Sarasota Golf News

This will be the fifth Battle at Bobcat, which is hosted at Bobcat Trail Golf Club. We invite you get a team together and enjoy a fun event designed to bring great golfers together with the opportunity to win a nice cash pot. Entries are limited and the field always fills up fast, so make sure you get your checks into Battle Trail for the Battle at Bobcat! 

New Putt and Pamper Package a Steal at $90 Per Person

CRYSTAL RIVER - Southern hospitality and a love of the game brought many well known golfers to Florida's Nature Coast 50 years ago. Five decades later, things haven't changed.

In 1955, construction began on a new golf course in Crystal River. Originally designed by course architect Mark Mahannah, it opened two years later under the name Paradise Country Club, and today operates under the name "The Championship Course" at the Plantation Golf Resort & Spa.

During the final round of the ADT Championship, scheduled for November 23 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach a few lucky finalists will be shooting for a million dollar hole-in-one.

The National City Millon Dollar Shootout has announced four ways to qualify for the contest along with corresponding qualifying sites.

Golfers can qualify four different ways: Win a finalist spot at any of the six sites open to the public; win a finalist spot in an official designated charity golf tournament; qualify on the range during the ADT Championship or look for the enter-to-win sweepstakes display at any participating South Florida Publix beginning in mid-October. 

SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. - Tournament Golf Group will present the inaugural Conference Alumni Challenge Series on the Florida Gulf Coast from Sept. 2008 thru June, 2009. The Golf Club at Cypress Creek, Crown Plaza Hotel, Embassy Suites and Circles Restaurant will host the College Alumni Golf Series for 32 weeks.

This unique team concept challenges four alumni members representing their institution versus other alumni teams in four days of conference only competition.

The Adaptive Golf Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Sarasota since 1998. Under the leadership of PGA professional David Windsor, the Foundation provides specialized golf instruction, life skills, custom equipment and personal enhancement for all physically challenged individuals ages 5-99.

The American Veterans Adaptive Golf program was developed in response to the overwhelming number of injured military service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently AVAG conducts weekly golf clinics at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, FL. Veterans of all generations are participating; WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf Wars. 

Each year the Southwestern Chapter of the North Florida PGA recognizes their peers for service and commitment to the game of golf. The 2007 winners of each award are as follows:

Golf Professional of the Year - Keith Struble, Plantation Golf & CC
Teacher of the Year - Dave Windsor, Florida Adaptive Golf
Bill Strausbaugh Award - Paul Barone, Heron Creek Golf and CC
Horton Smith Award- Jack Binswanger, Village Green Golf Club
Junior Golf Leader - Mike McClellan - Meadows Country Club 

The Southwestern Chapter of the North Florida PGA continues to make an impact on the local community with their fund raising efforts. Each year the local club professionals raise money by hosting a Birdie-A-Thon. Professionals solicit pledges from their members and guests. They then play golf in varied formats to try to make as many birdies as possible. The most popular format is a four or five person scramble with a group comprised of the professional staff and club champions. Once the round is played the pledges are collected on a per birdie basis.

While you were either shivering in the January cold or (hopefully) out chasing around the little white ball in our warmer climate, the golf industry was trying to figure out what you want NEXT, and showing it off to retailers, golf shop owners, and our intrepid reporters at The Golfers Guide.

With over 10 square miles of show space hosting 1250 different golf-related companies, thousands of people in the golf industry from all over the world visited Orlando in mid-January. Our regional publishers have their Top 10 list of interesting products worth a look:

The 2008 golf tournament schedule for the Sarasota Golf Association has been completed. The Association will stage 22 tournaments on courses from Bradenton to Port Charlotte. Tournaments are conducted on alternate Saturday mornings throughout the year. Member handicaps range from single digit to about 30. Both men and women golfers are welcome. Association dues are $35 annually and a nominal amount for each tournament.

If you would like to find out more information about the Sarasota Golf Association, please send an e-mail with your name to:  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Seven of the 10 winners of awards from the North Florida Section of the Professional Golfers Association are from the smallest chapter in the section, representing Sarasota, Manatee, Hardee and Desoto counties, the first time so many awards have ever been earned by one Chapter. The awards are earned by leading the way in areas such as junior golf, education, growth of the game, teaching, leadership, merchandising and outstanding representation of the great game of golf. The award winners, club, and the basic award criteria for each category are as follows:

Golf Professional of the Year – Michael Cummings, Golf Club at Capri Isles: Service to Section/Association, Members of his club and promotion of the game of golf. Elected by general membership, this is the highest honor earned by a PGA Professional.