Jim Christina Wins 1996 Columbus Open (4 August 1996)

Jim Christina Wins
$1,500 Columbus Open

Columbus, OH - Dr. Jim Christina of Rockville, Maryland aced 15 of his first 16 holes, including a perfect front nine, shooting a first round 15-under par score of 21 in Sunday $1,500 PPA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

Christina's second round score of 23 secured a four stroke lead over Saturday's champion, Kevin Lacey. Christina's two round total of 44 (28-under par) was one stroke off the world record 43 set 22 year ago.

During the 1996 tournament series, the PPA has been playing on a new and improved putting surface manufactured by Challenger Industries. "The new carpet has brought lower scores because it holds the lines and all you have to do is hit them," said Christina. There have been three perfect 9's shot this year as well as some of the lowest scores shot since the 1970's.

"I never really thought about shooting in the 60's. I just wanted to shoot a low final round to win the tournament," commented Christina. His scores of 21-23-27, 71, edged out Lacey by one stroke.

Tournament Recap

Leader After Round 1:	Jim Christina	21 (15-under par)
Leader After Round 2:	Jim Christina	44 (28-under par)
Low Round:	Jim Christina	21 (15-under par)
Most Aces:	Jim Christina
Perfect Nine:	Jim Christina	Front 9 of Round 1

Professional Scores of the 1996 Columbus Open
(PPA Course - Course # 3 - August 4th, 1996)

		Round				Prize
	Player	1	2	3	Total	Money	Points
1	Jim Christina	21	23	27	71	$ 250.00	44.00
2	Kevin Lacey	24	24	24	72	$ 170.00	31.00
3	Peter Neumann	27	24	25	76	$ 125.00	29.00
4	Mike Brown	24	26	27	77	$ 100.00	27.00
5	Jay Klapper	27	23	28	78	$ 75.00	23.33
	Greg Newport	27	24	27	78	$ 75.00	23.33
	Danny McCaslin	26	26	26	78	$ 75.00	23.33
8	Bill Kirby	25	27	27	79	$ 57.50	19.50
	Dean Dwiggins	27	25	27	79	$ 57.50	19.50
	Bob Davis	28	24	27	79	$ 57.50	19.50
	Rainey Statum	26	25	28	79	$ 57.50	19.50
12	Todd Barfield	26	26	28	80	$ 50.00	16.50
	C. L. Jones	25	28	27	80	$ 50.00	16.50
14	Greg Roberts	27	28	26	81	$ 33.33	12.50
	Greg Ward	27	25	29	81	$ 33.33	12.50
	Danny Dore	27	25	29	81	$ 33.33	12.50
	Edgar Hollifield	29	29	23	81	$ 33.33	12.50
	Richard Zack	26	28	27	81	$ 33.33	12.50
	Thomas Rawles	28	26	27	81	$ 33.33	12.50
20	Rick Baird	26	29	27	82		7.50
	Andy Coradini	26	28	28	82		7.50
	Angelo Korogianos	28	25	29	82		7.50
	Bo Luthie	26	26	30	82		7.50
24	Lewis Burton	30	26	27	83		4.50
	Paul Pastilong	27	27	29	83		4.50
26	Gene Reams	27	27	30	84		3.00
	Rick Alessi	28	25	31	84		3.00
28	Roland Block	25	31	29	85		3.00
	David Lynch	29	30	26	85		3.00
	Tony Jackson	28	26	31	85		3.00
	Paul Johns	28	31	26	85		3.00
32	Bob Haizlip	28	30	28	86		3.00
	Steve Tanton	28	30	28	86		3.00
	David McCaslin	30	27	29	86		3.00
	Randy Orr	28	32	26	86		3.00
	Brad Lebo	29	28	29	86		3.00
	Enid Klapper	29	27	30	86		3.00
	Barry Wyatt	28	28	30	86		3.00
	Buddy Taylor	28	28	30	86		3.00
	Dan Anders	28	28	30	86		3.00
	Todd Viau	29	28	29	86		3.00
42	Larry Simpson	30	27	30	87		3.00
	Robert Johnson	26	31	30	87		3.00
	Jim Heikkinen	30	27	30	87		3.00
45	Randy Reeves	27	30	31	88		3.00
	John Lachmann	28	32	28	88		3.00
	Rodney Ashley	29	29	30	88		3.00
	Mark Rainey	30	29	29	88		3.00
	Mike Disko	30	28	30	88		3.00
50	Manfred Stewart	31	27	31	89		3.00
	Al Simpson	30	32	27	89		3.00
	Mike Damsky	30	30	29	89		3.00
	Jeff Garrison	32	28	29	89		3.00
54	Jay Hadsell	32	29	30	91		3.00
	Earl Brabb	33	27	31	91		3.00
56	Barb Mingo	32	35	26	93		3.00
57	Mark Hasty	31	29	35	95		3.00
58	Bob Jackson	31	35	33	99		3.00

Amateur Division of the 1996 Columbus Open
(PPA Course - Course # 3 - August 4th, 1996)