A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Around the links in Northern Kentucky: U.S. Kids Golf Golden Triangle Fall Local Tour tees off Sept. 9


By Marc Hardin
NKyTribune contributor

When the inaugural season of the U.S. Kids Golf Golden Triangle Fall Local Tour tees off Sept. 9 at Reeves Golf Course in Cincinnati, local tour director Adam Fangman will feel like he has hit a hole-in-one.

“It’s exciting. I can’t wait to get it started,” he said. “This is the second part of our tour. We started the Spring Tour earlier this year and played March through May (with an average of 30-35 kids per event).”

The U.S. Kids Golf Foundation is a Georgia nonprofit that provides services including competition and instruction for young players and their families. It organizes more than 1,000 golf tournaments each year. Through its partnership with the PGA of America, it supports the U.S. Kids Golf Family Course program which provides guidelines that help courses make the game easier to learn and more fun for kids and their families.

The process of bringing U.S. Kids Golf to Greater Cincinnati began last year in conversations between the foundation and Fangman, the PGA Junior League director and youth golf instructor at Boone Links and Lassing Pointe. But a fortuitously scheduled business convention held in Atlanta that had nothing to do with golf led to Northern Kentucky getting a foothold on the tour and some playing dates.

U.S. Kids Golf Golden Triangle Local Tour director Adam Fangman (left) receives scorecards from Carter Lankford and Regan Ramage at a Spring Tour event in April at The Golf Courses at Kenton County. The inaugural Fall Tour starts Sept. 9. (Photo provided by Adam Fangman)

The 24-year-old Fangman, a former golfer at Dixie Heights High School and Thomas More College, has been heavily involved with youth golf since he was a teenager. For six years, he held various positions including general manager and PGA Junior League director at The World of Golf in Florence. He’s currently director of golf at Next Level Golf Academy in Wilder in addition to his roles at Boone Links and Lassing Pointe, but his regular job is in medical sales for a company in Mariemont, Ohio.

“We had spoken previously. Originally, they were looking to do just Cincinnati,” Fangman said of initial talks with U.S. Kids Golf. “I was in Atlanta in February for a medical show not far from the U.S. Kids Golf headquarters so I took a Uber to meet their people and was able to get it in Northern Kentucky so our kids could get involved. We also have events this fall in Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington. They came up with the name Golden Triangle.”

The tour visits Northern Kentucky Golf Club in Butler on Sept. 30 and the Willows Course at Kenton County Golf Course in Independence on Oct. 21. Tour play is scheduled for seven Sundays at 1 p.m. in the run-up to the Nov. 11 Tour Championship, which starts at noon at Kearney Hills Golf Links in Lexington.

Fangman, who grew up in Edgewood, wanted to make sure area courses were represented on the new tour. The niche he hopes to fill for years to come provides events and opportunities to advance the golf experience for boys and girls ages 5 to 14 in age-appropriate competition.

“I contacted 30 courses to see if they wanted to be involved,” Fangman said. “I got the ones who wanted to help grow the game of golf.”

At the Local Tour level, Fangman said youngsters can gain their first exposure to competitive golf, earn priority status for championship events and meet new friends and learn valuable life lessons. Similar to the PGA Tour, U.S. Kids Golf events encouraged the use of caddies to help young golfers play their best. Allowing caddies is also part of the tour’s commitment to encouraging family interaction.

With a mission to support the next generation of great players, Fangman said the tour rewards every golfer with a rich experience and ensures that elite players are offered every chance to fulfill their potential. Top-five finishers in each age group can earn invitations to championship events which include state invitationals, regional championships, international championships and the world championship, held each year in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

“This is a great opportunity for local kids,” said Fangman. “They actually have a chance to play for a world championship at Pinehurst.”

Around the links in Northern Kentucky:

U.S. AMATEUR: Former Ryle High School golfer Austin Squires was attempting to earn a spot in championship flight match play late Tuesday evening after two days of stroke-play qualifying in Pebble Beach, California. Squires, a Triple Crown member who golfs at the University of Cincinnati, was the first-day qualifying leader after eight holes with a score of 3-under-par at Spyglass Hill. He was in a four-way tie for first after 12 holes en route to a tie for fourth overall after the first day with a score of 2-under 70.

Squires, this year’s Cincinnati Metropolitan Amateur Championship runner-up, teed off Tuesday shortly before 6 p.m. ET at Pebble Beach. He won the Northern Kentucky Amateur in 2013 as a 16-year-old. He was the 2017 American Athletic Conference player of the year at UC where he set a school record with a 71.92 stroke average in 38 rounds as a sophomore. U.S. Amateur match play begins Wednesday and concludes Sunday.

KENTUCKY PGA JUNIOR TOUR: Covington Catholic’s Pat Kennedy and Ryle’s Chris Harpum were top finishing locals Saturday at the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour’s Kentucky Invitational Tournament at Landing Country Club in Goshen. Kennedy, a senior, and Harpum, a freshman, both shot even-par 71, six strokes off the winning pace. They finished in a 10-way tie for 13th. CovCath finished tied for eighth in the team standings with a score of 300. Ryle was 15th at 308.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY GOLF CLUB: David Feagan and Johnnie Cobb had back-to-back holes-in-one Monday, both with 102-yard shots from the white tees.

Jon Henson won the Pendleton’s Invitational with a two-round score of 2-under-par 142. He shot 70 the first round.

PIONEER AT KENTON COUNTY: Clara Bushman of Fort Thomas and Lucca Brown of Union captured age-group championships at Fall 9-Hole Series Event 6, a stop on the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour. Bushman won in girls’ 18-under with a score of 49. Brown won in boys’ 10-under with 50.

In boys’ 12-under, Ben Carter from Florence was third and Will Carter from Florence tied for fourth. Ben Carter shot 46. Will Carter shot 47.

SUMMIT: Former Metropolitan champ Brad Wilder won this past weekend’s club championship with a two-day score of 5-under 135. He shot 67 the second day. Runner-up Jay Johnson was 10 shots back. Other flight winners: Dave Rechtin (Senior Men’s), John David (Super Senior), former Notre Dame Academy golfer Amy Pugliano (Ladies) and Shelli Bitter (Senior Ladies).

Marc Hardin’s summer golf column has been featured in The Kentucky Post and Kentucky Enquirer for 15 years. He’s covered all the local amateur tournaments and several PGA and LPGA events since 2003. His feature for The Cincinnati Post about how Chi Chi Rodriguez got on the album cover of a Devo record was PGA Story Of The Day from the 2004 Kroger Classic at The Golf Center at Kings Island. Marc has written for the Greater Cincinnati Golf Association and Greater Cincinnati Women’s Golf Association. He welcomes comments, story tips, feature ideas and your league’s standings. You can contact him at marcwriterdude@yahoo.com.


Related Posts

Leave a Comment