Wednesday, October 13, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
'Hawks fly past Tigers in tourney
By Doug Pacey sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Three weeks ago, the Missouri men's golfers beat Kansas on the Jayhawk's home course.
Yesterday Kansas got even.
"This was a good win for us," said Kansas coach Ross Randall. "Missouri won our tournament a few weeks ago and it was nice to return the favor."
Kansas won the Purina/Missouri Classic in St. Charles, Mo., edging Louisiana-Lafayette by three strokes, 852-855. Missouri finished in fifth place, six strokes behind Kansas.
Senior All-American Ryan Vermeer took medalist honors at the tournament for the third consecutive year.
Vermeer came from one stroke behind in the final round and shot a three-under-pair 68, taking the title from Nebraska's Seth Porter. 207-206.
"Ryan struggled a bit in the first round, but he stuck with it," Randall said. "He came in here wanting to defend his title, and he put himself in the situation to do that."
Vermeer shot one-above par in the first round but followed with a four-iner in the second and was in good position to retain his title.
The Jayhawks trailed California by three stokes after the first round of play on Monday.
"I was a little disappointed in our first round," Randall said. "We made a nice comeback in the second round, though."
Senior Jake Jayne finished tied for 11th place for the Jayhawks after
TEAM RESULTS
1. Kansas 290-280-282-852
2. SW Louisiana 288-283-284-855
3. California-Berkley 288-79-290
85/40
3. Colorado 292-286-279-857
4. Missouri 278-296-284-858
5. Arkansas St. 296-284-279-859
6. NCCharlotte 295-288-279-862
7. Wake Forest 295-290-280-865
8. Columbus St. 287-291-288-866
9. Iowa St. 283-296-293-872
10. Purdue 298-289-292-879
12. Nebraska 94-290-297-881
12. Rice 304-285-92-881
12. Wichita St. 93-291-297-881
12. Illinois St. 296-293-293-882
12. Air Force 300-303-299-902
12. Kansas St. 308-297-298-902
shooting 231.
On the women's side, Oklahoma State was on a level all of its own after the first round.
The Cowgirls shot 581,22 strokes better than the second place team. Purdue.
Oklahoma State placed four golfers in the top six.
The Kansas women's team was in last place after the first round of play on Monday shooting 628.
Senior Sue Tesary led the team with a score of 150 to tie for 10th place.
Cowgirl Maria Boden led all golfers with a score of 143. Oklahoma State placed four golfers in the ten siex.
The results from the final round of play for the women's tournament were not available as of press time yesterday.
— Edited by Brad Hallier
Everything seemed to be going right for Ashley Gorham — until injury struck.
Knee injury sidelines defender
By Chris Wristen sports@kansan.com Kansan sports
Gorham, a junior defender on the Kansas soccer team, broke her kneecp this summer during a soccer game with her club team, and is sitting out this season with a medical redshirt.
Gorham split time on the Jayhawk defense for the past two seasons until junior Kylie Watts went down with a knee injury against Texas Tech. Gorham was called upon to fill the void by joining the starting lineup, which allowed her to emerge as a solid defender.
"I guess I played pretty well," Gorham said with a laugh. "Our record was undefeated so I don't think I screwed up too bad."
Her on-field success continued in the spring when Coach Mark Francis arrived. Gorham's play improved, along with that of the rest of her teammates, and the Jayhawks posted an undefeated record.
Then came the injury
While playing for her club team in her hometown of Bellevue, Neb., Gorham collided with another player. "My foot was planted, and we knocked knees," Gorham said. "I stepped up to clear (the ball), and she ran right into my knee."
The result was a broken kneecap and the loss of muscle in her knee. Gorham has undergone months of rehabilitation to improve range of motion and
strength in the knee in efforts to rebuild her muscle. She is ahead of schedule in her recovery process but will not be able to return this season.
Gorham had hoped to return for Friday's game when the Jayhawks journey to her home state of Nebraska to battle the No. 4 Cornhuskers. She won't be able to play, but will be driving to Lincoln to support her team.
"Against Nebraska, it's been a game I've always stepped up to play in." Gorham said. "I'm going to go up and watch, but it's really frustrating. That's the game I originally wanted to come back at, but I decided to redshirt."
Gorham attends every practice but has been forced to sit out and watch, which she says is one of the hardest things she's ever had to do.
“It's so depressing and frustrating to see my team out there and not be a part of it,” Gorham said. “I don't like watching because I can't do anything.”
It's even tougher that her team is experiencing great success with Francis, and she hasn't been able to contribute to that success on the field.
“It’s the coach that I actually want to play for, and that’s why it’s so frustrating,” she said. “He’s new this year, and I want to play — but I can’t.”
Kansas defender Ashley Gorham watches her teammates run drills during Tuesday's practice. Gorham is on a medical redshirt after suffering a broken knee cap during a club soccer game during the summer. Photo by Jay Sheeperd/KANSAN
Francis is pleased with her efforts at recovery.
The time away from the game has given Gorham a chance to reflect, and she said she had learned a lot from her injury and that she believed it would help her when she is able to play again.
"My attitude is going to be a lot better just because from sitting out I've realized how big a part soccer has been on my life," Gorham said.
Edited by Julia Nicholson
Flag football teams trying to claim intramural glory
Championship title to be decided Sunday
By Jason Walker
sports@kansan.com
Kansas Sportwriter
By Jason Walker
The fall intramural season is winding down, and that means it's tournament time.
The flag football tournament teams have been whittled down to a remaining few in each division, and competition in the games is heating up.
The championship game in each division of flag football will be played Sunday, so this final week is the time to shine for the teams still in the tournament.
Jake Carmichael, Mulvane
senior and member of Beta 1 in the men's greek division, said that an intramural title would mean a lot to his team and his fraternity.
"We've been practicing together since August," he said. "We're kind of stressed to do well and make a good showing."
Carmichael said that every game was important to his team,
but that they were looking to go the distance in the tournament.
"It all depends on how well we play as a team and not as individuals," he said. "It's always our goal to be the last team playing."
The men's open division also is getting down to a handful of teams that still don't have a tournament loss.
Mike Keller, Wichita senior, is
a member of TFC, a men's open team in the hunt for the intramural title.
Keller said that since most of the members of his team were seniors, this year's tournament meant more than usual.
"It's our last year, so we really want to win," he said. "We won two years ago and still have lots of the same guys on the team, so
we have a pretty good shot of winning."
He said that most of his team played football in high school, sc intramurals were fun to help remember past gridiron glory.
"For a lot of us former athletes, it's all we have left," he said. "It's our way of competing and playing football still."
- Edited by Jamie Knode
The Associated Press
LPGA celebrates 50th anniversary, looks on past accomplishments
The success of the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour too often is judged by the wrong numbers.
Never mind that Karrie Webb is soaring toward $1.5 million this year or that a record 78 players have earned more than $100,000. The nagging question is why the LPGA purses pale in comparison to the men.
The LPGA sanctioned 38 events this year on four continents but seems to make headlines only when it loses a tournament.
So what that the 240 hours of television time is more than any other women's sport? Critics want to know why more tournaments are not broadcast by the networks.
Maybe those critics should spend more time with Patty Berg.
A winner of 15 major championships and 57 tournaments, Berg measures success by the number that matters the most: The LPGA Tour is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
"Fifty years! That's marvelous," the 81-year-old Berg said from her home in Fort Myers, Fla. "It just goes to show what happens when you work together and have a vision that this was going to be one of the best organizations — and it is."
Indeed, the LPGA Tour belongs to Berg, Alice Bauer, Bettye Danoff, Marlene Hagge, Betty Jameson, Marilyn Smith, Shirley Spork and Louise Suggs.
Of the 12 members who chartered the LPGA Tour in 1950, these eight living founders will gather in New York on Oct. 19 to help begin a year of celebration for the longest-running women's sports association.
These are the women who help LPGA Tour commissioner Ty Votaw appreciate how far women's golf has come and make him optimistic about the next half-century.
"I'm not sure I would have had as much optimism that it would have lasted 50 years," Votaw said. "At the time, society was not sending many signals that women could or should be professional athletes in a touring sense.
"What would have tempered some of that pessimism
were the people involved and that indomitable spirit they had in bringing the issue to a head," he said. "The LPGA Tour has stood the test of time."
It wasn't easy.
Consider the average week of a touring pro. Most arrive at a tournament no later than Tuesday, get in a practice round, play in a pro-am, give interviews to a half-dozen reporters and cash a check at the end of the week that could be worth as much as $100,000.
Jameson and her pals also used to show up at tournaments a couple of days early, albeit for a much different purpose.
"We had to set the pins," said Jameson, 80, who lives in Delray Beach, Fla. "Someone else marked the course. We did all the running of the tournament."
On Sunday night, they stayed late to compile the scores and send them off to Western Union. They were more than just performers. They were press agents, tournament organizers, rules officials. Berg recalled one tournament in which a player — head of the rules committee that year — had to stop playing in the middle of her round to make a ruling.
"They had to do this on their own." Votaw said. "I would equate it to trying to dunk a basketball from the standing position. And they reached pretty high."
The inaugural LPGA season featured nine tournaments with a total purse of $50,000. The LPGA Tour had 43 tournaments on the schedule, including off-season events, worth more than $36 million in prize money.
Thanks to founders such as Berg, Jameson and Suggs, women with a love for the game have a tour they can call their own. Thanks to Hall of Famers such as Mickey Wright, Betsy Rawls and Kathy Whitworth, they have a standard for excellence.
"We've come a long way," Jameson said. "I'm glad I could be part of the history. I wouldn't exchange that for anything."
It's time to put away the yardsticks and break out the party favors. It's time to stop the incessant, unfair comparisons to the PGA Tour and begin to measure the LPGA Tour on its own merits.
By that standard, the LPGA has been an enormous success.
The Hilarious Interactive Murder Mystery Dinner
Can supply you with a Tommie Gun with your gangster or flapper costume or a sword with your pirate or Napoleon costume. Be an Egyptian Princess or a Knight in real armor.
Call: (913) 321-GUNS
at: 1313 State Ave.
KCK 66102
Costume Rental Have Guns... Will Rent
7 to 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 28
Kansas Union Ballroom
Tickets Available
in SUA Box Office
$10 w/ KUID $15 w/ OUT
(includes dinner)
STARRY UNION AUDIENCE
SUA
864-3477 • 864-SHOW
www.ukans.edu/~sua
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