John Ventura Wins First Title of 2001 in Southwest Ohio Open
John Ventura, winner of the 2001 Southwest Ohio Open.
23 June 2001 - Middletown, OH - Sometimes a crusty old veteran can put together 3 solid rounds of putt-putt, but not John Ventura. John had to have an extra solid round to win his first tournament in many a year. John claimed the Southwest Ohio Open held at the Middletown Putt-Putt facility. This was John's first victory in 2001 as he defeated Ken Hastings in an 18-hole playoff. Both players shot 89, 19-under par.
The tournament was stopped ½ way through the first round because of a rainstorm that came through. The tournament was delayed for 1-½ hours. In addition, a special thanks to Tom Gross, John Napoli and Scott Copeland who went out of their way to help get the course in playing conditions to finish the first round. John started out the tournament shooting a 29 and was tied with Ken Hastings and Jay Hadsell. In the second round John shot 28 and was alone at the top with a score of 57-15 under par. In the third and final round John was finally caught by Ken who shot a final round score of 30 to make of the two shots he fell behind after the second round. The tournament was played cloudy overcast skies.
There were 21 professional putters and 11 amateur putters who participated in the tournament. Todd Viau won the match play portion of the tournament as he defeated John Bambling, but John received the spot because Todd has already secured two spots for the state finals.
In the amateur division, Scott Copeland won the amateur division of the Southwest Ohio Open with a score of 95, 13-under as he defeated Brandon Yee in a playoff. In the match play event, Scott Copeland defeated Brandon Yee for the second time in the same day.
The next tournament to be played on the Great Lakes Tour will be the Michigan Open. It will be played in Ypsilanti MI on July 15.
Scores provided and tournament recap provided by Paul Johns.
Professional Division of Middletown, OH Event (23 June 2001)
Round Medal Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1 John Ventura 29 28 32 89 105 $ 150.00 2 Ken Hastings 29 30 30 89 90 $ 115.00 3 Jay Hadsell 29 34 28 91 85 $ 90.00 4 Jim Heikkinen 33 29 31 93 72.5 $ 75.00 Paul Pastilong 31 31 31 93 72.5 $ 75.00 6 John Napoli 31 32 31 94 65 $ 60.00 7 Tom Gross 32 33 30 95 67.5 $ 67.50 Mark Hasty 32 34 29 95 57.5 $ 52.50 9 Bill Thompson 33 31 32 96 59 $ 15.00 Kevin Lacey 33 32 31 96 44 11 Todd Viau 31 34 32 97 58.5 $ 50.00 Roger Beckerman 34 34 29 97 33.5 John Bambling 33 30 34 97 53.5 $ 25.00 Jim Engel 32 33 32 97 38.5 15 Paul Johns 32 34 32 98 26 16 Robb Titchell 35 32 32 99 33 17 Gene Reams 35 35 31 101 17 Mike McCormack 33 34 34 101 22 Karl Moe 35 34 32 101 17 John Darst 34 34 33 101 17 21 Mike Conklin 35 32 37 104 22 Amateur Division of Middletown, OH Event (23 June 2001)
Round Medal Expense
Player 1 2 3 Total Points Reimbursement 1 Scott Copeland 31 33 31 95 52 $ 50.00
2 Brandon Yee 29 34 32 95 43 $ 35.00 3 Danny Holcomb 31 37 30 98 35 $ 25.00 4 Jeff Brown 33 36 30 99 34 $ 17.50 Tim Schrader 35 32 32 99 32 $ 12.50 6 Bill Wahls 33 37 32 102 29 $ 5.00 Robin Ventura 35 30 37 102 27 James Weber 31 32 39 102 24 9 Bill Combs 37 31 38 106 24 10 Karen Hastings 38 34 36 108 19 11 Andy McCoy 39 39 36 114 18