December

Sammy Samson, head professional at D. Fairchild Wheeler GC in Fairfield, was elected to PGA membership Dec. 16...Bill Mackedon has been named the new head golf professional at Clinton CC. Mackedon is former head professional at Grassy Hill CC in Orange...Terry Crawford, general manager at Brownson CC in Huntington, has successfully completed the requirements for PGA Specialty Certification in General Management.

November

Dan Malarney has been named golf professional for the Hartford Chapter First Tee Program. Malarney is former head golf professional at Rolling Meadows GC in Ellington.

October

Lida Tingley of Bloomfield (81-81--162) competed in the 13th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship on Oct. 2-7 at Cherokee Town and Country Club, Dunwoody, GA. Tingley lost in the first round of match play...James Kubinski, assistant professional at the TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, was elected to PGA membership...Competing in the 45th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship on Oct. 2-7 at Portland GC, Portland, OR, were Frederick Kask of East Hartford (81-79--160), Tom Graham of Southport (82-80-162), John McCormac of North Grosvenordale (84-78-162) and Rob Nagy of Westport (87-82--169). All failed to qualify for match play (159).

September

Competing in the 38th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship on Sept. 25-30 at Old Warson CC, Ladue, MO and Bellerive CC, St. Louis, MO, were Jerry Courville Jr. of Milford (73-71--144), Mark Farrell of Westport (75-72--147), Joe Sommers of Stamford (86-72--158) and John Bracken of West Hartford (84-85--169). Courville lost in the final round of match play, while Farrell lost in the first round of match play. Sommers and Bracken failed to qualify for match play (151)...Mickey Hawkes, head professional at Madison Country Club in Madison, was named 1999 PGA Golf Professional of the Year by the Connecticut Section PGA...Jerry Courville Jr. of Milford competed in the 19th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship on Sept. 25-30 at Old Warson CC, St. Louis, MO. Courville lost in the championship final, 2 and 1...Representing Connecticut in the USGA 3rd State Team Championship on Sept. 7-9 at Golden Horseshoe GC in Williamsburg, VA, were Brian Ahern of West Hartford, Jerry Courville Jr. of Milford and Joe Dennis of Wolcott. The men's team finished T7. The women's team, which finished 28th, included Shirley Budden of Greenwich, Jen Holland of Branford and Donna Harris of Avon...Competing in the 38th U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship on Sept. 14-19 at Desert Mountain GC, Scottsdale, AZ, were Shirley Budden of Greenwich, Anita Fivek of Hamden, Lida Tingley of Bloomfield and Bonnie Tyler of Redding. Tingley lost in the quarterfinal round of match play, while Tyler and Budden each lost in the first round of match play. Fivek failed to qualify for match play.

August

Patricia Wadkins (86-88--174) of Darien competed in the 99th U.S. Women's Amateur at Biltmore Forest Country Club, Asheville, NC, on Aug. 9-14. Wadkins failed to qualify for match play...Competing in the 99th U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, CA, on Aug. 16-22 were Jerry Courville Jr. (76-74--150) of Milford, Joe Pollizzano (84-82--166) of Stamford, Ryan MacDonald (79-91--170) of Easton and Robert McBride (84-87--171) of Ridgefield. Courville lost in the first round of match play, all others failed to qualify for match play...Kyle Gallo of Berlin won the North Atlantic Tour's Pine Plains Classic on Aug. 21 at Carvel CC in Pine Plains, NY...Kyle (70-69--139) won the tournament on the first playoff hole....Elizabeth Janangelo of West Hartford competed in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at Green Spring Valley Hunt Club in Owings Mills, MD. Janangelo lost in the second round of match play.

July

Competing in the 52nd U.S. Junior Championship at the Country Club of York, York, PA on July 27-31 were Tim Kane (71-73--144) of Simsbury and Jason Lockwood (75-78--153) of Windsor. Kane lost in the second round of match play while Lockwood failed to qualify for match play...Greg Yeomans, assistant professional at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, was elected to PGA membership July 23...Dennis Coscina of East Windsor competed in the 20th U.S. Senior Open at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in West Des Moines, IA on July 8-11. Coscina (84-85--169) missed the cut (151)...Mark Farrell of Westport and Stephen Ayers of Hartford competed in the 74th U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course in Alton, IL on July 12-17. Farrell (72-74--146) and Ayers (74-73--147) both failed to qualify for match play (145).

June

Patricia Watkins of Darien has qualified for the U.S Women's Amateur Championship on Aug. 9 at Biltmore Forest CC in Asheville, NC.

May

Jennifer Cieslak of Windham qualified for the U.S Women's Open on June 3-6 at West Point, MS by shooting a 75 to win a qualifier May 11 at Metedeconk National GC in Jackson, NJ. Cieslak, the 1996 Connecticut Women's Amateur champion, made a hole-in-one on the 12th hole.

April

Ben Moore has been named head professional at the TPC at River Highlands, Cromwell...Moore and Matt Menchetti, head professional at Laurel View CC, Hamden, have been elected to PGA membership...Melissa Morely of Windsor has been named Junior Golf Manager for the Connecticut Section PGA. She will begin June 1.

March

Steve Ligi of Watertown, a senior at James Madison University, finished T10 (75-72--147) at the William & Mary Invitational at Williamsburg, VA on March 29-30, helping his team to a first-place finish...Corey Harris of New Preston, CT won a South Florida Mini Tour event at the Oaks Course and Pam Air CC on March 23-24, shooting 2-under-par 140 (70-70)...Several PGA members have been named to new positions. New head professionals include Joe Cordani Jr. at Tower Ridge CC in Simsbury, Jim Hanlon at The Farms CC in Wallingford, Hope Kelley at Fox Run at Copper Hill in East Granby and Jamie Lloyd at Blue Fox Run GC in Avon. John Riordan is the new head of instruction at Glastonbury Golf Practice Facility in Glastonbury.

February

A team from Tallwood CC in Hebron captured the gross division of the 23rd Lobster Pot Professional-Amatuer Invitational Golf Tournament at the Port Royal GC in Bermuda. The team included Tallwood PGA Professional John Nowobilski, Tom Stearns, Tom Dolan and Brad Faxon Sr., father of PGA Tour player Brad Faxon. The field consisted of teams from the United States, Germany and Great Britain...Bobby Gage of Winsted won the Moonlight East mini-tour event Feb. 15 at Lake Mary, FL with a score of 69...J.J. Henry of Fairfield won the South Florida mini tour event in Fort Lauderdale, FL on Feb 9-10 with a score of 69-67--136.

January

Former Norwich resident Chris van der Velde, who played on the PGA European Tour in 1998, won a playoff to finish first in the North Florida PGA tournament in Leesburg, FL on Jan. 31...Former Winsted resident Bobby Gage won the Moonlight mini-tour event Jan. 20 at Orange Lake, FL with a score of 70. Gage played last year on the PGA Tour.