Field set, anticipation high for Meadowbrook Classic
GOLF
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

File photo by Mitch Lucas DEFENDING CHAMP - Reggie Howell (center) holds the crystal trophy after winning the 2007 version of the Meadowbrook Classic. Howell will be back to defend that title this coming weekend, when the tournament is played for the 71st time at Meadowbrook Country Club. The course is in great shape, course officials say, and the tournament has a large field.

This year, the Meadowbrook Classic turns 71 years old, and the tournament is doing so with style.

A strong field of 24 players makes up the championship flight of the tournament, which will be played this weekend at Meadowbrook Country Club. Practice rounds will be played Thursday, with the tournament beginning Friday and continuing through the final round on Sunday.

The field does include last year's champion, Reggie Howell, many who were in the championship flight from last year, and several former tournament champions.

The course is in great shape, pro David Cline said - "It's probably in the best shape I've seen it in years," Cline told the News Herald on Saturday - and ready to go. Last year's Meadowbrook

Classic preparation included having to wait on massive amounts of water to recede. The tournament, which had been scheduled for July 12-15, had to be postponed two weeks. The postponement allowed some people to play who had not planned to do so, but also forced the cancellation by the then defending 2006 champion, Brent Akins.

Akins returns this season to the championship flight to try and give the current defending champion, 52-year-old Howell, a run for his money. Howell captured the title on July 29 last year with a three-day 214, besting Ken Burnham by one stroke.

"I just want to say that I'm very aware of the history of this tournament," said Howell, following his victory as he received the crystal trophy in front of the leaderboard. "And I'm very proud to be fortunate enough to win it."

Joining Howell, Akins and Cline, the 1991 champion, on the title flight this year will be Clint Bowden, the 2005 champion, as well as Chad Beale, Michael Clements, Alain Gee, Mark Greene, Jacob Grubbs, B.J. Hawkins, Justin Honea, Jacky Lee, Ryan Meyers, Ryan Oden, Patrick Palmer, Mike Tate, Lee Singletary, Dillon Swain, Rance Taylor, Blaine Weiterman, Rick Maxey, Greg Hamilton, Landon Alan and Mike Waddle.

File photos by Mitch Lucas IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN - The Meadowbrook Classic will be played this weekend for the 71st time at Meadowbrook Country Club. Clockwise from top: Blaine Weiterman makes a putt, playing in the 2007 championship flight. Top right: the '07 title flight scoreboard. Bottom: eventual '07 champion Reggie Howell tees off.

In that field are numerous former titles and a lot of Kilgore golf history. Maxey, for instance, has won the tournament on three occasions, including a rare back-to-back win in 1974 and 1975. He returns to the tournament this year.

Mike Tate, a former Kilgore High School and Texas Christian University golfer, won the tournament crown in 1984 and is considered by many to be among the best to ever play in the classic. The Singletary name is once again on the title flight with Lee Singletary playing, and Patrick Palmer, another former KHS standout, represents a youth movement in East Texas golf, as do Ryan Oden and Blaine Weiterman, among others.

Weiterman just might have the hot hand. The former Overton High School golf star, a three-time state qualifier while playing for the Mustangs, recently helped Tyler Junior College win the NJCAA title.

In fact, Weiterman almost pulled off a win last year. Burnham, who isn't among the field this year, held a narrow lead in the final round in 2007 as the foursome of he, Howell, Weiterman and former Tyler Lee standout Ryan Myers teed off that Sunday, but Weiterman birdied holes four, six and seven to wrest the lead away.

However, on hole 11, Weiterman's tee shot went out of bounds near the clubhouse area, and he shot a provisional. He had to hit the provisional out of the rough and tried to stick it onto the green, but it was ruled his shot went just past the green and into the pampas grass beyond it, a hazard. He would lose his lead on the hole, and never get it back.

Howell caught and passed both Burnham and Weiterman on the back nine, and held on for a par round and the win. Burnham finished one shot back at 215. Weiterman was third (217) and Myers fourth (218). Tate shot a 72 on the final day to earn the fifth-place spot.

But the attention in the Meadowbrook Classic is not just on the title flight.

The other flights in the tournament are not named traditionally, like first and second and third flights and so on, but are named after famed PGA courses or events. This year's flights are named the Masters, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst and Colonial flights.

Last year, Mark Greene won the Masters flight, finishing with a three-day 218. T.C. Hamilton won the Pebble Beach flight (the second flight) with a 237, and Allen Galyean won the Pine Hurst, or third, flight with a 243. The Colonial flight, the last flight, was won by Brad Busselman with a three-day 247. All of those men are once again in the tournament this year - Greene, as mentioned above, won't defend his Masters flight title, though, because he's in the championship field.

Also of interest will be the team competition, which was started as a part of the tournament in 2000. Last year the team trophy was taken by Busselman, Chad Beale, Taylor Campbell and Justin Adair, who won with a 111-121-232 over two days of play. That format will follow once again this year.

Here are the teams for this year's event:

• Jack Ward, Carroll Dawson, Sam McCord and David Brooks;

• Taylor Campbell, Jay Stone, Brad Busselman and Justin Adair;

• Charlie Gauntt, Denny Smith, Dale Leath and Bill Marshall;

• Bubba Carter, Steve Storey, J.C. Burnham and John Steneker;

• Terry Stembridge, T.C. Hamilton, David Gray and Mack Strother;

• Grant Boyd, Brad Faulkner, Allen Galyean, and Andy Mills;

• James Martin, Robert Brodie, David Theriot, and Mike Mills;

• Ronnie Hodgkins, Jim Stroope, Doug Runkle and Jim Stanley;

• Scott Clark, Joe Elwood, Jeff Long and Scott Skipper;

• Kenneth Plunk Sr., Kenneth Plunk Jr., David Plunk and Rodney Barthelemess;

• Bobby Beane, Steve Long, Melvin Jordan and Jerry Beane;

• Robert Payne, Mike Huggins, Randy Tuley and Gordan Abrams;

• Mike Beane, Wes Skeefers, Kevin Rush and Kenny Mobbs;

• Jess Stephens, Loyd Vanderwater, John Patterson and Jason Monroe;

• Dallas Ward, Justin Head, Will Hale and Brad Akin;

• Charles Veazey, Don White, Junior Taft and Roger Moore;

• Llynal Carey, Johnny Wood, Dave Stalcup and Chris Cain;

• Harvey McClendon, Bill Bryant, Greg Collins and Bob Davis;

• Marc Mayfield, Kenny Mayfield, Scott Epperson and Derold Miller;

• Ross Taylor, Ronnie Gill, Brent Wilder and Brad Hampton, and

• Nate Mobbs, Shane Mason, Eric Carey and Jarrod Ward.

The first two days of the tournament (Friday and Saturday) will decide the team competition, and the final day, Sunday, will be strictly solo scores. The championship trophy is normally presented in a ceremony in front of the leaderboard around 5:30 p.m.

Meadowbrook Country Club began playing the classic in 1937, and unlike many tournaments, it was played throughout the World War II years. The only year the tournament wasn't played was 1955, due to a clubhouse renovation.

On January 16, 1932, the state of Texas issued a charter to Roy Laird, L. C. Peters and Horace Park for a country club in Kilgore. It was called Meadowbrook County Club. By the first week in February the course was opened for play over a hayfield consisting of nine fairways and nine sand greens.

For the next 39 months under the guiding hand of the club's first pro, Tilly Wilcox. Meadowbrook struggled to gain a foothold. Golf rapidly became a popular pastime for new boomers and old settlers now rich with oil royalties.

Since its founding, Meadowbrook has occupied a prominent place in the social, sport and cultural fabric of one of the great oil towns of Texas.

The rich history of the country club's 76 years has been detailed in an article that appeared in the 2005 Meadowbrook Classic booklet, entitled "The Last Afternoon at Meadowbrook - The Death of Tilly Wilcox."

Beginning in 1937, the Meadowbrook-Laird Country Club has hosted an Invitational Golf tournament every year except 1955 for the renovation.

The tournament, first played in October of 1937, was called the East Texas Invitational and through the years has been known by a variety of names; the Meadowbrook Invitational, the Kilgore Invitational, the East Texas Invitational, and during the war, the East Texas Victory Invitational.

Since 1955 the tournament's official name has been the Laird Invitational, usually shortened to "The Invitational." Then in 2000 came yet another name - the "Meadowbrook Classic" - which called to mind some of the legendary names and matches of Meadowbrook's early golfing history.

Since the late 1940's the Invitational has usually been played during themonth of July.

Of the three major tournaments played at the Meadowbrook Laird course since its inception, the Invitational, the City Championship of the 1930's and early '40's and the annual Men's Club Championship, only the Invitational was played without interruption by World War II. There were no club or city championships decided during 1943, '44 or '45. During the war, entry fees

and prizes were often paid in war bonds or Victory Stamps. In 1946 Meadowbrook resumed its Men's Championship Tournament, but the old Kilgore city tournament begun in 1933 was never reorganized.

The Invitational Champion has been determined 19 times by match play and 51 times by medal play. Seven times (1966, 1972, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1996 and 2001) the Champion was forced to win a sudden death playoff. On five occasions the runner-up has been decided by extra holes.

Beginning with the 1959 tournament, the Invitational was 72 holes of medal play, but changed to 54 holes in 1964, although the 1961 championship was shortened by rain to 63 holes and the 1968 and 1999 championships were halted after 45 holes. In 2005 rain limited play to 36 holes.

As far as is known, the course has played to par 72 each year with the exceptions of 1983, 1984 and 1985, when the third hole, normally a par 4, was shortened and played as a par 3 on both nines resulting in a par of 70.

Special thanks to Terry Stembridge for historical background for this story.