The UNF player is on a roll heading into Thursday's city amateur tourney.

Sean Dale has waited all his life for a significant areawide tournament to be played at the golf course where he learned the game and grew into a nationally ranked college player.

The University of North Florida junior-to-be gets his wish beginning Thursday in the first round of the Jacksonville Area Golf Association Amateur Championship at the Jacksonville Golf and Country Club. It's the first JAGA Amateur to be played at the Clyde Johnson-designed course since it was built in 1989.

Dale and 83 other amateur players will tee it up beginning at 8 a.m. for the first and second rounds Thursday and Friday. The field will be cut to the low 45, plus ties, for the weekend rounds.

Dale is not only coming off a sophomore season at UNF in which he was the Atlantic Sun player of the year and a second-team All-American, but he's only three weeks removed from winning the Florida State Amateur at Bay Hill in Orlando.

Does playing the JAGA Amateur on a course where his father, Bob Dale, first put a club in his hand give him an edge?

"Yeah, I would say so," Dale said earlier this week during a break in a practice session at the Jacksonville G&CC range. "I've played here all my life, and we're finally getting a tournament like this here. I wasn't going to miss it."

If Dale sounds confident, he has good reason. Since transferring from Ole Miss in early 2009, Dale has not finished lower than 25th in a tournament for the Ospreys. During the spring season, he finished among the top 10 in five consecutive starts, capped by a 10th-place finish in the NCAA South Central Regional.

The Opsreys qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where the team finished 14th among 30 participants. Dale placed 25th, the low individual in the tournament for UNF.

Dale finished 11th in the nation with a stroke average of 70.94, according to GolfStat.com, and was 19th among individual college players in Golfweek's final 2010 rankings.

Dale won't be alone in his age group at the JAGA Amateur. The field includes other college players such as Chris Bray and Joel Dahlenburg of Flagler, Jamey Salmon of Jacksonville, Pete Kellermann of Ole Miss, Greg Carrier of Furman and Dale's UNF teammate, Major Forbess.

Veteran amateurs such as Underwood Cup match players Duke Butler IV, John Lobb, Mike Ellison, Billy Clements, Alan Henderson, Larry Lunsford, Chad Wade, Jim Ross and Mike Bodney also might have a hand in the final outcome.

But few are on Dale's roll.

"What Sean is doing well right now is staying level-headed and knowing exactly what he needs to do to play well," said Nicky Martin, Dale's swing coach and, like his pupil, a past Florida Amateur champion. "Sean's strength is that he doesn't really have a weakness. His bad drives are on the edge of the fairway. He doesn't hit wild shots, and his putting has been phenomenal. He's just a heckuva talent, and he wants to keep getting better."

Dale's head also has been in a good place since he returned to the area after one semester at Ole Miss, where he had one top-five finish and was second on the team in stroke average during the fall season of 2008. It took one cold winter in Oxford, Miss., for Dale to realize he might be better off, in more ways than one, back home.

"We couldn't be happier he decided to transfer to UNF," Bob Dale said of his son. "The combination of the environment the coaches there create for the team and having his family and friends close to him has given him a comfort and confidence level on the course. UNF, clearly, is the best place for him. He loves the coaches and his teammates, and he has thrived there."

Dale combined with UNF teammate Kevin Phelan to keep UNF golf in the state and national spotlight beyond the college season. Phelan qualified for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and last week reached the semifinals of the U.S. Public Links.

"The way we finished the spring in college has given us a lot of momentum for these [summer] events," said Phelan, the A-Sun freshman of the year. "Any attention we can get for the program will help, and also will help attract new players."

"The confidence we had [in the college season] kept running into the summer," Dale said.

With Dale's success in college and amateur golf in 2010, is it too early to begin thinking of his future beyond college and amateur golf?

"We want him to complete his education first," Bob Dale said. "Sean has a lot of desire to be the best and believes he can be. But he will have to develop the next level of work ethic to take his game to a peak. He's naturally a good player and has all the shots, but the person who works the hardest will be the one to beat."

Martin said Dale has two other important attributes.

"He's willing to listen and he's very even-keel," Martin said. "Sean will never get too far up or too far down."

Lately, Dale's time on leaderboards has been mostly up.

garry.smits@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4362

A popular home goods and décor discount retailer announced it will close half of its stores after filing for bankruptcy. The list includes 24 stores in Florida, one of which is in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Tuesday Morning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Feb. 14. The retailer said it will focus on its “core and heritage markets” moving forward and close “low-traffic” stores. Tuesday Morning currently operates 487 stores across the U.S.

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“We look forward to taking steps that enable us to emerge as a stronger retailer that draws on a legacy of offering a unique off-price value proposition to our loyal customer base. We appreciate all the support of our employees, customers, creditors and other partners as we seek to sustain commercial operations with minimal disruptions,” Andrew Berger, Chief Executive Officer and Director said in a release.

The retailer did not give a date for when half of its stores will close, but sales have already begun, according to its website.

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These are the Florida locations set to close:

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Stonestreet announced today that undefeated racehorse and leading sire Kantharos is moving to Kentucky to stand at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Lexington.

“We are extremely grateful for the fabulous job both Vinery and Ocala Stud did in launching the stallion career of Kantharos, a proven young son of prominent sire Lion Heart. He was wonderfully managed and supported by Florida breeders who revealed him to be an important sire,” said Stonestreet owner Barbara Banke. “We look forward to supporting Kantharos with very good mares from our broodmare band as well as buying mares specifically to breed to him.”

“Kantharos is a special horse that we have been privileged to be associated with. We see nothing but up upside for him going forward,” said David O'Farrell, Farm Manager at Ocala Stud.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said, ” Kantharos is a beautiful horse with great action and brilliance. He had limitless potential. He is passing on his superior looks and ability to his offspring and I am very proud of his success.”

“Kantharos' rise to prominence has been nothing short of remarkable,” said Hill 'n' Dale President John G. Sikura. “He was an exceptionally promising racehorse who has been siring very precocious, quality runners. An undefeated Multiple Graded Stakes winner at two, he won his three career starts by a combined 28 1/2 lengths.”

In 2016, Kantharos is the Leading Sire in Florida by earnings, he is the Leading Sire of 2YO's, and he is the leading sire of Turf runners, as well as the Leading Sire by Stakes Winners and Stakes Horses. Against a stellar crop of third crop sires, he currently ranks #5 with standout 2016 runners, X Y Jet, runner up in the Golden Shaheen (G1) and the undefeated Chad Brown trained Ancient Secret, winner of the Lake George (G2) at Saratoga.

“He is a very well made horse who is throwing attractive, athletic runners as witnessed by a $550,000 OBS March two year old. One of his most appealing qualities is his ability to vastly move his mares up. Bill Oppenheim described him as the 'best value on the planet'. On the two year old sire list, Kantharos currently ranks behind only War Front, Scat Daddy and Into Mischief, ahead of Tapit.

On the General Sire list, he ranks behind only Tapit, War Front, and Pioneerof the Nile by % blacktype winners to starters . With 115 mares bred in 2015, Kantharos is poised for a truly meteoric rise,” added Mr. Sikura.

From burgers to brussels sprouts and many things between, you can find a variety of locally grown foods served through Gator Dining on the University of Florida campus.

Not only are they more tasty and fresh than older foods transported long distances, university officials and farmers say, they also help boost local economies and sustainability.

And UF is aiming to keep increasing their use.

More:With new food contract on the line for vendors, pressure mounts on UF administrators

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As of Thursday, 33% of Gator Dining products are purchased from local providers, said Tim Bucolo, resident district manager of Gator Dining Services. That includes over 40 farms and suppliers either from around the state, within 250 miles of the university campus or, at most, in the Southeastern U.S.

"Local sourcing is our top priority at Gator Dining," Bucolo said. "We want our dining halls to reflect UF’s roots as a land-grant agriculture university, and we do this by forming relationships directly with local vendors and growers. These relationships are the foundation of what we do at Gator Dining, and through them we can provide fresh and nutritious food for students while supporting a resilient local food economy."

Here are a few of the farms whose products you might find around campus.

Farms

Lake Meadow Naturals is an egg farm in Ocoee, near Orlando. It has been run by Dale Volkert for about 20 years and boasts around 13,000 organic, cage-free and heirloom eggs a day.

Some from his farm make their way to UF through The Villages Grown, a self-proclaimed community food system in Sumter County that partners with other local farms to grow and distribute fresh, nutrient-rich foods.

And even before they leave the farm, they're already supporting the local economy and sustainability. Lake Meadow Naturals uses recycled cartons made from newspapers nearby, and Volkert said he strives to employ Florida workers.

"We’re a small company ourselves, so we like to work with other small business where the products go right to the consumers, who appreciate the value," the farmer said. "It's a big, important thing to us."

Nearby, in Mount Dora, the family-owned Long & Scott Farms cultivates some of the Brussels sprouts, collard greens and cabbages that wind up in campus dining halls.

"The farmer and his children are huge Gators' fans, so they were super excited when they heard that UF was getting our produce," said Kirsten Rodriguez, food safety coordinator for the farms. "It’s really a great opportunity. We’re very blessed to be able to be a part ... It’s like they’re giving back to us. It’s a relationship. It really helps us.”

Serena Sakkal, sustainability manager for Gator Dining, agreed and said community partnerships are the backbone of UF's food system.

"Obviously, we have a higher purchasing power since we feed so many people everyday. I think, being able to share our resources with the smaller guy ... we are able to help them," she said. "It’s all in the name of being able to provide healthy, fresh, locally grown produce in the dining halls for our students.”

As a smaller operation with 900 acres, Long & Scott Farms' produce is routed to UF through Traders Hill Farm in Hilliard, Florida, which helps aggregate foods from many local farms for university purchase.

Manny Santana, produce buyer and forager for Traders Hill Farm, said the aggregation process helps bring in enough food to meet the supply demand for a large buyer like UF while still benefiting small farms and the Florida economy.

Right now, he said, UF accounts for about 2% of his work. He hopes to see that partnership grow as the university continues to expand its local farm sourcing.

In the upcoming fall semester, Bucolo said, salad bars in UF residential dining halls will feature produce entirely supplied by Traders Hill Farm and its partners.

The farm is an approved food vendor under Aramark, the giant corporation that currently holds UF's food service contract. To be approved, Santana said, there is a stringent application with many strict safety and insurance requirements.

Small, local farms often have different standards than Aramark, making approval on an individual level difficult. But through Traders Hill Farm, which already meets the requirements, he said, they can find help and still sell their produce.

"We're fighting for the little guys in a system that works," Santana said. "To be 100% transparent, UF, they buy local products, but it’s not an exorbitant amount. We’re not talking about thousands and thousands of pounds here, but it's a work in progress ... I mean this with hope.”

Pressure and goals

UF has received mounting pressure in the last year from students and food justice advocates as the current Armark contract comes to a close. A new food service contract is up for grabs June 30, 2022, according to university spokeswoman Hessy Fernandez.

One of the advocates' demands is an increase in purchases from local family- or cooperative-owned farms, ranches, fisheries, processors and other vendors.

While UF does want to increase this amount every year, said Matt Mueller, director of food and beverage services, the goal is not in response to growing demands. Instead, he said, it is part of the university's overall mission and has been for years.

“The goals of our program I think first and foremost are to align our program with the goals of the university and the campus community and the greater community," Mueller said. "Some of those things that the food advocate groups are asking are very aligned with where we want to go with the program as well.”