BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

The golf notebook ...

Mocksville’s Jeff Lankford is a club pro, but he held his own with some of the top PGA Tour pros in the recent Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic at Forest Oaks Country Club.

Lankford, the teaching pro at Twin Cedars Golf Club, won $21,775 by tying for 29th place with a 7-under-par 281. He had rounds of 67, 73, 69 and 72.

The paycheck was the biggest of the 37-year-old Lankford’s career. The former Davie County High School and N.C. State University golfer played one year on the PGA Tour in 1988, when he made one cut.

Lankford also played in the 1997, 1998 and 1999 PGA Championships, qualifying through the national Club Pro Championship.

Lankford also played in a buy.com Tour event in Raleigh this weekend.

Salisbury native Tripp Isenhour, now of Orlando, Fla., also did well at Greensboro. His second-round 65 matched the best score in the tournament.

Isenhour turned in rounds of 74, 65, 68 and 76 for a 3-under 283.

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CRESCENT QUALIFIERS: Crescent Golf Club has been selected as a qualifying site for several major amateur events. Qualifiers for the U.S. Amateur, the North Carolina Amateur, the Carolinas Mid-Am and the Keith Hills Am will all be held at the John LaFoy-designed layout.

The Keith Hills qualifier is being held today, while the tournament is set for May 19-20 at the course in Buies Creek.

The premier qualifier will be on Aug. 7 for the U.S. Amateur. Crescent is one of only five sites in the state to host qualifying for the tournament to be held in Atlanta Aug. 20-26.

The N.C. Amateur qualifier is scheduled June 5. High Point’s Willow Creek Country Club is hosting the tourney June 14-17.

The Carolinas Mid-Am qualifier is set for Aug. 21. The tournament will be held Sept. 14-16 at Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C.

“The fact that there are three different Carolinas Golf Association/U.S. Golf Association events at Crescent is a testimony to the quality and set-up flexibility of the golf course,” said Michael Dann, assistant director of the CGA. “It’s a pretty golf course, too, and it’s a varied course. The course has different looks for players.”

Added Crescent head pro Ross Desmond, “It certainly puts you on the quality list. The USGA and CGA don’t go to just any old golf course. We can get the greens hard, firm and fast, and if you look at the PGA Tour, that’s how they play them. It’s a true testament to the championship style of course we’ve got here. Our greens have always been a claim to fame here, and I like our fairways for how young (less than three years) this golf course is.”

Golfers can register for either of the qualifiers by calling the pro shop at 704-647-0025.

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HARRISON’S ROUND: Salisbury’s Mike Harrison had one of the strangest rounds in years when he played at Crescent recently. He put together nines of 47 and 32 for a 79.

Harrison played the back nine first with Wes Wishon and shot the 47. Then, on the front side, he birdied holes No. 1, 3, 4 and 6.

Harrison is a 12-handicapper.

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CORBIN HILLS: Wanda Sanders, Jean Wray, Frankie Land and Cindy Carmazzi won a CorbinHills Women’s Golf Association captain’s-choice tournament on Tuesday.

Second place went to Mary Seaford, Marjorie Karabatsos and Rosemary Spain, while Susan Morris, Nina Burton, Ann Coggin and Virginia Graves finished third.

Morris and Burton won prizes for shots closest to the pin on par-3 holes. Becky Isenhour hit the longest drive, and Seaford made the longest putt.

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SKILLS CONTEST: The Charity Golf Skills event will be held May 18-20 at Rocky River Golf Club in Concord.

There will be contests for putting, closest to the pin and long and accurate drive with over $1 million in prizes up for grabs.

The event is open to all amateur golfers with boys, girls, men’s, women’s and senior divisions. The entry fee is $1 per shot. Participants will be allowed to hit an unlimited number of shots.

For more information, call 888-465-3793.

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LAKE NORMAN EVENT: The Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 2001 Lake Norman Golf Classic on Wednesday, May 16, at Fox Den Country Club near Troutman.

The format will be captain’s-choice with a 1 p.m. shotgun start.

The entry fee is $65 per person, which includes green and cart fees, drinks, a Race City USA golf shirt and dinner.

To enter the tourney, contact Sylvia Spury at 704-664-3398.

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Senior sports writer Ed Dupree covers golf for the Post. Contact him at 704-797-4258 or edupree@salisburypost.com