Short Shots

Foundation benefits from online golf publication subscriptions
Help Support the Kansas Golf Foundation by signing up for your free subscription to the Global Golf Post. This online publication is delivered to your e-mail address before 7 a.m. EST, each Monday, 50 weeks per year. It includes a complete summary of the competitive game of golf as played around the world the previous week, at both the professional and amateur

levels. It also provides serious golfers with the latest equipment news and credible travel features.
   In addition, all KGA members who sign up will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a golf package (does not include travel or airfare) for four to Bandon Dunes Resort this fall. The prize package includes: accommodations and food for four nights, and a round of golf with caddy on each of Bandon Dunes’ four courses.
   It has never been easier to support the Kansas Golf Foundation. By signing up for your subscription to the very first ever designed-for-digital weekly golf news publication, Global Golf Post will donate $1 to the KGF.
   Help The Foundation spread the word by sending an invitation to family, friends, and fellow golfers. It is a great way to not only support the KGF, but to stay informed about the latest golf news around the world.
   Go to www.GlobalGolfPost.com to donate $1 to the Kansas Golf Foundation and receive your free subscription to Global Golf Post.

KGF events upcoming
   The Kansas Golf Foundation has three big events planned this year, starting with its second annual Tee Time Auction late next month. The auction will begin on March 29 and runs until April 12. It gives golfers the opportunity to bid on rounds of golf at courses that they don’t normally get to play. The KGF has 12 tee times to some of the best courses in Kansas and some top regional destinations. For further information, the Tee Time Auction has its own website at http://auctions.readysetauction.com/kansasgolffoundation/home.
   The Foundation’s annual Golf Marathon is set for April 26 at Leawood South Country Club.

Golfers will play as many holes as possible that day. They can solicit donations on a holes-played basis or on a flat rate. Anyone interested in the marathon can simply go to the new website: marathon.kansasgolf.org. It will have all the information on how to get involved. You can also contact The Foundation at foundation@kansasgolf.org or (785) 482-4833 Ext. 205.
   On Aug. 9, the KGF Team Championship will return to Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover. The field will be limited to 36 teams (72 players) who will be treated to lunch in the Flint Hills clubhouse before golf and a first-class cocktail party afterwards. The team entry fee is $550, and entries are now being taken. A portion of the entry fee is tax-deductible. Players who participated in the first KGF Team Championship will have entry priority for the 2010 event. Online entry is available at www.kansasgolf.org. For information about playing or becoming a sponsor, contact Phil Miller, Kansas Golf Foundation executive director, (785) 842-4833 Ext. 205 or by e-mail at phil@kansasgolf.org.

Nelson is new GM at Prairie Dunes
   Hutchinson native and former Fort Hays State University golfer Scott Nelson is the new general manager at Prairie Dunes Country Club. Nelson, 46 and most recently general manager at Tatum Ranch Golf Club in Cave Creek, Ariz., says he’s very glad to be back home in a top position at the highly regarded club.
   “I’m kind of coming back home to the premier property in the Midwest,” says Nelson, who Scott Nelson

took his new post Jan. 15. “I’m very excited to come back and very excited to be a part of something as renowned as Prairie Dunes Country Club.”
   Nelson led Eagle Golf Corp.’s Tatum Creek for five and a half years. He was golf professional and then general manager/golf pro at Tallgrass Country Club in Wichita from 1994-2004. He was with the club for several KGA championships including the Kansas Amateur Championship in 2002. He was an assistant professional at Crestview Country Club in Wichita six years before moving to Tallgrass.
   Nelson says he is a veteran of KGA Championships as a player and has participated in many South Central Section PGA events. He now turns his sights to several key events Prairie Dunes will host this year, including the 100^th Kansas Amateur Championship in July.
   “We’re also continuing our agreements with the Big 12 and the Missouri Valley…,” he says. “…and also looking at the opportunity of hosting another national championship for the USGA in the future.”
   Nelson and wife of 19 years, Deanne, have two children, Haley, 14, and Lauren, 9. The family was in the process of finding a home in Hutchinson and making its move from Peoria, Ariz., Nelson said.

GHIN launches mobile optimization technology
   Anyone who has ever tried to post a score or look up a USGA Handicap Index® on a Smartphone knows it’s not the easiest thing to do. You could do it, but it wasn’t a simple process.
   Fortunately, it is now much easier.
   After significant research and testing, GHIN® has released an optimization for mobile

devices. Users of Smartphone technologies will automatically be routed to newly designed mobile pages on the GHIN.com website with no additional action required. A link to the mobile site can also be found at the bottom of the website.
   The key is in the new displays, which have been developed specifically for Smartphone users. It provides a fast, easy option for users who want to post a score or look up a USGA Handicap Index® while away from their computer. While the new feature may not support all mobile phones, it does support today’s more popular mobile phones. GHIN will continue to optimize for other mobile devices in future releases.
   And the best news is that it is free. Nothing has to be purchased. It is simply new functionality that is now available on the GHIN.com website. Given the success with recent enhancements to the Post Scores and Handicap Lookup functions on GHIN.com, it was time to turn attention to mobile devices. The end result is that users of the GHIN service now have easy access to their scores and handicap information whether they are in the office, at home or on the golf course.
   For more information about this and any other GHIN® enhancements, contact GHIN Technical Support.

Overland Park course has new name
   Overland Park Golf Course has a new name to honor two men heavily involved in the popular course’s history. Ben Sykes and Wendell Lady played prominent roles in the development of the golf facility in Overland Park, and that has been recognized in the new Ben Sykes/Lady Overland Park Golf Course.
   There would be no Overland Park Golf Course if these two former city council members had

not had the vision of what green space, park lands and recreational facilities mean to a community, according to Overland Park officials.
   In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sykes and Lady were instrumental in laying the groundwork for what the course is today. Their initial plans were for a parks department within Overland Park that would make green spaces available to residents not just in the ‘70s but in the next century as well. In 1967, they could not have known how those plans would ultimately bring Overland Park so much: parks, pools, golf courses, a children’s farmstead and a state of the art soccer complex for citizens and visitors to use and enjoy, the official says.
   Lady was the city’s first Parks and Recreation Committee chairman and Sykes it’s second. Lady, a Republican, and Sykes, a Democrat, worked together on the city council to make sure the Overland Park’s green spaces grew in those early years along with the city’s population. Sykes later became mayor of Overland Park and Lady went on to serve as a state representative. In their political positions, both men worked tirelessly to spread the word of the necessity and the benefits of having a viable public parks system.
   In 1967, Lady was a leading advocate and worked toward passing the first bond issue that would provide for a parks system. Sykes, who held the belief that neighborhood parks were important, was also an avid golfer and worked with Lady to get the funding for the construction of a golf course on that ballot. Both men campaigned vigorously. While the parks and pools portion was accepted with more than 1,000 votes, the golf course issue passed with only an 80-vote margin.
   As the years progressed, Sykes continued his ardent support of the Parks Department and the golf courses, as did Lady. Sykes passed away in 1988. Lady is still a strong supporter and continues to play golf at the course that now bears his name.

In memoriam
   Lewis Golden, who served on the KGA board of directors for many years and as its president in 1997, passed away Jan. 19 in Topeka at the age of 84. Golden is remembered as a long- Lew Golden

time supporter of the Association.
   “He was a very active volunteer role model for the KGA, and he was given our Virgil Parker Award in 2003,” KGA Executive Director Kim Richey said. “The title ‘gentleman golfer’ so easily comes to mind when recalling our great friend and KGA supporter.”
   Golden was born on Feb. 16, 1925 in Marceline, Mo. He moved to Topeka in 1941 and lettered in golf in high school. Upon graduation in 1943, he joined the U.S. Navy and was in Flight Training School. After the war, he enrolled at Washburn University and was a member of the school’s golf team.
   Golden earned a degree in Business Administration from Washburn and was an accountant with Mene Grande Oil Company in Venezuela. He returned to the United States in 1955 and joined Hygienic Dry Cleaners as a second-generation owner/operator. He remained with the company for 35 years.
   Golden is survived by his wife of nearly 62 years, June, of the home; three children; nine grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
   A memorial service was held Jan. 23 at First Congressional Church in Topeka, where Golden was a member for more than 50 years. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Washburn University Endowment Association for golf scholarships.