USGA

USGA State Team Championship:
Meet the Participants

USGA State Team Championship
September 7-9, 1999
at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club (Gold Course)
Williamsburg, Va.

The Hawaiian team withdrew on Saturday, September 5, because of the possibility of bad weather from Hurricane Dennis combined with the length of their trip

The USGA has now visited the commonwealth of Virginia 12 times with the 1999 State Team Championship coming to Golden Horseshoe Golf Club. The 1998 USGA Senior Women's Amateur was played at the Green Course.

Marty West, 51, of Rockville, Md., finished fourth at the 1972 U.S. Amateur and was a member of the 1973 and 1979 Walker Cup squads.

Mike Bell, 52, of Indianapolis, Ind. played in the 1999 U.S. Senior Open. A 1969 graduate of Indiana, he attended on an Evans Scholarship. He is the vice president of the Indiana Golf Association.

Richard "Skip" Berkmeyer Jr., 25, of Baldwin, Mo. has an interesting superstition: he colors his golf balls. His mother, Barbara (55 from St. Louis), is playing for Missouri.

One player will probably be testing the confectionery quality in Williamsburg. Mike Brummer, 49, of Rapid City, S.D., owns Armadillo's Ice Cream Shoppe.

The oldest player in the men's event is 57-year-old Leon Chapman of Albuquerque. He played in the 1998 U.S. Senior Open at Riviera but did not qualify for weekend play. He has a Ph.D in electrical and computer science and is employed as a systems engineer.

53-year-old Ron Brewer of Leawood, Kan., played 72 holes at the 1997 U.S. Senior Open at Olympia Fields CC in Illinois. He shot 78-71-78-79 and finished at 28-over 308.

Thomas Borsello, 45, of Wilmington, Del. has known desperation. While playing at the 1998 U.S. Mid-Amateur, he misplaced his keys and had to break into his car in order to get to his clubs. He is a registered nurse at Christiana (Del.) Care.

Sam Billmeyer, 42, of Ankeny, Iowa registered his first hole in one playing with his wife and son on their anniversary, which happened to be Father's Day.

Ron Brown Jr, 50, of Cumberland Foreside, Maine played at the 1999 U.S. Senior Open but failed to qualify for weekend play.

Dustin Cone, 17, of Bennington, Vt., is the youngest competitor. Born on September 4, 1982, he won the Vermont State Amateur at age 16 this past summer

Bob Cooper, 42, of Monroe, La., won the U.S. Lefty Championships in 1980 and 1981

Jeff Chapman, 23, of Albuquerque, N.M. is a student at the University of New Mexico and played golf for the Lobos for two years. While he no longer is a competitor on the college level, he is deeply involved in golf as a high school coach.

The players with the best "going low" scores in their careers are Rett Crowder, 29, of Ridgeland, Miss, who shot 58 (14-under) at the Country Club of Jackson (Miss.) this summer and Jay Fox, 40, of Little Rock, Ark., who shot 57 in 1983 at War Memorial Golf Course.

Fox also officiates high school and small college football and basketball. He is not the only official in the field as Robert Godwin, 35, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., is a high school basketball ref, handling the whistling at two state championship games.

Douglas Diemer, 24, of St. Louis, Mo. spent his last two years of employment as a high school librarian and coached high school football, basketball, baseball and golf

Tripp Davis, 31, was a member of the 1989 NCAA Championship at Oklahoma. He is a golf course architect.

Darryl Donovan, 39, of Gilroy, Calif. has enjoyed living his life. At age 16, he caddied for PGA Tour player John Schlee for eight events in 1976; he trained racehorses in New Jersey and Florida from 1978-81; he flew AH-1 attack helicopters for the Army (1985-91); and played professionally on the South American, Canadian and Asian tours from 1991-94). Currently, he is the CEO at Critical Clean Solutions. He has a standard practice of hiring Vietnam refugees into his company.

Charles Green, III, of Tazewell, Va., 48, is the mayor of Tazewell and current president of the Virginia State Golf Association.

Faber Jamerson, 22, of Appomattox, Va., played golf at James Madison University and currently serves as assistant men's and women's golf coach there.

Luke Hobika, 31, of Syracuse, N.Y. has a dual career. He is a practicing attorney and a pharmacist.

Eric Hamilton of Anniston, Ala. is bank president in his work-a-day life but is also a professional magician.

Ryan Job, 37, of Salt Lake City, Utah, spent six years trying to make "The Show." He was with the Milwaukee Brewers for one year and then he spent five years with the Houston Astros all in the minor leagues as high as AAA ball.

Stan Lee, 47, of Maumelle, Ark. is a war history expert. He lists his most memorable golf experience as playing with actor George C. Scott and former president Gerald Ford.

Chris Maletis, 50, of Portland, Ore. fulfilled many a golfer's dream and did it on one of the world's greatest courses. He made one of his eight career holes-in-one at No.7 at Pebble Beach Golf Links

Scott Masingill, 48, of Payette, Idaho played in the 1981 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club and described his jitters on the first tee as "scared beyond belief." He is a member of the Idaho Golf Hall of Fame.

Steve Poulson, 43, of Draper, Utah, is a software engineer and lists his job as "making video games for Sony Playstations - Twisted Metal."

Mark Plummer, 47, of Manchester, Maine calls his most memorable golf moment the semifinals of the 1995 U.S. Amateur, where he met Tiger Woods and lost 2-down.

Dr. Rick Ruffin, 39, of Oklahoma City, Okla. Is a hand and orthopedic surgeon. A member of the golf team at Notre Dame, Ruffin qualified for his first USGA event, the 1995 U.S. Amateur, at age 36.

Michael Spiher, 29, of Tempe, Ariz. is a computer consultant. He started a business at age 24 and sold it at age 27.

Rod Spittle, 44, of Dublin, Ohio won the 1999 Father/Son National Tournament at the Country Club of North Carolina

Bill Spangler, 37, of Lincoln, Neb. is the golf coach at the University of Nebraska. He lost in the final of the Trans-Mississippi in 1986, 2 and 1 to now-PGA Tour player Bob Estes.

Mike Sawyer, 31 of Cedar Falls, Iowa made a hole-in-one on his last shot as a bachelor. His first career ace was on his wedding day six years ago and earned a mention on Paul Harvey's nationally-syndicated radio show

Todd Schaefer, 37, of Grand Forks, N.D., is adept off the golf course. He rolled a perfect 300 game in bowling in 1998. • Click here for related USGA news and notes.