Newport Defeats Fowler Again in Playoff for Palmetto Classic
11 June 2000 - Rock Hill, SC - Last year, Greg Newport was in the last group and had to make 18 in Spartanburg to put himself in a four-way playoff for first in the Palmetto Classic, in which Todd Fowler was also involved. The tide had turned on Sunday when Newport was waiting in the clubhouse and Fowler, being in the last pairing, made 18 to force the playoff with Newport for the second straight year in the fourth Palmetto Classic held in Rock Hill on Course 2.
Fowler had tied Randy Reeves for the 54-hole lead at 77 and led Newport by one going into the last round, after Newport carded a 23 in the third round to move up on the field. The defending champion in Newport was determined that he would not let his successful defense of the title be slipped away as he shot the fourth and final round of 25 to go in at 103. Newport had to wait at least a half-hour while Fowler just started his final round. Fowler got to -7 after 12 holes, and made three of the final six, including the 72nd hole of regulation to go to the playoff.
In the playoff, Newport got off to a hot start shooting 13 on the front and led by two over the 1997 South Carolina PPA State Champion Fowler. Fowler started the back nine making three in a row to take the lead -6 to -5. Newport made three in a row of his own afterwards to retake the lead -8 to -7 with three holes to play. Fowler could not make any more and Newport closed the playoff with an ace for his second straight victory in the fourth annual major on the South Carolina tour. With that, he now leads by 4.5 points over Fowler in the South Carolina PPA Player of the Year race with nine tournaments left on the schedule.
The Rock Hill streak of victories for Jimmy Comer finally ended in a playoff as well. After opening the tournament at 24, he finally started to back up to the field, while Chris Hudson started to make a comeback when he then took the lead in the third round. Hudson fired a 29 in the last frame, but Comer came back with a 28 to force the second consecutive Palmetto Classic APA playoff. Comer led by one over Hudson after nine, but could not buy another ace until hole 17, but it was too late as Hudson sealed it making the last two holes to win his first major in South Carolina by two strokes. The win was also his first career APA win as well. Jonathan Reid finished in third at 115.
The low round of the tournament was 23, held by Randy Reeves, Greg Newport, and Robert Johnson. Eighteen spots were paid out in the event as the score of 113 was a four-way split for the lone remaining spot.
Todd Barfield and Randy Reeves finished in a tie for third, three back at 106. Barfield was the leader after the second round at 51, while Reeves led the first round with the 23. Lewis Burton, C. L. Jones, and Frank Warren finished tied for fifth at 107. Rounding out the top 10 at 108 were 1998 Palmetto Champion Dan Anders, 1994 SC State Champion Rick Baird, and 1999 Virginia State Champion Randal Smith. Spots from the tournament went to Frank Warren, who defeated C. L. Jones in the playoff for the state qualifying and match play spots, and Dan Anders captured the two-day low medallist spot.
Special thanks went out to Gary Weiler and his staff for the fine work they did to get the course ready for the Palmetto Classic.
South Carolina will take next weekend off, and will resume play on Saturday & Sunday, June 24 & 25 in Spartanburg on Course 2, the site of the 2000 State Championship. The weekend will be combined with the North Carolina tour. Starting time will be 12:00pm on Saturday.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Palmetto Classic (11 June 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 4 Total Money 1 Greg Newport ** 24 31 23 25 103 $200.00 2 Todd Fowler 26 26 25 26 103 $150.00 3 Todd Barfield 25 26 27 28 106 $105.00 Randy Reeves 23 29 25 29 106 $105.00 5 Lewis Burton 26 29 27 25 107 $90.00 C. L. Jones 26 30 27 24 107 $90.00 Frank Warren 25 30 26 26 107 $90.00 8 Dan Anders 28 28 24 28 108 $80.00 Rick Baird 26 28 25 29 108 $80.00 Randal Smith 27 26 27 28 108 $80.00 11 Michael Hitt 24 30 26 29 109 $70.00 12 Tony Jackson 30 27 26 27 110 $58.00 Robert Johnson 30 30 27 23 110 $58.00 Allen Wall 24 31 27 28 110 $58.00 Greg Ward 30 27 27 26 110 $58.00 16 Gary English 29 27 28 27 111 $50.00 Ray Guthrie 26 29 30 27 111 $50.00 18 Jay Klapper 27 29 27 30 113 $13.00 Rick Rybaczek 28 27 29 29 113 $13.00 Rob Smarzik 31 28 28 26 113 $13.00 Tony Varnadore 30 27 27 29 113 $13.00 22 Darrell Britt 28 29 27 30 114 Tommy Hollifield 24 31 30 29 114 24 Bart Bason 29 25 30 31 115 25 Bob Haizlip 31 29 29 28 117 Tony Pack 29 31 28 29 117 27 Edgar Hollifield 29 34 30 25 118 28 Tommy Barbour 27 29 29 34 119 Gary Benfield 26 31 29 33 119 Opie Roberts 30 33 27 29 119 Larry Simpson 31 31 30 27 119 32 Chris Bunting 30 32 32 31 125 Kevin Chambers 31 33 31 30 125 34 Brian Martin 34 31 30 31 126 35 Bob Jackson 31 34 33 33 131 36 Peter Ansbacher 31 36 34 31 132 ** Defeated Todd Fowler 27-29 in 18-hole playoff for first.
Amateur Division of Palmetto Classic (11 June 2000)
Round Player 1 2 3 Total 1 Chris Hudson ** 30 26 28 29 113 2 Jimmy Comer 24 29 32 28 113 3 Jonathan Reid 29 26 33 27 115 4 Steve Helton 28 33 29 26 116 Tommy Hutchinson 32 28 30 26 116 7 Steve Vaughan 31 31 29 28 119 8 Billy Caudle 34 26 30 30 120 9 Todd Trent 32 30 28 31 121 10 Billy Walters 30 31 31 31 123 11 Chuck Nance 32 34 31 33 130 12 Zeb Head 33 32 33 33 131 13 Robin Trent 31 35 31 38 135 14 Chance Mathews 36 42 37 44 159
** Defeated Jimmy Comer 28-30 in playoff for victory.