1985 P.P.A. Champions Crowned (Greensboro, NC)

1985 P. P. A. Champions Crowned

Greensboro, NC - July 1985 - The top professional, amateur, and novice putters in the United States gathered in Greensboro, N with one goal in mind - to determine the 1985 Professional Putters Association National Champions. The talented field of over 200 players promised to make the three day event an exciting one. No one was disappointed.

The National Medal-Play championship featured eight rounds (144 holes) of putting competition. Each player's accumulated strokes over the eight rounds determined the winner, that player having the least number of strokes.

In the National Medal-Play Pro Division, 21-year old Alan Quinnelly from Chamblee, Georgia claimed the title in impressive style over Oklahoman, Greg Sandlin. Quinnelly fired a final round score of 21, scoring aces on 16 of the 18 holes (including the first 14 in a row) as a large gallery cheered his efforts to record a perfect score. 1"This is an unreal experience," said Quinnelly, following the tournament. A former JPA National Juniors Champion in 1978, Quinnelly credits the Juniors Putters of America league for creating his interest in the sport of putting. "Then I moved to amateur status for 3 years and learned how the pros play," he said. A fourth year pro, Quinnelly looks forward to defending his title for years to come. "I want to win as many championships as I can."

The National Match-Play Championship featured player versus player in 36-holes of competition. Unlike Medal-Play competition, match players compete for holes rather than strokes. The player with the lowest score on a particular hole wins that hole.

In the National Match-Play Pro Division Finals, James Christina of Rockville, Maryland used 12 aces to defeat David Jones of Warren, Ohio and earn the title. Jim Christina, a podiatrist by trade, returned to the PPA this season after finishing his studies and graduating from medical school. "I just wanted to convince myself that I could play well again. This feels super." Christina saw his lead cut from five holes to even in the final round, before Jones recorded two bogeys late in the match. "When we got to the back 9, I thought I had it won," said Jones. "I just shot terrible on hole 16 and James played well." As for his newfound notoriety, Christina looks forward to returning home with the National Title. "I know the other players will be gunning for me now," said the champion.

The 1985 Professional Seniors Division Champion, David Gies from Winston-Salem, NC, called his win a comeback after firing a four round total of 111 to win the title. "I've been out of the game for a while," said Gies, Manager of the Putt-Putt Golf Course in Winston-Salem, NC. "This is the first National Championship I've played in since 1977." Gies, 30, used his veteran skills in preparing for the tournament. "I practiced enough to get that mental confidence back and I ended up laying pretty well," he said. A National Amateur Champion in 1972, Gies has been putting since he was 14. He has appeared in the PPA Television Putting Series and although he may still be young in years, David Gies has used his experience to claim the Seniors' title for 1985.

Columbus, Ohio resident, Paul Johns, is also experienced in winning titles. The defending National Amateur Medal-Play Champion, Johns, not only claimed the title again this year, but went on to win the Amateur Match-Play Championship as well. Johns also won the Amateur National Match-Play Championship in 1982. Johns is only the second player in the history of the PPA to successfully defend his National Amateur Medal-Play title. Lewis Burton of Chamblee, Georgia defended his National Amateur Medal-Play title in 1980 and 1981. Johns is the first player to win both the Medal and Match Play Championship in the same year. "I did what every amateur dreams of," said Johns of his victories. "But I knew it was going to be difficult."

"To win both titles really surprised me," he said. "I wasn't playing very well and hadn't won any tournaments at home (Columbus)." Johns, 26, relied on intense practice to restore his putting stroke. He arrived in Greensboro one week before the start of the tournament to learn the shots. "It takes practice. You have to know what you're doing," he said.

Johns knew what he was doing on his way to winning the titles. In the National Amateur Medal Play Championship, he withstood challenges from several players and finally pulled away in the final round to win by 7 strokes over Judy Howard from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "Some shots weren't falling in the early rounds so I had to change them as the tournament went on," he said. "My goal is to keep all my rounds in the 20's."

Johns carried his momentum into the Match-Play Championship, defeating Michael Bell of Columbus, Ohio in the finals to win the title. Ironically, both Bell and Johns play at the Refugee Road Putt-Putt Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio.

Johns record setting performance convinced him to turn professional next year, much to the delight of the other amateurs in Greensboro. "They all want me to turn pro," he said. "It's time to move up. I know it will be hard, but I'll have to try harder and practice more."

Hard work earned John Halmans of Charlotte, N.C. the National Amateur Seniors Championship. The 70-year old, six year veteran of the Amateur Putters Association fired a for round score of 130 to hold off his competition (which included his wife Gertie) and claim the title.

Mike Pennington of Lansing, Michigan claimed the National Novice Medal-Play Championship with a 265 total for eight rounds. Julian Cox won the Novice Match-Play Title. Genia Burgess of Fayetteville, NC finished second in both Novice events.

		Round
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Prize Money
1	Alan Quinnelly	27	32	24	29	24	30	26	21	213	$ 3,000.00
2	Greg Sandlin	27	31	23	28	29	30	28	24	220	$ 1,500.00
3	Jim Borchelt	28	31	28	28	29	29	27	23	223	$ 775.00
	Rod Miller	31	27	23	26	30	28	30	28	223	$ 775.00
5	Marc Portugal	29	32	27	29	24	30	27	27	224	$ 600.00
6	Gary Benfield	23	33	30	26	30	33	25	25	225	$ 525.00
	Charlie Greenwalt	23	32	27	25	27	32	28	31	225	$ 525.00
8	David Gies	27	31	26	27	30	33	25	28	227	$ 475.00
9	Bill Kirby, Jr.	27	35	26	29	28	31	28	24	228	$ 437.50
	Joe Haines	32	32	27	27	26	28	31	25	228	$ 437.50
11	Rick Shelton	31	32	27	28	29	31	26	25	229	$ 340.00
	Joel Baker	26	33	30	26	26	34	26	28	229	$ 340.00
13	Bruce Kaiser	25	28	31	31	31	28	30	26	230	$ 230.00
	Roger Beckerman	27	30	28	29	31	29	30	26	230	$ 230.00
	Steve Norman	27	34	30	25	28	32	27	27	230	$ 230.00
	Lewis Burton	30	33	26	31	25	28	29	28	230	$ 230.00
17	Dave Taylor	27	29	29	29	30	29	28	30	231	$ 175.00
	Greg Ward	29	32	24	28	27	32	30	29	231	$ 175.00
	John Crawford	32	27	30	28	29	31	27	27	231	$ 175.00
	Dan Anders	28	32	28	31	26	28	30	28	231	$ 175.00
21	Charlie Davis	28	30	29	30	31	30	27	27	232	$ 135.00
	Randy Livesay	30	32	26	33	33	25	26	27	232	$ 135.00
	Ron Frederick	27	32	30	33	25	32	27	26	232	$ 135.00
	Dean Dwiggins	29	35	29	26	28	32	27	26	232	$ 135.00
25	Jude Prather	32	32	29	29	28	30	28	25	233	$ 105.00
	Evelyn Florin	29	28	31	32	25	33	29	26	233	$ 105.00
27	Steve Haeseker	25	29	31	34	27	29	26	33	234	$ 100.00
	Rex Thayer	29	26	28	31	28	30	34	28	234	$ 100.00
29	Chuck Dibbs	28	35	34	24	25	35	26	28	235	$ 100.00
	Rick Baird	33	32	29	29	25	33	30	24	235	$ 100.00
	Jay Klapper	27	29	28	31	26	36	28	30	235	$ 100.00
32	Buddy Taylor	28	34	28	29	30	29	27	31	236	$ 100.00
	Paul Pastilong	27	36	28	28	29	27	30	31	236	$ 100.00
34	Rainey Statum	31	31	27	29	30	29	33	27	237	$ 100.00
	Joe Smith	30	33	26	32	28	31	30	27	237	$ 100.00
	Larry Simpson	28	33	28	27	29	32	32	28	237	$ 100.00
	David Jones	28	32	32	25	29	33	33	25	237	$ 100.00
38	Rudy Cuellar	29	31	30	28	28	31	37	24	238	$ 100.00
	Chris Enders	29	31	32	28	28	31	32	27	238	$ 100.00
	Blaine Goodwin	34	27	30	35	29	28	29	26	238	$ 100.00
41	Tommy Hoag	29	33	27	33	34	28	26	29	239	$ 100.00
42	Eddie Coy	25	32	27	27	29	36	33	31	240	$ 100.00
	Jeff McDonald	28	34	28	31	27	30	31	31	240	$ 100.00
44	Mark Errickson	27	30	32	31	31	31	30	29	241	$ 100.00
	Steven Nehls	33	32	28	31	28	32	27	30	241	$ 100.00
	Terry McCarthy	35	35	29	28	27	32	30	25	241	$ 100.00
	Bill Locke	30	31	28	33	27	31	27	34	241	$ 100.00
	Austin Jones	33	31	28	30	30	35	29	25	241	$ 100.00
	Ray Miller	31	33	29	28	30	34	29	27	241	$ 100.00
	Steve Guyton	30	30	29	30	28	34	32	28	241	$ 100.00
	John Napoli	31	30	26	29	30	34	30	31	241	$ 100.00
	Tarron Coalson	34	32	23	27	29	29	34	33	241	$ 100.00
	Greg Roberts	26	36	27	29	30	28	36	29	241	$ 100.00
	Steve Lyon	27	33	29	29	32	30	33	28	241	$ 100.00
55	Owen Perillo	27	32	28	30	29	35	32	29	242	$ 100.00
	Jerry Campbell	29	36	26	26	28	34	33	32	242	$ 100.00
	Tommy Ellis	26	28	31	32	28	31	32	32	242	$ 100.00
	Wesley Beck	24	29	31	35	37	30	24	32	242	$ 100.00
	Bill Humbert	30	34	29	29	28	29	32	31	242	$ 100.00
	Ed Haggerty	32	30	27	34	28	35	30	26	242	$ 100.00
	Jeff Onifer	30	34	31	26	28	31	28	34	242	$ 100.00
	Brian McMahon	27	31	33	30	27	35	31	28	242	$ 100.00
	Steve Shively	27	32	28	37	28	33	28	29	242	$ 100.00
64	Dennis Sink	31	26	30	29	30	32	34	31	243	$ 100.00
	Richard Pennington	31	31	34	33	29	27	29	29	243	$ 100.00
	Pat Brady	29	34	28	28	29	29	32	34	243	$ 100.00
	Dennis Ashby	30	31	33	27	25	39	27	31	243	$ 100.00
68	Dick Florin	30	35	29	30	26	36	31	27	244	$ 100.00
	Don Thompson	30	34	32	31	29	35	23	30	244	$ 100.00
	Dennis Sweeney	33	32	25	32	27	31	31	33	244	$ 100.00
71	Gilbert Sharpe	33	31	27	31	28	34	31	30	245	$ 100.00
	Tim Ducote	31	31	28	29	30	33	35	28	245	$ 100.00

		Round
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Paul Johns	29	36	27	30	26	32	29	25	234
2	Judy Howard	37	29	25	32	30	30	28	29	240
3	Jerry Villani	34	31	32	31	29	27	28	29	241
4	Richard Davis	30	32	31	31	30	30	29	30	243
5	Don Ferrell	29	36	25	32	29	32	32	33	246
	John Strickland	33	34	31	32	28	37	24	26	246
7	Michael Bell	31	33	34	31	29	32	28	30	248
	Emmett Groome	33	30	32	30	31	34	30	28	248
9	Wayne Hancock	32	34	28	30	33	31	29	32	250
10	Robb Titchell	32	36	30	29	29	33	34	28	251
11	Monte Jones	30	33	30	37	30	35	32	26	253
12	Scott Buddie	29	40	31	37	31	31	29	28	256
	Bill Tesh	32	40	30	34	30	35	28	27	256
14	Richie Handschuh	29	36	29	31	29	38	36	29	257
15	Jim Schafer	28	34	32	35	33	29	34	33	258
	Danny Bashor	30	39	29	29	28	42	32	29	258
17	Tony Davenport	31	32	31	35	30	37	34	31	261
18	Randal Smith	32	34	29	39	32	34	30	32	262
19	Danny Gaither	28	35	32	33	29	39	36	31	263
20	David Abshire	36	34	34	35	34	32	31	31	267
21	David Gaither	31	43	32	28	35	33	36	30	268
	John Halmans	32	34	32	32	35	43	30	30	268
23	Rusty Neese	29	34	30	38	34	36	34	37	272
	Ron Millican	34	40	31	30	37	33	35	32	272
25	Martin Handschuh	41	35	33	33	34	34	31	35	276
	Aundria Reams	39	34	32	41	30	37	32	31	276
27	John Darst	30	36	31	37	32	42	38	30	277
28	James Litzinger	31	36	36	32	33	42	36	33	279
29	Shawn Kinsler	27	47	37	35	30	39	31	39	285
30	Gertie Halmans	40	41	33	37	35	34	37	32	290
31	Tom Robertson	34	38	40	39	36	42	41	33	302