Greg Ward Wins in Playoff, Again, in Spartanburg, SC
25 June 2000 - Spartanburg, SC - On Saturday, Greg Ward shot the low round in the first round in Spartanburg and lost the tournament. This time, he got redemption as Gary Hester shot the low round in the first round, and the tournament to Ward in the playoff.
Hester started the tournament just like Ward did the day before, an opening round 23 for a one-stroke lead. The two players would end the tournament at 78. Both participants started the playoff in sluggish form as they could only make two on the front nine. Ward turned it up on the back nine as an ace on hole 13 made the difference down the stretch as he defeated Hester -7 to -6 for his second win on the South Carolina tour, both in Spartanburg, and his second win in North Carolina as well, with the other being in Burlington.
For the second straight day, hazy and humid conditions were the elements for the tournament, and also, more than 40 professionals out for the combined event for both tours.
Who else would be the hottest player on the APA circuit than Chris Husdon? Before the year began, he had won zero tournaments, but over the span of the last two weeks, he has won three, all in a row. Hudson continued to charge his way into the points title with a commanding six-stroke win over Jonathan Reid. After starting the tournament at 26 and a one-stroke lead, Hudson put the jets on the second and third rounds in his continuing dominance for the weekend on Course 2, when he scored a total of 83. Reid was in second for the second straight day with a final score of 89, while Billy Caudle carded a score of 90 for the third position.
Todd Fowler regained the points lead after a third place finish on Sunday, missing the playoff by one stroke, and firing a final score of 79. Todd Barfield and Michael Hitt both shot final round 26's to finish tied for fourth at 82.
There were 21 spots paid out on Sunday with a score of 87 placing a gigantic split for six spots.
Fowler took the North Carolina Qualifying and Match Play spots. Rick Baird grabbed the South Carolina Qualifying spot. Ward took the South Carolina Match Play spot. Chris Bunting defeated C. L. Jones for the two-day South Carolina Qualifying Spot, and Hudson accepted the North Carolina APA 2-day spot.
The NCPPA and SCPPA will play again Saturday, July 14, at 12:00pm in Forest City, followed by a tournament in Gastonia the following day at 10:00am.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Spartanburg, SC Event (25 June 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Ward** 25 27 26 78 $150.00 2 Gary Hester 23 26 29 78 $110.00 3 Todd Fowler 24 28 27 79 $95.00 4 Todd Barfield 29 27 26 82 $78.00 Michael Hitt 25 31 26 82 $78.00 6 Rick Baird 28 28 27 83 $63.00 Darrell Britt 28 26 29 83 $63.00 8 Mike Flavin 29 27 28 84 $57.00 Rob Smarzik 26 25 33 84 $57.00 Tony Varnadore 32 27 25 84 $57.00 11 Tony Jackson 29 30 26 85 $47.00 Robert Johnson 28 26 31 85 $47.00 C. L. Jones 27 28 30 85 $47.00 Allen Wall 30 29 26 85 $47.00 15 Randy Reeves 28 30 28 86 $40.00 16 Dan Anders 27 29 31 87 $35.00 Chris Bunting 28 31 28 87 $35.00 Lewis Burton 29 27 31 87 $35.00 Nick Gill 32 25 30 87 $35.00 Bob Jackson 29 31 27 87 $35.00 Bill Kirby 28 30 29 87 $35.00 Randal Smith 27 31 29 87 $35.00 23 Bob Haizlip 30 29 29 88 Jay Klapper 30 29 29 88 Brad Lebo 30 28 30 88 Vance Randall 30 28 30 88 27 Andy Coradini 32 27 30 89 Greg Newport 30 30 29 89 Tony Pack 30 29 30 89 Rick Rybaczek 32 30 27 89 Frank Warren 30 29 30 89 32 Gary English 31 28 31 90 Edgar Hollifield 29 32 29 90 Larry Simpson 28 29 33 90 35 Robby Bryant 29 29 33 91 Gilbert Sharpe 30 32 29 91 37 Bobby Kirby 30 34 28 92 38 Bart Bason 34 29 30 93 39 Ray Guthrie 29 34 31 94 Brian Martin 33 30 31 94 41 Kevin Chambers 34 30 32 96 Opie Roberts 32 32 32 96 ** Defeated Gary Hester 29-30 in playoff for first.
Amateur Division of Spartanburg, SC Event (25 June 2000)
Round Player 1 2 3 Total 1 Chris Hudson 26 29 28 83 2 Jonathan Reid 30 31 28 89 3 Billy Caudle 31 31 28 90 4 Steve Helton 34 30 27 91 5 Tommy Hutchinson 27 31 34 92 6 Steve Vaughan 31 31 31 93 Keith Waters 33 30 30 93 8 Jimmy Comer 27 34 34 95 9 Todd Trent 33 33 31 97 10 Billy Walters 39 30 30 99 11 Robin Trent 33 34 33 100 12 Darren Harvey 39 39 40 118 13 Zeb Head 47 41 37 125