From Oman to Illinois, desert golfers made big news in the last week

It's February, and that generally means a slow month for golf news in the Coachella Valley. The American Express is a month behind us, and the next big pro tournament, traditionally an LPGA major but now a PGA Tour Champions event, is more than a month away.

But there has been news this month, even if that news hasn't been from people playing desert golf courses or winning tournaments in the Coachella Valley. Plenty of people with desert ties have been in the news this week, as has the USGA and its traditional visits to the desert in the spring.

For instance:

Big week on Asian Tour

Berry Henson, a former player at Palm Desert High School and a long-time member of the Asian Tour, produced one of his stronger performances on that tour last week with a tie for second place in the International Series Oman event.

Henson, 43, who won the 2011 Philippine Open on the Asian Tour and also has won on the Asian developmental tour, shot rounds of 69, 73, 70 and 70 for a 6-under total, four shots behind winner Takumi Kanaya of Japan. The tie for second earned Henson $173,000, more than double the largest check of his career, and he is now fourth on the Order of Merit for the tour with 310 points in the first two tournaments of the season. Henson had missed the cut in the opening event of the year in Saudi Arabia.

Henson has dabbled with PGA Tour events in the past, playing in three events. He has been on the Asian Tour since 2011, the year he won for the first time in the Philippines.

More:Tiger Woods playing at Genesis a surprise and a treat for golf fans

U.S. Open qualifying

The Coachella Valley has been a rich area for U.S. Open local qualifying in the last two decades, but that won’t be quite as true in 2023.

The Coachella Valley will still have four local qualify sites in May for the Open, to be played in June at Los Angeles Country Club. But that is one less qualifying site than the desert has had a more than a decade.

The qualifying sites will be the Grove Course at Indian Ridge Country Club in Palm Desert (May 1), Andalusia Country Club in La Quinta (May 2), Classic Club in Palm Desert (May 8) and the South Course at Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert (May 9). Not on the list of courses this year is Bermuda Dunes Country Club, where Palm Desert’s Charlie Reiter qualified last year on his way to making the U.S. Open field.

Ironwood will be hosting a local qualifying event for the 22nd year. Even with the loss of one desert course, California will have 14 local qualifying sites, the most of any state and one more than Florida. Overall, there will be 109 sites for players trying to reach one of 10 regional qualifiers.

Woodward earns honors

Illinois State junior Avalon Woodward, who played her last golf in the desert at Palm Desert High School, has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Week after a record-breaking performance at the 2023 Falcon Florida Classic.

Woodward set an ISU tournament record with a three-round total of 211 – three strokes better than the previous school record of 214 set back in 2005. Woodward’s final-round 68 puts her in a three-way tie for the lowest single round in school history. She placed third overall in the field with the 5-under total.

For the 2022-23 season, Woodward is leading the Redbirds in scoring average at 74.5 strokes per round and is tied for the team lead with three top-10 finishes.

In the 2021-22 season, Woodward was on the all-MVC squad, MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, and WGCA All-American Scholar Team.

SCPGA title for Ellis

Kaitlyn Ellis, the head golf professional at Woodhaven Country Club and the head girls golf coach at Palm Desert High School, earned a Southern California PGA Tour title Monday at the Mixed Pro-Pro Championship at Newport Beach Country Club.

Ellis and partner Tim Parun of Coronado Country Club tied for first in the 18-hole event with a 6-under 66, including eight birdies. In the playoff, Ellis drained a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole to clinch the title for her and Parun. The event was played under a format that saw teams play six holes as a scramble, six holes as a four-ball and six holes as alternate shot.

Ellis was the 2022 women’s player of the year for the Desert chapter of the SCPGA.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Former Palm Desert golfer's big performance on Asian Tour highlights desert week