Making the Rounds: Long drive champ nearly misses big chance

Lodi's Ryan Winther won the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship on Thursday in Mesquite, Nev.

Winther beat Tim Burke of Washington, D.C., in the wind-against, head-to-head final 343 yards to 335.

Winther's victory was worth $150,000 – but not without some anxious moments. In the quarterfinals, Winther missed the grid with his first five balls. On his sixth and final ball, he ripped a qualifying 393-yard drive that was the longest of the round to advance.

Winther, 29, has a recorded swing speed of 167.1 mph and a long drive of 469 yards.

These girls have it Mastered

Woodland's Sara Scarlett shot a 2-under-par 70 Monday at the girls Masters tournament at the Reserve at Spanos Park to advance to next week's Northern California championship as the medalist. Oakmont's Maddy Gedeon (73) advanced as an individual with Whitney's Kelsey Ulep (72) and Granite Bay's Paige Lee (74).

St. Francis (415), Lodi (419) and Pleasant Grove (425) were team qualifiers. Ileana MacDonald (76) posted the low score for St. Francis, while Sarah Debnekoff (74) was low for Pleasant Grove.

Whitney Oaks takes team title

Whitney Oaks won the Northern California Golf Association Team Match Championship on Saturday at Poppy Hills, beating Stone Tree 20-16 in the title match. It was the first team title for Whitney Oaks, which had made it to the semifinals three of the past six years.

The winning team: Fred Huston, Kyle Gillmore, Mike Poetsch, Chris Carolan, Greg Larson, Pat McDonald, Gary White (captain), Dave Baker, Chuck Roberts, Ben Menold, Scott Straub, Terry Siler, Eddie McGreehan, Spencer Page, Steve Ronan, Doug King and Jeff Burkhead.

Et cetera

• Arbuckle's Ben Geyer, a three-time winner this summer, is the 2012 NCGA Player of the Year.

• Vince Venard and Mike Williams defeated Jeff Hoffman and Russell Humphrey 3 and 2 in Sunday's title match of the Sacramento County Men's Regional Four-Ball at Mather.

• Roseville's Jeffrey Inouye-Wong and Rocklin's Camille Wagg were winners Sunday in the final Junior Tour of Northern California tournament of the year at Stevinson Ranch.

• The annual ClubCorp Charity Day is Monday at Turkey Creek and Tuesday at Empire Ranch and Teal Bend. All fees collected those days for golfers paying regular rates for golf and carts will be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the First Tee of Greater Sacramento. How serious is ClubCorp about raising money? Each course is providing a free meal and range balls.

• Read more articles by Steve Pajak

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