Hitt and Hester Win 2001 North Carolina Team Championship in Durham, NC
Michael Hitt (left) and Gary Hester (right), 2001 North Carolina Team Champions.
3 November 2001 - Durham, NC - The team of Michael Hitt and Gary Hester used a combined final round of 50 as it was more than enough to eclipse five round leaders Randy Reeves and Robert Johnson by four shots at the 2001 North Carolina Teams Championship held in Durham on Saturday. Hitt's 24 combined with Hester's 26 thwarted any possibilities for Reeves and Johnson to hold on to the victory.
Johnson and Reeves found the lead after the second round of the alternate shot competition as they fired an impressive round of 21 to lead by three shots over the defending champion team of Rick Baird and Andy Coradini. The round, which had only three misses, all by Johnson, including one on the easiest hole on the course (16), put them in at 95 at the break and continued on as they led by only two shots to the team of Brad Lebo and Mike Brown. Hitt and Hester turned it up in the final round as the 1999 Team of the Year captured its first ever Teams title with a final score of 206.
The North Carolina Teams Championship began in 1989, ironically in Durham, and has been there to host the event three times, but for the first time on Course 2. The championship consists of two rounds of better ball play, followed by two rounds of alternate shot, and then cap it off with two rounds of two-man combined score. The event would get off on a high note as the defending champions fired an opening better-ball round of 20 and led by one shot over the team of Jimmy Mott and Tony Varnadore. Hester and Hitt shot 24 and was in a tie for ninth in a 15-team field. Hester and Hitt jumped back in with a 21 of their own in the second round to move to within two shots of Baird and Coradini and was tied for second with Reeves and Johnson.
As alternate shot got underway, Baird and Coradini continued to dominate as they put in a 27 to lead by three shots over Hester and Hitt and the team of Peter Neumann and Thomas Rawles. Johnson and Reeves would be four back of the leading third round team before their impressive round of 21 made a seven-shot turnaround at the break.
After the one-hour break, disaster struck the Baird and Coradini duo as they put in a combined score of 63 to fall out of the tournament. Brown and Lebo used a score of 54 to move to shave three shots off Johnson and Reeves' lead but would fall themselves in the final round with a 61 dropped them to a fifth place tie. The Hester and Hitt team put together combined scores of 55 and 50 to casually move from fifth after four rounds to their first win. The win denied Reeves of his first team title and Johnson from collecting his fourth title in the last seven years.
Hester and Hitt win with a score of 206, while Johnson and Reeves ended up at 210. Mott and Varnadore were third at 211, while the team of Gary English and Greg Ward finished fourth at 212. The team of Bart Bason and Chris Bunting, two-time team of the year, and the team of Brown and Lebo round out the top five at 215.
Before tournament action began, NCPPA vice-chairman Greg Newport presented course owner Phil McCarson with a plaque dedicating 15 years of service with the North Carolina tour. McCarson was to leave his position at the end of the year to move on to better things, thus prompting the tour with the presentation. McCarson mentioned how great the tour has been to him and to one another, and was pleased to see a gathering every time an event was held in Durham. Players have mentioned in the past that McCarson and his course was rated one of the best hospitable places on the tour. The course had hosted three Teams, two Match Plays (including the one coming up on Sunday), two state championships, and the 1988 Carolina's Open. It has also been the site of the Richard Buchan Memorial Tournament every season since 1995, after it was relocated from the old Henderson facility.
The North Carolina tour will conclude its season with the 8th annual NCPPA Match Play, defended by Ray Guthrie, on Sunday, November 4, at 9:00am on Course 2.
Scores provided by Rick Rybaczek with story provided by Opie Roberts.
2001 North Carolina Team Championship
(3 November 2001 - Durham, N.C.)
Better Ball
Alternate Shot
Individual
Prize
1
2
3
4
5
6
Total
Money
1
Hester - Hitt
24
21
28
28
55
50
206
500.00
2
Johnson - Reeves
22
23
29
21
57
58
210
400.00
3
Mott - Varnadore
21
25
29
28
53
55
211
360.00
4
English - Ward
24
23
31
28
57
49
212
300.00
5
Brown - Lebo
23
25
26
26
54
61
215
240.00
Bason - Bunting
23
24
27
26
57
58
215
240.00
7
Neumann - Rawles
25
22
26
28
55
60
216
150.00
Newport - R Ward
24
24
29
29
54
56
216
150.00
9
Baird - Coradini
20
23
27
28
63
56
217
100.00
10
Garrett - Sharpe
25
24
26
32
58
53
218
100.00
11
Barbour - Caudle
23
26
28
26
57
61
221
100.00
12
B Jackson - T Jackson
24
23
31
32
58
55
223
100.00
13
Moore - Roberts
23
23
31
28
63
58
226
100.00
14
Hollifield - Wall
23
25
33
34
57
59
231
100.00
15
Guthrie - Rybaczek
24
25
31
31
65
63
239
100.00
