Rick Rybaczek Wins 2000 Furniture City Open on NC Tour (1 April 2000)

Rybaczek, playing in only his third season as a Pro, may be remembered for an outstanding fourth place finish at the 1999 Eastern Open. When he made the last ace of the tournament, it gave him his first ever victory as a professional. A back nine 11 that ended the round at 24, lowest round of the tournament, gave Rybaczek a one-stroke victory at 80.

Rick Baird was the two round leader at 52 going into the final round. Rybaczek was at 56 and in a tie for seventh. Baird went to 18 with the lead clinging until he bogeyed it to fall back at 81. By that time, Rybaczek had made 16 for his sixth consecutive ace, and tied the tournament up. Baird finished in second with 81, while Bart Bason, Gary Hester, and C. L. Jones finished in a three-way tie for third at 82.

Keith Waters and Billy Caudle were in a playoff to decide the APA division crown on Saturday. Steady play from both players put themselves in a tie at 88 heading into the playoff. Waters ousted Caudle in the playoff 30 to 32 for his second win of the season. Caudle finished second, while Brian Hutchins finished in third at 90.

Fifteen spots were paid out in this event with the score 86 placing for a five player split for four spots. Rybaczek, with his victory, accepted and became the third player to qualify for the NC State Championship and Match Play tournament in September. The next NCPPA tournament will be in Burlington on Course 1, Sunday, April 2 at 10:00am.

		Round				Prize
	Player	1	2	3	Total	Money
1	Rick Rybaczek	28	28	24	80	$150.00
2	Rick Baird	27	25	29	81	$110.00
3	Bart Bason	30	26	26	82	$82.00
	Gary Hester	29	26	27	82	$82.00
	C. L. Jones	27	28	27	82	$82.00
6	Mike Griffin	28	27	29	84	$65.00
	Ray Guthrie	30	27	27	84	$65.00
	Randy Reeves	28	28	28	84	$65.00
9	Brad Lebo	29	30	26	85	$50.00
	Randal Smith	29	30	26	85	$50.00
	Rusty Taylor	30	30	25	85	$50.00
12	Mike Brown	28	25	33	86	$31.00
	Bob Haizlip	25	29	32	86	$31.00
	Robert Johnson	28	30	28	86	$31.00
	Thomas Rawles	30	29	27	86	$31.00
	Buddy Taylor	29	30	27	86	$31.00
17	Andy Coradini	30	30	27	87
	Bill Kirby, Jr	31	29	27	87
	Greg Newport	28	28	31	87
20	Michael Hitt	31	29	29	89
21	Dan Anders	27	29	34	90
	Glenwood Arrington	33	28	29	90
	Chris Bunting	34	27	29	90
	Don Thompson	32	28	30	90
	Greg Ward	30	30	30	90
26	Opie Roberts	30	32	30	92
	Larry Simpson	32	29	31	92
	Bill Walsh	31	28	33	92
29	Tommy Hollifield	29	33	31	93
30	Tommy Barbour	31	34	31	96
31	David Abshire	32	31	35	98
	Barry Wyatt	34	31	33	98

		Round			Total	NC	Prize
	Players	1	2	3	Score	Points	Money
1	R. Guthrie - R. Rybaczek	58	55	51	164	15.00	$20.00
2	R. Baird - A. Coradini	57	55	56	168	14.00	$10.00
3	G. Hester - M. Hitt	60	55	56	171	12.00
	B. Taylor - R. Taylor	59	60	52	171	12.00
	M. Brown - B. Lebo	57	55	59	171	12.00
6	B. Bason - C. Bunting	64	53	55	172	9.50
	G. Newport - R. Smith	57	58	57	172	9.50
8	R. Johnson - B. Kirby, Jr.	59	59	55	173	8.00
9	B. Haizlip - L. Simpson	57	58	63	178	7.00
10	C. L. Jones - B. Wyatt	61	59	60	180	6.00

		Round				Expense
	Player	1	2	3	Total	Reimbursement
1	Keith Waters**	28	31	29	88	$20.00
2	Billy Caudle	27	31	30	88	$20.00
3	Brian Hutchins	30	27	33	90
4	Donnie Carpenter	31	31	29	91
	Tommy Hutchinson	29	28	34	91
6	Jimmy Comer	30	30	33	93
	Chuck Nance	29	32	32	93
8	Russell Sigmon, Jr.	33	29	34	96
9	Steve Helton	33	35	32	100
10	Richard Lorenz	33	39	35	107