Leone wins junior amateur title

But vows to cut summer schedule

By Richard Skinner, Post assistant sports editor

WARSAW - Tommy Leone started the 1997 golf season on the same positive note as last season, but he's hoping a little time off this summer will help him end it on a better note.

Leone, a 17-year-old senior-to-be at St. Henry High School, won the overall championship of the Northern Kentucky Junior Amateur Golf Tournament Tuesday at Sugar Bay Golf Course by firing a two-day total of 4-over-par 146.

Leone won the ages 15-16 division last year, went on to win another Northern Kentucky junior tournament and finish runner-up in yet another tournament. But by the time the high school season started and finally wound down in October, Leone admits he was burned out when he fired an 86 in the regional tournament and failed to qualify for the state tournament.

''I was mentally drained going into the regional,'' Leone said. ''I just had played too much golf. In the summer I was playing 36 holes a day minimum and tournaments and that's all I ever thought about.''

Leone says he was despondent after playing so poorly in the regional tournament and said he didn't even think about picking a club for about a month after that.

So Leone says this year he is going to take at least two weeks off in August to get mentally and physically refreshed for the high school season.

''That will help me get focused again,'' he said. ''The hard part will be sticking to it. I wanted to do that last year, but could never get away from the game.''

To help ensure he stays away from the game for a brief period this summer Leone says he's told his father, Tom, to take his

clubs away from him and hide them.

''I'm stubborn about playing, so someone has to take them away from me,'' Leone said.

He played a solid two rounds winning the Northern Kentucky Amateur, firing back-to-back rounds of 73 to win by six strokes over runner-up Bobby Rose.

Leone said he had never played Sugar Bay until a practice round on Friday, and he found out then the course rewarded the player who kept the ball in the fairway.

Hitting it straight had been a problem for Leone until he started taking lessons from Boone Links pro Jeff Krumpelman.

''He's really helped in all parts of my game, but especially with accuracy,'' Leone said.

Because length off the tee isn't as important as accuracy, Leone said he hit his 2-iron off the tee on almost every par-4 hole and used his driver only on par 5s.

''On 12 (a 371-yard par-4) I pulled out the driver just to try

it and knocked one in the weeds in the right and it just barely got away from me,'' he said. ''I took a double-bogey and I put it back in the bag again until the par 5s.''

Leone said he thought after firing a 1-under-par 35 on the front nine in Tuesday's final round that he was in position to win the tournament, but that

even then he tried hard not to think about that.

''One of the problems I've had in tournaments is looking too far ahead instead of staying in the present,'' he said. ''I just told myself to focus on each shot and each hole instead of thinking ahead to the 18th like I usually do.''

He is hoping this will propel him to a successful summer, and after his time off, a successful high school season that would translate into a college scholarship.

''I know I have to still get a lot better, but this was big for me,'' Leone said.

''I had a chance last year and didn't get the job done and it was important for me to win it this time.''

Publication date: 06-11-97