Todd Fowler Cards Tenth Career Win on South Carolina Tour
8 July 2001 - Charlotte, NC - After many opportunities since winning the weekend sweep in Rock Hill last year, Todd Fowler finally became the eighth player in South Carolina history to notch his tenth win of his career on the tour by winning in Charlotte on Sunday. Traditionally, the event would be played on the famed Course 3. But, the course was under reconstruction to a newer theme and thus the tournament had to be moved to Course 2. This was the first PPA event in Charlotte since the 1996 Charlotte Open.
Fowler got off to a sensational start with an opening round 23, but was in third, and trailed by one to local representative Rick Baird and Virginia player Gary Moore. The three would be the players to watch as they were the only ones in the 40's after the second round, with Baird holding a two-shot lead at 47 over Fowler and Moore. Fowler would fire a final round 26 to take over first and grabbed his first win on both the North and South Carolina tours for 2001.
Todd Fowler playing in the 2000 PPA National Championship.Fowler won by a single shot over Baird, who lost his bid for his first win since the inaugural Capital City Open in Raleigh. Fowler won with a score of 75, the lowest shot on the South Carolina tour this year.
Tommy Hutchinson returned to the winner's circle with a two-shot victory over Todd Trent. The reigning South Carolina State Champion led from the opening putt and fired rounds of 26, 27, and 29 to walk out of Charlotte with his fourth win of the season in South Carolina. It was also his first win in North Carolina after he shot a final score of 82. Trent, who previously won in Burlington, finished in second at 84, while Jimmy Comer finished in third for the second straight day by firing at 85.
Greg Newport placed another outstanding performance, this time finishing in third and two back of the winner at 77. Moore was fourth at 78 and Dean Dwiggins finished in the top five at 79. Of the 37 players and 111 Pro Division rounds, 81 of those rounds (73%) were shot under 30.
As it was in Gastonia on Saturday, there were 18 spots paid out in Charlotte. The cash line for the Pros sat at 84, which wound up a four-way split for the final two spots. The APA sat at 87 which again was good for fourth place.
With his win, Fowler took the South Carolina Match Play spot. Baird's second place finish earned him both the North Carolina Match Play and State spot. Moore took the South Carolina State spot while Tony Jackson won the South Carolina two-day spot. In the APA, Chuck Nance defeated Trent in a playoff after Brian Hutchins turned his down after he initially had the two-day APA low score.
The South Carolina tour will return to action on Saturday, July 28, in Spartanburg. They will play on Course 3, starting at 12:00pm and will also play there Sunday, July 29 at 10:00am.
Scores provided by Rick Rybaczek and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Charlotte, NC Event (8 July 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Todd Fowler 23 26 26 75 $150.00 2 Rick Baird 22 25 29 76 $110.00 3 Greg Newport 29 23 25 77 $90.00 4 Gary Moore 22 27 29 78 $80.00 5 Dean Dwiggins 25 26 28 79 $75.00 6 Michael Hitt 25 27 28 80 $68.00 Robert Johnson 24 28 28 80 $68.00 8 Tony Jackson 25 26 30 81 $60.00 9 Jimmy Mott 25 27 30 82 $55.00 Tony Varnadore 28 28 26 82 $55.00 11 Tommy Barbour 28 26 29 83 $48.00 Darrell Britt 28 29 26 83 $48.00 Andy Coradini 29 25 29 83 $48.00 Gary English 27 29 27 83 $48.00 Greg Ward 25 26 32 83 $48.00 Frank Warren 26 29 28 83 $48.00 17 Dan Anders 28 26 30 84 $23.00 Mike Brown 28 28 28 84 $23.00 Mike Flavin 28 27 29 84 $23.00 Randy Reeves 30 29 25 84 $23.00 21 Bart Bason 30 27 28 85 Tony Pack 25 32 28 85 23 Ray Guthrie 27 26 33 86 Jonathan Reid 29 26 31 86 25 Billy Caudle 28 29 30 87 Jay Klapper 31 26 30 87 Randal Smith 30 29 28 87 28 Bob Jackson 26 33 29 88 Rick Rybaczek 30 29 29 88 30 Gary Benfield 25 32 32 89 31 Brian Martin 30 29 31 90 32 Michael Cardwell 32 28 31 91 Randy Carter 31 31 29 91 34 Chris Bunting 30 30 32 92 35 Peter Ansbacher 32 31 30 93 36 Robert Ward 33 29 32 94 37 Scott Searcy 38 32 29 99 Amateur Division of Charlotte, NC Event (8 July 2001)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Tommy Hutchinson 26 27 29 82 $15.00 2 Todd Trent 27 27 30 84 $15.00 3 Jimmy Comer 27 29 29 85 $15.00 4 Brian Hutchins 29 27 31 87 $15.00 5 Steve Helton 27 30 32 89 Keith Waters 30 27 32 89 7 Adam Smith 29 29 32 90 8 Bear Landin 28 30 33 91 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 30 32 29 91 10 Chuck Nance 29 30 34 93 11 J. L. Coffey 30 30 35 95 12 Linwood Moist 32 32 34 98 13 Keith Brigman 33 37 29 99 14 Betty Helton 35 35 33 103 Walter Kolb 32 36 35 103
