Frank Warren Wins for Fourth Time in 2003 on the PPA South Carolina Tour
Frank Warren12 July 2003 - Forest City, NC - The South Carolina tour made its return to Forest City for the second time this season and competed on Course 1. Only 19 players came out, its lowest of the season and of the millennium, and Frank Warren topped the field for the fourth time this season with a one-shot win over Todd Fowler and Michael Hitt.
This is the third time this season that Hitt had a shot at victory and let it slip away, twice to Warren. Hitt was in a pack of players in a four-way tie for the lead at 26. Also in there were Tommy Barbour, Robert Johnson, and Tony Varnadore, the last winner on this course that was played on Saturday. Hitt turned in an impressive score of 23 to take the lead at 49. The lead after the second round was two over Barbour and by three on Warren.
A good score in Forest City is around 8-under par 28. That was what Hitt shot in the final round, but the lead he assumed was evaporated as Warren came back to fire a 24 to wind up winning his fourth tournament of the season. Rounds of 27, 25, and 24 enabled Warren to post a final score of 76. Fowler also shot 24 in the final round to share second place with Hitt at 77. Barbour was fourth by himself with a score of 79, and Hall of Famer and two-time National Champion Vance Randall rounded out the top five with a score of 80.
Richard Griffin led the APA brigade and held off a fierce battle with local player Brian Hutchins. Griffin and Hutchins were both sharing the lead with a score of 54, before Griffin pulled it away with a final round 25.
Griffin wound up as a first-time winner of the APA Division this season on the South Carolina tour. Griffin fired a total of 79 to edge out Hutchins by two and finished at 81. Christopher Alley finished alone in third with a score of 83.
After the event, the fourth and final spot for each division in the South Carolina Match Play Championships were held. In the Pro Division, Robert Johnson defeated Tommy Barbour in the finals and will advance to the Final Four. He will take on Todd Fowler in one semi-final, while in the other semi-final, Jay Klapper will take on Tony Jackson. Brian Hutchins won in the APA Bracket and will play Chris Hudson in the first semi-final. Tommy Hutchinson will take on Ricky D. Schults in the other semi-final. The winners in each bracket will advance to the championship round. The South Carolina Match Play Championship will be held on Course 3 in Spartanburg immediately after the completion of the scheduled combined tournament with the North Carolina tour on Saturday, August 9.
The South Carolina tour will complete its weekend on Sunday, July 13, at 10:00 a.m.
Scores provided by Rick Rybaczek and Article provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Forest City, NC Event (12 July 2003)
Round SC Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1 Warren, Frank 27 25 24 76 40.00 $ 120.00 2 Hitt, Michael 26 23 28 77 36.50 $ 73.00 Fowler, Todd 28 25 24 77 36.50 $ 73.00 4 Barbour, Tommy 26 25 28 79 35.00 $ 55.00 5 Randall, Vance 27 28 25 80 34.00 $ 50.00 6 Johnson, Robert 26 30 25 81 33.00 $ 45.00 7 Wall, Allen 30 25 27 82 31.50 $ 38.00 Varnadore, Tony 26 27 29 82 31.50 $ 38.00 9 Baird, Rick 27 27 29 83 30.00 $ 35.00 10 Coradini, Andy 30 25 29 84 29.00 11 Jackson, Tony 28 28 29 85 27.50 Bryant, Robby 29 28 28 85 27.50 13 Guthrie, Ray 28 32 26 86 24.50 English, Gary 31 26 29 86 24.50 Reid, Jonathan 30 29 27 86 24.50 Smith, Randal 27 31 28 86 24.50 17 Britt, Darrell 31 29 27 87 22.00 18 Klapper, Jay 29 30 29 88 21.00 19 Jackson, Bob 33 33 28 94 20.00 Amateur Division of Forest City, NC Event (12 July 2003)
Round SC Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Points Reimb. 1 Griffin, Richard 27 27 25 79 20.00 $ 10.00 2 Hutchins, Brian 29 25 27 81 17.00 $ 10.00 3 Alley, Christopher 26 32 25 83 16.00 4 Coffey, J. L. 28 28 30 86 15.00 5 Schults, Ricky D 30 29 30 89 14.00 6 Hendrix, Terry 31 30 31 92 13.00 7 Carr, Jeff 33 27 33 93 12.00 8 Hoover, Larry 32 27 35 94 11.00
