Highlands Ryder Cup tees off

It's Pros vs. Average Joes.

But when it comes to golf, the sport in which you can shoot 70s one round and 90s the next, anything can happen.

The 15th annual Highlands County Ryder Cup competition tees off today at River Greens Golf Course, where some of the area's top amateurs will attempt to topple the professional elite.

They've had decent success doing so in the past - just not recently.

The amateurs, both young and old, hold a 9-5 advantage, but the pros have won in dominating fashion the past two years.

The Ryder Cup consists of two days of two-person best ball, alternate-shot and individual stroke-play matches - similar to the even-year competition between the United States and Europe.

Mike Browning, Greg Knowles and Sebring High senior Blake Liles each shot 71 in the amateur qualifier two weeks ago, leading a group that includes Greg Gentry (73), Jeff Klingbiel (74), Austin Smith (76), and Bill Davis, Jim Casey and Frank Crossgrove, all of whom carded a 77.

Larry Roy rounded out the top 10 after shooting a 78, Mike Lingenfelder is the first alternate, and Rene Brown is second in line. Tim Devlin was selected as an additional pick by captain Bobby Barben.

"I'm excited to see the players that qualified for the amateur team, especially the younger guys because I encouraged the high school players to come out and play," Barben said recently. "We're tired of the pros beating us and I thought getting some of the young guys involved would be good for us."

Here's a list of the pro team, and their affiliation: Jason Laman (Bluffs); Jason Beatty (River Greens); Andy Kesling and Marty O'Hora (Sun 'N Lake); Bill Newman, Dave Schumaker and Mike Lamere (Highlands Ridge); Val Patarini (Torrey Oaks); Pete Dupriest (Harder Hall); John Vickers (Country Club of Sebring); Neil Hayes (Golf Hammock); Kim Darrow (Sebring Municipal); and Greg Kramer (Placid Lakes).

Be sure to check out the Highlands Today sports section for comprehensive coverage of the event.