Greg Ward Posts Two-Stroke Victory in Charleston, WV Warm-up Event
Charleston, WV – Greg Ward, winner of the 1999 Southern Open and the 1999 Western Open already this year, entered the third and final round of play four strokes behind Mike Brown. Brown, leading after one round with an opening round of 23, 13-under par, and leading after two rounds with a score of 48, 24-under par, struggled on the front nine of the final round and could only post a final round of 31 for a three round total of 79, 29-under par.
Ward, trailing by four entering the final round, fired a 10, 8-under par, on the front nine to move into a tie for the lead with nine holes remaining. Jim Heikkinen who was at 50, 22-under par, entering the final round, fired a 12, 6-under par, to be tied with Ward with the back nine to play. Neither Ward nor Heikkinen was the hottest player on the course as Randy Reeves, 1997 National Champion, fired a perfect nine on the front nine to move within one stroke of the lead.
Ward's back nine of 12, 6-under par, gave him a final round of 22, 14-under par, and a three round total of 74, 34-under par. Jim Heikkinen who entered the back nine tied with Ward finished with a total of 77 good for a third place finish. Randy Reeves continued in hot play finishing with a final round of 22 for a total of 76 and second place finish. In a five-way tie for fourth were Roger Beckerman, Mike Brown, Kevin Lacey, Mike O'Rourke, and Tom Butler all at 79, 29-under par.
The Great Lakes Tour is next in action on August 21st and 22nd in Mansfield, Ohio. The Virginia Tour plays their two-person team championship on Saturday, August 21st, and the Virginia Putting Classic on Sunday, August 22nd, in Newport News, VA. The South Carolina State Tour plays in Asheville, NC on August 21st and 22nd. The North Carolina Tour returns to action at the Elton Davis in Burlington, NC on August 28th and 29th. The Texas State Tour plays the Central Texas Challenge on August 21st and 22nd in Waco and Killeen, TX.
Professional Scores from the 1999 Charleston, WV Event (12 August 1999)
Round Virginia Great Lakes Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Points Points Money 1 Greg Ward 27 25 22 74 20 $200.00 2 Randy Reeves 28 26 22 76 19 $125.00 3 Jim Heikkinen 25 25 27 77 18 $100.00 4 Roger Beckerman 25 29 25 79 15 $70.00 Mike Brown 23 25 31 79 15 $70.00 Kevin Lacey 29 27 23 79 15 $70.00 Mike O'Rourke 26 28 25 79 15 $70.00 Tom Butler 26 25 28 79 15 $70.00 9 Kevin Garrett 29 27 24 80 12 $45.00 10 Rusty Taylor 24 26 31 81 11 $45.00 11 Jim Cruse 29 26 27 82 8.5 $40.00 Rainey Statum 26 26 30 82 8.5 $40.00 Jim Palisano 25 29 28 82 8.5 $40.00 Rich Gillooly 26 29 27 82 8.5 $40.00 15 Greg Roberts 30 25 28 83 5 $13.33 Jim Engel 30 25 28 83 5 $13.33 Bill Kirby, Jr. 26 27 30 83 5 $13.33 18 Todd Barfield 26 31 27 84 2 Mike McCormack 27 29 28 84 2 Bill Baus 30 26 26 84 2 21 David McCaslin 28 28 29 85 1 Manfred Stewart 29 27 29 85 1 23 Scott Buddie 26 30 31 87 1 Jay Klapper 28 32 27 87 1 Craig Williams 30 26 31 87 1 26 Brad Lebo 32 28 28 88 1 Robert Johnson 29 28 31 88 1 29 Buddy Taylor 30 29 30 89 1 Ken Hastings 32 28 29 89 1 30 Paul Pastilong 31 29 30 90 1 31 Tony Jackson 30 32 35 97 1 Jim Phillips 32 31 34 97 1 33 John Ventura 35 30 33 98 1 Mark Hasty 34 33 31 98 1 35 Barb Mingo 32 33 34 99 1
Amateur Scores from the 1999 Charleston, WV Event (12 August 1999)
| Round | Virginia | Great Lakes | Prize | |||||
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | Points | Points | Money | |
| 1 | Joe Gallagher | 84 | 15 | $ 25.00 | ||||
| 2 | Jeff Brown | 84 | 14 | $ 25.00 | ||||
| 3 | Matt Coghill | 86 | 13 | $ 25.00 | ||||
| 4 | Mike Conklin | 87 | 11 | $ 25.00 | ||||
| Steven Jones | 87 | 11 | $ 25.00 | |||||
| Matt Summey | 87 | 11 | $ 25.00 | |||||
| 7 | John Kropinak | 88 | 8 | $ 8.33 | ||||
| Gil Logan | 88 | 8 | $ 8.33 | |||||
| Terry Sanner | 88 | 8 | $ 8.33 | |||||
| 10 | Robin Ventura | 89 | 6 | |||||
| 11 | Wesley Pollard | 91 | 5 | |||||
| 12 | Chuck Cyr | 92 | 4 | |||||
| 13 | Harry Sykes | 93 | 3 | |||||
| 14 | Ken Schooler, Jr. | 94 | 2 | |||||
| 15 | David Sharp | 95 | 1 | |||||
| 16 | Jonathan Moore | 96 | 1 | |||||
| 17 | Bill Garrett | 98 | 1 | |||||
| 18 | Bill Combs | 102 | 1 | |||||
| 19 | Amy Smith | 105 | 1 | |||||
| 20 | Karen Hastings | 107 | 1 | |||||