Maybin plays his partIrish international and North of Ireland champion Gareth Maybin finished eighth and helped his South Alabama University team to a tie for fourth place at the LSU Spring Invitational over the weekend. The Jaguars finished nine strokes behind Louisiana State led by former Jag coach Greg Jones.
LSU finished the day on 290 to capture the title. Jacksonville State (873) finished second, followed by the College of Charleston (875) and South Alabama and Arkansas State (877).
Jag senior Ryan Gildersleeve was the clubhouse leader after Saturday's round, but finished with an 80 on Sunday to finish three-over par 219. Maybin shot even par after rounds of 70, 71 and 75 for the tournament and finished eighth. John Humphries of LSU won the individual honours with a three-day total 211. Maybin's next outing with Alabama is on March 24th-25th at the Chenal/Trojan Cup in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Meanwhile, Martina Gillen of Kent State University finished 37th on 237 with rounds of 81, 80 and 76 in the Central District Invitational at Parrish, Florida, 19 stroke behind the winner Kristen White from Ohio State. Gillen is now ranked 86th with a stroke average of 75.27 in the GolfStat Cup American women's college individual rankings.
PGA launch tour
The PGA has launched a new Tour aimed at the over 40s. The 40-plus PGA Tour is aimed at those members who do not play regular seniors golf but would still like the opportunity to compete. The series of seven events will be played in the north west of England on high quality courses, including two British Open Championship venues, Royal Birkdale and Royal Liverpool. Entry is open to all PGA members over 40 apart from those who hold an exemption category of 1-9 on the 2003 European Seniors' Tour. The 36-hole strokeplay events carry a minimum prize fund of a29,000 and include an over 50s and over 55s section.
The schedule is - March 31st-April 1st: Hillside; April 2nd-3rd: Royal Birkdale; May 6th-7th: Royal Liverpool; May 27th-28th: Southport & Ainsdale; August 4th-5th: Formby; September 18th-19th: Hesketh; October 9th-10th: West Lancs.
GUI's new website
The Golfing Union of Ireland yesterday launched its new website at www.gui.ie. The new look website has been designed for ease of navigation. Some of the enhanced areas of the site include the addition of entry forms and conditions for all national and provincial events in an easy-to-use section. Each of the four Provincial Branches has its own section on the website.
Sutton dominate
Sutton members filled the first four places in the BMW-sponsored Hilary Society's first outing to Seapoint Golf Club on Sunday with the honours going to Alan Levey, who beat Kieran O'Byrne on the countback after both finished on 69. Seamus McMonagle (70) took third place, also on a countback, from Doughie Heather with Peter Kane (Ashbourne) leading home Eamonn McCartan (Greenore) and Frank Gannon (Co Louth) on 72. McMonagle took the gross prize with the professional prize going to Banbridge's Kenny Stevenson on 72. Levey joined McCartan and Brian Williams (Grange) to win the team prize with 64.
Gallagher leads way
Mick Gallagher from Letterkenny GC won Enda McMenamin's captain's prize at the North Western Alliance outing to Rosapenna on Sunday. Gallagher shot a nett 67 off a three handicap to win by one shot from local Patrick Wallace and Charlie Lapsley (Ballybofey and Stranorlar). John D O'Kane (Ballyliffin), Pauric McHugh (Ballybofey) and Eugene Gallagher (Portsalon) were next on 69. The captain showed the way in the gross with a 71.
- The closing date for the Ulster Bank All-Ireland Ladies Fourball championship is March 7th. Completed entry forms should be sent to: Ulster Bank All-Ireland Ladies Fourball Championship, 3-4 Merrion Place, Freepost, Dublin 2.
