Mike Brown Wins Hall of Fame Classic (10 August 1997)

Mike Brown Wins $10,000 PPA Hall of Fame Classic

Burlington, NC - Mike Brown ended the season last year riding the pinnacle of success having won 10 major PPA tournaments, a Putt-Putt Golf Championship televised nationally on ESPN, the North Carolina Player of the Year Title, and the 1996 PPA National Championship. The season could not have been brighter as longstanding goals were achieved through determination, dedication, and just plain hard work.

How does it feel to enter a new season as the defending champion with all eyes on you? The answer can only be "pressured." For Mike, the 1997 season has been one of ups and downs - getting off to a slow start in Augusta, GA, where Mike finished 22 strokes behind Lewis Burton. By the Charleston Open, Mike seemed to be getting a handle on his game, scoring a course low of 23 in round three ... no enough, however, for him to take the lead. For a while, that seemed to be the story of the season for Mike - playing a respectable game but remaining in the foreground.

In Arlington, TX, the picture seemed to be changing as Mike started the tournament tied for the lead, but in the end had to settle for second place. In Richmond, Mike was again a serious contender for first, challenging Danny Dore repeatedly for the lead. It was not until the final nine holes of the eighth round that Dore safely took the lead. According to Mike ,"I was really disappointed when I was so close and didn't win at the Richmond Open."

Determined to win at Burlington, Mike reports ,"I felt confident going into the final rounds." That confidence paid off as Mike took first place by a narrow one stroke over Greg Newport of Graham, NC, who consistently challenged Brown throughout the tournament. "It feels great to win again. I can't wait to defend my title at the Nationals in Orlando."

		Round									Prize
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Money
1	Mike Brown	28	23	32	25	29	28	27	31	223	$2,000.00
2	Greg Newport	28	26	29	28	24	31	28	30	224	$1,200.00
3	Dave Taylor	28	29	32	27	28	28	26	29	227	$700.00
4	Brad Lebo	30	27	31	24	30	30	29	27	228	$465.00
	Andy Coradini	24	30	31	29	27	29	29	29	228	$465.00
	Rick Baird	27	30	30	27	27	33	23	31	228	$465.00
	Bill Kirby, Jr.	32	32	27	28	32	24	28	25	228	$465.00
	Bart Bason	31	27	28	28	29	29	31	25	228	$465.00
9	Randy Reeves	35	29	28	28	25	28	28	28	229	$375.00
10	Danny McCaslin	27	28	28	29	28	30	30	31	231	$291.67
	Jay Klapper	28	28	33	28	27	27	28	32	231	$291.67
	Robert Johnson	25	30	27	33	29	27	31	29	231	$291.67
13	Gary Hester	29	28	27	33	33	30	25	27	232	$225.00
	Gene Reams	28	29	30	30	28	31	27	29	232	$225.00
15	Lewis Burton	31	29	30	31	28	26	32	26	233	$187.50
	Greg Ward	27	28	29	31	28	28	29	33	233	$187.50
	Todd Barfield	26	28	31	34	28	31	23	32	233	$187.50
	Randall Orr	26	28	31	26	32	33	28	29	233	$187.50
19	Dan Anders	28	28	30	29	32	27	31	29	234	$175.00
20	Bob Davis	30	25	32	26	33	29	27	33	235	$170.00
	Tony Wright	32	26	31	30	32	26	28	30	235	$170.00
22	C. L. Jones	27	34	30	28	33	27	28	29	236	$165.00
	Alan Quinnelly	28	30	33	32	25	31	30	27	236	$165.00
24	Bo Luthie	38	31	28	25	26	30	30	29	237	$165.00
	Buddy Taylor	30	30	33	25	32	25	28	34	237	$165.00
26	Darrell Britt	27	33	32	28	32	27	29	30	238
	Larry Simpson	29	29	31	31	31	30	28	29	238
	Frank Warren	27	30	31	28	31	32	30	29	238
	Chris Bunting	30	30	34	32	26	29	31	26	238
30	Mike Damsky	34	27	28	31	33	26	29	31	239
	Michael Hitt	32	30	27	28	30	31	29	32	239
32	Paul Johns	23	29	30	34	30	35	31	28	240
	Greg Roberts	33	27	30	36	29	28	28	29	240
	Tony Jackson	29	31	32	31	30	30	27	30	240
	Jimmy Mott	31	33	28	29	32	31	28	28	240
36	Mike Griffin	31	28	29	30	33	31	31	29	242
37	Danny Dore	29	35	32	33	29	29	24	31	243
38	Jeffrey Smith	28	30	31	36	25	36	30	28	244
39	Bob Haizlip	28	31	29	29	31	32	32	33	245
	Kyle Ward	29	30	29	34	32	34	25	32	245
41	David McCaslin	32	31	37	33	30	26	28	29	246
	Rodney Ashley	33	30	32	32	31	30	28	30	246
43	Peter Neumann	31	30	31	32	31	34	29	29	247
	Mark Rainey	33	31	29	28	28	29	37	32	247
	Bobby Kirby	34	26	31	27	34	32	31	32	247
	Fred Hallaman	34	33	24	27	34	31	31	33	247
47	Tony Varnadore	32	32	27	29	36	28	33	31	248
48	Don Parker	31	33	35	26	27	31	33	33	249
49	Kevin Lacey	32	35	32	31	28	35	24	33	250
50	Manfred Stewart	32	26	31	33	34	32	32	34	254
51	Thomas Rawles	35	29	33	33	31	31	30	33	255
	Randall Smith	32	33	30	32	30	33	30	35	255
53	Peter Ansbacher	40	29	32	34	30	31	31	29	256
54	Enid Klapper	33	34	34	37	34	26	36	26	260
55	Mark Hasty	36	28	32	36	33	30	32	34	261
56	Bill Walsh	36	34	34	33	29	34	34	34	268

		Round									Prize
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Money
1	Kevin Garrett	29	29	28	30	31	32	27	31	237	$30.00
2	Opie Roberts	35	27	28	31	28	31	28	32	240	$30.00
3	William Glisson	37	31	32	30	25	32	32	28	247	$30.00
4	Wesley Pollard	31	32	29	29	34	30	34	32	251	$30.00
5	Tony Davenport	33	27	32	34	29	35	30	33	253	$30.00
6	Jamie Martin	34	28	33	30	36	29	32	34	256
7	Clayton Craft	31	29	34	36	31	36	30	30	257
8	Mike Conklin	31	36	31	36	32	29	31	33	259
9	Chuck Nance	31	31	35	30	33	28	39	33	260
	Russell Sigmon Jr.	28	36	34	31	33	34	34	30	260
11	Rusty Taylor	33	32	34	28	32	36	32	38	265
12	Justin Taylor	31	34	34	33	29	37	35	33	266
13	Keith Waters	33	31	41	35	31	34	36	35	276
14	Adam Smith	35	40	39	36	37	32	32	38	289
15	Rick Rybaczek	32	34	40	42	39	31	34	38	290


1. Mike Brown 396.0 pts.		2. Brad Lebo 392.0 pts.		3. Randy Reeves 387.0 pts.
4. Gary Hester	370.5 pts.	18. Todd Barfield	296.5 pts.	32. Tony Varnadore	252.5 pts.
5. Lewis Burton	365.5 pts.	19. C. L. Jones	294.5 pts.	33. Larry Simpson	244.0 pts.
6. Kevin Lacey	360.6 pts.	20. Frank Warren	292.0 pts.	34. Jeff Smith	228.0 pts.
7. David McCaslin	358.0 pts.	21. Jay Klapper	286.0 pts.	35. Mike Damsky	204.0 pts.
8. Greg Ward	351.5 pts.	22. Rainey Statum	284.0 pts.	36. Bob Haizlip	193.5 pts.
9. Andy Coradini	349.0 pts.	23. Darrell Britt	282.5 pts.	37. Mark Hasty	188.0 pts.
10. Greg Newport	347.5 pts.	24. Dave Taylor	275.5 pts.	38. Manfred Stewart	174.6 pts.
11. Danny McCaslin	340.5 pts.	25. Bo Luthie	273.0 pts.	39. Rodney Ashley	171.0 pts.
12. Dan Anders	336.0 pts.	26. David Lynch	272.0 pts.	40. Mark Rainey	168.0 pts.
13. Paul Johns	328.8 pts.	27. Bill Kirby, Jr.	271.0 pts.	41. Enid Klapper	161.5 pts.
14. Danny Dore	325.5 pts.	28. Randy Orr	269.5 pts.	42. Buddy Taylor	153.5 pts.
15. Peter Neumann	325.0 pts.	29. Tony Jackson	256.8 pts.	43. Holden Knight	73.0 pts.
16. Gene Reams	301.5 pts.	30. Don Parker	255.0 pts.	44. Barry Wyatt	71.0 pts.
17. Rick Baird	300.0 pts.	31. Greg Roberts	254.3 pts.