Greg Newport Holds Off Michael Hitt and Rick Baird in Three-Way Playoff to Capture Wayne Hancock Memorial Title31 May 2009 - The Southern Putting Tour gathered to contest the 54-hole Wayne Hancock Memorial Tournament on course # 1 at the High Point, NC Putt-Putt Fun Center. The annual event honors the memory of long-time and beloved amateur player Wayne Hancock. Hancock's lengthy and stellar amateur playing career and unmatched sportsmanship were recognized through pre-tournament tributes delivered by several of his playing contemporaries.
In the ensuing 18-hole playoff, Newport leaped out to the early lead with aces on each of the first four holes. Hitt and Baird courageously forged onward, however, respectively acing the final six and four holes of the outward nine. By the turn, Hitt had maneuvered into a one-stroke lead at 11, with Newport at 12 and Baird at 14. With consecutive aces on holes 10, 11, and 12, Newport grabbed a share of Hitt's lead. Hitt aced the fickle 13th hole to regain the lead by a stroke. Seemingly poised to wrap both hands around his first Hancock trophy, Hitt found trouble on the next three holes. Hitt's bogey-par-par stretch from holes 14-16 opened the door for Newport, who called upon his limitless local course knowledge to play the same stretch par-birdie-birdie and take a two-stroke advantage over Hitt. After Newport and Hitt each aced the 17th hole, Newport played the 18th hole conservatively for a deuce to secure a two-stroke playoff victory with a playoff score of 24. The win was Newport's third of the 2009 PPA season. Remarkably, Baird's runner-up finish was his second-consecutive and fifteenth-career second place finish in state tour events on the High Point, NC layout.
The Southern Putting Tour would like to extend thanks to course manager Chris Graney, host professional Randy Carter, and their staff for welcoming the tour to the beautiful High Point, NC Putt-Putt Fun Center for a weekend of very successful tour events. The tour players were greatly appreciative of the diligent efforts made to maintain the course in outstanding playing condition for the weekend tournaments. The Southern Putting Tour returns to action on the weekend of June 13-14 with three 54-hole events scheduled on the Blue Course at the Martinez, GA Putt-Putt Fun Center. Two 54-hole events will be held on Saturday, June 13. The first of those two events will commence at 11:00 a.m., with the second event being scheduled to tee off at approximately 3:30 p.m. A third 54-hole tournament will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 14. Article provided by Brad Lebo |
Professional Division
(High Point, NC - Course # 1 - 31 May 2009)
Round Points Prize Player Name 1 2 3 Total Earned Money 1 Greg Newport 26 26 24 76 40.00 $ 150.00 2 Rick Baird 25 26 25 76 33.50 $ 100.00 Michael Hitt 27 23 26 76 33.50 $ 100.00 4 Tony Jackson 24 25 28 77 31.50 $ 78.00 Tony Varnadore 26 26 25 77 31.50 $ 78.00 6 Frank Warren 27 25 26 78 30.00 $ 70.00 7 Brad Lebo 24 27 28 79 28.50 $ 63.00 Vince Batten 27 25 27 79 28.50 $ 63.00 9 Jeff Carr 25 27 28 80 27.00 $ 50.00 10 Russell Sigmon Jr 26 30 25 81 26.00 $ 45.00 11 Daryl Freeman 25 31 26 82 25.00 $ 40.00 12 Darrell Britt 31 29 23 83 23.50 $ 40.00 Allen Wall 30 29 24 83 23.50 $ 40.00 14 Bob Haizlip 28 27 29 84 21.50 Stan Seethoff 27 27 30 84 21.50 16 James White 26 27 32 85 20.00 17 Ricky Schults 33 27 26 86 18.50 Bob Jackson 31 28 27 86 18.50 19 Randy Reeves 26 28 33 87 16.50 Dennis Biesma 31 28 28 87 16.50 21 Robert Johnson 30 29 29 88 14.50 Jay Klapper 32 29 27 88 14.50 23 Michael Cardwell 28 30 31 89 13.00 24 Bill Baus 30 28 32 90 11.50 Rick Rybaczek 30 30 30 90 11.50 26 Gary English 33 32 26 91 10.00 27 Don Thompson 32 28 32 92 9.00 Amateur Division
(High Point, NC - Course # 1 - 31 May 2009)
Round Points Expense Player Name 1 2 3 Total Earned Money 1 Keith Waters 26 24 29 79 40.00 $ 25.00 2 Ben Blake 25 28 27 80 33.50 $ 20.00 Lance Perdue 28 26 26 80 33.50 $ 20.00 4 Bonnie White 26 30 25 81 32.00 $ 20.00 5 Steve Lyon 26 29 27 82 31.00 $ 20.00 6 Frankie Peters 27 27 29 83 29.50 $ 15.00 Art Koerber 30 27 26 83 29.50 $ 15.00 8 Mark Lawson 27 25 32 84 28.00 $ 15.00 9 Vanette Block 28 28 29 85 26.50 $ 15.00 Jimmy Comer 26 30 29 85 26.50 $ 15.00 11 Johnny Brown 27 31 28 86 23.50 $ 12.00 Malcolm Shumaker 25 30 31 86 23.50 $ 12.00 Ray Guthrie 28 28 30 86 23.50 $ 12.00 Chuck Nance 28 28 30 86 23.50 $ 12.00 15 Lynn Self 26 28 33 87 20.50 $ 8.00 Todd Trent 27 29 31 87 20.50 $ 8.00 17 Chris Alley 28 32 28 88 18.50 Randy Simpson 25 29 34 88 18.50 19 Larry Smith 26 29 34 89 17.00 20 Adam Smith 27 31 32 90 16.00 21 David Myers 27 33 31 91 14.50 Terry Hendrix 33 28 30 91 14.50 23 Steve Helton 32 30 32 94 13.00 24 Rodney Ashley 31 30 34 95 11.00 Andy Pearman 34 30 31 95 11.00 Howard Bryan 33 33 29 95 11.00 27 Roy Sigmon 33 36 28 97 9.00 28 David Gregor 38 30 30 98 7.50 Donald Ralph 31 31 36 98 7.50 30 Linwood Moist 32 36 39 107 6.00 31 Brad Dunn 34 35 40 109 5.00