Golf notebook

Beaufort amateur golfer Mark Anderson will represent the South Carolina Golf Association in the USGA State Team Championship to be played Sept. 23-25 at the Country Club of Albans, just outside of St. Louis.

Anderson, who leads the SCGA's Player of the Year point list, will be joined by 2008 SCGA Mid Amateur Champion Jarrett Grimes and two-time SCGA Player of the Year Steve Liebler. Grimes, of Columbia, is ranked second on the points list while Liebler, of Irmo, is currently fourth. This will be the first trip for both Anderson and Grimes to the team championship. Liebler has participated twice before.

Since the dates of the event fall during the collegiate golf season, Wesley Bryan, the state's third-ranked player, is not eligible.

The stroke play format requires two out of the three scores to count each day for the team score. The USGA conducts the state team championship every two years.It was played at Bluffton's Berkeley Hall in 2005 and the South Carolina team finished fourth.

Basarab-Dennison wins PGA Merchandiser of the Year award

Caroline Basarab-Dennison, the PGA manager of retail at Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, has won the 2009 PGA Merchandiser of the Year award for resort facilities.

Basarab-Dennison is the first female PGA professional and ninth member of the Carolinas PGA Section to earn the award, which was established in 1978.

She will be honored at The PGA of America Awards to be held Jan. 28 during the 57th PGA Merchandise Show at the Linda W. Chapin Auditorium in Orlando, Fla.

Basarab-Dennison arrived at Sea Pines Resort in 1998. She oversees two retail managers and works alongside 12 golf professionals at the resort.

Basarab-Dennison and her husband, Danny, a musician and member of "The Headliners" band, live in Hilton Head Island.

JPGA student wins back-to-back IJGT events

Diego Shiffino, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, had the low round on Sunday with a 73 to claim his second victory in the last two events played on the International Junior Golf Tour in the boys 13-15 division.

A student at the Junior Players Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island, Shiffino fired an opening round 71 on Saturday and finished with a total of 144 at Eagles Point Golf Club in Bluffton.

The boys 16-19 division was won by Jordan Botelho of Mattapoisett, Mass., with a 71-66 -- 137. Noah Edmondson of Davidson, N.C., won the boys 11-12 flight with a 73-67 -- 140.

On the girls side, Yuri Otsuka of Chiba, Japan, won the girls 15-19 flight with a 74-71 -- 145.

Long wins Hilton Head Junior Open

Wesley Long of Bluffton fired 75-72 -- 147 to win the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour's Hilton Head Open 13-15 year-old division September 12-13 at Indigo Run's Golden Bear Golf Course.

Charlie Spencer-White of Bluffton fired 76-74 -- 150 to come in second. Kyle Eichelsbacher of Hilton Head came in seventh at 158. The age division had a strong field of 22 juniors from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Jonathan Phillips of Hardeville fired a 83-72 -- 155 to come in second in the 10-12 year old division. Chandler Vilcheck of Bluffton shot 74-75 -- 149 to finish fifth in the 16-18 year old division. Alex Whitaker of Hilton Head Island shot 75-80 to finish eighth in the same division.

Epperson 22nd in eGolf event

Hilton Head Island's Chris Epperson sits in 22nd place after the first round of the eGolf Tour's Walnut Creek Open at Walnut Creek Country Club in Goldsboro, N.C.

Epperson fired a 33-34 -- 67 on Wednesday and is seven strokes behind leader Dustin Bray, a current Nationwide Tour player. The second round of the tournament is today and the final round will be Friday.