Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 9

Mattoon (111.) Journal Gazette Thursday, July 16, 1998 White Sox win 2 B2 Tour de France B3 Area scores B4 Small hits Hielp Post 88 win ey vH Inn history i bottom of the fourth. Then the walls crumbled down in such a tough way for a pitcher. It started with an infield single by Kevin Wilson. Jason Kessler followed with an infield single of his own, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Ben Brace hit a line drive for a base hit, loading the bases for Pat Key.

Key's bad-hop single over the third baseman's glove plated two runs and foretold the rest of the Tyler Walk followed with a double play ball, but Tolono's second baseman dropped the throw from the shortstop, loading the bases back up with no outs. Travis Moran's bloop hit drove in Brace, Daniel Walk's ground out plated Key and Greg Wilson's opposite field double, one of two hard hit balls in the inning, scored Walk See POST 88 B4 By Scott Lambert Sports Editor MATTOON Poor Nathan Hamilton. The former Mattoon High School star and current Lake Land Laker was treated rudely by his old teammates. No, Mattoon Post 88 didn't knock Hamilton around. They dinked him.

An infield single here, a bloop hit there, a bad hop to cap it all off. In the end, the bloops, dinks and duck snorts added up to six runs in the fourth inning as Post 88 claimed the first game 6-4 over Tolono's EI League team Wednesday. Mattoon won the second game 15-4 in five innings. Hamilton threw the ball well. He'd cruised through three innings allowing no runs on one hit and had a 2-0 lead going into the Davfd (VM White jy David White is a staff writer writing i a weekly column 'v about area golf 2 Photo by Mike Estell Post 88 catcher Jason Kessler (24) makes a swipe at a Tolono runner as he crosses the plate.

With so many golf courses out there it is often difficult to decide where to play but just to be playing is the best part. My travels this week were into Clark County to the Casey Country Club. While the course is part of a country club and has members, golfers within the' Times-CourierJournal Gazette reading area are welcome to tee up and enjoy the nine-hole course, as are other golfers within a radius of the course located next to the high school. The course is less than 3,000 yards and many of your second shots will be less than 140 yards, but don't let that fool you, because many other hazards make play more difficult. The most difficult part of the course is the small greens that finish every hole.

Sure your second shot won't be incredibly long, but accuracyisamustforbirdies.Sand shouldn't be a problem, as the only bunker on the course guards the front of the finishing ninth hole. The sixth hole is a 3 10-yard par-4, and, in my opinion, is the signature hole. No. 6 dog-legs to the left with the tee shot over water. There are two options off the tee.

The first is to hit a blind shot into the direction of the green. This will allow for a short shot into the small, back-to-front sloping green. The second option is to hit to a landing area across the pond, but this leaves a difficult second shot from 150-175 yards at the small green. Another hole that stood out in my mind was the 332-yard par-4 second hole. A midrange iron shot off the tee will put your ball in the best place to shoot at the green.

Don't hit too long or too short, because the only opening to the green is through a stand of trees that line a creek that dissects the course. The second shot has to travel between the trees and over a creek to be on safely in regulation. The second green is one of the toughest on the course and has many slopes and angles to mess with even good An historical landmark can also be found as you walk or ride to the second green. A member of the Clark County Board came to the club in 1995 and asked the membership if they would be interested in using a "pony truss" bridge that was located in a nearby township and set to be destroyed. Originally constructed in 1910 over Little Willow Creek south of Neadmore, the bridge found a home leading to number two at CCC in the fall of fim 1 )r I vX -t "HI- Davis Love III of the United States tees off during a practice round Wednesday.

Top golfers were preparing for today's start of the British Open. Mnsnimg stars eye Biritislli Opemi The toughest of the tough With unpredictable crosswinds howlmq out of the Irish Sea. Golf youth movement taking over the majors 1995. That brings up an interesting part about Casey Country Club, which is the history that goes with the course and is probably not known to many outside the membership. Casey Country Club was built as a byproduct of the oil boom that swept through the area in the 1920's and 30's.

According to legend (a book given to me about the course by general manager Dave Bloom), in 1929, early member Bill Jones and several friends met on a portion of the Mills Farm to lay out a golf course. O. L. Lang, another charter member, contacted a Scotsman named George Telford to assist with the design of the course. The work was done and the course was finished in 1929 under the ownership of the Mills Farm.

In 1930, the 43-acre course was purchased by the charter membership for $2,500 and became what today is known as the Casey Country Club. Membership rates at the time were $30 for Class A (men residing within Casey or one mile away), $18 for Class (men outside the one-mile limit), and 12 for Class (Ladies, regardless of residence). Today rates are relatively low at $9 for nine holes and 12 for 18 during the week and $12 and $15 on weekends and holidays. Carts are $6 for nine and $9 for 18. A driving range and putting green are also available and groups can rent the banquet facility for outings or other social gatherings.

Get out early enough and you can catch Jim Tedrick, a 56-year member and holder of several records, including best score for an amateur for 18 holes with a 65 in 1960, most club championships with 12 and most consecutive championships with 10. Meadowview concludes first half Meadowview Golf Course fin-See WHITE B4 Ten days after the fire, Aurora Assistant Fire Chief Elorian Groesch told the Aurora Beacon-News it did not appear to be arson. Taylor has Eastern's scoring records for a career and a season. Following his collegiate career which ended with a Mid-Conti-nentConferencePlayeroftheYear award in 1989, he played part of a season in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets and then was in several other professional leagues. Brian Nielsen Nielsen is sports editor of the Times-Courier coach Rick Samuels.

The outing had 50 golfers at the White Pines course in Bensonville and 60 for the dinner. That is a small fraction of the EIU alumni in the Chicago area. But it was a start. "The course was beautiful, the weather was beautiful and everyone said, 'Keep this going, it will be .1 Z' Memorial service planned for Taylor AP Photo nave a tougn time Hoyai Bimaaie For the locals, this severe doq's I right is an awesome par 5. For the British Open, toughest hole on the course has been reduced to a par 4.

APEd De Gasero, S. Hoffmann 1993 U.S. Open and John Daly at the PGA Championship in 1991. Of that fraternity, only Woods heard his name mentionedVs a possible winner Jack Nickffus predicted he would win 10 green jackets, but Woods was not regarded as a favorite until the weekend. in the Panthers should be growing now that the Panthers have signed the Orphans' center Luke Sharp.

And Samuels should be glad for the chance to hit that town again considering Luke's sophomore-to-be brother Grant Sharp is another bright young prospect and was the junior varsity 1-on-l champ last week at EIU's Post and Guard camp. If you don't want to drive that far in your car, to Centralia, I mean the annual golf event at Mattoon Country Club is set for Aug. 3 and a new one is Aug. 10 at Tuscola's Ironhorse Golf Course. They keep a score in these best-ball scrambles, but we are not even bothering to report the winners' list from Chicago or elsewhere.

The victories are for EIU CHARLESTON Amemorial service for former Eastern baskets ball star Jay Taylor is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday. It is at the DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church, 4300 Yackley, in Lisle. James Funeral Service of Aurora, phone number 630-851-6503, is in charge of the arrangements. Taylor, 30, died July 4 in a fire at his apartment in Aurora.

jong-ninina pros iiKe nger wooas wtn reacning tne green in two snots on torDidding sixth noie. BRITISH HiOPEN Hole 6 the Source: Royal Birkdale Goll Club gomerie ever since he first contended at a major in the U.S. Open six years ago. Five players in their 20s have won their first major in the 1990s Tiger Woods and Justin Leonard last year (Masters and British Open), Ernie Els at the 1994 U.S. Open.LeeJanzenatthe but we can build from this.

"We could possibly move to a Friday, Then we may get some Charleston people to drive up." Another thought is being able to land some former EIU superstars like maybe John Jurkovic and Ray McElroy if NFL camps do not interfere as added attractions for the outings. Smith, who coached both of those former defensive stars and used to spend plenty of hours and even more emotion preparing successful football defensive units, is now turning his energy into planning successful golf outings. Still on this summer's schedule is a week from today at Centralia's Greenview Golf Course designed by pro Tom Wargo. EIU has had outings at Cen-tralia in the past, but interest there Par liiur' SOUTHPORT, England (AP) The only thing that separates Lee Westwood and David Duval is which side of the Atlantic they call home. They are the hottest players in the world on their respective sides of the pond, both in their 20s, both having won more tournaments than anyone else during the past nine months.

And when the 127th British Open begins Thursday at Royal Birkdale, both will be out to prove that the youth movement taking over golfs major championships has room for them. "Whenever I turn up at a tournament now, I feel like I should be in contention," said the 25-year-old Westwood, who has won three of his last four starts on the European tour. the biggest one we've got EIU Assistant Athletics Director John Smith said. 5 "I think it could blossom to be the biggest one we've got. We have 16,000 alumni in the area and that's been a major focus in recruiting for all sports." This was one of 10 golf outings scheduled this year, ranging as far south as Mount Vernon with several others closer to home.

One purpose they serve this summer is to keep Smith, the former defensive coordinator, from suffering from football withdrawals in his first year after coaching. More importantly, EIU averages between $2,500 and $3,500 profit per outing, depending on how much a golf course might charge, to help try to balance its The 26-year-old Duval has won twice on the PGA Tour this year. He nearly broke through with his first major at the Masters until Mark O'Meara surged past him with birdies on three of the last four holes. "If the opportunity presents itself, I feel like I'm certainly ready," Duval said. Their biggest challenge this week may not be the fickle winds gusting along the Lancashire coast, not the heather or the gorse or any other trouble awaiting a shot that doesn't stay in the short grass.

The pressure to win their first major will be chasing them around Royal Birkdale the same way it has chased Phil Mickelson the past four years, the same way it has hounded Colin Mont- athletics budget. Probably more importantly yet, EIU coaches can help promote interest in the Panthers at places like Robinson and Paris, as well as the tourneys locally at Mattoon and Charleston. Now EIU has another way of trying to remind Chicago area alumni who can make healthy donations or parents of possible future prospects about the Panthers. "It was David Jorns' idea," Smith said. "We were in a meeting with Steve Rich and David said Why don't you get an outing going in Months later, administrators, coaches and EIU fans were sending drives off the tees.

"It was what we considered successful," Smith said.JYeah, we'd have liked to have bigger numbers EIU golf outing in Chicago area may be the start of something big Twenty years after quarter-backing Eastern's national champions, Steve Turk was playing for the Panthers again. So was JeffThorne, a four-year starting QB from this decade. Don't worry about injuries. This time they played golf and just for fun. In an idea so good you wondered why this event was new instead of the umpteenth annual, Eastern had its first Chicagoland Golf Classic fund-raising outing Monday.

Turk, some of his teammates from EILTs 1978 NCAA Division II football champions and several other former EIU football and basketball players were among those in attendance along with EIU President David Jorns, Athletics Director Rich McDuffie, football coach Bob Spoo and basketball i.