Randy Reeves' Final Round Proves to be Difference in Afternoon Event in Anderson
22 April 2000 - Anderson, SC - It had to take the sixth and final round of the entire day in Anderson for one player to shoot the lowest round of the entire day. Randy Reeves had to do that to defeat early morning winner Greg Newport by four shots when he shot the final round of 25 to claim his first victory since last year's season opener in Rock Hill.
Reeves and Newport were logged in a three-way tie at 60 after the second round along with Greg Ward. Not only was the 25 the lowest of the tournament and of the day, but is the lowest shot on the tricky Anderson Course 2 since Ward shot an amazing and blistering 23 last year, ironically on the second tournament of the first tour stop.
Keith Waters became the first player this season to have multiple victories on the South Carolina APA tour, winning with a score of 100. Waters held off Chris Hudson, who finished second at 101, and Jimmy Comer, who led early in the tournament at -8 after 15 of the round before an 11 on hole 16 knocked him out of contention for the rest of the day, and ended up third at 106.
The average score per round were better in the afternoon than in the morning, despite a late 3:00pm tee-off time, and continued breezily conditions. The average turned out to be 33.146, almost 1/2 stroke per round per field better than in the morning.
Other good performances from the Pro Division were Newport at 89, Ward, third at 92, tied with Dan Anders and Darrell Britt.
With Newport's first and second place finish on Saturday, he vaults into the top spot in the PPA Player of the Year points race, and is currently leading by 19 points over Reeves. In the APA Division, Waters leads current South Carolina state champion Brian Hutchins by 9.5 points for the lead.
Sixteen spots were paid out in this event with 99 placing for a 3-way split for the last available spot.
The qualifying spots from this tournament went to Reeves, who took both the State and Match Play spots, while Tony Jackson had the low two-tournament non-qualifying score and thus accepted the two-day State Championship spot.
South Carolina's next tour event will be this coming weekend, April 29 & 30 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as they will join the North Carolina tour for the first time this season for a combined weekend. The tournament on Saturday will be a three-rounder on Course 1 starting at 12:00pm, while on Sunday, it's the annual Carolinas' Open, six rounds on the same course with a 9:00am tee time. Kevin Lacey will be on hand to defend his title.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Anderson, SC Event (22 April 2000)
Afternoon Event
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Randy Reeves 30 30 25 85 $130.00 2 Greg Newport 31 29 29 89 $85.00 3 Dan Anders 29 35 28 92 $64.00 Darrell Britt 33 28 31 92 $64.00 Greg Ward 31 29 32 92 $64.00 6 Tony Jackson 33 29 31 93 $55.00 7 Rob Smarzik 30 32 32 94 $55.00 8 Todd Fowler 31 32 31 95 $50.00 Robert Johnson 28 36 31 95 $50.00 10 Todd Barfield 34 29 33 96 $43.00 Bart Bason 34 31 31 96 $43.00 12 Randal Smith 36 30 31 97 $40.00 13 Lewis Burton 35 31 32 98 $35.00 Brian Martin 33 33 32 98 $35.00 Rick Rybaczek 33 33 32 98 $35.00 16 Mike Brown 32 37 30 99 $12.00 Gary English 34 33 32 99 $12.00 Gary Hester 33 32 34 99 $12.00 19 Tony Pack 32 32 36 100 Frank Warren 31 34 35 100 21 Jay Klapper 30 36 35 101 Dave McCaslin 31 34 36 101 23 Robby Bryant 34 39 30 103 Bob Jackson 37 36 30 103 25 Tommy Barbour 38 37 31 106 Kevin Chambers 35 34 37 106 Michael Hitt 39 34 33 106 Bobby Kirby 39 34 33 106 29 Tony Varnadore 42 35 30 107 30 Ray Guthrie 36 41 31 108 31 Opie Roberts 38 37 35 113 32 Nick Gill 34 43 40 117 Amateur Division of Anderson, SC Event (22 April 2000)
Afternoon Event
Round Player 1 2 3 Total 1 Keith Waters 31 36 33 100 2 Chris Hudson 38 31 32 101 3 Jimmy Comer 38 35 33 106 4 Brian Hutchins 37 36 35 108 Adam Smith 38 37 33 108 6 Jonathan Reid 38 37 34 109 7 Tommy Hutchinson 39 39 34 112 Todd Trent 40 41 38 119 9 Steve Helton 43 42 37 122