A "Winner's" Win For Dick Florin Hoover, AL - May 28-29, 1983 - Everyone knew the winner of the Professional Putter Association Tournament held in Hoover, Alabama, over Memorial Day Weekend should be someone who had won before. Reason? Only previous winners of PPA tournament participated in the first "PPA National Winner's Invitational." Dick Florin, a 20 year veteran of the PPA, captured the 144-hole medal play event with a score of 231, 57 under par. A two-time World Putting Champion and consistent winner on the PPA tour, the 37-year old banker from Fayetteville, Georgia, was extremely happy following his victory. "It's a special kind of feeling going into those last few holes knowing that you can win or lose." "It means a great deal more knowing that everyone in the tournament has been in the same situations," said Florin. In addition to the first place prize money of $800, the victory also earned Florin a qualifying spot to play in the $96,000 National Match-Play Championship to be held in August in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Bill Kirby, Jr., a 34-year old newspaper Sports Editor from Fayetteville, North Carolina finished in second place with a score of 233, 55 under par. "I played the very best I could, but Dick (Florin) played just that much better," said Kirby. One stroke back at 234 were Ron Frederick of Toledo, Ohio, Tommy Hoag of Atlanta, Georgia, Charlie Greenwalt from Indianapolis, Indiana, and David McCaslin from Champaign, Illinois. The APA Division was won by Hoover, Alabama, amateur Larry Smith with a score of 240, 48 under par, one stroke better than runner-up Paul Nichols of Rome, Georgia. Third place went to Paul Johns of Monroe, Michigan, who finished with a score of 244, 44 under par. Amateurs Smith and Nichols also won qualifying spots for the National Amateur Match-Play Championship in August. Tournament recap and scores courtesy of Putt-Putt World, Summer 1983, Volume 25, No. 3.

Professional Scores from the 1983 "Winner's Invitational"
(28 - 29 May 1983 - Hoover, AL)

			Round									Prize
	Player	Hometown	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Money
1	Dick Florin	Fayetteville, GA	30	29	25	30	30	28	31	28	231	$ 800.00
2	Bill Kirby, Jr.	Fayetteville, NC	29	25	31	31	30	31	28	28	233	$ 500.00
3	Ron Frederick	Toledo, OH	31	33	28	28	31	29	24	30	234	$ 338.75
	Charlie Greenwalt	Indianapolis, IN	31	27	31	29	30	31	30	25	234	$ 338.75
	Tommy Hoag	Snellville, GA	31	28	31	30	33	28	28	25	234	$ 338.75
	David McCaslin	Champaign, IL	30	33	29	28	29	26	30	29	234	$ 338.75
7	Earl Brabb	Springfield, OH	31	30	27	30	30	27	32	30	237	$ 250.00
	Jeff Estep	Dayton, OH	31	32	33	27	28	26	34	26	237	$ 250.00
9	Wesley Beck	Douglasville, GA	34	34	31	27	27	28	29	28	238	$ 200.00
	Mike Sherrill	Decatur, GA	30	27	30	29	33	29	31	29	238	$ 200.00
	Steve Wood	Arlington, TX	30	30	31	32	30	27	31	27	238	$ 200.00
12	Gary Miller	Columbus, GA	30	31	33	25	28	30	31	31	239	$ 160.00
13	Jim Borchelt	Loveland, OH	30	31	30	25	30	31	30	33	240	$ 130.00
	Mark Coup	Columbus, GA	28	32	30	32	33	28	31	26	240	$ 130.00
15	Gary Benfield	Charlotte, NC	29	29	33	30	34	28	30	28	241	$ 92.50
	Evelyn Florin	Fayetteville, GA	28	29	30	30	33	28	32	31	241	$ 92.50
	Marc Portugal	Waco, TX	27	32	35	29	31	28	29	30	241	$ 92.50
	Randall Willett	Grand Prairie, TX	30	31	32	31	31	30	28	28	241	$ 92.50
19	Steve Guyton	Columbus, GA	31	29	33	26	31	30	29	33	242	$ 80.00
20	Randy Brown	Charlotte, NC	31	29	31	30	32	29	32	29	243	$ 70.00
	Eddie Coy	Louisville, KY	34	29	33	31	30	29	29	28	243	$ 70.00
	Joe Smith	Urbana, IL	30	30	33	31	30	31	31	27	243	$ 70.00
23	Dean Dwiggins	Winston-Salem, NC	30	28	33	30	33	31	32	28	245	$ 57.50
	Jeff McDonald	Tucson, AZ	29	33	34	30	30	30	29	30	245	$ 57.50
25	Sam Label	Atlanta, GA	35	27	29	30	29	31	33	33	247	$ 16.66
	John Napoli	Columbus, GA	32	32	29	27	37	29	31	30	247	$ 16.66
	Greg Roberts	Houston, TX	34	29	32	27	31	28	33	33	247	$ 16.66
28	Bill Hebert	Lake Charles, LA	34	29	33	29	31	33	30	29	248
29	Greg Ward	Cleveland, TN	33	31	33	27	33	33	29	30	249
30	Robbie Vaughn	Odessa, TX	31	29	35	28	30	31	33	33	250
31	Dan Anders	Columbus, GA	33	31	33	34	32	31	29	29	252
32	Nick Gill	Gretna, LA	33	27	30	31	38	31	32	32	254
33	Jude Prather	Arlington, TX	33	33	29	30	38	30	36	29	258
34	Al Simpson	Lake Charles, LA	31	33	32	30	38	30	36	29	259

Amateur Scores from the 1983 "Winner's Invitational"
(28 - 29 May 1983 - Hoover, AL)