LITTLE ROCK — Monk ‘put golf on map ’
Longtime Arkansas State Golf Association executive director Charles “Monk” Wade died Sunday at the age of 90. There was a moment of silence at the start of this week’s ASGA Monk Wade Father and Son Championship at Greystone Country Club in Cabot.
“I just hope when my tenure as executive director is over that people will hold me in nearly as high regard as Charles “Monk” Wade,” ASGA executive director Jay Fox said. “He put golf on the map in Arkansas, and it has been my honor for the past 20 years to simply carry on what he established.
“I cannot describe what Monk Wade has meant to my life. I would not be where I am today without his guidance and his unconditional support.”
Wade became executive director of the ASGA in 1975, working out of a spare bedroom in his home. He retired in 1990 and worked on a part-time basis with Fox for the first year.
“I just wanted to continue what Monk had begun and expand opportunities for all golfers,” Fox said. “We established the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame to honor deserving men and women that had made significant impact on the game of golf in Arkansas. Monk was one of the first recipients, and deservedly so.”
Wade was best known for his bucket hat and a bullhorn. Some of Wade’s accomplishments include:
Establishing the ASGA Player of the Year in 1977.
Establishing Arkansas Golfer magazine in 1975.
Establishing the ASGA Father and Son Championship, which was later re-named the Monk Wade Father and Son Championship.
And starting the ASGA individual membership program, which now has more than 15,000 members at 125 member clubs.
Steeds win
Bill and Scott Steed won the 2010 Arkansas State Golf Association Monk Wade Father and Son Championship on Tuesday at Greystone Country Club in Cabot.
The Steeds shot 3-under par 69 at Mountain Springs and 9-under-par 63 at Cypress Creek to defeat Jeff and Nicklaus Benton by one stroke.
The 2011 tournament will be played at Hot Springs Village.
Greens ready
The 2010 Fourth of July Championship is a go for July 3-5 at War Memorial Golf Course in Little Rock.
The new 13th and 14th holes will open in time for the tournament, which is considered one of Arkansas’ unofficial major championships.
The course has been under a redesign most of the summer. The War Memorial staff sprigged the two new greens with tiffdwarf bermuda May 24. The extreme heat hasn’t helped their growth, but they are expected to be playable for the tournament.
The tournament is still accepting entries. Entry fee is $135 for the championship, mid-senior, senior and super senior divisions and $110 for the match-play divisions.
They must be received by 5 p.m. June 30 .
One change this year will be par, which will move from 65 to 64.
Publinx today
Local qualifying for the United States Golf Association Amateur Public Links will take place today at Stonelinks in North Little Rock.
The field for the 36-hole tournament is expected to include Cabot’s Nicklaus Benton, the Arkansas State Golf Association Player of the Year, Hardy’s Nathan Circle, Little Rock’s Bobby Baker, Conway’s D.K. Kim, Fort Smith’s Ethan Adamson and Mountain Home’s Seth Sullivant and Richard Zimmerman.
Cothran falls short
Springdale’s Chelsey Cothran was eliminated from the United States Golf Association Women’s Amateur Public Links on Wednesday.
Cothran rebounded from a first-round 9-over-par 80 on Tuesday to shoot 2-over par 73 on Wednesday at Warren Golf Club in Notre Dame, Ind. That still left Cothran one stroke away from getting into a playoff for the final match play spots.
Masson advances
The Alotian Club’s Grant Masson is playing in the PGA Professionals National Championship, which starts Sunday at French Lick Resort in French, Lick, Ind.
TOC this week
The 33rd Rolex Tournament of Champions announced its field for the tournament, which will be played next week at The Blessings in Johnson.
The tournament is one off 11 invitationals on the American Junior Golf Association schedule for2010.
The boys division will feature 22 Rolex Junior All-Americans, including Arkansas signee Will Pearson, Little Rock’s Matthew Mabrey andTexarkana’s Sean Romero.
Mabrey won the 2009 AJGA Arkansas Junior.
The girls division will include Fayetteville’s Olivia Lavy and Arkansas signee Emily Tubert.
Sports, Pages 19 on 06/24/2010