Area golf notebook

ACE CLASSIC: The ACE Group Classic in Naples will be the first full-field event on the Champions Tour schedule next year and immediately follow the Feb. 7 Super Bowl in Miami. The tournament dates are Feb. 8-14. The Allianz Championship in Boca Raton will be Feb. 15-21. The ACE Classic set an attendance record last year of 112,276 in its first year at TPC at Treviso Bay. The company of Bonita Springs resident Peter Jacobsen will no longer be the tourney’s presenting sponsor after one year in the role.
SOUTH FLORIDA PGA: John Lee of Imperial Golf Club in Naples birdied the first playoff hole to win his first South Florida PGA Section Championship last week and lead two other area club professionals who qualified for next year’s PGA Professional National Championship. Lee and Ryan Garrity of The Dye Preserve in Jupiter tied for first at 7-under-par 137 at Fiddlesticks Country Club in Fort Myers before Lee birdied the par-5 first playoff hole. J.D. Murray of Cedar Hammock in Naples was third at 6-under, and Andy Zullo of Shadow Wood in Bonita Springs tied for fourth at 4-under to also advance to June’s national club pro championship at Indiana’s French Lick Resort. Jared Blocker of Pelican Bay in Naples was beaten in a three-way playoff for the final berth and is the first alternate. Bob Byrnes of Mediterra in Naples is the third alternate.
PGA ASSISTANTS: Cape Coral’s Chris Trout, an assistant professional at Cypress Lake Country Club in Fort Myers, shot 8-under 280 (67-69-71-73) to tie for 10th and earn $1,550 in last week’s 33rd annual Callaway Golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie. Estero’s Jay Westerlund of Renaissance in Fort Myers shot 2-over (72-73-72-73) to tie for 48th and earn $595.
FGCU WOMEN: The Eagles shot 312 in Tuesday’s final round to move from 13th to 10th in the 17-team USF-Waterlefe Invitational in Bradenton. FGCU finished at 936 (326-308-312). Nova Southeastern won at 877 (299-290-288). Lina Elmsater was 11th for FGCU at 223 (76-74-73). Briana Carlson tied for 30th at 232 (83-76-73), Amber Pedersen tied for 57th at 240 (85-74-81), Katerina Toomalatai tied for 73rd at 251 (92-84-75) and Jessica Paulmann tied for 77th at 253 (82-90-81).
Who: Walter McCarthy
Where: Copperleaf Golf Club, Bonita Springs, No. 11, 120 yards, 7-iron
His ace: A day after depositing a shot in the water, McCarthy opted to use the ball that he scuffed on a shot off the cart path one hole earlier when he came to Copperleaf’s par-3 11th hole over water on Aug. 23. His 7-iron was pure, though, and the ball headed for the flag before disappearing. Like many who are lucky enough to record an ace, McCarthy thought the shot carried through the green. He grabbed his wedge and putter to begin his search behind the green before his wife, Charlotte, walked to the cup and screamed. “He walked over and had the happiest look on his face,” Charlotte said. After 69 years of playing golf, McCarthy finally recorded his first ace. “Whenever he tells this story, he says, ‘Do not give up with this game of golf. Anything can happen,’ ” Charlotte said. “He used to always be talking about his children or grandchildren. Now his hole-in-one story is included.”
— Contact ssoffian@news-press.com or 335-0361 to tell your ace tale.

• As long as the “records” that appear in this space are unofficial, we’ll happily give Roy Boles the nod for most times equaling or bettering his age.
Boles, who will turn 82 on Oct. 17, moved to Lexington Country Club in Fort Myers about 12 years ago and has been keeping a log of his rounds since then — about 4-5 a week before his back started bothering him a few years ago and about 3-4 times a week since then. The tally: 114 times shooting his age and 213 times bettering his age. That’s 327 rounds, nearly a year’s worth, of shooting his age or better in a little more than a decade.
“It took me a couple of hours to figure all that out,” Boles said. “It (the log) is kind of thick.”
Boles first equaled his age when he was 72, from the white tees. His best score below his age was five shots, although that was from the shorter gold tees, “for old farts like me,” he said.
Despite periodic injections for his back, this “old fart’’ also finds time to practice his chipping and putting every other day.
“I love golf, and it’s good exercise,” said the department of transportation soil testing retiree from Columbus, Ohio. “You meet a lot of good people.”
— Have you shot your age or better? Send your name, age, city, course, score and the date of the round (or age at the time of the round) to The News-Press golf writer Seth Soffian at
ssoffian@news-press.com, fax to 334-0708 or call 335-0361.
What: 18th annual Florida Gulf Coast University Founder’s Cup
When: Monday, 1:15 p.m. shotgun start
Where: Mediterra, North Naples
Cost: $450, includes lunch, dinner, awards and a chance at the Estero Bay Chevrolet hole-in-one prize.
About the event: Proceeds will benefit the FGCU Foundation. The tournament has raised more than $750,000 since its inception.
Info: Michele Kroffke, 590-1074, mkroffke@fgcu.edu, fgcu.edu/foundation
COPPERHEAD GOLF COURSE
Ron Shafer, Hole 14, 156 yards, 7 iron, Sept. 29.
FIDDLESTICKS COUNTRY CLUB
Guy Davis, Hole 2 Wee Friendly, 180 yards, 5 Hybrid, Sept. 29.
VERANDAH GOLF COURSE
Karen Stathas, Hole 11 Old Orange, 120 yards, 5 wood, Sept. 27
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Thor Thorsteinson, Hole 11 Old Orange, 180 yards, 4 iron, Sept. 30.