Sunday, March 28, 2010

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Another tournament, another long name

The Hooters Tour continues this week at the F&S Asset Management Group Classic at Amelia National presented by Michelob Ultra. Whew! That was a mouthful.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Strong Field Highlights Hooters Tour Event

News >> Strong Field Highlights Hooters Tour Event
The F&S Asset Management Group Classic
Presented By Michelob Ultra
Amelia National Golf & CC 
March 11-14, 2010
Fernandina Beach, FL (March 10, 2010)…The F&S Asset Management Group Classic begins tomorrow in Fernandina Beach, Florida and the field for this event is without a doubt one of the strongest in the history of the NGA Hooters Tour.
“I have been with the Hooters Tour since 1991 and I have never seen a field this strong,” said Tournament Director Jeff Harlow. “This should be an exciting week for fans of the tour or fans of golf to come out and see one of the next superstars at the next level playing in Jacksonville this week.”
The field this week is highlighted by former U.S. Amateur Champion Bubba Dickerson of Fernandina Beach, Florida. Dickerson, the 2009 Chitimacha Louisiana Open winner on the Nationwide Tour, is playing this week’s Hooters Tour event due to the fact that the Nationwide Tour is off for two weeks and he lives next door to Amelia National. Dickerson was a member the Hooters Tour in 2004 and made 15 of 16 cuts and finished 7th on the money list with $73,259. (left Bubba Dickerson)
Other top names due to tee it up this week in Florida are five-time Hooters Tour winner Ted Potter (Silver Springs, FL), three-time Hooters Tour winners David Skinns (Lincoln, England), Todd Bailey (Spanish Fort, AL) and Andrew Medley (Athens, AL), two-time Hooters Tour winners Chip Deason (Lexington, SC), Jeff Corr (Longwood, FL), Matt Harmon (Grand Rapids, MI), Blaine Peffley (Lebanon, OH) and last week’s winner in Ocala Mark Blakefield (Maysville, KY) as well as Hooter Tour winners Oscar Alavarez (Colombia), Ben Briscoe (Old Colwyn, Wales), Marion Dantzler (Orangeburg, SC), Russell Knox (Scotland), Grant Leaver (Centerville, TN), David Miller (Daphne, AL), Phillip Pettitt Jr (Murfreesboro, TN), Jim Renner (Plainsville, MA) and Michael Welch (Quincy, MA). All told, there will be thirty-three combined wins in The F&S Assets Management Group Classic. (Ted Potter right)
Also in the field this week are a handful of golfers that made names as amateur standouts and are quickly living up to the preceded hype as professionals. Birmingham’s Michael Thompson was the low amateur at the 2008 United States Open and this past winter the second year pro won the money title on the Hooters Bridgestone Winter Series in central Florida. A strong showing this week could give the former Alabama golfer the confidence he needs to have a successful season on the Hooters Tour. Joining Thompson this week are another pair of former amateur standouts, Lee Williams (Alexander City, AL) and Billy Hurley III (Annapolis, MD). Lee Williams, 28, is one of America's finest up-and-coming professional golfers. Williams is a former All-American at Auburn University and a two-time member of the U.S. Walker Cup team. He spent the 2007 and part of the 2008 season on the Nationwide Tour. Hurley was the Naval Academy’s most decorated golfer and member of the 2005 victorious Walker Cup Team. Hurley’s golfing career was put on hiatus for two years as he served his military requirements but the former Midshipman is starting to regain the swagger that made him the number two ranked amateur on Golfweek’s Amateur list in 2005. 
The strong field this week might have something to do with the Hooters Tour’s recent announcement that it was given an exemption into the Nationwide Tour’s Fresh Express Classic. The 2nd annual Fresh Express Classic is scheduled for April 12-18, 2010, at TPC Stonebrae, located atop the rugged East Bay hillside overlooking San Francisco Bay. All four rounds will be televised by Golf Channel. The exemption into the event will be given to The Hooters Tour leading money winner over the first four (4) events of the 2010 season: Ocala, FL, Fernandina Beach, FL, Hickory, NC, & Gainesville, GA.
The NGA/Hooters Tour is the 3rd largest men’s 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours, and boasts alumni like 2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink, 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, 2003 British Open winner Ben Curtis, 2003 US Open winner Jim Furyk, two time U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen, British Open and PGA Champion John Daly, as well as British Open winner Tom Lehman, PGA Champion David Toms, 2003 Tour Championship Winner Chad Campbell, 2004 & 2005 Reno Tahoe Open winner Vaughn Taylor and TPC winner Craig Perks to name just a few. All told, the NGA/Hooters Tour’s alumni have an incredible 11 “Majors” to their credit. The NGA/Hooters Tour has helped more than 100 professionals acquire their PGA, Senior PGA, and Nationwide Tour cards. In fact, 48% of the players that earned their 2010 PGA Tour card, and 53% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the NGA/Hooters Tour.
For more information about the NGA/Hooters Tour, please visit our web site, www.NGAHOOTERSTOUR.com. If you have any questions about interview requests during tournament week please contact Media Relations Director Justin Sports Jernigan at (843) 267.6947 or by email at Justin@hooterstour.com.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Top 20 Finish, Not a Bad Start

After a rough first round, Michael had strong rounds the rest of the tournament to finish at +8, finishing in 19th place at the Ocala Marion Sports Commission Classic.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

And they're off...

The Hooters Tour has kicked off their 2010 season this week at the Ocala Marion Sports Commission Classic. Scores have been high with the cut line at +8 after the first two rounds. Michael finished with +7 so he'll be in the money. He finished the first round at 6 over, and the second round at 1 over.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Thompson Still Grinding in Pro Ranks

OCALA, Fla. – Michael Thompson’s tale can serve as a cautionary one for any player preparing to turn pro in the near future.
The lesson: Don’t change the things that made you successful, and don’t feel like you have to hit every shot perfect to compete at a higher level. The hole is the same size, regardless of if you’re playing college golf, the Hooters Tour or PGA Tour.
Thompson is in Central Florida this week for the first event of the 2010 Hooters Tour. This isn’t where many thought Thompson would be almost two years into his pro career. Luckily, things are starting to look up for the affable former Alabama player.
Thompson was runner-up to Colt Knost at the 2007 U.S. Amateur, and an alternate for that year’s Walker Cup team. In 2008, he almost made the cut at the Masters (before calling a penalty on himself when his ball moved on the 15th green) and was low amateur at the U.S. Open (T-29). He also contended at the PGA Tour’s Hartford stop before turning pro after the Palmer Cup.
That’s when things started to go awry. As Thompson was talking to agents in preparation for his pro career, one agent told Thompson he’d have to hit the ball higher to compete on the PGA Tour.
“That one quote, it totally changed my whole outlook on the game of golf and how I was going to go about playing it,” he said. “I changed my whole swing.
“I worked on shallowing out my swing. I used to come in really steep, take deep divots. I was working on casting the club, releasing my hands early. That caused my impact to change dramatically. I felt like I was sweeping the ball, instead of compressing it. For me, that brought in a duck hook. That duck hook produced a fear of hitting it left, and then I started hitting it all over the place.”
Thompson missed out on Q-School in 2008, and spent last year on the Hooters Tour. He earned $23,225 to finish 42nd on the money list. Starting last June, he missed five cuts in seven starts, a stretch that had him briefly considering quitting golf.
“I told myself, ‘There’s no point. This is miserable,’ ” Thompson said. “My family, my coach, my friends, my girlfriend, everyone encouraged me to keep going, and I knew this is always what I wanted to do in the long run.”
This fall, Thompson talked to his teacher, Susie Meyers, about returning to his old form. Thompson missed out on Q-School’s first stage, but found success on the Hooters Tour’s Winter Series. He won $28,951 – more than he won in the entire regular season – and was the leading money winner. He won once, was runner-up another time and had a 69.38 scoring average. Nationwide Tour players Joe Affrunti and Ted Potter finished second and third to Thompson on the money list. Potter was the 2009 Hooters Tour player of the year.
“It’s a process I’m glad I went through,” Thompson said. “It was definitely a struggle.
“I feel more comfortable with my game than I have in the past two years. I feel like this year could be a really good year for me.”

via GolfWeek