Cliff Matthews Wins 2001 PPA National Invitational (19-20 May 2001

Texan Claims $10,000 PPA National Invitational

BURLINGTON, N.C. - Cliff Matthews of Arlington, Texas fired a 23, 13 under par, to edge Todd Barfield of Highlands, N.J., and Robert Johnson of Lake Wylie, S.C., in an 18-hole playoff to win the $10,000 PPA National Invitational.

First-day leader Randy Reeves playing the 16th hole in the final round of the 2001 PPA National Invitational in Burlington, N.C..

Matthews fashioned rounds of 22, 22, 23 and 24 Sunday to finish with an 8-round total of 201 in regulation competition at the Putt-Putt Golf Course on North Church Street. He began the day 11 strokes behind first-day leader Randy Reeves of Montgomery, Ala.

"I knew that I had to go low with my scores today because I began so far back," Matthews said. "I probably had the least pressure of anybody."

Barfield scored holes-in-one on six of his last seven holes in the final round of regulation for final day scores of 23, 23, 27 and 22 and a 201 total. Johnson finished with scores of 25, 23, 21 and 26 for 201, including a 30-foot hole-in-one attempt at the final hole of regulation that denied the 48-year-pro from winning outright.

"I hit that putt as good as I could," Johnson said. "It just barely missed. I don't know what more I could have done."

The scoreboard tells the tale of the 18-hole playoff for the 2001 PPA National Invitational Title in Burlington, North Carolina.

Matthews aced 13 of the first 16 holes in the playoff for a two stroke lead over Barfield, then coasted in with routine pars to claim the first prize of $1,500. Barfield and Johnson each had 24s in the playoff and shared $950 each.

Two-time PPA National Match Play Champion Charlie Greenwalt of Indianapolis, Ind., Bo Luthie of Poquoson, Va., and Billy Caudle of Harrisburg shared fourth at 203, all earning $616.67. Reeves, the 1997 PPA National Champion, tied for seventh at 204 with Ray Guthrie of High Point, both earning $425. Rick Baird of Pineville and Greg Ward of Loganville, Ga. tied for ninth at 205, each winning 350.

All secured berths (except Billy Caudle who declined the spot) in the PPA National Match Play Championship, scheduled for Aug. 7 in Lynchburg, Va. Rounding out the 16 qualifiers were Greg Newport of Liberty, Bob Haizlip of Whitsett, Rusty Taylor of Gambrills, Md., Jeff Smith of Dallas, Texas, Jim Engel of Canfield, Ohio and Tony Varnadore of Rock Hill, S.C.

William Glisson accepts his trophy from Joe Aboid (PPA Commissioner) for winner the amateur division of the 2001 PPA National Invitational Title in Burlington, North Carolina.

William Glisson of Martinez, Ga., won the Amateur Putters Association division with a 215 total. Brian Hutchins of Ellenboro was second at 217 and Robin Ventura of Cincinnati, Ohio third at 218.

Matthew Page, a 14-year-old local standout, took top honors in the Novice Division with a 219 total. Jeff Barton was second at 226 and Austin Bissell third at 243.

"Having the greatest players in the world in our city this week was great," said Brian Patterson, owner and host of this the first major championship of the 2001 PPA season. "The play was splendid and we congratulate Cliff Matthews and our local players who represented us so well. We could not have been more honored to have the PPA tour come to Burlington and Alamance County."

The PPA Tour next moves to Augusta, Ga., for the $10,000 PPA Southern Open on June 30 and July 31. It concludes with the PPA National Championships, scheduled for Aug. 5-12 in Lynchburg, Va.,

The Professional Putters Association, which will award more than $100,000 this season in national and state prize monies, was founded in 1960 in Fayetteville, N.C., by the late Don Clayton.

Leaders of 2001 PPA National Invitational by Round

First Round Leader	Billy Caudle, Bo Luthie and Daryl Freeman	22 (14-under par)
Second Round Leaders	Bo Luthie, Jeffrey Smith, C. L. Jones, Ray Guthrie, John Ventura and Randy Reeves	49 (23-under par)
Third Round Leader	Randy Reeves	71 (37-under par)
Fourth Round Leaders	Randy Reeves	99 (45-under par)
Fifth Round Leaders	Randy Reeves	124 (56-under par)
Sixth Round Leader	Randy Reeves and Bo Luthie	150 (66-under par)
Seventh Round Leader	Bo Luthie	172 (80-under par)

		Round										Prize
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Points	Money
1	*Cliff Mathews*	23	29	25	33	22	22	23	24	201	100	$ 1,500.00
2	*J. Robert Johnson*	25	26	29	26	25	23	21	26	201	97	$ 950.00
	*Todd Barfield*	25	27	25	29	23	23	27	22	201	97	$ 950.00
4	*Charlie Greenwalt*	25	29	25	25	24	26	25	24	203	92	$ 616.67
	Billy Caudle	22	30	24	29	22	24	25	27	203	92	$ 616.67
	*William "Bo" Luthie*	22	27	25	27	25	24	22	31	203	92	$ 616.67
7	*Randy Reeves*	26	23	22	28	25	26	29	25	204	87	$ 425.00
	*Ray Guthrie*	25	24	28	28	25	29	22	23	204	87	$ 425.00
9	*Rick Baird*	25	25	29	25	24	27	23	27	205	83	$ 350.00
	*Greg Ward*	25	25	25	29	26	26	25	24	205	83	$ 350.00
11	*Greg Newport*	27	26	24	25	25	26	24	29	206	80	$ 320.00
12	*Bob Haizlip*	25	25	27	30	25	26	24	25	207	77	$ 290.00
	*Rusty Taylor*	27	28	26	28	24	27	22	25	207	77	$ 290.00
14	*Jeffrey Smith*	23	26	25	33	23	26	24	28	208	70	$ 226.00
	*Jim Engel*	28	27	27	26	24	26	23	27	208	70	$ 226.00
	*Tony Varnadore*	28	23	31	27	26	28	22	23	208	70	$ 226.00
	Dave Nutini	24	28	29	28	25	26	24	24	208	70	$ 226.00
	*Buddy Taylor*	28	29	26	28	25	24	24	24	208	70	$ 226.00
19	Gary English	26	29	23	26	24	31	25	25	209	60	$ 173.00
	Daryl Freeman	22	30	26	28	25	28	24	26	209	60	$ 173.00
	Bill Baus	25	28	26	28	21	27	25	29	209	60	$ 173.00
	Mike D. Griffin	27	29	24	27	27	24	26	25	209	60	$ 173.00
	Lewis Burton	25	30	26	27	26	28	25	22	209	60	$ 173.00
24	Ed Haggerty	26	28	23	30	24	25	28	26	210	54	$ 155.00
25	Kevin Lacey	26	31	21	30	25	26	24	28	211	52	$ 150.00
26	Thomas Rawles	29	26	25	28	24	24	27	29	212	48
	Mike Brown	29	26	25	27	28	27	24	26	212	48
	John Ventura	25	24	29	30	26	26	28	24	212	48
	Dean Dwiggins	24	26	27	32	28	27	23	25	212	48
	Michael Hitt	27	28	27	28	24	25	26	27	212	48
31	C. L. Jones	23	26	29	30	24	28	27	27	214	44
	Opie Roberts	25	28	28	27	29	21	30	26	214	44
	Richard Gillooly	27	34	24	27	24	26	25	27	214	44
34	Dave Taylor	26	30	26	27	24	27	27	28	215	41.5
	Dan Anders	30	28	26	29	23	24	27	28	215	41.5
36	Rick Alessi	25	28	30	30	23	29	23	28	216	40
37	Andy Coradini	26	29	27	29	25	30	24	27	217	38.5
	Vance Randall	28	30	29	30	25	25	26	24	217	38.5
39	Jimmy Mott	25	26	28	28	25	32	26	29	219	34.5
	Peter Neumann	28	29	26	28	26	25	27	30	219	34.5
	Tommy Barbour	28	26	27	31	26	29	23	29	219	34.5
	Paul Johns	27	30	27	30	23	28	29	25	219	34.5
	Darrell Britt	24	28	29	33	27	26	26	26	219	34.5
	Bryan K. Boyd	27	33	27	30	25	27	25	25	219	34.5
45	Mike O'Rourke	23	33	26	31	28	28	26	25	220	30
	Kevin Garrett	24	30	30	30	23	30	30	23	220	30
	John Napoli	27	33	27	29	23	26	26	29	220	30
48	Jim Cruse	27	32	25	27	27	31	27	25	221	28
49	Bart Bason	28	33	30	29	26	26	24	26	222	27
50	Ken Hastings	25	28	24	30	29	34	26	27	223	25
	Vince Batten	26	27	30	32	26	28	28	26	223	25
	Jody C. Comer	27	30	28	30	25	26	28	29	223	25
53	Frank Warren	28	25	25	31	32	30	25	28	224	23
54	Brad Lebo	25	29	29	30	28	30	25	29	225	21
	Manfred Stewart	27	30	28	30	31	28	27	24	225	21
	Jay Klapper	31	27	33	29	27	27	25	26	225	21
57	Gary Hester	30	28	26	29	28	30	27	28	226	18.5
	Bob Davis	25	32	32	32	23	28	28	26	226	18.5
59	Mark Hasty	28	28	31	28	28	31	27	26	227	17
60	Ed Grajewski	27	31	29	30	23	31	29	28	228	16
61	Larry Simpson	27	30	32	32	26	26	24	32	229	13.5
	Lee Messinger	31	26	35	29	25	27	30	26	229	13.5
	Robert Ward	30	32	30	30	25	28	24	30	229	13.5
	Rick Rybaczek	28	32	30	34	28	27	25	25	229	13.5
65	James Heikkinen	30	31	32	29	28	30	26	24	230	11
66	Chris Bunting	26	32	30	31	29	28	30	25	231	10
67	Rodney Ashley	29	32	30	30	28	29	26	28	232	9
68	Peter Ansbacher	29	31	25	29	28	30	30	32	234	6.5
	Thomas Gross	29	25	25	36	33	28	30	28	234	6.5
	Mike Flavin	30	31	28	32	30	28	26	29	234	6.5
	Gary Benfield	28	36	25	34	28	30	25	28	234	6.5
72	Karl Moe	30	32	29	31	26	29	28	31	236	4
73	Lee Witcofski	31	28	32	33	25	34	28	28	239	3
74	Hank Mersereau	30	31	30	34	29	30	28	29	241	2
75	Barbara A. Mingo	37	32	30	32	27	29	30	27	244	1
76	Randy Orr	33	32	26	30	Withdrew

		Round
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	William J. Glisson, Jr	33	28	27	28	26	25	23	25	215
2	Brian Hutchins	29	30	25	29	24	33	25	22	217
3	Robin Ventura	27	29	28	31	24	28	23	28	218
4	Jonathan H. Moore	29	27	28	29	27	31	26	26	223
	Jeff Brown	31	30	27	28	25	27	27	28	223
6	Jimmy Comer	26	33	27	27	30	25	27	31	226
	Arthur T. Hutchinson	31	30	29	27	25	27	27	30	226
8	Walter C. Hudson	25	29	29	32	26	31	30	25	227
9	Keith Waters	29	33	27	27	28	29	26	29	228
10	Danny Holcomb	28	31	30	31	25	30	26	28	229
11	Michael Foster	30	28	28	29	25	29	30	31	230
	Karen Hastings	26	32	31	33	26	31	25	26	230
13	Charles W. Cyr	27	31	29	33	27	32	28	28	235
	Tyler Proffitt	31	33	29	28	27	25	32	30	235
	Steve Helton	29	31	32	33	29	26	25	30	235
16	Todd Trent	26	29	27	33	31	30	28	34	238
	Chuck Nance	29	31	32	30	29	28	31	28	238
18	Adam Smith	32	31	28	31	31	33	27	29	242
	Amy M. Smith	32	36	26	32	28	33	27	28	242
20	Steven Jones	32	35	32	28	28	31	29	32	247
21	Bill Combs	31	35	26	33	31	38	27	31	252
22	Walter Kolb	34	37	33	37	28	33	39	39	280

		Round
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Mathew Page	23	27	32	30	26	28	26	27	219
2	Jeff Barton	29	25	23	34	28	31	29	27	226
3	Austin Bissel	30	30	32	29	33	32	30	27	243
4	Brandon Ashley	36	33	37	36	30	34	28	29	263
5	Travis Mullen	37	35	35	34	29	35	36	36	277
6	Aaron Ashley	42	34	34	36	39	36	39	40	300