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AMES, Iowa -- Special Olympics golfer Taneka Miller of Arcadia, Okla., and partner PGA Professional Steve Carson of Oklahoma City shot a personal best 41 (47-41-88) for the lead in the nine-hole alternate shot team competition after Tuesday's second round of the 2006 Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament.
Special Olympics golfer Thomas Van Bebber of Springdale, Ark., and partner Bud Busken, who shared the lead with Miller/Carson on Monday, shot a 47 Tuesday for a two-day total of 94 going into the final round.
Carson plays with Taneka at least once a week and says her hard work is really paying off this week.
"Today's round was our best round so far with Taneka making two birdie putts plus two 10-foot putts for par today," he noted. " She had a great day and we had a lot of fun."
"My putting is pretty good," Miller agreed after her secnd round. "I made four of them right in the hole and remembered to keep my club face to the target."
This year's national tournament is being staged at Ames Golf & Country Club and Coldwater Golf Links as part of the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games. A total of 182 athletes from 41 states are participating in five levels of golf competition.
The family teams who shared the top two spots in the 18-hole unified team competition after Round 1 continued their solid play in Round 2 on Tuesday. Special Oympics golfer Jason Plante and his father Robert Plante of Lafayette, Ind., shot 81-79-160 to extend their lead to 10 shots after Round 2.
Special Olympics golfer Jesse Pease and his brother Jason Pease of Sioux City, Iowa, improved their first round score by 10 posting a 90-80-170 for the second place spot in their division after Round 2.
In the nine-hole individual stroke-play event, Wesley Williams of Mystic, Conn., shot a 46-46-92 to take the lead over Jake Alexopoulus of Manchester Center, Vt., who recorded a 45-48-93 going into the final round on Wednesday.
Tim Braun of Highland Village, Texas, shot a 90-87-177 to take the lead in the 18-hole individual stroke play tournament over Adam Jeffers of Las Vegas, Nev., who shot 91-91-182.
Brian Drexler of Plantsville, Conn., finished Round 2 in the individual skills competition with 67 points for a total of 135 points and a seven-point lead over Michael Tacy of West Hartford, Conn. Tacy earned 61 points Tuesday for a 128 total and the second-place position going into the final round.
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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