Michael Hitt Moves Up on Field for First Win of 2000
10 June 2000 - Rock Hill, SC - Heading into the upcoming Palmetto Classic to be played on Sunday, Michael Hitt had to show the tour on Saturday that he wanted to be the favorite to win the Classic by picking up his first win of the season on the South Carolina tour in Rock Hill with a final round 25 for a one-shot win over Robert Johnson and Tony Pack.
Hitt had to move over six players after the second round in his run for his first win of the season. Leader Robert Johnson had shot 23, one of three players to shoot best round in the tournament, to go in at 51, and led by one over first round leader Allen Wall, and by two over Greg Newport, Lewis Burton, Tony Varnadore and Bart Bason. The final round was the best round between those players en route to victory.
The tournament was greeted by bright sunny skies and seasonable warm temperatures. The win by Hitt stopped Todd Fowler's streak of two straight victories on Course 2.
The last time Jimmy Comer visited Rock Hill, he walked away with the weekend sweep. On Saturday, he continued his mastery on that course as he opened the day with a 24 through the first round, extended it to six, and cruised for his fourth win of the season in South Carolina by eight shots. Comer shot the lowest South Carolina APA score to date at 79, good enough to win by the largest margin of the season in the APA. Chris Hudson shot 87 for second, and Tommy Hutchinson finished one back of Hudson in third at 88.
Robert Johnson and Tony Pack finished in second at 80, while rounding out the top five were Dan Anders, Lewis Burton, Greg Newport, Tony Varnadore, Allen Wall, and Greg Ward all two back at 81. There were seventeen spots were paid out in this event with a score 84 placing for a five-way split for four spots. Hitt took both the qualifying and Match Play spots for later this year with his win on Saturday.
South Carolina resumes play on Sunday, June 11, in Rock Hill on Course 2. Sunday's tournament will be the Palmetto Classic, four rounds with a tee-time starting at 10:00am. Saturday's event will start at 12:00pm.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Rock Hill, SC Event (10 June 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Michael Hitt 27 27 25 79 $135.00 2 Robert Johnson 28 23 29 80 $85.00 Tony Pack 27 27 26 80 $85.00 4 Dan Anders 28 30 23 81 $60.00 Lewis Burton 29 24 28 81 $60.00 Greg Newport 26 27 28 81 $60.00 Tony Varnadore 28 25 28 81 $60.00 Allen Wall 25 27 29 81 $60.00 Greg Ward 28 28 25 81 $60.00 10 Todd Fowler 30 25 27 82 $48.00 Edgar Hollifield 29 26 27 82 $40.00 12 Jay Klapper 30 28 25 83 $40.00 Rob Smarzik 30 30 23 83 $40.00 14 Rick Baird 30 26 28 84 $28.00 Todd Barfield 27 30 27 84 $28.00 Bart Bason 27 26 31 84 $28.00 C. L. Jones 28 30 26 84 $28.00 Randy Reeves 28 29 27 84 $28.00 19 Frank Warren 29 30 26 85 20 Peter Ansbacher 28 29 29 86 21 Gary English 29 28 30 87 Opie Roberts 27 29 31 87 Larry Simpson 32 27 28 87 24 Bob Haizlip 29 30 29 88 Tony Jackson 28 30 30 88 Randal Smith 27 32 29 88 27 Tommy Barbour 30 26 33 89 Chris Bunting 30 29 31 89 Brian Martin 31 29 29 89 30 Kevin Chambers 28 27 35 90 Bob Jackson 34 37 29 90 32 Ray Guthrie 27 32 32 91 Rick Rybaczek 26 32 33 91 34 Gary Benfield 29 33 32 94 35 Nick Gill 32 37 32 101 Amateur Division of Rock Hill, SC Event (10 June 2000)
Round Player 1 2 3 Total 1 Jimmy Comer 24 26 29 79 2 Chris Hudson 30 29 28 87 3 Tommy Hutchinson 26 30 32 88 4 Billy Caudle 29 31 30 90 5 Steve Helton 31 30 31 92 6 William Glisson 30 32 31 93 7 Billy Walters 34 29 30 93 8 Jonathan Reid 31 32 31 94 9 Chuck Nance 35 32 31 98 10 Zeb Head 35 36 34 105