NEWS BULLETINS

BULLETINS –

June 2008

Since our last update in mid April, we have traveled to Alabama for the Road Dawgs annual week long outing on the Robert Trent Jones Trail; to Phoenix in early May for the 60^th Annual Desert Mashie tournament; back to the Bay Area for an outing with the real ‘old guys’ spearheaded by 80 something John Finney; and back to Phoenix/Scottsdale for a four day event with the Yang Gang.  In the interim, we played with the Wednesday Fourplayers at Deer Ridge CC, Brentwood, CA, and Roddy Ranch GC, Antioch, CA, and with the Presley Tour at Napa GC @ Kennedy Park, Napa, CA and Hiddenbrooke CC, Vallejo, CA. 

All of the above outings were interesting and some financially rewarding, however, the most exciting and rewarding tournament of the whole year was held last week in Orlando Florida’s Disneyworld.  The 9^th Annual Bill Dickey Invitational Junior Golf (BDI) Tournament had 41 junior and 30 plus adult participants.  This event, which was sponsored by the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association (BDSA), is becoming one of the premier golf tournaments in the country.  The tournament is an all expense paid trip for the carefully selected Juniors, and includes airfare, accommodations, meals, entertainment and transportation to and from all events.  Due to the economy and concurrent decrease in corporate support, the parents were asked for the first time to contribute $250 as a processing fee for their child.  The cost for each Junior participant was estimated at $1,500.

We want to thank the BDSA Board of Directors for sponsoring approximately 25 of the Juniors, with support for the other 16 Juniors coming from the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribal Nation and various individuals around the country.  Walt DisneyWorld Resort was the Presenting Sponsor and American Airlines provided support with complimentary tickets for some of the Juniors.  For a more complete listing of supporters, volunteers and highlights go to www.billdickeyscholarhip.

The 9^th Annual BDI featured most of the top minority Junior golfers in the country. The predominately black golfers were carefully selected using handicaps and GPA’s as the prime criteria.  The week began for the Juniors with their arrival on Monday, June 23^rd.  Tuesday was a practice round on DisneyWorld’s Palm Course (site of the PGA Disney Classic).  Wednesday’s Junior-AM was a fun event with an adult paired with a Junior for a team competition.  On Thursday and Friday the Juniors had their competition rounds with the boys playing at 6,700 yards and the girls at 6,000 yards. 

The Corporate Challenge was a two day competition for the adults and played on the same course as the juniors.  In addition to interacting with the adults in the Junior-Am, the youngsters participated in a career night workshop where business professionals, college recruiters and BDI alumni provided insight on the qualities necessary to make the transition into collegiate competition as well providing information to prepare for a potential career as a professional golfer and long-term success in life beyond golf.  The Juniors were treated by DisneyWorld to a night in downtown Disney on Friday night.  Saturday, June 28^th, was departure day.

The competition was as fierce this year as it was in 2007.  Harold Varner III, the 17 year-old defending boys’ champion, stole the show.  At the end of the first day, Varner was a stroke behind the three leaders Shelton Early Jr., Gerald Parrish and Corey Price, all of whom had shot two under par 70. On Friday, Varner steamrolled the field with a sizzling 65 to win by 7 strokes. His total score of 8 under 136 bested the previous tournament record held by Joseph Bramlett. Bramlett shot 138 in 2006, also coming from behind with a 65 on the final day.  Bramlett, now a Stanford University Junior was the #2 player on the NCAA Golf Championship team of 2007.  Varner will be attending East Carolina University in the fall and has aspirations to play on the PGA tour.  The girls division provided another nail biter this year.  Last year Cheyenne Woods was beaten by 13 year old Mariah Stackhouse by one stroke, both shooting under par golf.  This year Cheyenne turned the tables, beating Sadena Parks by one stroke.  Stackhouse was busy elsewhere winning the Georgia State Women’s Amateur.  Woods will be attending Wake Forest University on an Arnold Palmer golf scholarship, and Parks, a very gifted athlete from Washington will be attending the University of Washington on a golf scholarship.   Parks also starred on her high school basketball and track teams, once holding the Washington state 100 yard dash record for girls.

Did I mention that Varner also shot a round of 63 in the JUNIOR-AM competition.  There was also a long drive and closest to the pin competition in the JR-AM.  The juniors dominated by winning 3 of the 4 holes used.  Sadena won both long drives, on hole #4 which measures 321 yards, her drive was about 10 yards short of the green.  Cammryn Stith hit it 1’6’’ on one of the closest to pin holes.  An adult, whose name escapes me, won the other closest to pin.

Sixteen of the participating juniors will be attending college this fall - more than half on a golf scholarship.  Additionally, four of the juniors received an invitation from the University of St. Andrews to play in Scotland.  

BDI RESULTS

April 2008

Congratulations to Sam Puryear for making the cover of the March 29th edition of Golfweek Magazine. The article titled His Shot chronicles Sam's journey to become the first African American major college golf coach in America.  The article, however, does not mention an honor bestowed upon him by his home town of Winston-Salem, NC. The city proclaimed June 11, 2007 Samuel G. Puryear Jr. Day, as a tribute to his contributions to golf and the local community.  The aforementioned article appears in the Wednesday, April 16, 2008, issue of the Detroit News www.detnews.com. Sam is an early recipient of the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association (BDSA, previously NMJGSA).

Junior participants have been selected for the 9th Annual Bill Dickey Invitational (BDI) to be held in Orlando, Florida, at Disneyworld.  In previous years the BDSA has provided the juniors with an all expense trip to this tournament, but because of the rising cost of administering the BDI, the Board of Directors has requested the parents to contribute a minimum of $250.  Additionally, the Board has directed the Executive Director, Andrea Bordeaux, to utilize the BDSA database to identify donors willing to sponsor one Junior with a donation of $1,250.  That amount would cover the total expense for him or her.  Fifty of the top minority junior golfers in the country have been invited to participate at a cost of approximately $62,500.  The 36-hole tournament also features a Junior-Am and Corporate Challenge. The event will be held June 25 - 27, 2008.  For more information call 602.258.7851 or visit www.billdickeyscholarship.org.

Other happenings around the country - The HACKERS UNLIMITED concluded their annual 5-day tournament in Orlando (March 8 -14).  More than 100 African American golfers from around the country played in the event.  The NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SKINNERS, approximately 50 strong, met in Fresno, CA, for a 3-day event over the weekend of March 21- 23.  In addition to the Skinners, who come mostly from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento, some golfers came from as far away as Portland and Seattle.  This was the 26^th   year for this tournament.  BILL DICKEY celebrated his 80^th   birthday on March 29^th and golfers came from Shreveport, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Oakland, Portland, Seattle and points beyond for the festivities which, of course, included golf.  It was great to see Bill back playing golf again, especially so soon after his recent illness.  The BDSA had a strategic board meeting in Atlanta to basically discuss the future of the organization.  Some of the Board members referred to it as a LAB - Life After Bill.  Not that Bill is going anywhere, but the Board is looking for means to perpetuate the organization that bears his name.

In addition to the BDI, other major events in the coming months include the 60^th Annual Desert Mashie tournament in Mesa, Arizona, and the 54^th Annual Western States Golf Championships in Palm Springs, California.  Palm Springs is also the site of the 63^rd Annual Cosmopolitan tournament.  For further information click on to SCHEDULES. 

January 2008

The 26^th Annual East/West Golf Classic is in the books.  While the week of the tournament began on an ominous note when Bill Dickey, founder of the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association and the creator and driving force of the East/West, suffered a mild stroke on Monday, January 14^th.  FYI – Bill is growing stronger every day, mentally and physically, and is on the road to full recovery.

When I arrived in Arizona on Monday, I found myself thrust into the role of Tournament Director for the E/W.  Bill, in his infinite wisdom, had, without my knowledge, installed himself as Tournament Director and me as Assistant Director, almost as if he foretold his own temporary health challenge.  Dr. Bill and I have traveled the golf and tournament trail many times since 1978, and he knew that I had the skills and capability to perform in his stead, if necessary.  Until last Monday, my contribution to the E/W was as a player and organizer of the Skins Game – which was primarily created as a self-serving action game for players in my flight.  In my opinion, the Skins Game, to which Dr. Bill offers a mild opposition every year, has grown to be an integral part of the tournament.  This year $8,100 was collected from participating players in all flights, with 90% returned to the winners and the other 10% going to the BDSA.  Collections were down from the $10,000 generated last year, primarily due to the lower player count.

In reality, I was Acting Tournament Director in name only, as Andrea Bordeaux, Executive Director of BDSA, was the maestro.  Andrea, a non golfer, entrusted me with the role of directing all golf activities – pairing, scoring, reporting, Skins Game – and, more importantly, fielding queries from golfers on anything remotely related to golf.  When word spread that our hero had fallen, we began receiving offers of help from all quarters - a testament to the reverence in which we hold Dr. Bill Dickey.  Without assistance of the volunteers we could not have performed as we did, which I think was admirably.  Andrea, the general, and her Administrative Assistant, Khera Douglass, had as her lieutenants: Dorina Ashby (subbing for Alice Dickey)-registration, Johnny O’Neil-hospitality, Susie Mitchell-non golfer’s activities, Mike Dean-publicity, and me.  In turn, the Lieutenants had their cadres of volunteers which numbered up to 25 at any given time.  A special thanks to Dolores Presley, Bill Rand and Conan Sanders for having my back.  The list of other volunteers in alphabetical order was: Ernest Alexander, Robert Ashby, Barbara Conerly, Stephany Dean, Harvey Flinn, Shirley Jones, Gabby Lugo, Tony Lugo, Rachael Melendez, Willa Mitchell, Demetrius O’Neil, Leroy Richardson, Gus Robinson, Cleo Smith, Eva Taylor, Gloria Thompson, Julia Vitero, Jimmy Williams and Robert Woodard, Jr. 

We are looking forward to Bill Dickey’s recovery and to next years East/West Classic.

Fall 2007 

SEPTEMBER 2007

Bill Dickey Invitational Junior Boy’s Champion, Harold Varner III, wins again at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open, a Senior PGA event held over the Labor Day weekend at Pebble Beach.  Varner teamed with Senior Tour player Morris Hatalsky, shooting scores of 62-65-66/193, beating a stellar field of Junior/Senior teams. The BDI is a tournament attracting the top minority junior golfers in the country. The 8^th annual BDI will be held June 25-26-27, 2008 at Disneyworld, Orlando, FL.  Adults compete separately at the BDI, thereby raising funds to offset the costs of the junior tournament.  Reference the SCHEDULES section of this web site for further details. 

Bill Dickey receives an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Maryland Eastern Shores University.  In 1983, Dr. Bill founded the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association (formerly National Minority Junior Golf Scholarship Association) and is often considered the godfather of minority junior golf in this country - and rightfully so.  His exploits, accomplishments, awards, etc. are well documented and chronicled in various local and national publications.

John Hernandez hosted fourteen golfers and their significant others at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa in Ojai, CA during the 3^rd week of September.  The Ojai Resort has a world class spa and was the site of a Senior PGA event for 7 years. The fourteen golfers and guests enjoyed a fabulous three days at the resort.  Each player put up $1,000 and had a shootout for the pot.  Please reference the RESULTS section of this web site for further information. More importantly, the golfers donated $750 to BDSA, $250 to Calgary Temple Church and $1,500 to the family of Robert Woodard Jr. who would have been one of the golfers except for a devastating fire that took his Mother’s life and totally destroyed their home on Monday, the week of the tournament.

OCTOBER 2007 

The Presley Invitational was held at Hiddenbrooke GC, Vallejo, CA, on Monday and Tuesday, October 29^th & 30^th.  Hiddenbrooke was the site of three LPGA World Championships (2001-2003) and proved to be a formidable test for all golfers, except Willie Shaw, retired NFL defensive coach, who dominated the tournament.  Reference the RESULTS. 

2008 promises to be an exciting year with the John Hernandez Invitational moving to Sedona, AZ in late September and the Presley Invitational scheduled for a Nov 6^th & 7^th (my 74^th birthday) return to Hiddenbrooke.  Additionally, the Presley Tour, sometimes referred to humorously as the Negro Tour for mature amateurs looking for action, will host a series of Monday events, mostly in Northern California.  Dates will be published in our next update.  

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