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68 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 14, 2004 Senior moments suit Fisher just fine By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune Ed Fisher was satisfied when he left the course after his first round in the recent Senior Oregon Open Invitational. "The scores when I left that morning weren’t all that good," says the teaching pro out of Quail Point Golf Course. The first of three rounds at Wildhorse Golf Club in Pendleton was still under way when he departed. "Then I got there the next morning and my buddy says, ‘Geez, how is it to shoot 1 under and be eight shots back,’" says Fisher. "I said, ‘What!’" Advertisement Fisher’s opening 71, while better than most, hardly stacked up to the 63 of former PGA and Senior PGA player Don Bies. Undaunted, Fisher came back with a 66 on Day 2 and a 69 in the final round to tie for fourth place at 206 and earn a paycheck of $1,625. It was further testament that Fisher, who turned 50 less than a year ago, is on the right track as he hones his game for high-level senior competition. "I did pretty good," he admits. "It was a pretty good field, and on the last day, I was paired with the heavy hitters." Bies was one of them. The Seattle resident won seven times on the PGA Senior Tour from 1988 to ‘95 and, on the regular tour, won the ‘75 Greater Hartford Open. Bies went on to capture this tourney with a 16-under 200. That was one shot better than Chuck Milne, who missed by one shot the cut at the U.S. Senior Open won by Peter Jacobsen two weeks ago. Fred Haney, one of the Pacific Northwest Section’s top players, rounded out Fisher’s final group. "I’m loving it," says Fisher. "I’m trying to work to where I’m competing on a national level with these guys. I tried to qualify for the Senior Open, too. I didn’t make it, but that’s OK. I’m having fun doing this. It’s rejuvenated my game, actually." Were it not for some missed putts, he says, he might have been right in the mix. All part of the process, he says; fruition is not yet at hand. The highlight thus far was a win at the Senior Sectional last fall, which qualified him for the national club pro tourney in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where he made the cut but finished well down the list. At the U.S. Open qualifier last month at Astoria Country Club, he missed three birdie putts inside 5 feet and shot 72 — missing the lone qualifying place by three shots. Fisher, who played on the Australian Tour a couple years before becoming the head pro at Grants Pass Golf Club in 1984, ultimately wants to qualify for the Senior PGA or the U.S. Senior Open. "That’s a goal there," he says. "They’re the honchos. That’s the big carrot." Not too far behind Fisher was Kevin Klabunde of Rogue Valley Country Club. Klabunde shot a final-round 66 for a 212 total, tying for 11th and earning $350. SPEAKING OF TOUGH fields, Abby Fowler began girding for defense of her Rogue Valley Country Club women’s division title against accomplished opposition. Fowler tied for fifth in the Oregon Golf Association Women’s Stroke Play Championship Wednesday. Her two-day, 153 total at the OGA Course in Woodburn matched that of Mary Budke, the former Oregon State star who won the 1972 Women’s U.S. Amateur. Keizer teen phenom Rebecca Kim, 16, won with an even-par 144. Fowler this weekend defends the RVCC title she won last year with the help of a course-record-tying round of 69, which is 4 under par. She won the three- day event by 10 shots. Soon after, she’ll return to Xavier University, where she’ll be a senior and the No. 1 player on the women’s golf team for the second straight season. Her game is in form. "Right now, I’m feeling really good about it," says Fowler, a former South Medford standout. "I’ve been working a lot on it this summer. I’ve changed a lot of things in my swing. I struggled at the beginning of the summer, but the past couple of tournaments have been really good." She got off to bad starts in both rounds this week, double bogeying the first hole on Day 1 en route to a 76, then going bogey-triple bogey to open Day 2, when she shot 77. "I guess that’s golf," she says. "I’m happy with how I came back and finished." A TOURNAMENT that seems to be gaining popularity is the Southern Oregon Two-Person Best Ball at Grants Pass Golf Club. The second-year event replaced the long-running Gold River Scramble, which moved to Eagle Point. Medford’s Bret Breeze and Mark DeBoer ran away with the first flight, shooting a 130 gross score to win by six shots over Erik Hill and Joey Rossknecht. Breeze, in particular, sizzled, fashioning a 65 on his own ball on Day 2 Sunday. Forty-eight teams played. Grants Pass head pro Kent DeRocher hopes to get up to 60, with two men’s flights and a women’s division. The allure is that players golf their own ball. "I wanted it to be real golf," says DeRocher. "There’s nothing wrong with a scramble, but in this you get to play your own ball, and there really aren’t many events like that." Ultimately, he’d like for it to attract mostly single-digit handicap players, similar to one he ran in Merced, Calif., before he relocated to Grants Pass two years ago. ROSS RAMPY continually tries to come up with unique raffle prizes for the Ashland Board of Realtors’ annual charity golf tournament at Oak Knoll Golf Course in Ashland. This year, a $100 ticket will win someone an $18,000 entry for four into the Stan Humphries Celebrity Players Tour event at Morgan Run Resort in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The package includes air, hotel, a rental SUV and spending money. Proceeds benefit The Dunn House and Habitat for Humanity. Rampy’s goal is to sell 300 tickets and raise $12,000 for the beneficiaries. Those interested in tickets can call Rampy (840-8690) or Gary Stine (779-9421). The drawing will be the day of the realtors’ tourney, Sept. 15. The winner need not be present. In the next couple of years, Rampy says, he’d like to secure Super Bowl tickets and Ryder Cup tickets to raffle off. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities