization can provide a supervised home for 10 adults coping with schizophrenia. These individuals are taught life skills through normal household routines.
They develop recreational and communication skills while learning to care for animals and gardens on the farm.
The main objective of Peace Ranch is to help its residents achieve independent living in the community.
This organization is mainly funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. They also receive funding from United Way, which has permitted them to expand a day program to offer more assistance to those in need.

Shandin Hills Golf Club

Built in 1984, this Cary Bickler designed, 18 hole public course is situated on the edge of the foothills northwest of the city of San Bernardino, California.

With narrow, tree lined fairways of bermuda / winter rye grass, thick...deep rough, an overabundance of bunkers, and soft but fast greens of poannua / bent grass. this course most certainly has much to offer golfers of all skill levels.

When you take into consideration the very affordable green fees, the friendly staff, the practice range, bar, restaurant and club house facilities, you're sure to walk away from here with a smile on your face, regardless of how well you scored on the course.

And by-the-way, Kirk Triplett holds the course record of 61 !