Greg Newport Completes High Point Sweep by Winning 2001 Wayne Hancock Memorial
Greg Newport playing in the 2000 PPA National Championship in Fayetteville, North Carolina.16 June 2001 - High Point, N.C. - There are only 11 tournaments left on the North Carolina schedule for 2001, and Greg Newport is on the verge of capturing his third Player of the Year crown. For the fourth time this season, and for the second time this year in High Point, Newport claimed top honors in a tournament. This time, it was the Wayne Hancock Memorial. The first round saw Newport in a three-way tie for first at 26 with two players, Gary Moore and Mike Griffin. Seven other players were one back at 27. It would be Newport and Moore grabbing the lead at 52 after they both posted another 26 each. Vince Batten, who was one of those players at 27, fired a 25 to create another three-way tie for first after the second round.
Moore would be the first person in the clubhouse after a 27 got him in at 79. From there, he watched as Newport would play solid on the back nine and finished off the round with a 25 to win his fourth NCPPA tournament and thus sweep the events played this year in High Point. Newport finished at 77, while Moore's 79 was good enough for second. Batten came in third at 80.
For the second straight North Carolina event, a person won his first event of his career on the North Carolina tour. In the last tournament, Todd Trent capitalized in the Howard Loy Memorial in Burlington. This time, Bear Landin, playing in his first season on the tour, emerged victorious. Landin fired a second round 27 to lead by one shot over first round leader and local favorite Jimmy Comer.
Landin would card a final round 28 to win his first tournament in North Carolina, enough to win by one on Comer. Landin finished off the afternoon with an 83, while Comer was at 84. Keith Waters, current leader in the APA Division, was third at 87.
Gary Hester was fourth in the Pro Division as he was the low local there at 81, after three consecutive 27's. Rounding out the top five were three players at 82, including Tommy Barbour, Andy Coradini, and defending champion Ray Guthrie.
Moore's second place finish earned him the spots available from the event, taking both the State Qualifying to be played in Raleigh and the Match Play, to be contested in Durham. In this 30-player field and nine APA players involved, there were 15 money spots for the Pros and only two for the amateurs. The cash line for the Pros was at 85, which stood for a five-way split for the final three spots. The line for the amateurs was at 84.
The NCPPA will now head down US 311 to Asheboro to play this Sunday, June 17, at 10:00am.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of High Point, NC Event (16 June 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Newport 26 26 25 77 $150.00 2 Gary Moore 26 26 27 79 $110.00 3 Vince Batten 27 25 28 80 $90.00 4 Gary Hester 27 27 27 81 $80.00 5 Tommy Barbour 29 29 24 82 $70.00 Andy Coradini 27 28 27 82 $70.00 Ray Guthrie 29 26 27 82 $70.00 8 Darrell Britt 28 29 26 83 $57.00 Gary English 29 27 27 83 $57.00 C. L. Jones 27 26 30 83 $57.00 11 Rick Baird 27 29 28 84 $50.00 Jimmy Mott 30 28 26 84 $50.00 13 Chris Bunting 28 28 29 85 $29.00 Mike Griffin 26 27 32 85 $29.00 Randy Reeves 30 25 30 85 $29.00 Rick Rybaczek 29 28 28 85 $29.00 Robert Ward 31 28 26 85 $29.00 18 Billy Caudle 30 28 28 86 Gilbert Sharpe 27 29 30 86 20 Mike Brown 32 27 29 88 Robert Johnson 29 27 32 88 22 Glenwood Arrington 33 29 27 89 Bob Haizlip 27 30 32 89 24 Rodney Ashley 30 30 30 90 Randy Carter 30 27 33 90 26 Thomas Rawles 30 32 29 91 Lee Witcofski 27 33 31 91 28 Don Thompson 29 29 34 92 29 David Abshire 33 31 29 93 30 Michael Cardwell 34 30 31 95 Amateur Division of High Point, NC Event (16 June 2001)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Bear Landin 28 27 28 83 $20.00 2 Jimmy Comer 26 30 28 84 $20.00 3 Keith Waters 28 28 31 87 4 Chuck Nance 27 31 32 90 5 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 34 28 30 92 6 Tarron Coalson 32 35 30 97 Adam Smith 31 35 31 97 8 Kenny Goin 37 28 33 98 9 Walter Kolb 38 29 37 104
