Bergesen's Win on Texas Tour Makes Putt-Putt History
25 March 2000 - Houston, TX - Brice Bergesen of Houston became the first player in PPA history to win sanctioned events in five decades as he scored a 25-under par 83 to hold off Jeffrey Smith (84)
from Dallas and Greg Roberts (85) of Pasadena. Ten years ago he had become (along with Buddy Taylor on the very same day) one of two players to win in four decades. Ironically, Buddy Taylor shot an impressive 79 but came up one stroke short of a playoff for the title in a Virginia Tour event today!
Bergesen’s successful putting career began with a win in his first year as a pro (1967) in Albuquerque, NM and has included 11 National/Regional tournament wins, 22 Texas Putting Tour Titles including the Texas State Championship in 1998, and two national television appearances (1968 & 1988).
Runner-up Jeffrey Smith came to 18 in the final round with a chance to send the tournament to a playoff, but saw his putt miss to the right. Defending champion and second round leader Greg Roberts made a good run to repeat as champion with a second round 25 that included a 10 on the front 9, but could do no better than 16 on the last nine holes in the final round and had to settle for third place. Don Parker of Stafford, David Lynch from Mesquite, and 1999 player of the year Lee Messinger of Dallas all scored 18-under par 90’s to finish in a three way tie for fourth place. Match play winners in the pro division were Bill Florian of Houston and Garland’s Tim Murphree.
In the APA division, former Houston local Matt Moore now of Shreveport, LA won his first ever Texas Putting Tour title with a 21-under par 87. Steve Willmann from Austin was second at 89, and defending champion and local favorite Andy Gaiser was third at 90. Willmann went on to earn a match play spot for the state finals in October along with Jason Sheffield of Fulshur, TX.
Professional Division of Houston, TX Event (25 March 2000)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Brice Bergesen** 30 26 27 83 $140.00 2 Jeff Smith 29 28 27 84 $80.00 3 Greg Roberts 30 25 30 85 $50.00 4 Don Parker 33 31 26 90 $17.00 Lee Messinger 29 29 32 90 $17.00 David Lynch 30 30 30 90 $16.00 7 Chris Conradi 30 29 32 91 8 Bill Florian** 30 33 29 92 9 Tim Murphree** 31 29 35 95 Steve Armstrong 34 30 31 95 11 Mike Huckaby 35 32 30 97 12 Tom Adair 33 34 33 100
Amateur Division of Houston, TX Event (25 March 2000)
| Round | Prize | |||||
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | Money | |
| 1 | Matt Moore** | 29 | 29 | 29 | 87 | $20.00 |
| 2 | Steve Willmann** | 31 | 27 | 31 | 89 | $10.00 |
| 3 | Andy Gaiser | 30 | 28 | 32* | 91 | $10.00 |
| 4 | Wade Sahmel | 34 | 30 | 29 | 93 | $10.00 |
| 5 | Doug Austin | 31 | 33 | 30 | 94 | $10.00 |
| 6 | Ken Beck | 33 | 34 | 29 | 96 | |
| 7 | Adam Sahmel | 32 | 31 | 35 | 98 | |
| 8 | Jason Sheffield** | 32 | 32 | 34* | 99 | |
| 9 | Dwain Willett | 36 | 34 | 30 | 100 | |
| 10 | Mike Wellborn | 39 | 32 | 34 | 105 | |
| 11 | Aaron Armstrong | 38 | 38 | 31 | 107 | |
| 12 | Jack Ramsey | 32 | 37 | 39 | 108 | |
| 13 | Dan Kinglein | 39 | 38 | 33 | 110 | |
| 14 | Gary Plain | 37 | 41 | 34* | 113 | |
* Score card penalty
** Earned TX State Championship Spot.