Screaming ‘Uncle’: What do you do if you are the amateurs from the Arizona Golf Association and you’ve been beaten up for a 22 nd consecutive time in the Bob Goldwater Cup matches by the pros from the Southwest Section of the PGA? Well, one solution might be to change the format.

The latest debacle came Monday and Tuesday, when the SWPGA tattooed the AGA, 19-5, during the Ryder Cup-styled matches held at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club. Thank goodness for the AGA’s senior team, which managed a respectable defeat at the hands of the SWPGA seniors, 9 and one half to 8 and one half.

Jim Franko, the tournament director for the SWPGA, agreed that both groups need to get together and work out some type of a solution to the on-going Goldwater Cup format.

How you do that without having the SWPGA play left-handed remains the problem.

“Perhaps we need to return to the days when the head professionals, the guys behind the counter, are the only guys eligible to play (for the SWPGA),’’ Franko said. “I believe that was the original concept. But when you also have players that teach and play for a living, as we do, it just makes (the SWPGA) just that much deeper and stronger.’’

No kidding. The SWPGA applied the latest licking without its best player – four-time SWPGA player of the year Don Yrene. But when you have others like Dean Vomacka, Ken Carpenter, Tony Rohlik, Jeff Yurkiewicz, Chris Dompier and Scott Frisch – whom all went undefeated in three matches – well, it really doesn’t matter.

Every player for the AGA experienced at least one loss, although Chris Kessler, Thomas Hays, Tom Sweigert, Cyrus Whitney and Jeremy DeFalco all managed at least a point or two.

The latest setback left the overall tally in favor of the SWPGA, 33-13. In the senior division, the SWPGA leads, 20-10.

“We need to get the regular division closer to the seniors in terms of the competition, and that won’t happen without some tweaking (to the format)’’ Franko said. “It’s a great event, one that’s a lot of fun and good for both organizations. But, hey, nobody wants to get drummed every year.’’

Amen!

ON TOUR

LPGA qualifying: The PGA Tour is not the only pro tour with qualifying school under way. The LPGA also has its quest for the card in motion, with 138 players vying for 15 fully exempt cards plus 35 conditional cards at LPGA International Golf Club in Daytona Beach, Fla. Among the Arizonans in the field are Krista Bartlett and Nancy Harvey of Mesa, Charlotta Sorenstam of Scottsdale and Phoenix’s Tara Bateman. The 90-hole exam concludes Sunday.

More skins: The Champions Tour has set its lineup for its upcoming Senior Skins Game in Hawaii. The teams for the Jan. 13-14 shootout in Maui are Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Loren Roberts, Gary Player and Jay Haas and defending champs Raymond Floyd and Dana Quigley.

NOTEWORTHY

Off to China: Six junior golfers are playing in this weekend’s Aaron Baddeley World Junior Championship in Guangzhou, China. They are Bobby Lee Robinson and Jeff Eggen of Mesa, Richard Lee of Chandler, Trent Sanders of Scottsdale, and Sehee and Sebin Kim of Maricopa.

Bells are ringing: A total of 112 entries have registered for the 36 th annual Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle Championship, which will be held Dec. 27-30 at the ASU Karsten Course in Tempe. Phoenix Xavier star Cheyenne Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods and the current Class 5-A state champ, headlines field. For information, visit www.azsilverbelle.com.

Just for kids: Three East Valley sites have been selected to participate in the 19 th annual Itty Bitty Open, which is set for Jan. 20. The event, which is open to children ages 3-5 and sponsored by the Junior Golf Association of Arizona and the Thunderbirds, will be held at Scottsdale Ranch Park, Tempe Sports Complex and Hohokam Park in Mesa. For more information, visit www.jgaa.org.

And finally: The “albatross’’ is a rare bird in golf, even more exclusive than the hole-in-one. Recently, Rob Sclease of Mesa, the former head pro at Fountain of the Sun, holed his second shot from 210 yards with a 5-iron at the par-5 18 th hole at View Point Golf Club in Mesa for the coveted “2.’’