2 April 2000 - Burlington, NC - On this raw, misty Sunday morning in Burlington, one player had three identical rounds of 25. Greg Ward, no stranger to winning on the beautiful Burlington course with three Elton Davis Memorial victories to his belt, added the Howard Loy Memorial to his collection.Greg Ward Wins 2000 Howard Loy Memorial by Four Strokes
Greg Ward winning the 1999 Elton Davis.
The sales rep from Loganville, Georgia opened with a first round lead of 25, tied with Chris Bunting for this honor. Another 25 in the second round gave him a three-shot lead over Mike Brown. Ward then began to break it wide open with a front nine 11 in the third round and cruised to his first win of the season with another 25 in that round to close the event at 75.
For the second straight day, the APA Division winner had to be decided by playoff, and once again, it involved Billy Caudle. This time, it was he and Brian Hutchins who faced off, after each competitor finished at 82. Hutchins forced the playoff being down two to Caudle heading into the final round after firing a 28 in the final round.
In the playoff, Hutchins ran four of the first seven, while Caudle could only salvage one of the first seven. Caudle then made the next three holes to tie it up at 4-under a piece, but did not ace again until the final hole, which at that time, Hutchins made four more holes down the stretch (12, 14, 16 & 17) to win the playoff for his second win of the season. Caudle did, however, receive the two-day low APA qualifying spot.
Special thanks were given out to Bobby Gilmore and Brian Patterson, owner and manager of the Burlington course, for having the course set it up in the perfect of conditions as always.
Greg Newport, a three-time winner of this event, finished in second at 79. Gary Hester and Larry Simpson finished in a tie for third at 81. And a five-way tie to round out the top five include Mike Brown, Mike Griffin, Ray Guthrie, Bill Kirby, and Randy Reeves, all in at 82. Fifteen spots were paid out in this event with the score 84 placing for a full share. Ward, with his victory, qualified for the NC State Championships, however, turned downed the Match Play spot. Newport, next in line, accepted the Match Play spot that followed.
The next NCPPA tournament will be in Durham on Saturday, April 8, at 12:00pm on Course 2, followed by a tournament in Roxboro on Course 1, Sunday, April 9 at 10:00am. Both tournaments are combined events with the Virginia tour.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Burlington, NC Event (2 April 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Ward 25 25 25 75 $150.00 2 Greg Newport 27 27 25 79 $110.00 3 Gary Hester 29 25 27 81 $85.00 Larry Simpson 28 27 26 81 $85.00 5 Mike Brown 27 26 29 82 $65.00 Mike Griffin 26 29 27 82 $65.00 Ray Guthrie 31 25 26 82 $65.00 Bill Kirby, Jr. 29 25 28 82 $65.00 Randy Reeves 27 29 26 82 $65.00 10 Chris Bunting 25 30 28 83 $45.00 Andy Coradini 27 28 28 83 $45.00 Bob Haizlip 32 24 27 83 $45.00 Rusty Taylor 28 27 28 83 $45.00 14 Bart Bason 26 28 30 84 $40.00 Opie Roberts 28 29 27 84 $40.00 16 Tommy Barbour 31 28 26 85 Edgar Hollifield 31 28 26 85 Robert Johnson 29 27 29 85 Randal Smith 29 28 28 85 Allen Wall 28 31 26 85 21 Glenwood Arrington 29 29 28 86 Rick Baird 27 30 29 86 C. L. Jones 30 30 26 86 24 Brad Lebo 29 31 27 87 Thomas Rawles 27 28 32 87 Buddy Taylor 29 27 31 87 Tony Varnadore 28 31 28 87 28 Bobby Kirby 31 29 28 88 29 Rick Rybaczek 34 27 28 89 30 Bill Walsh 34 27 31 92 Barry Wyatt 27 38 27 92 32 Tommy Hollifield 34 34 32 100 33 David Abshire 35 31 36 102 Professional Teams Scores for Burlington, NC Event (2 April 2000)
Round Total NC Prize Players 1 2 3 Score Points Money 1 G. Newport - R. Smith 56 55 53 164 14.50 $15.00 B. Haizlip - L. Simpson 60 51 53 164 14.50 $15.00 3 B. Bason - C. Bunting 51 58 58 167 12.50 R. Johnson - B. Kirby, Jr. 58 52 57 167 12.50 5 M. Brown - B. Lebo 56 57 56 169 10.50 R. Baird - A. Coradini 54 58 57 169 10.50 7 B. Taylor - R. Taylor 57 54 59 170 8.50 E. Hollifield - A. Wall 59 59 52 170 8.50 9 R. Guthrie - R. Rybaczek 65 52 54 171 7.00 10 C. L. Jones - B. Wyatt 57 68 53 178 6.00 Amateur Division of Burlington, NC Event (2 April 2000)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Brian Hutchins** 27 27 28 82 $20.00 2 Billy Caudle 25 27 30 82 $20.00 3 Keith Waters 28 29 26 83 4 Jamie Martin 31 29 27 87 5 Jimmy Comer 33 31 25 89 6 Richard Lorenz 31 31 29 91 7 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 32 31 30 93 8 Donnie Carpenter 30 31 35 96 Chuck Nance 35 30 31 96
** Defeated Billy Caudle 28-31 in an 18-hole playoff for the victory.
Novice Division of Burlington, NC Event (2 April 2000)
| Round | |||||
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | |
| 1 | Matthew Page | 31 | 25 | 27 | 83 |
| 2 | Austin Bissell | 34 | 32 | 32 | 98 |
| 3 | Roy Sigmon | 34 | 32 | 32 | 98 |