Guthrie Wins Wayne Hancock Memorial for First Career Professional Win
28 May 2000 - High Point, NC - Rookie pro Ray Guthrie took care of business in the Wayne Hancock Memorial as he carded three consecutive 26's on Sunday for his first tour win as a professional. On a day where average seasonal temperatures and sprinkles at times throughout the day, scores were considerably lower when 16 players were within four shots of the lead at one point.
Guthrie, the 1999 North Carolina APA Player of the Year and State Champion, turned pro for the 2000 season, as has been off to a great start in his rookie year. Never had he won in High Point as an amateur in 11 events (including the State Championship in 1996), but finally collected his first win in his second attempt there as a pro. The local found himself trailing by one shot to Michael Hitt and Allen Wall, before continuing his controllable play with an 11 on the front nine for the outright lead, and hung on shooting -3 on the back for a two-shot win over Hitt, Wall, and Saturday's winner in Martinsville C. L. Jones.
Guthrie's win is the first by a rookie on the North Carolina tour since 1984. Guthrie also takes the lead in the North Carolina points and is, at this time, the overall money leader.
Jimmy Comer, another local, managed to win for the second time this season winning with a score of 82. Comer led from the get-go after being tied with Billy Caudle
at 27 through the first 18, and then took the lead for good by one shot as he popped up another 27 and then held on for a two-shot win. The win also was the fourth time in the last five attempts in this tournament, which was named after Wayne Hancock, who was one of the best amateurs of his time before his untimely death.
Defending champion Bart Bason and Rick Baird rounded out the top five being three shots back at 81. The low round of the tournament went to Opie Roberts who carded a second round 23, after shooting a dismal 32 in the first round going -1 after 14 holes, then made 16 of the following 22 in play. He and Bill Kirby finished tied for seventh at 82. Five other players shot 83 for a tie for ninth.
There were 15 spots paid out in this event as 85 was a two-way split for the last spot. Qualifying spots went to Guthrie, as he took both the NC Qualifying and Match Play spots to be held in Greensboro and Forest City respectively. Hitt defeated Wall in a playoff for the other available Match Play spot. Steve Vaughan grabbed the two-day APA low qualifier.
North Carolina will be back in action on Saturday & Sunday, June 17 & 18 in Lynchburg, Virginia. That weekend will be combined with the Virginia tour as Andy Coradini will be the defender there. Starting time for the June 17 event will be at 12:00pm on Course 1, and the following day, tee-off time will be 11:00am.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of High Point, NC Event (28 May 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Ray Guthrie 26 26 26 78 $150.00 2 Michael Hitt 27 24 29 80 $93.00 C. L. Jones 26 27 27 80 $93.00 Allen Wall 25 26 29 80 $93.00 5 Rick Baird 28 25 28 81 $72.00 Bart Bason 28 27 26 81 $72.00 7 Bill Kirby 29 24 29 82 $62.00 Opie Roberts 32 23 27 82 $62.00 9 Andy Coradini 28 25 30 83 $47.00 Gary English 27 25 31 83 $47.00 Bob Haizlip 28 26 29 83 $47.00 Gary Hester 26 28 29 83 $47.00 Robert Johnson 29 26 28 83 $47.00 14 Jay Klapper 27 27 30 84 $40.00 15 Larry Simpson 30 27 28 85 $20.00 Randal Smith 28 27 30 85 $20.00 17 Brad Lebo 30 29 27 86 18 Glenwood Arrington 30 27 31 88 Edgar Hollifield 24 31 33 88 20 Mike Griffin 31 29 29 89 Rick Rybaczek 30 26 33 89 Tony Varnadore 30 31 28 89 23 Greg Newport 29 32 29 90 Randy Reeves 32 31 27 90 25 Don Thompson 27 33 31 91 26 David Abshire 33 30 30 93 27 Chris Bunting 30 30 34 94 Tony Jackson 32 30 32 94 29 Barry Wyatt 33 28 34 95 30 Bill Walsh 34 31 34 99 31 Michael Cardwell 33 33 34 100 Amateur Division of High Point, NC Event (28 May 2000)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Jimmy Comer 27 27 28 82 $20.00 2 Billy Caudle 27 28 29 84 $20.00 3 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 30 30 26 86 4 Steve Vaughan 29 30 32 91 5 Adam Smith 32 32 29 93 6 Walter Kolb 33 33 28 94 Keith Waters 29 30 29 94 8 Chuck Nance 34 35 32 101