Kevin Garrett Wins First Major Title as Pro on Virginia Tour
Kevin Garrett plays the 18th hole in the playoff with Dave Taylor.
Photo courtesy of Walter Kolb
Newport News, VA - 22 August 1999 - The fast carpet on the Newport News, VA Putt-Putt Golf Course made for challenging conditions and unusually low scores in the 1999 Virginia Putting Classic. This annual four round major on the Virginia Tour, traditionally played at the Newport News course, is the third major of the year on the Virginia Tour for 1999.
Kevin Garrett opened the 1999 Virginia Putting Classic making eight out of the nine holes on the front nine for a front nine of 10, 8-under par. Garrett's opening round of 23, 13-under par, gave him a slim one-stroke lead over defending 1998 Virginia Putting Classic Champion, Dave Taylor. Garrett retained his one-stroke lead through two-rounds with a two-round total of 50, 22-under par, once again one-stroke ahead of Dave Taylor at 51. Brad Lebo's third round of 24, 12-under par, moved him from two-strokes off the pace into the lead at 76, 32-under par. Entering the final round, Lebo lead at 76 with Taylor at 77, Garrett at 78, and Neumann at 79. It appeared to be a four-player race for first place in the final round.
Garrett pulled into a tie for the lead shooting 6-under par on the front nine to tie Lebo for the lead. Taylor trailed by one-stroke and Neumann by four-strokes. Taylor, playing in the first group, aced five out of his last six holes on the back nine including the last three to post a final round of 27 for a total of 104, 40-under par. Lebo, also playing in the first group, suffered an untimely bogey on the 14th hole, and posted a final round of 30 for a total of 106. Garrett, playing in the third group was able to post a final round 26 for a total of 104, 40-under par, to tie Dave Taylor and force an 18-hole playoff. In the playoff, Garrett prevailed shooting a 29, 7-under par, to defeat Dave Taylor by one-stroke. Taylor suffered three bogeys during the 18-hole playoff including one on the difficult 15th hole. The win moved Kevin Garrett from 8th on the Virginia Tour points list into 6th place solidifying his place on the 1999 Virginia Clayton Cup Team.
In the amateur division, Steven Jones of Richmond, Virginia used a final round of 29 to post a total of 115, 29-under par, for a one-stroke victory over Chuck Cyr who close with a final round of 27 but came up one-stroke short of forcing a playoff. Leader after three rounds, Wayne Saunders, closed with a final round of 33 but was still able to hold onto third place ahead of Matt Summey, current APA points leader on the Virginia State Tour.
The Elton Davis, played August 28th and 29th, in Burlington, North Carolina is the next tournament on the North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia State Tour schedules. The Virginia Tour returns to action the weekend of October 2nd and 3rd for the Virginia State Championship held at the Lynchburg, Virginia Putt-Putt Golf Course.
Professional Scores from the 1999 Virginia Putting Classic
(Newport News, VA - 22 August 1999)
| Round | VA |
|||||||
Player |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Prize Money |
Points |
|
| 1 | Kevin Garrett | 23 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 104 | $300.00 | 25 |
| 2 | Dave Taylor | 24 | 27 | 26 | 27 | 104 | $185.00 | 20 |
| 3 | Brad Lebo | 25 | 27 | 24 | 30 | 106 | $140.00 | 19 |
| 4 | Peter Neumann | 29 | 24 | 26 | 32 | 111 | $125.00 | 18 |
| 5 | Mike Brown | 27 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 113 | $110.00 | 17 |
| 6 | Gilbert Sharpe | 30 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 115 | $33.33 | 15 |
| Buddy Taylor | 33 | 28 | 25 | 29 | 115 | $33.33 | 15 | |
| Thomas Rawles | 27 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 115 | $33.33 | 15 | |
| 9 | Rusty Taylor | 28 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 116 | 12 | |
| Manfred Stewart | 27 | 30 | 29 | 30 | 116 | 12 | ||
| Ed Grajewski | 28 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 116 | 12 | ||
| 12 | Gary Hinshaw | 28 | 29 | 33 | 30 | 120 | 10 | |
| 13 | Danny Dore | 34 | 29 | 28 | 31 | 122 | 9 | |
Amateur Scores from the 1999 Virginia Putting
Classic
(Newport News, VA - 22 August 1999)
| Round | VA |
|||||||
Player |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Prize Money |
Points |
|
| 1 | Steven Jones | 32 | 27 | 27 | 29 | 115 | $25.00 | 20 |
| 2 | Chuck Cyr | 30 | 29 | 30 | 27 | 116 | $25.00 | 15 |
| 3 | Wayne Saunders | 27 | 29 | 28 | 33 | 117 | $25.00 | 14 |
| 4 | Matt Summey | 30 | 34 | 30 | 25 | 119 | $25.00 | 13 |
| 5 | Bill Garrett | 30 | 32 | 31 | 28 | 121 | $8.33 | 11 |
| Wesley Pollard | 34 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 121 | $8.33 | 11 | |
| Bernard Pfieffer | 31 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 121 | $8.33 | 11 | |
| 8 | Malcolm Shumaker | 33 | 27 | 32 | 30 | 122 | 8.5 | |
| Ken Schooler | 33 | 24 | 33 | 32 | 122 | 8.5 | ||
| 10 | Jonathan Moore | 32 | 30 | 30 | 31 | 123 | 7 | |
| 11 | Wayne Cheatham | 33 | 25 | 33 | 34 | 125 | 4.5 | |
| Joe Gallagher | 27 | 33 | 37 | 28 | 124 | 4.5 | ||
| Walter Kolb | 32 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 124 | 4.5 | ||
| Bob Chetister | 31 | 34 | 28 | 32 | 125 | 4.5 | ||
| 15 | Philip Wagoner | 29 | 31 | 30 | 38 | 128 | 2 | |
| 16 | Marty Handschuh | 35 | 36 | 37 | 28 | 136 | 1 | |
| 17 | Gil Logan | 38 | 33 | 33 | 34 | 138 | 1 | |
| 18 | Amy Smith | 36 | 37 | 32 | 34 | 139 | 1 | |
| 19 | Keith Simpson | 41 | 40 | 32 | 34 | 147 | 1 | |
Novice Scores from the 1999 Virginia Putting Classic
(Newport News, VA - 22 August 1999)
Round |
||||||
Player |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|
| 1 | Tracy Logan | 35 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 134 |