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Warren leads Player's Cup after first round

MOUNT VERNON - Bryan Warren fought off the intense heat to card the only sub-70 round to take a three-stroke lead Saturday after the first day of the SIGA Player's Cup at Green Hills Golf Course.

The tournament was moved there because of flood damage at Hickory Ridge Public Golf Center in Carbondale.

"This is about the best I've played up here," Warren said. "The golf course is in great shape and the greens are some of the best I've putted on all year."

Warren, who plays at McLeansboro Golf Club, shot even on the front, trading a bogey on No. 2 with a birdie on four. On the back nine, the McLeansboro native carded four birdies to go with two bogeys to finish his round with a 2-under 69.

"Any time you play near par at the turn on this golf course, you've played pretty good," Warren said. "On the back nine, I started well with two pars and two birdies. I then played 14, a dogleg left, like a dogleg right for a bogey and then missed a putt on 15, so I was kind upset.

"But I got a birdie on 16 and after my worst drive all day on 17, I recovered for another birdie."

Defending champion Jeff Miller is sitting six strokes off his pace with a 4-over 75. The Southern Illinois University golfer shot 5-over on the front nine, including a double-bogey on No. 6, but rebounded to shoot 1-under on the back nine that included birdies on two of the last three holes.

"I could not get anything going on the front," Miller said. "But I'm not upset with the one-under on the back. I couldn't play much better than that."

Brandon Bullard, who calls Green Hills home, and Matt Pool, who plays out of Indian Hills Golf Course in Mount Vernon, are tied for second place at 1-over 72.

Pool was 1-under at the turn, but dropped two strokes on the back nine that started with a double bogey on No. 12. Bullard started the back nine 1-over par and gained two more strokes with birdies on 10, 12 and 13 wrapped around a bogey on 11, but lost that advantage with bogeys on 14 and 15.

In the men's senior division, Dino Bankson, who plays out of Egyptian Country Club in Mounds, holds a one-stroke lead with a 71 over Joe Davidson, who plays at Crab Orchard Golf Club, and Murphy Hart out of Franklin Country Club. Defending champion Stan Curtis, who plays at Hickory Ridge, is three strokes back.

In the men's super senior, division Cliff Mills, who plays at Jackson Country Club in Murphysboro, and Jim West from Hickory Ridge, are tied for the lead at 4-over 75.

Meloney Mauer leads the women's championship division by one stroke over Heather McDanial from Pinckneyville. Nick Tannahill, also from Mount Vernon, leads the junior boys division by two strokes.

Late run leads Pool to Player's Cup victory

BY GEARY DENISTON, FOR THE SOUTHERN

MOUNT VERNON - First round leader Bryan Warren's bogey on the 17th hole gave Matt Pool the opening he needed to win the 22nd annual SIGA Player's Cup at Green Hills Golf Club.

"I've never won a tournament before," Pool said. "We were both in the bunker in two and we both didn't have very good lies. I blasted out to 15 or 20 foot and was able to two-putt for par. That gave me a one-stroke lead and gave me a boost of energy going into 18."

Warren led by three strokes after the first round over Pool and Brandon Ballard and increased it by a stroke after bagging a birdie on No. 4, but five bogeys over the next 11 holes saw the McLeansboro golfer drop behind Pool by a stroke.

"I was not putting very well and that caused some of my issues," Warren said.

Warren pulled back into a tie with a birdie on 16 with Pool, who made par, and Bullard was still in the hunt one stroke behind.

The par-five 17 proved to be the deciding hole with Warren two-putting for bogey and Bullard falling out of contention after three-putting.

"I didn't have that bad of a bunker shot, but that was the first bunker shot I've had all year and didn't hit it hard enough," Warren said. "I then thought I hit a good chip, but it came out softer than I wanted to."

On No. 18, both Warren and Pool were on the green in two and within a foot of each other. Warren sank a nine-footer for a birdie to put the pressure on Pool, but the Mount Vernon golfer, calmly drained his putt from eight feet out to claim the prize for a 69 and a score of 141.

Defending champion Jeff Miller finished with the low round of the tournament with a four-under par 67 to fall one stroke short to tie for second with Warren. Bullard finished fourth, two strokes back, and Logan Murphy finished fifth three strokes off the pace.

"I putted well," Miller said. "On the front nine, I hit every green. On the back, I hit only four greens, but was getting up and down from everywhere."

Former Pinckneyville golfer Lindsay Kellerman won a three-hole playoff with Sabrina Wheatley and Heather McDanial to win her first Player's Cup women's title. Wheatley had the shot of the day with an eagle on No. 1.

"This is the first time I've played this tournament," Kellerman said. "I was really nervous after three-putting on 18 to put me into this playoff. Heather parred on the first hole and we both birdied. On the third hole the difference was I got on in two and it took Sabrina three to get on."

In the senior men's division, Green Hills owner Tommy Williams began the day three strokes off the pace and shot a 68 to win his first title since 2009 by two strokes over Joe Davidson. Cliff Mills and Jim West started the day tied for the lead in super senior men's division, but a quadruple bogey on hole 17 by West sealed the win for Mills. Nick Tannahill from Mount Vernon build upon his two-stroke first round lead finishing with a 73 to win the junior boy's division by seven strokes.

2011 Player's Cup Scores

Men's Championship	Saturday	Sunday	Total
Pool, Matt	72	69	141
Warren, Bryan	69	73	142
Miller, Jeffrey	75	67	142
Bullard, Brandon	72	71	143
Murphy, Logan	73	71	144
Portner, Tom	73	72	145
Erickson, Jake	76	69	145
Ellis, Blaze	74	72	146
Harp, Josh	77	72	149
Hallam, Kelly	76	74	150
Eastham, Web	74	77	151
Hale, Jerry	75	77	152
Barry, Craig	78	75	153
Hefley, Matthew	77	79	156
Brewer, Judson	81	78	159
Manus, Mike	83	76	159
Tune, Mike	83	76	159
Harp, Jared	78	83	161
Paddick, Jared	85	79	164
Lence, Caleb	82	88	170
Ortega, Brandon	81	WD	WD
Brunk, Kevin	WD	WD	WD
Emery, Josh	WD	WD	WD

Senior Men 50+	Saturday	Sunday	Total
Williams, Tommy	74	68	142
Davidson, Joe	72	72	144
Hart, Murphy	72	73	145
Curtis, Stan	74	74	148
Bankson, Deno	71	78	149
Diedrick, Alan	74	75	149
Dalmasso, Barry	73	79	152
Frazier, Phil	77	80	157
Perkins, Dave	78	80	158
White, John	76	85	161
McDanial, Mark	81	80	161
Bradshaw, Terry	84	77	161
Arview, Darrell	82	93	175

Women's Championship	Saturday	Sunday	Total
Kellerman, Lindsay*	82	79	161
Wheatley, Sabrina	82	79	161
McDanial, Heather	81	80	161
Mauer, Melody	80	82	162
Draves, Annette	82	98	180
Ireland, Kathy	88	95	183

Super Senior Men 62+	Saturday	Sunday	Total
Mills, Cliff	75	78	153
West, Jim	75	83	158
Darrow, Rick	83	89	172

Junior Boy	Saturday	Sunday	Total
Tannahill, Nick	78	73	151
Fauss, Taylor	81	77	158
Flota, Trevor	80	82	162
Williams, Matthew	84	84	168
*Won in playoff

Miller and Curtis pull away to win 2010 SIGA Players Cup

By Geary Deniston, For The Southern thesouthern.com | Posted: Monday, August 16, 2010 12:15 am |

Paul Newton Paul Newton / The Southern Eventual champion Jeff Miller hits his tee shot on No. 17 during the final round of the SIGA Players Cup on Sunday, Aug. 15, at Hickory Ridge Public Golf Center.

CARBONDALE - Both SIU sophomore Jeff Miller and Carbondale golfer Stan Curtis played solid golf to build upon their first-day leads to win the 21st annual SIGA Players Cup at Hickory Ridge Public Golf Center.

"I love this course," Miller said. "This was a good way to get ready to start the college season. I got new clubs and they are fully broken in, so I'm ready to go."

Miller duplicated his first day score of 71 to finish at 142 and win his first Players Cup title by four strokes over his SIU teammate Jake Erickson and Pinckneyville native Barry Craig.

In the senior men's division, Curtis led by four strokes at the start of the day and played even par on both the front and back nines to finish with a 72 and win his second senior title by five strokes over Tom Williams, who plays out of Green Hills Golf Course in Mount Vernon.

"There are good players in the senior division, so you have to play well to win," Curtis said. "I didn't chip very well today, so I had to hit two good wedges to birdie the last two holes to get to get to even par."

Miller started the championship round with a one-stroke lead over Erickson, Craig and former Benton Ranger Josh Harp. The Centralia native fell behind Erickson after the third hole when Erickson birdied No. 2 and Miller lost a stroke with a bogey on No. 3 after starting with two pars.

"I missed short putts on one and two and then on three missed the green from about 110 yards from the middle of the fairway and that was bad," Miller said.

Miller pulled back to tie Erickson at the turn when he birdied No. 8 after a bogey on No. 7. Erickson finished the front nine with bogies on four and seven and a birdie on six.

"I hate hole seven," Miller said. "It just scares me with hazards right and hazards left, so I'm terrible off that tee a lot. You just have to hit it straight and I didn't hit it straight again."

Craig made the turn one-stroke back after bagging birdies on No. 2 and No. 6 and suffering bogies on No.'s 1, 4 and 5. Harp dropped out of the title chase, falling six strokes off the pace at the turn with a double bogey on seven and bogies on the third, fourth and eighth holes.

"I had a good tee shot off eight and made a birdie, so I was pretty happy to be tied at the turn," Miller said.

Miller opened the back nine with pars on the first four holes. Erickson regained the lead with a birdie on No. 11, but lost it with a bogey on No. 13. Craig had dropped off another stroke with a bogie on No. 10.

Miller regained the lead with a birdie on No. 14 and finished strong with three pars and a birdie on No. 17.

"On 14 I had a 60-yard shot from the fairway and hit it to six or seven feet," Miller said. "I had the scariest putt of my life on 17. The pin was in a way if I had gone a foot past it's going to roll another five easily, so I was very tentative and my knees were knocking together. It snuck in and I breathed a sigh of relief."

2010 Players Cup Results

At Hickory Ridge Golf Course (Carbondale)

Sunday

Men's Championship

Jeff Miller 71-71-142

Jake Erickson 72-74-146

Barry Craig 72-74-146

Jared Harp 76-72-148

Judson Brewer 76-76-152

Tom Portner 77-75-152

Josh Harp 72-81-153

Bryan Warren 76-79-155

Neil Rude 78-78-156

Jason Buskohl 83-76-159

Ryan Porvaznik 88-84-172

Chris Hart 77-WD-WD

Senior Men

Stan Curtis 70-72-142

Tom Williams 74-73-147

Murphy Hart 76-78-154

Cliff Mills 77-81-158

Mike Janulis 81-88-169

SIU’s Miller leads SIGA Players Cup after day one

Paul Newton Paul Newton / The Southern Jeff Miller chips from just off of the No. 15 green during the first round of the SIGA Players Club on Saturday, Aug. 14, at Hickory Ridge Public Golf Center. Miller holds a ond shot lead at the midway point of the tournament.

CARBONDALE - Southern Illinois University sophomore Jeff Miller holds a one-stroke lead over three other golfers after the first round of the 21st annual SIGA Players Cup on a very hot and humid day at Hickory Ridge Public Golf Center.

"I'm real happy with my one-under 71 and am hoping tomorrow will be even better," Miller said. "It was hot, very hot, but I'm from down the road, so I'm used to this weather. The greens and fairways were rolling really nice today."

Miller, a former state qualifier from Centralia, had the round's only eagle to go with three birdies. Last year, Miller finished tied for fifth, six strokes behind winner D.W. Bruce.

Miller made the turn tied with his foursome partner, Josh Harp, who has signed to play for Rend Lake College, with a one-under par 35. Miller pared the first three holes before sinking a birdie on No. 4 and finishing with five straight pars.

"The front nine went great," Miller said. "On my only birdie, I actually didn't hit that great of a shot. It came up a bit short, but I hit it bad enough it kept running, leaving me two feet from the hole."

Harp, who qualified for state his junior and senior year at Benton, bogied his first hole but gained that stroke back with a birdie on six and went to one-under with a birdie on eight.

Both golfers started the back nine with bogies on No. 10, but Miller gained a one-stroke advantage with an eagle on 11 while Harp could only manage a birdie. Miller pared the next three holes while Harp fell another stroke behind with consecutive bogies on 12 and 13 and a birdie on 14.

"On the eagle I hit a really good drive down the center of the fairway and then my next shot just right of the green," Miller said. "I finished with a 25-foot chip."

Both golfers birdied 15, but Harp evened the score on No. 16 when he had a single bogey and Miller bagged a triple. Miller gained the lead with a birdie on No. 18 while Harp pared out.

"On 16, I hooked my tee-shot close to the hazard," Miller said. "I had really tough stance on my third shot and skulled a shot for a triple. On 18, I hit it down the center of the fairway. I hit a wedge and finished sinking a 25-foot putt."

Also finishing one-stroke back was Miller's teammate at SIU Jake Erickson and Barry Craig of Pinckneyville. Erickson had a very even round, finishing the front nine with a 36 after a birdie on No. 6 and a bogey on No. 7 and on the back picking up a stroke with a birdie on No. 11, but losing it with a bogey on No. 13.

Craig had a more up-and-down round, making the turn with a 36 after recovering from a double bogey on the first hole and a bogey on No. 5 with birdies on holes two, four and nine.

In the senior division, Stan Curtis of Carbondale leads by four strokes over Tom Williams after finishing with a two-under 70. Curtis pared the first seven holes before a birdie on No. 8. On the back nine, Curtis bogeyed No. 12, but finished strong with birdies on No.'s 15 and 17. Curtis won the senior title in 2005 and finished third last year.

"Anytime you can be even par or better out here it's a good score," Curtis said. "I birdie 15 more than