LOCAL GOLF NOTEBOOK: Golfer nailed 787-yard drive in '92 787-yard drive? Cooper did it in 1992

Ex-UH golfer's drive rode paths well past 444-yard No. 3 at Oak Hill

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The PGA Tour Qualifying school concluded last week. Sixteen years ago at the six-round event, former University of Houston golfer Carl Cooper finished second behind another UH product Mike Standly.

"The last day, it was an easy day," Cooper said. "We just cruised in."

Cooper was on top of his game then. He's proof how hard it is to retain your playing privileges on the PGA Tour.

A 1983 graduate of UH, Cooper played four years on tour (1990-93) but had to keep returning to Q-School to play those years. His best finish on tour was 11th in Memphis.

Cooper is currently a golf instructor at Humble Oil Patch. He also plays in Southern Texas PGA sectional events and was a member of the winning team in the recent Joe Black Cup matches.

But Cooper did something on the PGA Tour that Tiger Woods and John Daly never came close to accomplishing. Cooper hit a drive 787 yards — yes, 787 yards — on a 444-yard par-4 on the third hole at Oak Hill Country Club in San Antonio in 1992.

"I tried to cut the ball, and I cut it too much," Cooper said.

The ball landed on a downhill cart path.

"It kept bouncing and bouncing and bouncing," he said.

When the ball left the cart path, it kept rolling on a maintenance path. There was no out of bounds. The ball stopped behind the 12th green, more than 300 yards behind the green on the No. 3 hole.

"If you and I were playing, we'd never have found the ball," Cooper said. "But because it was a tournament, a marshal found the ball. I had to hit 4-iron and 8-iron to get back to the green."

Where he took a double-bogey 6.

Cooper's UH career overlapped with Fred Couples, Blaine McCallister, Steve Elkington and Billy Ray Brown.

Altemus heads honorees

, director of golf at Royal Oaks Country Club , is the Southern Texas PGA's 2007 Golf Professional of the Year. Others recognized by the STPGA includeand

Fleckman, director of instruction at BlackHorse Golf Club, is the Harvey Penick Teacher of the Year. The STPGA Junior Golf Leader award winner is Kirk, director of instruction at the Cypresswood School of Golf. The STPGA Amateur of the Year is Lewis of The Woodlands. Bliss of Katy is the STPGA Junior Golfers of the Year honoree. Gill Barnett of Houston is the STPGA Golf Sales Representative of the Year.

Each of the Southern Texas PGA's three chapters selects its award winners. For 2007 in the Eastern Chapter, Golf Professional of the Year and Merchandiser of the Year is Jeff Strong, golf professional at Eagle Pointe Golf Club; Harvey Penick Teacher of the Year is Chris Rowe, golf professional at Whispering Pines Golf Club; Junior Golf Leader is Jennifer Burdette, teaching professional at BlackHorse Golf Club; and Altemus is Merchandiser of the Year.

Schleicher fares well

of The Woodlands had the best finish among Houston-area golfers in the TaylorMade-adidas Texas Team Challenge on Tuesday at San Antonio's Hyatt Hill Country Golf Club

Schleicher and partner Jean-Paul Hebert tied for fourth at 70-65-135 and earned $1,900.

The TaylorMade-adidas Texas Team Challenge featured twosomes of Southern Texas PGA and Northern Texas PGA members in a 36-hole four-ball stroke-play event.

The team of Ken McDonald and Gordon Johnson, both from Houston, and the team of Mark Steinbauer and Roland Thatcher, both from The Woodlands, tied for sixth place.

Jeremy Ice of Montgomery and Jason Alexander of The Woodlands rounded out the Houston area top-10 players with a share of eighth place.

GolfNut package

The $99 Shell Houston Open GolfNut Package continues.

The package includes a tournament logo cap ($20 value) and shirt ($65) from Ahead, plus four good-on-any-day Champions Pavilion tickets, which are valued at $160.

For information, visit www.shellhoustonopen.com/golfnut.cfm or call the Houston Golf Association at 281-454-7000.

The 2008 Shell Houston Open is April 3-6.

richard.dean@chron.com