SEMO Cup field expands to eight

The 16th annual SEMO Cup Golf Tournament tees off at the Cape Girardeau Country Club this morning.

Eight teams of 12 players each representing area golf clubs will compete for the coveted cup in the one-day, 36-hole event.

Westwood Hills Country Club of Poplar Bluff, winners in 1999 and 2000, comes in as the favorite, but Cape Girardeau Country Club's first-year head professional David Cantrell boldly predicted an upset.

Said Cantrell, "The course is in the best shape it's been in the last decade. The greens are fast and the rough is thick. Coupled with the wet ground conditions it should lend itself to a home-field advantage."

Also entered in the expanded eight-team field -- six teams competed last year -- are teams from the Sikeston Country Club, Bootheel Golf Club (Sikeston), Hidden Trails Country Club (Dexter), Kimbeland Country Club (Jackson), Kennett Country Club and Dalhousie Golf Club.

Dalhousie, the Jack Nicklaus-designed course still under construction and not scheduled to open until 2002, was allowed to enter the competition since it has a membership and a club professional in place.

Jack Connell, formerly the head professional at the Cape Girardeau C.C., fills a similar capacity at Dalhousie.

"This is a big deal for the area," said Connell, a veteran to the competition.

Bootheel Golf Club is the other newcomer to the tournament.

Not only has the number of teams increased, but the number of players has swelled from eight to 12 per team.

Jack Barge, head professional at Hidden Trails C. C. and one of the original organizers of the tournament, thinks the expanded field will promote better competition.

"Westwood Hills and Kimbeland, which won in '98, have excellent players and are consistently in the top two or three," said Barge. "Diluting the field a bit may give some other teams a better chance."

Each team will field six two-man pairings comprised of the 11 best players at each club, selected through various qualifying methods, plus the club professional.

Cumulative scoring in four formats of play -- better-ball, scramble, Chapman and Scotch -- over the 6,543-yard, par-70 course will determine the champion. Each format will be employed for nine holes.

The tournament, sponsored by Arvin Meritor and First Midwest Banks, begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.