29 August 2009 - Martinsville, VA - The Virginia PPA Tour began its final weekend of the 2009 season with the first of two 54-hole Saturday tournaments on course # 2 at the Laurel Park Mini Golf facility in Martinsville, VA. Significant overnight rainfall gave way to oppressive heat and bright sunshine, leading to course conditions which were in constant transition throughout the event. As a result, general field scoring was much higher than had been anticipated.

Rick Rybaczek

Professional putting prestidigitator Rick Rybaczek successfully solved the Rubik's Cube of the challenging early afternoon course conditions. The two-time PPA National Doubles Champion carded solid rounds of 23, 28, and 25 for a 54-hole total of 76 to earn a one-stroke victory, his second of the 2009 PPA season. Reigning PPA Eastern Open Champion Greg Newport, who matched Rybaczek's tournament-low round of 23 in the first round, completed the event in second place at 77. At 78, the trio of PPA Hall of Fame legend Daryl Freeman, second-round tri-leader Matt Summey, and reigning VA Putting Classic Champion Tony Jackson shared third position. The final of the fourteen money spots awarded in the tournament fell at a 54-hole score of 83.

Ben Blake

In the amateur division, current Southern Putting Tour APA Champion Ben Blake made his trek into foreign territory worthwhile, following initial rounds of 26 and 30 with a brilliant tournament-low third-round 23 to surge to the top of the final amateur leaderboard with a three-round total of 79. In the process, Blake captured his second state tour APA victory of the season in Martinsville and his third amateur win of 2009. Despite firing a final-round 25, 2004 JPA National Champion John Petrie settled for runner-up honors at 80. Second-round leader Mark Smith, who recently established a new amateur division all-time 54-hole scoring record by shooting 67 in a local tournament on course # 2 at the Roanoke, VA Putt-Putt Fun Center, tied Monroeville, PA's Gerald Vick for third position at 81. A three-way, fifth-place logjam at 85 included 2007 NC APA State Champion Chris Alley, 1999 VA APA State Champion Malcolm Shumaker, and the Ping C-67-wielding Wade Driskill. Those three contestants also grabbed the final amateur division expense reimbursement spots distributed in the tournament.

The Virginia PPA Tour returns to action with another 54-hole event on course # 2 at the Laurel Park Mini Golf facility in Martinsville, VA scheduled to begin at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 29, 2009.