Greg Ward Back in Form Winning Afternoon Event in Anderson, SC
26 August 2000 - Anderson, SC - After a disappointing 18th place finish earlier in the day, Greg Ward took it out on the field in the afternoon in his quest for his third win of the season in South Carolina, to go with the two Spartanburg wins he compiled earlier this year. The three-time South Carolina State Champion busted open with the first round lead at 27, then followed with a second round 26 for a commanding five-stroke lead over Bobby Ward, and let up with a final round 31 only to win by three shots over fellow Atlanta player Lewis Burton.
Ward, known for his course record of 23 at Anderson, SC in 1999, was on target throughout the afternoon. The score of 53 after the second round was the lowest two-round score shot in the four tournaments played this year in Anderson. With the victory, which was his third, he clinched a spot on the South Carolina Clayton Cup team, and also grabs the overall points lead over Robert Johnson. Todd Fowler, who was leading the points when the day began, dropped to fourth behind Ward, Johnson, and Randy Reeves with only one tournament left in the season. That will take place in Spartanburg's Course 2, one day before their State Championship on October 1.
Avenging from an earlier defeat was Billy Caudle, who started the day with the lead at 29 after the first round. Caudle cruised to his fourth win this year with a four-shot advantage over Jonathan Reid. Caudle played consistent to his finish at 93. Reid ended up second at 97, while Jimmy Comer bounced back from a bad performance in the morning, finishing five shots better at 98.
The second place finish for Reid was enough to clinch South Carolina APA Player of the Year for the first time in his career. Chris Hudson ended up runner-up that included a stretch of six consecutive wins during the middle of the season.
Burton fired rounds of 31, 28, and 28 to wind up at 87 for second. Greg Newport, who won earlier in the day, and Randy Reeves, with an earlier top five finish during the day, both shot 88 for a third place tie. Rick Rybaczek bounced back from an opening round 35 to finish fifth at 90. There were 15 spots paid out in this event with once again the score of 96 placing this time as a four-way split for the final two spots.
The qualifying spots from this tournament went to Rob Smarzik, who received only the State Championship spot into Spartanburg, and Bobby Ward, who took the Match Play spot, to be played on Sunday. Kevin Chambers had the low two-tournament combined score for non-qualifiers for the other State spot given out in this tournament.
The South Carolina tour will play again in Anderson on Sunday, August 27, at 10:00am on Course 2 for the third annual South Carolina Match Play Championship. Darrell Britt is the defending champion of this event.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Anderson, SC Event (26 August 2000)
Afternoon Event
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Ward 27 26 31 84 $125.00 2 Lewis Burton 31 28 28 87 $80.00 3 Greg Newport 30 32 26 88 $65.00 Randy Reeves 32 30 26 88 $65.00 5 Rick Rybaczek 35 28 27 90 $60.00 6 Mike Flavin 30 31 32 93 $51.00 Edgar Hollifield 28 35 30 93 $51.00 Tony Jackson 28 34 31 93 $51.00 Robert Johnson 32 29 32 93 $51.00 Rob Smarzik 32 30 31 93 $51.00 11 Bobby Ward 29 29 36 94 $40.00 Kevin Chambers 30 32 32 94 $40.00 13 Dan Anders 28 31 36 95 $35.00 14 Todd Barfield 33 30 33 96 $18.00 Michael Hitt 33 32 31 96 $18.00 Jay Klapper 31 31 34 96 $18.00 Vance Randall 30 36 30 96 $18.00 19 Robby Bryant 35 31 31 97 20 Gary English 29 35 34 98 Nick Gill 34 33 31 98 Bob Jackson 28 35 35 98 22 Bob Haizlip 35 31 33 99 23 Darrell Britt 30 37 33 100 Todd Fowler 33 33 34 100 25 Ray Guthrie 31 34 36 101 26 Tony Pack 37 34 31 102 27 Opie Roberts 36 29 38 103 28 Mark Ross 34 35 36 105 29 Bobby Kirby 35 34 39 108 30 Tommy Barbour 37 44 32 113 31 Tony Varnadore 35 43 36 114 Amateur Division of Anderson, SC Event (26 August 2000)
Afternoon Event
Round Player 1 2 3 Total 1 Billy Caudle 29 33 31 93 2 Jonathan Reid 31 32 34 97 3 Jimmy Comer 33 33 32 98 4 Keith Waters 35 36 29 100 5 Adam Smith 37 32 33 102 6 Tommy Hutchinson 36 30 37 103 7 Todd Trent 35 37 34 106 8 Steve Helton 32 39 37 108 9 Chris Hudson 37 37 35 109 10 Stan Seethoff 45 32 34 111 11 Robin Trent 36 37 40 113 12 Chance Mathews 53 38 50 141 13 Darren Harvey 58 48 69 175