Opie Robert's Ace on Final Hole Earns Him First PPA Tour Title
Opie Roberts playing hole 10 on course #2 in Lynchburg, VA.19 August 2001 - Winston-Salem, NC - For the second straight day during the weekend, the NCPPA tour had one of the smallest turnouts of the season, with only 21 players present in Winston-Salem for the Twin Cities Open. The field was surprised to see that new and much faster Challenger carpet was laid since the last encounter there when they played the Carolina's Open. Another surprising factor in the tournament was the high scoring it provided as 84 won the event. It was determined to be the highest winning score in the state of North Carolina this season. Opie Roberts would also grab his first PPA victory on Sunday after he fired a final round 25 to clip Rick Baird and Gary Moore by a single stroke.
Roberts would share the first round lead with Ray Guthrie with an opening round 27. They were the only two players who broke 30 in the first round of competition. Soon, the two leaders would slip back. Tony Jackson, who was four back after the first round, was in command acing 10 of the first 12 in the second round and finished with a 25 to take the outright lead at 56. Lee Witcofski would then move into second at 57, after he fired a 27 that round.
Then, it would be Baird's turn to make a desperate run to victory. Baird was four back at 60 and tied for 11th before mounting his charge. After Baird missed the first hole, he went on a tear by making the next 10 in succession and found himself in the lead by three shots. Roberts, who was playing in the same group with Baird, was topping him on the front and started to fade a bit during the middle of the third round and went to hole 13 trailing by three with six to play.
Roberts would find a way to pull off a huge win on Sunday after he aced five of the last six, including an ace on 18. Down that same stretch, Baird missed the last four, including the last hole that would've forced the playoff with Roberts. Instead, Roberts would claim his first ever PPA title with a final score of 84. Baird finished at 85, tied with Gary Moore for second. All three finishing leaders each shot a final round 25. The come-from-behind victory for Roberts was the biggest position deficit to overcome this season on the tour.
In the APA Division, Jimmy Comer successfully defended his victory from last season as he fired a second round 26 to take the outright lead at 57 and cruised to his now-tour leading fourth victory of the season with a final score of 85. Comer will attain the points lead as he extends it to 72 points over Keith Waters, who won the Player of the Year honors last season. Comer won by seven shots over Saturday's winner, Russell Sigmon, Jr. Sigmon finished at 92, while Waters was in third at 93.
Rounding out the top five for the Pro Division were Witcofski tying Bill Kirby, Jr. for fourth at 87. The five leaders were the only players who broke 90 on Sunday. For the second straight day this weekend, the Pro Division paid out 10 spots and the APA were paid out two spots. The Pro cash line was at 90 as six players were tied for the final five spots. The APA cash line was set at 92.
With his win, Roberts took both of the spots in the State Championship and Match Play Championship for later this year. Sigmon grabbed the APA 2-day spot to be played in Lumberton just seven weeks away.
North Carolina will play again in two weeks as they will be combined with the South Carolina tour. They will head down to Rock Hill and play on Course 1 this coming Labor Day weekend, September 1 & 2. The first event will get underway on Saturday, starting at 12:00 p.m., while on Sunday, the tournament will begin at 10:00 a.m. This is also in preparations for the South Carolina State Championship on that course later that month.
Scores provided by Rick Rybaczek and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Winston-Salem, N.C. Event
(19 August 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Opie Roberts 27 32 25 84 $150.00 2 Rick Baird 31 29 25 85 $100.00 Gary Moore 31 27 27 85 $100.00 4 Bill Kirby, Jr. 30 29 28 87 $77.50 Lee Witcofski 30 27 30 87 $77.50 6 Tommy Barbour 31 31 28 90 $42.50 Bob Jackson 30 28 32 90 $42.50 Tony Jackson 31 25 34 90 $42.50 Robert Johnson 30 29 31 90 $42.50 Greg Newport 31 29 31 90 $42.50 Randal Smith 31 27 32 90 $42.50 12 Andy Coradini 30 30 31 91 13 Rick Rybaczek 35 29 28 92 14 Ray Guthrie 27 31 35 93 15 Billy Caudle 33 29 33 95 16 Glenwood Arrington 32 30 35 97 Mike Griffin 31 33 33 97 18 Chris Bunting 31 33 34 98 Robert Ward 32 34 32 98 20 Michael Cardwell 35 32 33 100 21 Randy Carter 30 38 33 101 Amateur Division of Winston-Salem, N.C. Event
(19 August 2001)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Jimmy Comer 31 26 28 85 $20.00 2 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 31 28 33 92 $20.00 3 Keith Waters 33 28 32 93 4 Chuck Nance 33 31 30 94 5 J. L. Coffey 27 34 34 95 6 Steve Helton 32 31 33 96 7 Todd Trent 33 32 32 97 8 Bear Landin 33 32 34 99 9 Walter Kolb 35 34 35 104 10 Linwood Moist 36 36 41 113
