ACE FOR RODGERS

GLENMOOR — Gregg Rodgers of Wellsville hit a hole-in-one at Historic Highlands Golf Course on Thursday.

He used a 7-iron to ace the third hole.

It was witnessed by Mike Pirro of Youngstown.

PALMER HITS ACE

COLUMBIANA — Tim Palmer of Rogers hit a hole-in-one at Valley Golf Club on Thursday.

He used a 5-iron to ace the 145-yard second hole.

Palmer’s playing partners were Bob Donley of Leetonia, Claye Folger of Salem, and Paul Lake of Texas.

PERKINS GOES TO COLLEGE

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former NBA player and 2007-08 league champion Kendrick Perkins has agreed to become the general manager for Jackson State’s men’s basketball team.

ESPN.com first reported the deal on Friday. Perkins has been working as an analyst for the network, which also reported Perkins intends to continue in his current television role and will have ties to the university’s broadcast and journalism program.

School officials have not yet made an announcement. Perkins will be working with new Jackson State coach Trey Johnson and athletic director Ashley Robinson. The Tigers went 12-21 last season and have not made the NCAA Tournament since 2007.

Perkins spent 14 seasons in the NBA, playing for the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, the New Orleans Pelicans and Cleveland Cavaliers. He won his title with the Celtics and joined ESPN in 2019.

NO THROWING CLUBS

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Joaquin Niemann became the latest example of golf cracking down on bad behavior when the USGA penalized him two shots Friday for heaving his club while making a 9 — which turned into an 11 — late in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Perhaps as spectacular as his meltdown was the recovery.

About a half-hour after being informed of the penalty, Niemann birdied five of the first six holes of his second round and shot 65 to easily get inside the cut line. He would be the first player in 97 years to make 10 or worse on a hole and still make the cut.

“All the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand, and I couldn’t resist to throw it away,” Niemann said. “There was no people, obviously. No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, sometimes all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated. And that was me there.”

And then the USGA made him an example, skipping the warning and going straight to a two-shot penalty — the third step is disqualification — for what it cited as serious misconduct.

While the rule has always been in place, the USGA and all the other golf organizations have met in recent years to develop consistent guidelines for a conduct policy, applied separately by each of the organizations at their tournaments.