Florida Sports Wires

By FRED SEELY JAX SPORTS NEWS We almost have reached the bottom of college basketball. We aren't there yet, but it's in sight. If you are a college fan, you're in the wrong town, pal. You may have two Division 1 schools but they aren't making it easy for you to watch their games and, considering the opposition, you probably won't want to bother. The main culprit is Jacksonville University. It has a bad team, a terrible home schedule, poor promotion, plays in the near-worst conference and a dumpy place to play in a not-so-hot part of the city. Don't let the University of North Florida’s appearance in the NCAA tournament last year fool you. It has a so-so team, a terrible home schedule, poor promotion, the same near-worst conference and an arena that's nothing special. Playing downtown? No games from these two. If you must see basketball in the Veterans Memorial Arena, you'll have to settle for an NBA exhibition and a doubleheader...

By FRED SEELY JAX GOLF NEWS The World Golf Village has a big weekend ahead. It's October 2-4 and there's something for everyone in what they're calling a Golf Festival. It starts with a golf tournament, includes a chance to visit with two Hall of Famers, and there's also lots of family activities. Here's the deal: Oct. 2: A scramble tournament on the Slammer & Squire. It's $200 includes what they say is a $100-value gift bag. The shotgun is at 1. Oct. 3: A big demo day from noon-4. In attendance will be Hall members Nancy Lopez and David Graham. Then, from 4-6, there's a Family Fun Zone with foot golf, a putt-putt course, free 9-hole rounds of golf for families, bounce house, face painting, and a Pitch, Chip, & Putt Challenge for juniors. Oct. 4: They'll have an Adult-Junior competition starting at 1 that includes a gift bag and dinner. For those who aren't playing, the museum is open at no charge and the Tour Academy will have...

By FRED SEELY JAX SPORTS NEWS Peter Bragan gave himself a grand farewell this month as he ended his family's 30-plus year ownership of the Jacksonville Suns. What we lose is a good businessman, one who fought the system and won. Bragan made a lot of money, certainly in the seven figures each year, because some greedy big shots in town tried to pull a power play on him. Here's what happened. Around 2002, some of the city's self-proclaimed big shots decided they wanted Triple-A baseball to go with the new Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville when it opened in 2003.  Mayor John Delaney went along (after all, politicians don't argue with the big shots.) Bragan was a pain in the derriere and getting rid of him would be a bonus . Getting rid of Bragan wasn't like getting rid of a pimple on the butt. He is a fiercely protective person who won't back away from a fight. He may be crass, cheap and hard-headed, but he ain't dumb. But, why wouldn...

By FRED SEELY Jacksonville Golf News The Palatka Golf Club team won the Jacksonville Area Golf Association's Club Team Championship played last month at Timuquana Country Club. The team consisted of pro Paul Trettner and amateurs Ron Jerin, Ron Millis and David Perkins. The winning score was 29-under-par 115 and there were three teams a stroke behind: Deercreek, Atlantic Beach and Fleming Island. The reason for the low scores: the new rules which allow professionals to carry a handicap. This is a recent trend to equalize the professionals in a pro-am competition, and strokes are now awarded starting with players on the forward most tees. For instance, Charles Raulerson of Fleming Island is one of the state's best players and he was given five strokes.  The complete results: 115: Palatka Golf Club (Paul Trettner, Ron Jerin, Ron Mullis, David Perkins.) 116: Deercreek (Tom Maxwell, Arch Copeland, Lee Fields, Mark Rutland); Atlantic Beach (Spencer Brown, Joe Fitzgera...

By FRED WITT Jax Golf News This year's Gate Invitational was not without controversy. The winner was Dan Olsen, a former Touring pro, but his eligibility was questioned by some of the competitors. The rules say that entrants must be employed PGA pros, but some feel that Olsen's stated”employment” of teaching at local clubs and schools doesn't count if the owner doesn't consider him an employee. Don't fault the Gate. There was a Chapter event the previous week and Olsen was allowed to enter. • There's a lot of sentiment to change the rules governing dropping the ball. No more drops, say the non-purists. Let's all place the ball, thus saving time and making things equal for all. Apparently, there's enough support in the USGA to move it along, but the R&A has doubts. Pro shops will be serviced either by soft goods salespeople, or they'll have to do it on the internet. • Hard to imagine, but Nike has dumped its hard goods r...

By FRED SEELY Jacksonville Golf News The TPC Stadium Course and its surrounding area will get more of a facelift than we've previously heard after the 2016 Players.  The course will get a near-total renovation and that's not all, as the clubhouse will be spiffed up and even the parking lot will be reworked. The only big casualty will be the Web.Com Championship. Even though its Valley Course will be intact, the rest of the place will be a mess so look for it to move to another area course. • Web.Com CEO David Brown sold his oceanfront Atlantic Beach home recently. Buyer was Jaguars QB Blake Bortles. • The Father-Son event in Orlando later this year has an early favorite: Davis and Dru Love. Davis's game is on the upswing as he readies for the Champions Tour and Dru isn't a kid anymore. The rising junior at U. of Alabama won the Georgia Amateur. • You won't see goofy golf for at least another year as the Open will be at Baltusrol and the ...

By FRED SEELY Jax Golf News The battle among Jacksonville-area clubs will be Aug. 31 at Timuquana. It's the Club Team Championship and it's co-sponsored by the Jacksonville Area GA and the Northern Chapter of the North Florida PGA. Jacksonville G&CC will defend its title in the field, which is anticipated to be about 25 teams. Teams must include a PGA pro employed by the entering club and three amateurs with established handicaps at the club. The top six teams will be in the payout plus there's an additional $500 added to the professionals' skins pool. If the field doesn't reach 25 teams, clubs may enter an extra team but must designate which one is playing for the trophy. Both will be eligible for payouts. Information is available through each club's JAGA directors. In other JAGA news, planning is underway for the 2016 meeting and tournament schedules. The association directors will meet seven times during the year with each meeting at a d...

By FRED SEELY Jacksonville Golf News A few thoughts on attending The Open at St. Andrews: • The greatest seat in sports is in the grandstand next to the 17 th green. Even though you can't see the tee, you're looking down the fairway and can easily follow the ball. The green complex looks different that you think from television, as it wraps around the deep bunker that everyone goes to every length to avoid. • Here's how well organized the Royal and Ancient had transportation. St. Andrews isn't easy to find and it doesn't even have a train station, so many come from cities at least 40 miles away such as Edinburgh or Aberdeen. It's a train ride to Leuthers, then a five-mile bus ride from that station. It took us exactly 1:15 from the Edinburgh train station to the grandstands at the 17 th tee.  At this year's Players in Ponte Vedra Beach, it took my neighbor exactly 1:15 to go the final three miles to the parking lot and the 20-minute walk to th...

By FRED SEELY Jax Golf News Probably will be some confusion about this fall's PGA Tour stop in Sea Island because of the corporate name change of the sponsor.  It's still The McGladrey Classic, even though the financial services company will be renamed RSM by that time (Nov. 19-22) and the tournament will be rebranded the RSM Classic. We all probably can live with that because it's generally called the “Sea Island Tournament” anyway. A few comments about the event: • It has the best field of the pack of events which now make the PGA Tour a year-round affair, rather than shutting down from October until January. Tournament founder Davis Love III cashes a lot of chips out there, plus he would have a strong field if he only invited Sea Island residents (Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, etc.) • They'll use both the Seaside and Plantation courses for the first two rounds, which makes for a much better fan and player experience. No more dawn-to-dusk. • Not many s...

By FRED SEELY JAX GOLF NEWS Gone and, let's hope, forgotten. The 115th U.S. Open was a debacle, from its $17 million cost overrun to its three-putt ending, with unwatchable television and bad spectator sightlines in between. You have to go back to 1970, when a prominent USGA member pulled the strings to get the event at his home course in Minnesota — Hazeltine, the “cow pasture” — to find such a mess.  But this couldn't have been backscratching: Chambers Bay is a muny, owned by the county. Any other ownership and it would have smacked of FIFA-like payouts. The course was hokey, and every aerial shot showed exactly that. It looked as if it had been dropped in from space. The surrounding land looked nothing like the golf course.  It was contrived, and it was an insult to every golfer who treasures the traditions of the game. It was also in awful shape. I can't speak to growing seasons in the Pacific Northwest, but obviously it isn't June.  It was torturo...