Brad Lebo Wins His First South Carolina Tournament
30 September 2000 - Spartanburg, SC - Brad Lebo, playing in only his seventh South Carolina tournament this season, had to qualify on Saturday to get into the state on Sunday. The Pennsylvania Pro overcame this pressure on Saturday as he shot rounds of 25 and 24 to take the lead at 49 after the second round, and won his first tournament of his career in South Carolina. Lebo won over a 39-player field competing for the state on Sunday.
Lebo trailed by two shots after the first round as Tony Varnadore opened the beautiful early autumn-like day with a 23. Lebo also was tied for fourth when he continued his successful play on Course 2. The second round 24 gave himself a one-shot lead over Michael Hitt, who despite two 4's in the first two rounds was in at 50. Lebo clinched his victory when he made hole 15 to go to 30-under par for the tournament and ended up with a two-shot win over Dan Anders and Greg Ward.
Michael Hitt and Tony Varnadore finished in a tie for fourth at 80. The low round went to Varnadore with his 23 in the first round. There were 19 spots paid in this tournament as the score of 84 placed a full share.
Lebo took the qualifying spot from this tournament, while Ray Guthrie and defending state champion Jay Klapper received the two wild card spots from the event.
The pros begin their State Championship on Sunday, but the APA began their State Championship on Saturday with their first three rounds of the six-round championship. Tommy Hutchinson shot a third round 26 to break a second round tie from Jonathan Reid and has a one-stroke lead over Reid, with a score of 82. Hutchinson trailed first round leaders Jimmy Comer and Steve Helton by two shots after a 29, but a second round 27 put himself in position to take the lead at the break. Reid is in second at 83, while Comer is third at 85 when play resumes on Sunday.
Also, the naming of the 2000 South Carolina Clayton Cup team was announced. The team will consist of Greg Ward, Todd Fowler, Robert Johnson, Randy Reeves, Michael Hitt, Darrell Britt, Tony Jackson, Tony Varnadore, Lewis Burton, and Todd Barfield. Britt and Reeves will be participating in their first ever Clayton Cup as the team will head to Richmond to take on Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina in two weeks.
The South Carolina State Championship will be played on Sunday, October 1, starting at 9:00am on Course 2 in Spartanburg. The pros will play their six rounds for the entire day, while the amateurs will finish their final three rounds.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Spartanburg, SC Event (30 September 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Brad Lebo 25 24 28 77 $150.00 2 Dan Anders 25 26 28 79 $95.00 Greg Ward 26 29 24 79 $95.00 4 Michael Hitt 24 26 30 80 $75.00 Tony Varnadore 23 28 29 80 $75.00 6 Tony Pack 26 27 28 81 $60.00 7 Lewis Burton 28 28 26 82 $54.00 Edgar Hollifield 29 25 28 82 $54.00 Randal Smith 29 24 29 82 $54.00 10 Rick Baird 28 26 29 83 $44.00 Darrell Britt 26 28 29 83 $44.00 Andy Coradini 29 25 29 83 $44.00 Ray Guthrie 26 27 30 83 $44.00 Tony Jackson 29 25 29 83 $44.00 15 Todd Barfield 24 33 27 84 $35.00 Chris Bunting 30 28 26 84 $35.00 Robert Johnson 24 30 30 84 $35.00 Jay Klapper 27 28 29 84 $35.00 Greg Newport 28 27 29 84 $35.00 20 Mike Brown 29 28 28 85 Randy Reeves 26 30 29 85 22 Gary English 29 32 25 86 Vance Randall 30 29 27 86 24 Bart Bason 26 32 29 87 Nick Gill 29 28 30 87 26 Mike Flavin 30 29 29 88 Brian Martin 31 28 29 88 28 Rick Rybaczek 28 31 30 89 Robby Bryant 29 30 30 89 30 Tommy Barbour 31 33 27 91 Bob Haizlip 29 31 31 91 Allen Wall 31 29 31 91 33 Todd Fowler 29 32 31 92 Rob Smarzik 30 33 29 92 35 Larry Simpson 32 35 26 93 36 Kevin Chambers 29 30 36 95 Bob Jackson 31 30 34 95 38 Gary Hester 32 31 33 96 39 Bobby Kirby 31 35 31 97 Amateur Division of South Carolina State Championship
Rounds 1 -3 (Round 4-6 on Sunday, October 1, 2000)
Spartanburg, SC (30 September 2000)
Round Player 1 2 3 Total 1 Tommy Hutchinson 29 27 26 82 2 Jonathan Reid 30 26 27 83 3 Jimmy Comer 27 32 26 85 4 Steve Helton 27 30 29 86 5 Steve Vaughan 31 27 31 89 6 Keith Waters 29 31 33 93 7 Chris Hudson 31 32 31 94 8 Todd Trent 29 32 34 95 9 Adam Smith 32 34 30 96 10 Billy Walters 34 35 35 104 11 Chance Mathews 39 40 37 116 12 Darren Harvey 46 40 38 124