Top Deaf Golfers Ready for St. Louis

The entries are in and the USDGA and the US Deaf Golf Championships have the best field of golfers ever assembled to compete for the national title! Coming to town are nine of the top ten players according to the US Deaf Golf Rankings and fourteen of the top eighteen on the list!

Check out the national championship web site for the

list of players and all the special features for Championships week:

Watch interviews with the leaders online

Check out the leaderboard for scores

Round by Round Highlights

Latest Tee Times and Pairings

Hole-in-one updates:

Who came closest to winning the Buick Enclave each day!

Broadcast and Media Schedule with Latest News

Shootout Results

Photo Gallery

And Official Championship Blog from the Players

Don’t miss a minute of the competition, follow the Championships live online.

Here is your link to keep up with all the action:

http://www.usdeafgolf.org/2007USDGC/

At the national championships, OptimalFlight Golf and Deaf Golfer and developer Todd Kos, will be on hand for two days offering free testing of their system to the competitors at the tournament. “What a great chance for our players to have the same tools the PGA Tour guys get,” commented Tournament Director Rob Strano.

At the USDGA US Championships, golfers will have the opportunity to participate in a world premiere "OptimalFlight on the Range" experience. Hit your current equipment or compare drivers in a free launch monitor session and receive a complimentary OptimalFlight analysis report.

OptimalFlight is a breakthrough golf program that helps golfers and clubfitters analyze and interact with launch monitor data. A launch monitor captures ball launch conditions after it leaves the club. OptimalFlight can recreate the ball flight and how it can be optimized to achieve longer drives (carry + roll) or a specific distance for their irons and fairway woods. Extensive data validation has shown OptimalFlight to produce results comparable to the best launch monitors in the world and validated by real-world data.

OptimalFlight runs on Microrsoft Excel. It produces high quality reports of up to 4 ball flights at the same time and offers database feature to save launch monitor data. Driver, shaft, and ball studies can provide valuable insight on what's working and what's not (ex: (too much spin) so you can get the most out of your golf game.

A growing list of world-class clubfitters who use OptimalFlight are listed here ( http://www.qualitygolfstats.com/golfservices.html ). In addition, OptimalFlight is a sponsor of the Association of Golf Clubfitting Professionals who has a comprehensive list of clubfitters to meet golfer's fitting needs ( http://www.clubfitter.org/ ).

The USDGA and the Tournament Committee are excited to offer this service to the players during the practice days. Also, look for major golf companies on the range during those days for players to test new equipment.

A sign-up sheet will be available at Far Oaks Golf Club for sessions on July 15 and 16. Look for more information in the host hotel Player Hospitality Center and at Far Oaks.

The 23^rd playing of the US Deaf Golf Championships in St. Louis continues to grow in committed sponsors interested in supporting the best Deaf Golfers in the country. This week the USDGA negotiated an agreement with Commerce Bank to be part of the impressive list of corporate supporters.

Commerce Bank traces its roots back to 1865 and today, the Missouri-based company with headquarters in Kansas City and St. Louis, operates in three states: Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. Commerce Bank, with over $13.9 billion in assets, provides financial services for businesses and individuals. In 1989, Commerce was honored to be the only bank in Missouri to receive the Presidential "E Star" award recognizing the Bank's contribution to the promotion of export activity. In July of 1991, Commerce was ranked "Best Overall Performer" by United States Banker for an unprecedented second year in a row. Commerce also earned the top safety ranking for the fifth year in a row. Money Magazine named Commerce Bank the "Best Bank in Missouri" in 1995,

citing the attractiveness of consumer accounts and services. A 1997 Dean Witter report named Commerce as one of the top 10 banks in the nation for technology. Today the bank serves customers from nearly 340 locations in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois using a variety of delivery platforms including an expansive ATM network, full-featured online banking and a central contact center.

“It is an honor to have such a fine company as one of our leading sponsors,” said Rob Strano, Tournament Director for the championships. With the event only a few weeks away the sponsorship team is continuing to grow and ensure that this will be the best event on the Deaf Golf calendar for 2007

With the start of the national championships only 24 days away, the USDGA and the Tournament Committee continue to add world class sponsors to the event.

This week, Sprint Relay and Verizon IP Relay join the team for the championships. “We are very happy to have these two companies as part of the event,” Tournament Director Rob Strano announced. “This tournament will have the feel of a major and our sponsors are certainly creating a buzz with their support! Verizon and Sprint are two of the top companies in providing relay services to the Deaf Community of the US.”

With a little more than 3 weeks until the first tee shot, the course at Far Oaks and the Tournament Committee, headed by Susan Zupnik, are actively preparing for the players arrival. Expect more

Report from Tournament Director Rob Strano in St. Louis preparing the course for the 2007 United States Deaf Golf Championships

It is a beautiful morning here at Far Oaks and it is hard to believe we are only a few weeks away from another National Championship! Far Oaks is in magnificent condition right now. Recently, I played the course and reviewed the setup of the greens and tees. The fairways are the best grass in the area and the greens are firm, but receptive, with a speed around 10. I am hoping to get them to 11 by the time everyone arrives for the practice rounds! When I played I used the tees for the final round and shot 67 including an eagle on the par 4 16^th hole. I am excited about how the final 4 holes will play, including that one! It was 275 yards to the front and I hit driver to 10 feet and made the putt. I was also able to hit 3 iron into the 18^th green making easy birdie and playing the last 4 holes in three under par. That is what is so awesome about the finishing stretch at Far Oaks, you can make some birdies, but because of water on three of the holes, you can also make a few other scores! Far Oaks has some holes with up to 7 sets of tees, so I was happy with the fact that for the tournament, I can use multiple tees and have the women hitting the same clubs into the greens as the men and seniors! All will play to a par of 72.

The host hotel, the Drury Inn, is ready for you to arrive and all the sponsors are excited to be part of the event. Buick is offering a new Enclave to the first player to make a hole-in-one in the tournament and the purse of $20,000 with a first place check of $2,000 (men) and $500 (senior and women) waiting for someone to take it home.

For more information visit the official web site of the championships and enter to come and compete: www.usdeafgolf.org/2007USDGC

The United States Deaf Golf Association is excited to announce that the official purse for the 2007 national championship is an all time high for the event! The Open champion will take home $2,000 for finishing first. The overall purse of $20,000 will be spread out among all the competitors at the championships with the Senior and Women’s champions each earning $500 for the title.

To enter go online and register at the official Deaf National Championships web site:

The United States Deaf Golf Association (USDGA), as part of preparations for the 2007 United States Deaf Golf Championships (USDGC) to be played in St. Louis in July, would like to announce the sponsorship of Edwin Watts Golf and the Buick brand of automobiles through the Lou Fusz Automotive Network.

As part of the tournament a Buick Enclave Luxury SUV will go to the first player to make a hole-in-one on the 15^th hole during the competition. The Lou Fusz Auto Network of St. Louis will be the local dealership that will provide the vehicle to the championships. “We are so pleased to have great companies like the Lou Fusz Auto Network and the Buick brand associated with our national championship,” said USDGA Executive Director Rob Strano. “The Fusz family of dealerships has a long history of quality service in the St. Louis area. They also have a proven commitment to great golf tournaments through years, and a fantastic line of vehicles, including that new Enclave our players will take aim at on number 15!” The 15^th hole at Far Oaks will play a challenging 205 yards to a dramatic creek and waterfall fronted green. This will be the first of the holes telecast at the championships and is part of a demanding finishing stretch for the tournament.

Edwin Watts, a golf retail industry staple since 1968, has 60 stores in 10 states. They are the largest privately held golf retail operation in the world. Aside from the stores, Watts has a world famous catalog business and a state-of-the-art web site for on-line shopping. The internet site boasts displays of over 1500 products and images from more than 75 manufacturers and includes micro-sites of all 60 stores.

“The USDGA is very excited to have the top golf equipment retailer, Edwin Watts Golf, associated with the national golf championship for the Deaf Golf Community,” said Tournament Director Rob Strano. “The Watts family brings their enthusiasm for golf and the players of the country to our championships and is a great addition to our list of national sponsors.”