June 14, 2009 11:43 pm
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From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
MIAMI, Okla. — Jeff Corr returns to defend his championship this week in the Buffalo Run Casino Classic, a stop on the NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour for the seventh straight year.
Most of the field arrives today to begin practice rounds at the Peoria Ridge Golf Course near Miami, Okla. Two pro-am tournaments are scheduled Wednesday, with shotgun starts at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Tournament competition runs Thursday through Sunday, with tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. all four days.
Corr, from Longwood, Fla., fired a 30-under-par 258 last season and finished three shots ahead of Parker LaBarge from St. Louis and Brett Myers from Broken Arrow, Okla. LaBarge, who moved up the leaderboard with a final-round 62, is expected to play this week.
In fact, six of last year’s top-11 finishers are in the 144-man field — Corr, LaBarge, Ryan Henry from Broken Arrow (263), Joey Lamielle from Sarasota, Fla. (265), Andrew Dresser from Carrollton, Texas (268) and Russell Knox from Jacksonville Beach, Fla. (268).
Season money leader Ted Potter of Silver Springs, Fla., is also in the field. Potter had $75,658 entering last week’s tournament, about $17,000 more than Corr. Potter shot 272 and tied for 25th place in last year’s Buffalo Run Casino Classic.
Practice rounds and tournament rounds are open to the public with no admission charge.
The Harbor, an agency serving needs of the homeless in Miami, has been designated as this year’s tournament beneficiary.
The Harbor’s facility was destroyed by a flood two years ago and recently secured a building that will fill its needs after extensive renovations. Designed to serve entire families, The Harbor currently only serves men because of the temporary facility limitations.
“With the generosity of our community, we hope to be able to open the new facility by the end of 2009,” The Harbor executive director Phil Shyers said in a press release.
“We appreciate the opportunity this golf tournament affords us to secure funds desperately needed for our renovations.”
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