2001 Great Lakes Tour Championship
Todd Viau wins the Match Play portion of the Great Lakes Finals
Todd Viau playing in the 2000 Clayton Cup Matches in Richmond, Va.
22 September 2001 - Springfield, OH - It has been said that Todd Viau was over due to win the tour finals and now he will have his second chance in the last three years. Todd Viau defeated 1999 National Medal Play Champion John Napoli to win the match play portion of the GLT Finals in Springfield, OH. Todd won 3 matches to get to the finals and in the process defeated 2000 TV contestant Jim Cruse, Dave Nutini, local favorite Mark Hasty. Over the last two years Todd has owned the putting course in Springfield with wins in 2000 and 2001. Two of the tournament favorites were defeated in the second round of match play. Tom Gross defeated Kevin Lacey in sudden death and Mark Hasty 1 up defeated Bill Thompson.
Jim Cruse playing in the 2000 PPA National Championship in Fayetteville, N.C.
Jim Cruse Defeats Defending GLT Champion Rick Alessi to advance to the tour finals
23 September 2001 - Springfield, OH - After 3 rounds Jim Cruse held a 2 shot lead over match play winner Todd Viau. After the fourth round Jim Cruse held a three shot lead over Bill Thompson. Once the fifth round was completed Jim held a 5 shot lead over defending champion Rick Alessi. What seem as an insurmountable lead vanished over the next 18 holes and Jim need to ace the final hole to force a playoff.
In dramatic fashion Jim aced the final hole and forced an 18-hole playoff with Rick Alessi. Both Jim and Rick shot scores of 166, which is 50-under par. During the playoff Jim held the lead for most of the playoff, but was forced to play down to the last hole and defeated Rick by one shot.
Todd Viau Defeats Jim Cruse in Finals for 2001 Great Lakes Tour Championship Title
23 September 2001 - Springfield, OH - By winning the medal play portion of the GLT Finals, Jim Cruse now has the opportunity to play for the GLT Finals against Todd Viau. On Saturday Todd defeated Jim in the second round so this could be Jim's chance to seek a little revenge. The first 18 holes it was a close battle with neither player holding a big advantage of more than 1 or 2 up. On the second 18 holes Todd was able to win 2 holes in a row to grab a 3-hole advantage with 11 to go. With 9 holes to play Todd held a 5-hole advantage, but Jim was able to fight back and cut the deficient to 2 down with 2 to go. Jim calmly aced the seventeenth hole, which forced Todd to ace the same hole to close out the match. It was a hard fought match with both players playing extremely well all day.
Scores provided and tournament recap provided by Paul Johns.
Professional Division of the 2001 Great Lakes Tour Championship
(Springfield, OH - 22 September 2001)
Match-Play Competition
1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Finals 1 Kevin Lacey Kevin Lacey
(Sudden Death)16 Bill Baus Bill Baus
(3 & 2)17 Rick Alessi Tom Gross
(Sudden Death)8 Paul Pastilong Tom Gross
(Sudden Death)9 Paul Johns Tom Gross
(5 & 4)24 Tom Gross John Napoli
(2 & 1)4 Jim Engel Jay Hadsell
(1 Up)13 Jay Hadsell Jay Hadsell
(2 & 1)20 Craig Williams John Napoli
(3 & 2)5 John Napoli John Napoli
(Sudden Death)12 Ken Hastings Robb Titchell
(5 & 4)21 Robb Titchell Todd Viau
(7 & 6)2 Bill Thompson Bill Thompson
(Sudden Death)15 Mike O'Rourke Mike O'Rourke
(1 Up)18 Scott Buddie Mark Hasty
(1 Up)7 Jim Heikkinen Mark Hasty
(1 Up)10 Mark Hasty Mark Hasty
(Sudden Death)23 Harry Sykes Todd Viau
(2 & 1)3 Todd Viau Todd Viau
(5 & 4)14 Jim Cruse Jim Cruse
(9 & 8)19 John Bambling Todd Viau
(2 & 1)6 Dave Nutini Dave Nutini
(7 & 6)11 Gene Reams John Tuite
(4 & 3)22 John Tuite Amateur Division of the 2001 Great Lakes Tour Championship
(Springfield, OH - 22 September 2001)
Match-Play Competition
1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Finals 1 Jeff Brown Danny Holcomb
(2 & 1)16 Danny Holcomb Danny Holcomb
(3 & 2)17 LeRoy Lacey Danny Holcomb
(Sudden Death)8 Bill Wahls Bill Wahls
(5 & 4)9 Bill Combs Robin Ventura
(5 & 4)4 Robin Ventura Robin Ventura
(Sudden Death)13 Karen Hastings Karen Hastings 20 George Matthews Robin Ventura
(Sudden Death)5 Anthony Amick Scott Copeland
(2 & 1)12 Scott Copeland Don Ferrell
(5 & 4)2 Brandon Yee Brandon Yee
(7 & 6)15 Tim Bailey Nate Nichols 18 Nate Nichols Brandon Yee
(! Up)7 James Weber James Weber
(9 & 8)10 Mike Bell Don Ferrell
(4 & 3)3 Andy McCoy Ronnie Pavlov
(3 & 2)14 Ronnie Pavlov Ronnie Pavlov 19 Terry Sanner Don Ferrell
(2 & 1)6 Don Ferrell Don Ferrell 11 Joe Gallagher Bye 22 Bye Professional Division of the 2001 Great Lakes Tour Championship
(Springfield, OH - 23 September 2001)
Medal-Play Competition
Round GLT Prize Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Points Money 1 Jim Cruse 27 28 24 27 27 33 166 150 $600.00 2 Rick Alessi 27 31 28 28 24 28 166 128 $325.00 3 Rod Miller 28 30 27 30 27 28 170 109 $150.00 Dave Nutini 26 29 30 32 27 26 170 109 $150.00 Kevin Lacey 31 28 30 29 24 28 170 98 $150.00 6 Todd Viau 25 29 27 33 30 27 171 90 $93.75 Bill Thompson 29 25 28 27 33 29 171 83 $93.75 John Napoli 28 26 31 31 27 28 171 74 $93.75 Jim Heikkinen 28 33 26 30 25 29 171 74 $93.75 10 Roger Beckerman 36 26 28 26 26 31 173 65 $75.00 11 John Bambling 28 27 30 31 29 29 174 56 $75.00 Jay Hadsell 29 30 31 29 26 29 174 56 $75.00 13 Ken Hastings 25 33 29 28 31 31 177 48 $75.00 Bill Baus 29 27 32 28 30 31 177 38.33 $75.00 Robb Titchell 28 33 29 26 30 31 177 38.33 $75.00 16 Craig Williams 37 28 29 27 29 28 178 38.33 $75.00 17 Tom O'Brien 29 29 30 30 28 33 179 30 $60.00 18 Paul Johns 30 27 31 34 32 28 182 25.5 $60.00 Tom Gross 36 29 28 30 28 31 182 25.5 $60.00 20 John Darst 29 34 28 29 34 29 183 21 $60.00 Scott Buddie 33 32 28 29 34 27 183 16.5 $60.00 22 Mike O'Rourke 30 34 32 31 29 29 185 16.5 $60.00 23 Jim Engel 31 31 36 30 28 30 186 13 $60.00 24 Mike McCormack 31 34 32 31 30 30 188 13 $60.00 Mark Hasty 32 34 35 30 27 30 188 11 $60.00 26 Gene Reams 31 32 31 31 33 32 190 9 $60.00 27 Barb Mingo 37 33 31 32 30 29 192 8 $60.00 28 John Ventura 31 28 34 33 35 33 194 16.5 $60.00 29 Mike Conklin 30 34 27 38 34 32 195 13 $60.00 30 Karl Moe 39 34 28 32 33 30 196 13 $60.00 31 Dom Perry 34 35 33 32 35 30 199 11 $60.00 Amateur Division of the 2001 Great Lakes Tour Championship
(Springfield, OH - 23 September 2001)
Medal-Play Competition
Round GLT Prize Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Points Money 1 Scott Copeland 30 30 29 28 30 29 176 60 $100.00 2 Brandon Yee 29 30 33 29 28 28 177 51 $90.00 3 Anthony Amick 28 30 31 32 29 31 181 45 $80.00 4 Nate Nichols 29 29 33 30 31 31 183 42 $65.00 5 LeRoy Lacey 31 30 32 29 31 31 184 39 $45.00 6 Danny Holcomb 32 28 31 33 30 31 185 36 $45.00 7 Mike Bell 29 32 31 32 29 33 186 33 $40.00 8 Jeff Brown 33 31 31 30 31 30 186 30 $40.00 9 Robin Ventura 32 31 34 32 26 31 186 29 $40.00 10 Don Ferrell 35 30 33 32 31 25 186 26 $40.00 11 James Weber 33 29 33 30 32 30 187 24 $35.00 12 Ronnie Pavlov 35 31 27 34 35 28 190 39 $35.00 13 Karen Hastings 33 32 35 26 31 33 190 36 $35.00 14 Andy McCoy 36 29 32 31 32 33 193 33 $35.00 15 Bill Wahls 32 40 33 33 33 35 206 30 $35.00 16 Bill Combs 32 37 33 35 34 36 207 29 $35.00