Area Golf Notebook: Association says it's time to fold up the tent

An area golf tradition has ended with the final 1st coast Golf Association AmaTour event on Dec. 20 at the St. Johns Golf and Country Club.

In near perfect weather conditions, the team of Dick Joyce and Tony Kennedy combined to shoot 13-under-par 59 in the AmaTour Better Ball Championship. They won by two shots over second flight winners Dave Pettengill and Paul Dossin. Two teams shot 62, first flight winners David Hodges and Gary Barber and second flight runners-up Ray Benson and Tom Luyster.

There were 23 two-man teams competing in the final event, capping 25 years and more than 1,200 tournaments. The association was run by John and Nancy Randall, with the goal of giving amateur players in the area monthly events in which they could remain competitive in a casual setting but still play by the strict Rules of Golf.

The Randalls also ran the tour to keep busy during their retirement years. The two will launch their “second retirement.” John Randall is 87 years old and Nancy Randall is 80.

“It was time to fold up the tent and put it away,” Randall said.

He admitted to some frustration about the decline in membership of the 1stcoast Golf Association that seemed to go hand-in-hand with the decline of the economy.

While the economy has come back, Randall said the golfers didn’t — especially those under 50. There currently are 69 members of the 1stcoast Golf Association and only three are younger than 50.

At its peak, Randall said his association had more than 200 members, and frequently had tournament fields of more than 100.

“Young people really don’t play competitive golf anymore, unless they’re trying to make a living at it,” he said. “They play golf, but it’s with their buddies and they make up their own rules. I don’t know what the answer is, but someone else is going to have to try to find it.”

Randall said only one person has inquired about taking over operation of the association.

“Golf is in a real void right now,” he said. “But we had a very good run for 25 years.”

In addition to the AmaTour, the Randalls operated the 1stcoast Seniors Tour. The final event in that division was Nov. 21 at Eagle Harbor.

Banquet tickets available

The Jacksonville Area Golf Association’s second annual banquet still has tickets remaining for the Jan. 15 event at the Timuquana Country Club. JAGA will present its top awards for 2013, with past U.S. Amateur and British Amateur champion Steve Melnyk serving as the guest speaker.

For information on purchasing tickets, call (904) 221-4111 or email rstr8iff@comcast.net.

Tight finish

David Palm, an assistant professional at the Champions Club at Julington Creek, opened with a 67 and eventually tied for second in a Florida Professional Golf Tour event at Pelican Bay in Daytona Beach.

Palm shot 70 in the final round to finish at 7-under-par 137, tying with Paul Wackerly of Malvern, Ohio. Both finished a shot behind Vaila Guillaume of Lillington, N.C., who had a 66 in the first round. Guillaume is a native of Tahiti.

Ty Capps of Palm Coast (143) finished alone in fourth.

Jeff Dennis of Jacksonville, a former University of North Florida player, is third on the tour’s money list with $2,275. Josh Spalding of Bunnell is 12th and Palm is 19th.

Deadline nearing

The deadline to enter the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour’s first event of 2014 on the First Coast is Jan. 1. The tournament will be Jan. 11-12. For information, visit www.hjgt.org.