BRIEFS

Hoops league

signup

Sign up for the Cherokee County Recreation Center basketball league at SageSport. The deadline to register is May 20. The league will consist of four boys leagues, ranging in age from 5 to 17.

There will be a girls league this year for ages 12 through 18. You can also register by calling 425-5860 or 488-9596.

The league will also be offering its last camp at B.D. Lee on Saturday.

Limestone offers

baseball camp

The Limestone College baseball team will hold several camps this summer for all ages. The hitting camp will take place on June 12-13 from 9 a.m. until noon. The pitching/ catching camp will be on June 14-15 from 9 a.m. until noon. Day camp will be July 17-20 from 9 a.m. until noon. The hitting and pitching/catching camps each cost $100. The cost of the day camp is $200. Application forms may be downloaded at http//www1.limestone. edu/sfs/athletic/baseball/index. htm.

The Buffalo Baptist Church will hold a golf tournament on May 26 at River Bend Golf Course. Proceeds will go to the church's building fund. The cost is $45 a player and $180 a team. Hole sponsors are needed. For more information, call 864-8392189 or email btprice@liberty.edu

Church plans

golf tourney

Literacy Association to hold golf tourney

Watson holds

first-round lead

The Cherokee County Literacy Association will hold a charitable golf tournament at Cherokee National Golf Course on Friday, June 9, starting at noon. The proceeds from this tournament will be used to teach local adults how to read. The tournament's format will be captain's choice with prizes going to the first gross and net low scores. Four-person team sponsors are $240, single players $60 each, and hole sponsorships are $100 each.

The mission of the Literacy Association, which is a nonprofit, United Way agency, is to teach adult illiterate citizens of Cherokee County how to read. About one out of four adults in Cherokee County cannot read or have problems reading simple documents.

If you or your company is interested in playing in the tournament, sponsoring a golf hole, or making a donation, contact the Literacy Association at (864) 487-2707.

Bubba Watson never pulled his driver out of his bag on the practice range before the first round of the Colonial.

''The range is so short,'' said Watson, the PGA Tour's longest hitter averaging 320 yards a drive. ''I didn't want to kill anybody on the other side.''

The old-style Colonial layout is tight and not so long itself compared to many other PGA Tour stops. But that didn't keep Watson from using his driver on half the holes once he got on the course Thursday and shooting a 5-under 65.

Watson was tied with fellow longhitting Tour rookie Charley Hoffman and three others a stroke behind leader Stewart Cink.

''If I was to win one, this one would be the one to win just because they say long hitters can't play around here,''Watson said. ''It would be more fun for me just for that reason.''

But there's still a long way to go. And a lot of other golfers posted low opening scores.

Cink started with three straight birdies. He was already 5 under through eight holes on his way to a bogey-free round on a course in pristine condition and with an uncharacteristic light breeze.

''With no wind to speak of out there, club selection wasn't that challenging,'' Cink said.