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2012 PPA National Tour Schedule Released

22 January 2012 - The Professional Putters Association proudly announces its 2012 PPA National Tour schedule.  The tournament itinerary includes four regional PPA National Opens as well as the events of the PPA National Championship week.
 
The 2012 PPA National Tour schedule will commence in Lake Charles, LA on April 14-15 with the contesting of the PPA Western Open, hosted by the PPA Southwest Putting Tour.  On June 2-3, the Southern Putting Tour will host the PPA Southern Open at the High Point Putt-Putt Golf and Games.  The PPA National Tour will then travel to Columbus, IN on July 7-8 for the PPA Northern Open, which will be co-hosted by the Great Lakes Tour and the Indiana Putting Tour.  The Virginia PPA Tour will host the PPA Eastern Open on August 11-12 at the Putt-Putt Golf and Games facility in Richmond, VA.  The PPA National Tour will then return to Columbus as previously announced for the PPA National Championship on September 11-15.

Corporate sponsorship of the events as well as sponsorships of individual professional putters still are available. For more information on sponsoring an event or a player, please contact PPA Commissioner Joe Aboid by e-mail at joe@proputters.com.

Full details of the National Tour program will be posted soon.

16 September 2011 - Veteran tour player Steve Tanton of Waco, TX capped off a stellar 2011 National Tour amateur division campaign by dominating the field en route to an emphatic twelve-stroke victory in the two-day, 144-hole 2011 APA National Championship contested on courses # 2 and # 3 at the beautiful and sprawling Memphis, TN Putt-Putt Fun Center. The 50-year-old Texas State Technical College administrator fired rounds of 26, 25, 26, 26, 24, 26, 26, and 25 for a 144-hole total of 204 to earn the first APA National Championship title of his career. Tanton also captured National Tour APA titles in the Western Open and Senior National Championship earlier in 2011. "I believe that the success I had during the National Championship week began when I won the Western Open earlier in the year," observed Tanton. "It was my first major National Tour title after a great many close calls and allowed me to return to Memphis relaxed and confident. Patience and consistency were the keys to both of my wins. I have dreamed of winning the APA National Championship since playing in my first weekly tournament at the Division course in Arlington, TX. It took me over forty years to achieve the dream."

Ken Hastings Claws His Way to Victory in PPA Senior National Championship

14 September 2011 - Memphis, TN - The 72-hole PPA Senior National Championship, a tournament limited to players 50 years of age and older, was held under overcast skies on courses # 2 and # 3 at the Memphis, TN Putt-Putt Fun Center. As it has in recent seasons, the event ran concurrently with the four rounds of the PPA Tournament Players Championship, with contestants competing in both tournaments counting the same four rounds of play towards their score in each of the two tournaments. A significant influx of recently AARP-eligible rookies inundated this year's field, but it was a grizzled veteran of senior division play who ultimately emerged victorious.

Following steady opening rounds of 25 and 26, 2001 PPA National Match Play finalist Ken Hastings, a certified public accountant from Pittsburgh, PA, manufactured a brilliant third-round 22, tying 2003 PPA National Champion Robert Johnson for low round of the tournament, to leap into a tie for the 54-hole lead with Johnson at 73. A solid final-round 24 sufficed to earn Hastings a two-stroke triumph, the $200.00 winner's check, and the first PPA National Tour title of his career with an impressive 72-hole total of 97. Two-time PPA National Match Play Champion Charlie Greenwalt used a closing-round 24 to maneuver into second place at 99. At 100, Johnson finished third. A three-way, fourth-place tie at 101 included 2007 PPA Northern Open Champion Rick Culverhouse, PPA Hall of Fame statesman Bill Kirby, and 2003 PPA National Invitational Champion Rod Miller. The last of the twenty cash spots distributed in the tournament fell at a 72-hole score of 107.

Cliff Matthews Defeats Ken Hastings in Playoff to Win 2011 PPA Tournament Players Championship

14 September 2011 - Memphis, TN - On an overcast morning, the PPA National Tour contested history's sixth edition of the 72-hole PPA Tournament Players Championship on courses # 2 and # 3 at the picturesque Memphis, TN Putt-Putt Fun Center. The field was closed to 66 professional and 36 amateur contestants who had qualified for the event through performance in tournaments held on the 2011 PPA National Tour schedule. When the dust settled in a tightly-fought battle, another of the sport's all-time great champions was added to the litany of winners of the event.

Two-time PPA National Champion Cliff Matthews of Euless, TX opened the tournament with rounds of 23, 27, and 26 and after 54 holes stood mired in a three-way tie for tenth place at 76, three strokes behind third-round co-leaders Ken Hastings and Robert Johnson. In the closing round, however, Matthews successfully drew to a figurative inside straight, as the riverboat gambler conjured up a magical tournament-low round of 21, which was matched by 1993 PPA National Champion Andy Coradini and Chance Marett, to break out of the pack and pole-vault into a tie with Hastings' clubhouse lead of 97. In the ensuing 18-hole playoff, Matthews rode the wave of his final-round momentum to earn a relatively lopsided playoff victory by a tally of 24-29 and capture the $500.00 winner's check. Hastings settled for runner-up honors. Coradini and 2010 Louisiana Open Champion Joe Lea matched fourth-round 24's to complete the event deadlocked in third place at 98. At 99, two-time PPA National Match Play Champion Charlie Greenwalt rounded out the event's top five finishers. The final of the 33 money spots awarded in the tournament fell at a 72-hole score of 108.

Rick Baird Captures 2011 PPA ProPutters.Com Classic In Dominant Fashion

13 September 2011 - Memphis, TN - The PPA National Tour held the second tournament of the 2011 PPA National Championship week, the tenth annual 72-hole PPA ProPutters.Com Classic, on courses # 2 and # 3 at Aubrey Smith's sprawling Memphis, TN Putt-Putt Fun Center. With opening rounds of 24, 25, and 24, 2007 PPA National Champion Rick Baird, 54, an IT manager from Charlotte, NC, entered the closing round tied with playing partner Jeffrey Smith for the 54-hole lead at 73. Baird posted an outward nine score of 12 in the fourth round to move two strokes ahead of Smith and followed with an inward nine 12 to cruise to a four-stroke victory and earn the $400.00 winner's check with a 72-hole total of 97. The victory was the culmination of a stellar 2011 season for Baird, a season in which he also recorded a perfect "18" during a Virginia Tour event on course # 3 in Richmond, VA. "It was awesome to win another National Tournament," noted Baird following his triumph. "Jeff (Smith) and I battled throughout the whole tournament and it was very rewarding to go against such high quality of competition in my group and come out on top against such a strong field of players."

Nate Nichols and Jerry Pinotti Win Second-Career PPA National Doubles Championship

12 September 2011 - Memphis, TN - The 2011 PPA National Championship week kicked off with the contesting of the 72-hole PPA National Doubles Championship on courses # 2 and 3 at the beautiful Memphis, TN Putt-Putt Fun Center. In a departure from various formats employed in past seasons, four rounds of two-player better ball competition determined the event's 2011 champions. Predictably, scores were tightly bunched, making the emphatic three-stroke victory recorded by 2009 PPA National Doubles Champions Nate Nichols and Jerry Pinotti even that much more impressive.

2009 PPA Northern Open Champion Pinotti, a floral delivery person from Louisville, KY, presented partner Nichols, a 35-yr-old Columbus, IN educator, with a large bouquet of aces throughout the event's opening three rounds. The duo posted sizzling initial rounds of 21, 21, and 20 for a 54-hole total of 62 to establish a two-stroke lead over the squad of Thomas Rawles and 1985 TV Series Contestant Jeff Spainhour with one round remaining. Nichols and Pinotti continued their torrid pace early in the final round, holding on to shoot a closing-round 23 and capture the second PPA National Doubles Championship title of their careers and the $350.00 first prize with a 72-hole total of 85. The pair notched their first title in the event in Orlando, FL in 2009. "With the field being so deep we decided from the start that we were going to be aggressive," reflected Pinotti. "We were fortunate to have several good rounds early and hang on for the win." Added Nichols, "When you win a National Tour event of any kind you feel good about your performance. In the end though we both felt very fortunate to have won. These tournaments are loaded with great teams and it takes several well-timed hot streaks and a lot of good fortune to even have a chance to win, let alone win for a second time in three years."