Newsmakers: November 3, 2008

College Round-up

Georgia won the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational Tuesday. The Bulldogs shot 8-over-par 296 in the final round at Isleworth Country Club in Windermere, Fla., to finish at 8-over-par 867 and beat Alabama by 17 shots. Indiana finished third, two shots ahead of Texas Tech. Russell Henley, competing for Georgia, was the top individual, finishing with a total of 4-under-par 212.

Max Scodro of Notre Dame and Payne Gniewek of Michigan State tied for top individual honors at the UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate in Greensboro, N.C., Tuesday at 3-under-par 213. Duke won the team title over Michigan State by four strokes.

Pepperdine University won the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown Wednesday, posting a 41-under-par 823 as a team to top Oklahoma State by 12 shots. Lisa McCloskey, a freshman for Pepperdine, won the individual title with a total of 17-under-par 199. The NCAA does not keep official golf records and Golfstat research has not turned up a lower 54-hole score, previously considering Katherine Hull’s 16-under-par 200, shot in 2003, to be the record. Cindy LaCrosse of Louisville, Therese Koelbaek of UNLV, Anya Alvarez of Washington and Caroline Hedwall of Oklahoma State rounded out the top five.

Professional Round-up

Ryan Palmer won the PGA TOUR’s Ginn sur Mer Classic in Palm Coast, Fla., beating five other players by one stroke for his second career victory. Nicholas Thompson, Vaughn Taylor, Michael Letzig, Ken Duke and George McNeill all tied for second at 6-under-par. The win secured Palmer’s PGA TOUR card for 2009.

On the LPGA Tour, Candie Kung was victorious at the Hana Bank Kolon Championship in Incheon, South Korea, for the fourth LPGA Tour win of her career. Her total of 6-under-par 210 was good for a one-shot victory over Katherine Hull.

Anthony Kim became the latest professional to apply for membership on the European Tour, joining a half-dozen U.S. tour players, including Camilo Villegas, who have decided to take up joint membership in Europe for the 2009 season. Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy are also expected to join the tour.

*AJGA alumni denoted in bold