'J.T.' will be on first tee

Broughton's Thomas will compete in the First Tee Open

Tyler "J.T." Thomas of Broughton is one of 52 boys golfers selected to play in the fifth annual Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Calif.

The 54-hole tournament format has 78 players from the Champions Tour, 78 junior players from ages 13 to 18 in the First Tee program, and 158 amateurs.

The First Tee Open will be nationally televised Aug. 29-31 from the Pebble Beach Golf Club and the Del Monte Golf Course.

Thomas, like many of the other First Tee golfers, got his first serious exposure to golf through the organization.

"I had hit some balls with my father and we had played some par-3 golf, but I played basketball mostly," Thomas said. "First Tee really got me started."

The program provided lessons and gave him a place to play. He still regularly takes lessons at Brier Creek Country Club.

First Tee's primary objective is to teach values such as honesty, integrity and sportsmanship through golf.

Thomas said his parents had instilled those values, but that First Tee reinforced those traits.

He was interviewed four times during the First Tee Open qualifying at Kansas State last week.

He was chosen the Jim Colbert Outstanding Golfer at the weeklong qualifying sessions, where sportsmanship and life skills were as important as reading greens.

"I got the chance to follow J.T. during the tournament, and yes he hits the ball far, and yes he is a great player, but I was more impressed with his attitude on the golf course," said Brian Ladet, the instruction coordinator. "In a tournament situation, he still appeared very loose, supportive, and encouraging of his playing partners.

"It is pretty rare in the First Tee network to have a player of that caliber who still applies the life skills that we as First Tee coaches teach every day."

Eighteen girls will have the same selection process this week.

The First Tee program includes 2.2 million participants in 206 chapters. Thomas plays in the Triangle chapter (www.thefirstteetriangle.org).

50TH REUNION: The Millbrook High Class of 1958 recently held its 50th reunion.

The school's athletic programs were dominant that year. Sonny Clifton coached football, boys basketball and baseball, and the three teams combined for a 28-4-1 record.

The football team was 7-0-1 and won the Wake County championship. The basketball team was 12-3, and the baseball team was 9-1.

EVANS WINS: Jacinda Evans, a recent Southern Durham graduate and University of North Carolina recruit, won the long jump, triple jump and 100 meters in the Russell E. Blunt East Coast Invitational this past weekend at Duke University.

Thousands of athletes participated in the meet.

Evans, who won N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A titles in the 100- and 200-meter sprints and the long and triple jumps, also won the national indoor long jump championship.

She jumped 19 feet, 5 1/2 inches in the long jump and 40-2 1/4 in the triple jump and ran a time of 12.16 seconds in the 100. Evans also was on the winning 4x100 relay.

NUNLEY LOOKS AHEAD: Garner's Booker Nunley is trying to look at the positive side of winning the silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles in the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

"It is a really great accomplishment, I know. Second in the world. But I wanted to be first," Nunley said.

Nunley got off to a slow start in the race and could not catch up.

"I had a great start the first time but a false start was called so we went back to the blocks," he said. "I didn't come out well, but the guy from Russia [Konstantin Shabanov] was very, very fast."

As for Poland. "The track was really nice. I ate mostly at McDonald's and Pizza Hut," he said.

COACHING JOB: Cary Academy is seeking a boys basketball coach.

Contact Kevin Jones at kevin_jones@caryacademy.org.