LITTLE ROCK — Benton the best in state
With his victory last week in the River Valley Men's Stroke Play Championship, Cabot's Nicklaus Benton has won the Arkansas State Golf Association's Player of the Year Award.
Benton, who is a freshman at UALR, has 767.5 points and leads Mountain Home's Kirk Brown by 72 points and Pine Bluff's Wes McNulty by 77.5 points. Benton had only two victories this summer, the other coming at the Summit Bank Classic in Hot Springs.
But he was seemingly near the top of the leaderboard just about every week.
Tumbling Shoals' StanLee surged into the lead for ASGA Senior Player of the Year after advancing to the match play at the USGA Senior Amateur and winning the senior division at the River Valley Men's Stroke Play Championship.
Lee's 840 points are 22 better than Hot Springs Village's Oscar Taylor and 33.5 points better than Little Rock's Roger Clement.
Donaldson's John Siratt leads the Mid-Senior standings, while Little Rock's Glenn Hickey leads the Super Senior standings.
Arkansas in 35th
Team Arkansas is in 35th place after the first day of the USGA Men's State Team Championship at Country Club of St. Albans in St. Louis.
Arkansas is represented by Pine Bluff's Wes McNulty, Pocahontas' Ron Mangold and Russellville's Neal Westbrookand all three shot 3-over-par 74 in the first round.
Teams are allowed to count the best two scores each day. Kansas' total of 9 under leads by two strokes over South Carolina and Tennessee. Arkansas is at 6 over, tied with Iowa, Indiana, Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. The tournament continues today and Friday.
Bryant qualifies
Cody Bryant, who is a caddie at The Alotian Club in Roland, has qualified for the Remax World Long Driving Championship to be held Oct. 25-30 in Mesquite, Nev.
Bryant made it through local qualifying at Harrison with a drive of 369 yards before coming out of the losers' bracket at sectional qualifying in Dallas to earn one of the final spots.
Little Rock's Sean "The Beast" Fister is a three-time champion of the event.
Sports, Pages 21 on 09/24/2009