Big summer on tap at Tam O'Shanter

This summer was going to be an occasion at Tam O'Shanter Club in Brookville, anyway, what with a series of events to mark its 50th anniversary. On top of that, members found another reason to celebrate when head pro Mark Brown qualified this past week for the PGA Championship next month.

Brown finished among the top 20 in the PGA Professional National Championship in Seaside, Calif., on Wednesday, earning him a place in the last of golf's four major championships this year, in Kiawah Island, S.C., on Aug. 9-12.

"From the time I finished to the time I signed my scorecard, I had 73 text messages," said Brown, who will be in the field along with Fresh Meadow head pro Matt Dobyns, who won the tournament in record fashion, and Deepdale director of golf Darrell Kestner, the current Long Island PGA champion who proved he still has game at 58.

Referring to the event that is called the club pros' championship, Brown said, "It was almost like a Met Section event."

The PGA will seem like another in a series of special events at Tam O'Shanter, which will have a member-alumni tournament Aug. 1, a dinner-dance Aug. 4 and the 50th anniversary Golf Classic on Aug. 5. Those outings will be fundraisers for the Sunrise Day Camp for children with cancer and their siblings.

The week will be so busy that Brown, who last made the PGA in 2006, might not have a lot of time to practice. He is not complaining. He was moved that he has heard from just about every member. "Everything is meshing together great right now," he said.

Barclays needs more volunteers

Tournament officials are making one more call for volunteers at The Barclays, the PGA Tour playoff event at Bethpage Black on Aug. 21-26. There has been a good response, the officials said, but there still is a need for more. For a $65 fee, each volunteer gets a guest pass for the week along with other benefits. Information is available at the tournament office 201-444-5356 or at barclaysvolunteers.pgatourhq.com

Heavy rains at Ike a challenge

Atlantic Golf Club superintendent Bob Ranum received praise at the Ike Championship for having dealt with streams running down fairways during storms Monday. "It was the longest day of my life," he said. By Tuesday, there was no sign that there had been a drop of rain . . . With the Ike schedule moved back a day, Jim Liu of Smithtown withdrew after the first round because he had a flight to California and a lesson with John Anselmo, who taught a young Tiger Woods . . . Deron Williams, while trying to decide whether to re-sign with the Nets, played Atlantic on Friday and tweeted that he scored his first eagle.

Holes-in-one at same time on sister courses

Cherry Creek in Riverhead reported two holes-in-one at almost the same time last week.

Minutes after Colin Brown drained a 7-iron from 158 yards on the eighth hole of the Woods course, Gale Stenquist sank a 120-yard sand wedge shot on the second hole of The Links.