Hawthorne, Kessler top leader boards at All-Army Golf Team Trials

By Mr. Tim Hipps (FMWRC)October 22, 2010

FORT LEE, Va. - Capts. Patrick Hawthorne and Daniela Kessler topped the leader boards at the conclusion of the 2010 All-Army Golf Team Trials on Oct. 19 at The Cardinal Golf Club.

Hawthorne, 33, a St. Louis native stationed at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, defeated the 13-Soldier men's field by winning the four-round tournament at 1-under-par 287. He opened with a 67 and rarely looked back.

Capt. Austin Luher, 27, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., was second among the men at 13-over-par.

Kessler, 29, a native of Pinehurst, N.C., who is stationed at Kaiserslautern, Germany, led six women with a 335 total.

"I'm just getting back into tournament play because it's been since college that I've played in tournaments," said Kessler, who golfed for Wingate College from 2000 until 2004. "But this is great. I'm having so much fun."

Nine-time All-Army golfer Sunny Mitchell (346) of the University of Louisville's Army ROTC finished second among the women, followed by Lt. Col. Jennifer Jensen (349) of Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

The top three women and top six men will compete for All-Army at the 2010 Armed Forces Golf Championships Oct. 23-26 at Eaglewood Golf Course on Langley Air Force Base, Va., against teams from the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

"It's a great honor to be back to represent my unit as well as the U.S. Army," said Mitchell, 33, a five-time All-Army golf champion. "We have to play a little better because those Air Force girls are tough."

Staff Sgt. Jeff Hallauer of Fort Bliss, Texas; Sgt. Shawn Whitmore of Fort Bragg, N.C.; Capt. Robert Castor of Fort Carson, Colo.; and Capt. Michael Quigg of Fort Gordon, Ga., rounded out the All-Army men's team.

"That's the goal: make the team," said Whitmore, 36, a native of Stafford, Va., who has deployed twice to Afghanistan. "This is awesome. You can't beat this. We get treated like Tour pros for the most part. It's a nice break."

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