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AMES, Iowa -- Special Olympics golfer Taneka Miller of Arcadia, Okla., and partner PGA Professional Steve Carson of Oklahoma City share the lead with Special Olympics golfer Thomas Van Bebber of Springdale, Ark., and partner Bud Busken after Monday's opening round of the 2006 Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament.
Both teams recorded a 47 in the nine-hole alternate-shot team competition in the tournament, which is part of the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games. A total of 182 athletes from 41 states are participating in the tournament, which is being staged at Ames Golf & Country Club and Coldwater Golf Links.
Family members united to finish one-two in the 18-hole unified team competition when Special Olympics golfer Jason Plante and his father, Robert Plante of Lafayette, Ind., shot 81 for the lead after Round 1. A pair of brothers finished just behind them, with Special Olympics golfer Jesse Pease and his brother, Jason Pease of Sioux City, Iowa, recording a 90 in first-day action.
In the nine-hole individual stroke-play event, Jake Alexopoulus of Manchester Center, Vt., shot a personal best score of 45 to end Round 1 in first place. Wesley Williams of Mystic, Conn., finished one shot back with a 46.
First-round action in the 18-hole individual stroke-play event was close, with Nathan Cheverton of Knoxville, Tenn., shooting 89; Tim Braun of Highland Village, Texas, a 90; and Adam Jeffers of Las Vegas, Nev., a 91.
Brian Drexler of Plantsville, Conn., finished with 68 points and the Round 1 lead in the individual skills competition, followed closely by Don Patterson of Albuquerque, N.M., with a 67.
Finishing Round 1 in the nine-hole alternate shot competition tied for third, Rhode Island Special Olympics golfer Bob Sullivan, age 63, and younger brother Larry Sullivan, 59, combined for a 52. Bob and Larry have been playing together for 10 years and golf has become a strong bond between the brothers when their parents passed away eight years ago.
Since then, Larry has become very involved in Bob's group home and Special Olympics activities and calls golf a "catalyst to our growing relationship."
Minnesota Special Olympics nine-hole individual stroke-play golfers Steve Uttgard of Maplewood and Adam Steiner of Woodbury thank Special Olympics for building their friendship. After being named to the National Games team, Steve and Adam were introduced and began to practice regularly together and today are the best of friends.
"Special Olympics golf is awesome. I love the smell of the grass and the chance to get out with Adam to play," said Uttgard. While both participate in multiple Special Olympics sports, Steiner is an accomplished bowler, competing in a mainstream bowling league and having bowled a 300 earlier this year.
The golf competition includes play in five different levels. In Level 1 (individual skills competition), golfers are tested in six skills that simulate play including: full swing tests with a wood and an iron, short game tests with pitch and chip shots, and putting a long putt and a short putt.
Level 2 features a nine-hole alternate shot format that teams a Special Olympics player with a non-Special Olympics player of more advanced skill and knowledge. Level 3 Unified Sports team play incorporates an 18-hole alternate-shot format that teams a Special Olympics player with a non-Special Olympics player of similar ability.
Level 4 features nine holes of individual stroke play, while Level 5 includes 18 holes of individual stroke play.
The 2006 Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament is the seventh annual national golf competition for golfers with intellectual disabilities. The tournament, staged for the first year at a National Games event, returns for the second year to Ames G&CC and Coldwater GL. In the past six years of tournaments, Special Olympics golf has recorded three holes-in-one, record low scores and countless personal best scores by Special Olympics golfers.
Since The PGA of America first introduced golf to Special Olympics in 1988, the game has become an official Special Olympics sport with some 10,000 athletes competing in 17 countries. The first international introduction of Special Olympics golf came in 1991 when nearly 4,000 Special Olympics athletes participated in daily PGA golf clinics at their Summer World Games in Minneapolis.
While volunteers and PGA Professionals grew the program locally, Special Olympics prepared for its first exhibition golf tournament at the 1995 Special Olympics Summer World Games. The Summer World Games (Raleigh, N.C.) hosted the first official Special Olympics World Golf Tournament in 1999 and the annual Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament began in 2000 (hosted by the Tennessee Section PGA in Murfreesboro & Smyrna, Tenn.)
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