15 April 2000 - Rock Hill, SC - Inclement weather for the past couple of days in the Charlotte/Rock Hill area made the 2000 South Carolina season opener virtually impossible to start on time. However, there was a break in the weather for the amount of time the tournament was in progress, allowing for the event to finish before the next batch of rain set in.Britt Wins 2000 South Carolina PPA Opener with Final Round 25
Darrell Britt fired a final round 25 to win the Pro Division by one stroke over Greg Newport and Randy Reeves. The Atlanta, Georgia representative of the tour had to come back from three shots down to Edgar Hollifield after the second round to claim his first victory on the South Carolina tour since winning a tournament in Anderson on August 22, 1998.
Hollifield was in the house at 55 with the final 18 to play, but on the 3rd hole of the final round, he ran into a major stumbling block, when he eight-tapped to hole, not only losing the lead and tournament, but lost his bid for a top five position.
Reeves fired a 24 (best round of the tournament) in the first round to take the lead, but fell behind with a second round 32 to fall one back of the lead and maintained it for the final round.
Keith Waters defeated Billy Caudle by a score of 30 to 34 in an 18-hole playoff to determine the first winner of the APA division in South Carolina for the 2000 season. Waters had to ace the 54th hole in regulation to tie Caudle at 86. Jeff Greene and Tommy Hutchinson finished tied for third at 89.
Other results from the Pro Division include Reeves and reigning South Carolina Player of the Year Greg Newport finishing in a tie for second at 84, followed by two local players, Robert Johnson finishing fourth at 86, and Tony Varnadore in fifth at 87. Fourteen spots were paid out in this event with the score 91 placing for a 6-way split for five spots. Britt took the South Carolina PPA Qualifying Spot into the State Championship in Spartanburg, and also took the Match Play spot as well with his win on Saturday.
The next South Carolina tournament will be in Rock Hill again on Sunday, April 16, at 10:00am on Course 1. After that, they will then go to Anderson for a doubleheader tournament next Saturday, April 22, starting at 10:00am on Course 2 for the first event. The second event will start approximately one hour after the first event.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Rock Hill, SC Event (15 April 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Darrell Britt 30 28 25 83 $125.00 2 Greg Newport 30 27 27 84 $75.00 Randy Reeves 24 32 28 84 $75.00 4 Robert Johnson 29 29 28 86 $60.00 5 Tony Varnadore 27 31 29 87 $55.00 6 Todd Fowler 30 29 29 88 $50.00 7 Tommy Barbour 30 30 29 89 $48.00 Tony Pack 32 27 30 89 $48.00 9 Edgar Hollifield 26 29 35 90 $45.00 10 Peter Ansbacher 30 30 31 91 $31.00 Gary Hester 33 28 30 91 $31.00 Jay Klapper 33 29 29 91 $31.00 Brian Martin 30 34 27 91 $31.00 Opie Roberts 31 31 29 91 $31.00 Allen Wall 33 29 29 91 $31.00 16 Dan Ander 30 32 30 92 Ray Guthrie 32 34 26 92 Michael Hitt 30 34 28 92 19 Andy Coradini 31 32 30 93 Tommy Hollifield 33 31 29 93 Rick Rybaczek 32 30 31 93 22 Tony Jackson 33 28 33 94 23 Todd Barfield 35 30 30 95 Bob Jackson 29 35 31 95 Frank Warren 33 29 33 95 26 C. L. Jones 29 32 28 99 27 Kevin Chambers 34 32 34 100 28 Bobby Kirby 39 34 33 106 Amateur Division of Rock Hill, SC Event (15 April 2000)
Round Player 1 2 3 Total 1 Keith Water** 31 27 28 86 2 Billy Caudle 32 25 29 86 3 Jeff Greene 29 29 31 89 Tommy Hutchinson 28 31 30 89 5 Steve Helton 35 26 29 90 Jonathan Reid 29 30 31 90 7 Brian Hutchins 30 32 29 91 8 Mason Harkey 30 33 33 96 Adam Smith 38 33 25 96 Calvin Waldrop 33 30 33 96 11 Billy Walters 32 29 36 97 12 Chris Hudson 34 33 31 98 13 Lester Helms 30 33 37 100 14 Jimmy Comer 36 33 33 102 15 Zeb Head 35 34 35 104 16 J. L. Coffey 33 35 39 107
** Defeated Billy Caudle 30-34 in an 18-hole playoff for the victory.