Russell Sigmon, Jr. Fires 66 in Martinsville, VA to Capture His First Career Professional Win in Style
21 March 2009 - Martinsville, VA - On a sunny, calm, and pleasantly cool afternoon, the Southern Putting Tour contested the second of two Saturday 54-hole tournaments on course # 2 at the Laurel Park Mini Golf facility in Martinsville, VA. The field indeed took full advantage of the ideal scoring conditions. Sixth-year professional Russell Sigmon, Jr. entered the event on his home course seeking his first career professional victory. The inspired Sigmon played brilliantly, shattering the existing 54-hole course record by four strokes en route to a 54-hole total of 66 and an emphatic three-stroke win. Sigmon fired three consecutive bogey-free rounds of 22, shooting 11 for each of his six nine-hole scores. 2007 GA State Champion Frank Warren also turned in a stellar performance, carding three consecutive rounds of 23 to notch runner-up honors at 69. A tournament-low score of 20 in the second round of the event propelled 1997 PPA National Champion Randy Reeves to a third-place finish at 70. 2006 PPA National Champion Brad Lebo opened the tournament with eleven consecutive aces and played steadily thereafter to complete the event in fourth position at 71. 2006 GA State Champion Michael Hitt closed with an impressive round of 21 to tie reigning Southern Putting Tour Match Play Champion Rick Rybaczek for fifth place at 74. The last of the twelve money spots awarded in the tournament fell at 79.
In the amateur division, reigning Southern Putting Tour APA Champion Ben Blake carded steady rounds of 25, 27, and 27 for a 54-hole score of 79 to tie second-round co-leader Larry Smith atop the amateur leaderboard at the end of regulation play. In a well-played 18-hole playoff, Blake defeated Smith by two strokes, 24-26, to earn his first victory of the young 2009 season. Second-round co-leader Johnny Brown continued his strong 2009 early-season campaign, completing the event in third place at 80. A solid final-round 25 catapulted David Myers into fourth position at 81. Reigning Southern Open APA Champion Larry Hoover rounded out the amateur division's top five finishers at 82. The final of the fourteen amateur division expense reimbursement spots allotted in the event fell at 87. The Southern Putting Tour will resume action with the Southern Putting Tour Match Play Championship, which will be held on course # 2 in Martinsville, VA. That event will commence at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 22, 2009. Article provided by Brad Lebo |
Professional Division
(Martinsville, VA - Course # 2 - 21 March 2009 PM)
Round SPT Prize Player Name 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1 Russell Sigmon Jr 22 22 22 66 40.00 150.00 2 Frank Warren 23 23 23 69 34.00 110.00 3 Randy Reeves 27 20 23 70 33.00 90.00 4 Brad Lebo 22 26 23 71 32.00 80.00 5 Michael Hitt 28 25 21 74 30.50 73.00 Rick Rybaczek 27 22 25 74 30.50 73.00 7 Greg Newport 25 24 26 75 28.00 52.00 Robert Johnson 23 27 25 75 28.00 52.00 Dennis Biesma 25 26 24 75 28.00 52.00 10 Jeff Carr 27 26 24 77 26.00 45.00 11 Caleb Kennedy 23 28 27 78 25.00 40.00 12 Jay Klapper 29 25 25 79 23.00 14.00 Tony Jackson 26 27 26 79 23.00 14.00 Randy Carter 27 28 24 79 23.00 14.00 15 Randal Smith 29 26 25 80 20.00 Ed Grajewski 25 30 25 80 20.00 Gary Hester 28 25 27 80 20.00 18 Ricky Schults 24 28 29 81 18.00 19 Matt Summey 25 30 27 82 16.50 Stan Seethoff 25 29 28 82 16.50 21 Tony Varnadore 27 28 30 85 15.00 22 Rick Baird 28 28 30 86 13.50 Steve Toomey 27 29 30 86 13.50 24 Chris Bunting 29 32 31 92 12.00 25 Michael Cardwell 30 31 32 93 11.00 Amateur Division
(Martinsville, VA - Course # 2 - 21 March 2009 PM)
Round SPT Expense Player Name 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1 Ben Blake 25 27 27 79 40.00 25.00 2 Larry Smith 23 27 29 79 34.00 20.00 3 Johnny Brown 23 27 30 80 33.00 20.00 4 David Myers 28 28 25 81 32.00 20.00 5 Larry Hoover 27 27 28 82 31.00 15.00 6 James LeBrun 28 27 28 83 29.50 15.00 Billy Caudle 27 30 26 83 29.50 15.00 8 Chris Alley 25 30 29 84 28.00 15.00 9 Vanette Block 29 28 28 85 25.50 13.00 Mark Lawson 31 28 26 85 25.50 13.00 Keith Waters 29 28 28 85 25.50 13.00 David Gregor 26 31 28 85 25.50 13.00 13 Clayton Craft 26 30 30 86 23.00 10.00 14 Todd Trent 32 25 30 87 22.00 5.00 15 Chris Hudson 30 28 31 89 21.00 16 Lance Perdue 31 29 30 90 19.00 Chuck Nance 30 28 32 90 19.00 Roy Sigmon 28 30 32 90 19.00 19 Frankie Peters 27 33 31 91 16.50 Mark Smith 34 29 28 91 16.50 21 Geoff Boyer 34 30 28 92 15.00 22 Lynn Self 31 31 31 93 13.50 Ray Guthrie 29 29 35 93 13.50 24 Art Koerber 31 35 28 94 11.50 Linwood Moist 33 29 32 94 11.50 26 Donald Ralph 32 31 32 95 10.00 27 Troy Sarver 29 34 34 97 9.00