Reeves Reaps Rewards at the $20,000 1997 PPA National Championship
Orlando, FL - Randy Reeves of Montgomery, AL, proved to be the best putter in America, Saturday, as he broke away from the pack to earn not only $4,000 but the National title during the 1997 PPA National Championship at Orange Lake Resort & Country Club.
Competing against a field of 79 pros, Reeves entered the second day of competition tied for fourth place. Ahead of him in the standing and trailing the leader by only two strokes was defending champion, Mike Brown of Springfield, PA. The competition would be unmerciful.
"When I shot 22 after the first round (round 5 of the tournament competition) to tie the course record it increased my confidence, and I knew I had the chance to win it all," said Reeves. Brown also shot a 22 on round 5. Reeves remained hopeful applying pressure of his own. "I was in the third group from the end, so I tried to make as many aces as possible to put a little pressure on the rest of them."
The 36-year old National Pro, fired 22, 28, 27, 25 for a 144 hole total of 208, 80 under par edging out Charlie Greenwalt of Indianapolis, IN, 209, 79 under par. Brown tied for third place after shooting 210, 78 under par, along with Ron Frederick of Chandler, AZ.
The first time National Champion, Reeves added that winning the title has "been a lifelong dream," and credits the late Russ Maddox, a Putt-Putt course owner in Montgomery, AL, with the inspiration to win it all. Maddox, who never achieved his lifelong dream of becoming the National Champion, took a very young Reeves under his wing, encouraging him to become involved in the PPA and supporting him along the way. Reeves dedicated his win to Maddox, indicating, "in a way, my victory fulfills Maddox's dreams as well as my own."
In the Amateur division, Robb Titchell of Columbus, OH, won on the last hole of an 18 hole playoff over William Glisson of Augusta, GA, to earn his first title as the Amateur Putters Association National Champion.
Professional Scores in 1997 National Championship
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Money 1 Randy Reeves 26 25 29 26 22 28 27 25 208 $ 4,000.00 2 Charlie Greenwalt 27 25 27 27 25 27 24 27 209 $ 2,400.00 3 Ron Frederick 25 31 27 23 28 27 24 25 210 $ 1,450.00 Mike Brown 25 26 26 26 22 27 30 28 210 $ 1,450.00 5 Andy Coradini 25 28 25 25 25 26 29 29 212 $ 1,100.00 6 Jay Klapper 24 27 23 32 25 26 29 27 213 $ 900.00 7 Greg Ward 27 27 26 27 24 31 27 25 214 $ 675.00 Bill Kirby 28 27 30 24 27 26 25 27 214 $ 675.00 9 David McCaslin 25 22 27 29 29 29 30 24 215 $ 550.00 Danny McCaslin 27 26 29 26 25 28 29 25 215 $ 550.00 Kevin Lacey 24 27 30 30 23 30 25 26 215 $ 550.00 12 Dan Anders 28 27 26 26 27 28 27 27 216 $ 475.00 13 Jim Heikkinen 26 24 28 23 27 30 30 29 217 $ 450.00 14 Peter Neumann 25 28 30 30 27 26 26 26 218 $ 400.00 15 Frank Warren 28 29 24 26 28 26 31 27 219 $ 337.50 Jimmy Mott 28 28 26 25 26 28 28 30 219 $ 337.50 Todd Barfield 27 26 27 28 26 28 29 28 219 $ 337.50 Rainey Statum 25 26 29 26 30 29 26 28 219 $ 337.50 19 Rick Baird 26 29 22 33 26 30 31 24 221 $ 231.25 Roger Beckerman 27 27 28 24 27 26 32 30 221 $ 231.25 Tony Jackson 28 28 29 24 27 28 29 28 221 $ 231.25 Todd Fowler 28 27 28 26 28 26 27 31 221 $ 231.25 23 Dave Taylor 28 26 31 24 29 28 29 27 222 $ 200.00 Michael Hitt 24 26 29 30 26 26 31 30 222 $ 200.00 25 Larry Simpson 26 27 26 33 24 30 26 31 223 $ 200.00 Rick Alessi 28 27 28 29 26 32 27 26 223 $ 200.00 Robert Johnson 25 29 27 29 26 31 28 28 223 $ 200.00 Lee Messinger 26 30 29 23 24 31 31 29 223 $ 200.00 David Lynch 30 31 27 28 24 29 26 28 223 $ 200.00 30 Lewis Burton 25 26 26 28 30 33 25 31 224 $ 200.00 31 Rod Miller 30 28 29 26 28 28 27 29 225 Angelo Korogianos 29 32 27 30 28 23 25 31 225 Mike Damsky 31 25 29 26 28 30 24 32 225 34 Gary English 27 28 31 28 31 30 24 28 227 Darrell Britt 25 26 30 32 31 27 30 26 227 Brad Lebo 28 33 24 30 26 31 25 30 227 37 Danny Dore 30 32 29 24 26 29 26 32 228 Bart Bason 28 30 27 29 26 29 29 30 228 C. L. Jones 30 26 30 33 27 28 25 29 228 40 Alan Quinnelly 26 27 26 32 32 27 32 27 229 Greg Newport 28 26 29 28 28 29 28 33 229 Gene Reams 30 29 24 31 26 31 27 31 229 Marc Portugal 26 28 28 29 27 32 29 30 229 Don Parker 27 31 31 28 28 31 28 25 229 45 Jeff Smith 29 32 26 25 29 33 27 29 230 Bo Luthie 22 30 28 28 30 32 29 31 230 47 John Napoli 24 29 27 29 31 32 30 30 232 Todd Viau 34 29 29 26 30 29 28 27 232 49 Jeff McDonald 29 28 33 31 25 33 26 28 233 50 Greg Roberts 27 28 31 30 30 31 24 33 234 Chris Morrison 28 29 29 30 30 29 28 31 234 52 Buddy Taylor 30 30 30 26 28 33 29 29 235 53 Randy Orr 26 28 32 31 26 35 28 30 236 Bill Smith 27 30 29 29 30 28 32 31 236 Jay Hadsell 26 34 28 28 30 34 27 29 236 Robby Bryant 31 31 27 29 27 29 28 34 236 57 Paul Johns 30 32 27 30 28 33 28 29 237 58 Tim Jones 29 30 32 31 28 30 31 27 238 Bob Davis 29 28 30 28 31 28 30 34 238 Mark Rainey 31 28 28 31 25 36 29 30 238 61 Manfred Stewart 27 36 29 30 30 28 31 28 239 62 Michael Culligan 28 29 28 33 31 31 32 28 240 Bruce Kaiser 34 31 23 27 34 34 28 29 240 Tony Varnadore 30 31 29 31 29 32 28 30 240 Barry Wyatt 26 27 26 31 30 32 33 35 240 66 Alan Cox 29 30 28 30 35 33 28 29 242 Mark Hasty 29 29 30 35 31 29 30 29 242 68 Paul Pastilong 29 32 31 29 29 31 33 29 243 69 Thomas Rawles 29 28 27 34 30 34 31 32 245 70 Rodney Ashley 30 30 28 27 31 33 34 33 246 71 David Barnett 31 32 31 29 30 29 31 34 247 Bob Haizlip 27 33 30 32 28 30 35 32 247 73 Barb Mingo 29 29 32 27 32 33 31 35 248 74 Tim Huber 32 32 28 28 30 32 34 33 249 Jeff Garrison 32 30 28 33 31 29 33 33 249 76 Greg Williams 35 33 30 30 28 33 30 33 252 Bill Walsh 32 31 34 28 29 34 31 33 252 78 Don Nicholas 31 37 34 31 31 31 29 34 258 79 Matt McCaslin 33 36 33 34 29 34 36 34 269
Amateur Scores in 1997 National Championship
| Round | Prize | ||||||||||
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | Money | |
| 1 | Robb Titchell | 28 | 32 | 28 | 30 | 27 | 30 | 24 | 25 | 224 | $100.00 |
| 2 | William Glisson | 27 | 29 | 26 | 26 | 29 | 26 | 28 | 33 | 224 | $80.00 |
| 3 | Jeff Brown | 28 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 27 | 30 | 26 | 32 | 225 | $70.00 |
| 4 | Rusty Taylor | 32 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 228 | $60.00 |
| 5 | Jim Russell | 32 | 29 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 31 | 29 | 30 | 229 | $50.00 |
| Jim Cruse | 29 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 28 | 229 | $50.00 | |
| 7 | Dave Nutini | 27 | 29 | 28 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 31 | 29 | 235 | $50.00 |
| Clayton Craft | 31 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 31 | 27 | 29 | 235 | $50.00 | |
| 9 | Tony Davenport | 28 | 29 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 28 | 27 | 33 | 236 | $50.00 |
| 10 | Jim Comer | 26 | 31 | 31 | 26 | 35 | 30 | 29 | 30 | 238 | $25.00 |
| Chris Robertson | 31 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 35 | 30 | 26 | 30 | 238 | $25.00 | |
| 12 | Mike Conklin | 31 | 30 | 29 | 30 | 32 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 240 | |
| Brian Martin | 29 | 31 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 34 | 29 | 32 | 240 | ||
| 14 | Scott Buddie | 27 | 29 | 29 | 33 | 28 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 241 | |
| 15 | Craig Smith | 30 | 29 | 29 | 32 | 29 | 30 | 33 | 31 | 243 | |
| 16 | Mike Huckaby | 29 | 33 | 28 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 34 | 31 | 246 | |
| 17 | Bill Hammons | 28 | 33 | 28 | 31 | 38 | 34 | 29 | 31 | 252 | |
| Ray Guthrie | 29 | 33 | 27 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 34 | 252 | ||
| 19 | Rick Rybaczek | 36 | 29 | 32 | 27 | 34 | 31 | 33 | 34 | 256 | |
| Billy Caudle | 35 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 35 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 256 | ||
| 21 | Randy Shreve | 35 | 33 | 28 | 33 | 34 | 30 | 33 | 31 | 257 | |
| Dom Perry | 31 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 36 | 30 | 32 | 257 | ||
| 23 | Justin Taylor | 28 | 35 | 33 | 31 | 30 | 37 | 31 | 35 | 260 | |
| 24 | Andy McCoy | 33 | 36 | 34 | 31 | 25 | 35 | 31 | 36 | 261 | |