James Cox Walks Off with 1966 Southern Open Title

James Cox Walks Off with
1966 Southern Open Title

Columbus, GA - April 9-10 - One-time touring PPA pro James Cox of Phenix City, AL, took on all challengers on his home course in Columbus, GA, and literally walked off with top honors. In posting his first PPA tournament win, James led his nearest competitor by ten strokes. This set a new PPA tournament record. The widest margin between first and second place position in the past was the nine stroke gap set by Lee Weldy in 1961.

While the big names on the PPA tour were battling for the first-day lead, the cigar smoking Cox, paired way back in the listings, was quietly posting a 27 under par -- 27-32-28-30 for a 117 total. This put him just 4 strokes off the leader Tom Kehl after 72 holes of play. Kehl, of Belair, CA, posted the finest putting of the day ... and perhaps the four-game score ever recorded, a 28-27-29-29, for a fantastic 31 under par, 113.

The second day proved to be one of the most exciting four-round matches ever witnessed with the threesome of Cox, Kehl, and John Roessner exchanging the lead half a dozen times. Finally, on the third round (seventh round of the tournament) Cox took the lead and stayed there. When his final putt dropped, he had fired a 230, 58 under par. Kehl finished second, ten strokes back at 240, while Roessner had to settle for a third place tie.

One of the finest rounds of the tournament was fired by the polite, well-mannered Roessner, a youngster from Indianapolis, IN. On his first round of the second day, he fired five consecutive aces, dumped a par for his next hole, and then finished out the front nine with three more aces for an almost perfect 10. He managed a 16 on the back nine, good for an eighteen-hole score of 26.

Evelyn Strickland, the only LPPA member competing, finished just 2 strokes out of the money. In the amateur division, Tony Foster of Columbus, GA, took the first place trophy with a 13 under par, 275.

Place	Player	City	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Cash
1	Jim Cox	Phenix City, AL	27	32	28	30	28	27	30	28	230	$1,000.00
2	Tom Kehl	Belari, CA	28	27	29	29	32	33	34	28	240	$750.00
3	John Roessner	Indianapolis, IN	30	31	30	27	26	35	33	30	242	$500.00
	Ricky Smith	Indianapolis, IN	32	29	31	32	30	31	30	27	242	$500.00
5	Herman Strickland	Macon, GA	29	30	35	27	32	28	32	30	243	$400.00
6	Charles Magyar	Columbus, GA	32	30	34	31	32	31	27	27	244	$312.50
	Carl Strickland	Macon, GA	33	32	30	30	34	29	28	28	244	$312.50
8	Vance Randall	Asheville, NC	35	29	29	31	28	30	34	29	245	$250.00
9	Bob Williamson	Jacksonville, FL	29	32	30	31	33	30	30	31	246	$225.00
10	Larry Peters	Atlanta, GA	32	33	32	33	32	25	30	31	248	$175.00
	Lee Weldy	Jacksonville, FL	33	35	32	30	29	31	30	28	248	$175.00
	Chuck Schafer	Augusta, GA	32	34	30	32	29	31	29	31	248	$175.00
13	Harry Martin	Columbus, GA	36	37	30	30	30	31	33	33	250	$100.00
14	John Connor	Greenville, SC	29	28	32	33	32	31	32	34	251	$75.00
15	Ken Miller	Birmingham, AL	30	35	32	35	33	31	30	30	252	$25.00
	Roy Collinsworth	Macon, GA	30	32	30	33	31	30	37	29	252	$25.00

Hamilton, OH	Sunday	May 22	$100 Pro-Amateur
Youngstown, OH	Sunday - Monday	May 29-30	$5,000
Hamilton, OH	Sunday	June 5	$1,000 Pro-Amateur

Gene McDonald	Savannah, GA	253	Willie Edwards	Winston-Salem, NC	267
Evelyn Strickland	Macon, GA	254	Dick Pugh	Denver, CO	267
Tom Younce	Columbus, GA	255	Mack McCray	Bristol, TN	267
Steve Gilbert	Statesville, NC	257	Ike Quinton	Morristown, TN	267
L. J. Siebert	Wilmington, NC	257	Stanley Wagner	Bristol, VA	268
Ted Jones	Youngstown, OH	257	John Helms	Charlotte, NC	268
Joe Joyner	Macon, GA	257	Tom Jones	Youngstown, OH	268
Justin Colley, Jr.	Denver, Co	257	Cliff Moose	Gastonia, NC	269
Jimmy Davis	Atlanta, GA	258	Buck Stewart	Columbus, GA	269
Ken Boy	Bristol, TN	259	C. Atkinson	Montgomery, AL	270
Ron Slocumb	Columbus, GA	260	Bob Poltis	Cleveland, OH	271
Ray Baggarly	Atlanta, GA	261	Earl Fritz	Savannah	273
Roger Moore	Atlanta, GA	261	Bobby Kirby	Slater, SC	273
Harry Gonsoulin	New Orleans, LA	261	Dave Warrington	Jacksonville, FL	273
Ray Rayfield	Birmingham, AL	261	Charles Connor	Asheville, NC	274
Artie Shaw	Columbus, GA	262	Jim Harritos	Atlanta, GA	274
Ron Shaddix	Columbus, GA	262	Leroy Cooper	East Point, GA	275
Sandy Sanders	Jacksonville, FL	263	Roger Jett	Indianapolis, IN	275
Frank Holt	Dallas, TX	263	Mitch Sacks	Cincinnati, OH	275
Larry Whipple	Columbus, GA	263	John Fostel	Wilmington, DE	275
Henry Pasko	Columbus, GA	263	Ron Nixon	Columbus, GA	276
Jim Townsend	Indianapolis, IN	263	Charles Hayes	Winston-Salem, NC	281
Wayne Taylor	Macon, GA	264	Ed Babin	Savannah, GA	282
Don Posey	Greenville, SC	264	Gil Caito	Indianapolis, IN	283
Fritz Schafer	Jacksonville, FL	265	Ray Chesser	Columbus, GA	284
Rusty Maddox, Jr.	Montgomery, AL	266	William Key	Meridian, MS	285
Donny Tarvin	Columbus, GA	266	Carlos Donahoe	Augusta, GA	286
			J. Curlee	Columbus, GA	290

Phil Zorn	East Point, GA	143	Bill Weaver	Springfield, IL	151
Mike Trimnal	High Point, NC	142	Dough Fisher	Atlanta, GA	145
Archie Bo Bo	Huntsville, AL	157	Larry Johnson	Bluefield, WV	138
Bobby Jenkins	Bristol, VA	149	Carter Brinkley	Augusta, GA	148
Gary Gravely	Montgomery, AL	144	Frank Collins	Jefferson City, TN	155
Jack Parr	Flint, MI	143	Hewell Smith	Atlanta, GA	149
Dick Sassnett	Huntsville, AL	135	Tommy Worrell	Columbus, GA	159
			Harold Barnes	Macon, GA	150

Place	Player	City	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Tony Foster	Columbus, GA	35	34	36	31	34	35	34	36	275
2	Jack Rosson	Macon, GA	40	35	29	36	33	35	35	36	279
3	Wayne Robinson	Atlanta, GA	38	38	38	33	33	33	36	33	283