Greg Ward Takes Third South Carolina Tour Title of 2001 in Gastonia
Greg Newport playing in the 2000 North Carolina State Championship in Greensboro.7 July 2001 - Gastonia, NC - It took consistency and pure knowledge for the defending North Carolina State Champion Greg Ward to win for the first time on the 2001 season in Gastonia. Ward had to come from behind after the first round with consistent rounds of 27, 26, and 27 to win by one stroke over North Carolina Player of the Year leading contender Greg Newport. Fresh off winning the Southern Open last week in Augusta, Ward retained his form en route to victory. He only trailed by two shots to Jonathan Reid and Dean Dwiggins after the first round of play. Dwiggins came in playing his first state event since the North Carolina State Championship in Martinsville in 1995.
After the second round, Ward's 26 vaulted him to the lead by one over Reid and defending champion Randal Smith. Ward would hold on to victory but not before Newport could come in and try to steal one away. Newport fired a final round 26 but was not enough to capture Ward and gave him the tour's leading fifth victory and an incredible fourth win on South Carolina's tour. Instead, Ward wound up winning for the third time in South Carolina and tie Newport for most victories on the tour and Ward won his first event since the 2000 State Championship on the North Carolina tour.
Steve Helton won his third North Carolina tournament but also recorded his first South Carolina win since 1996. Helton had to come from five down through two rounds in the APA Division to Chuck Nance. Helton fired a final round 27 to tie Nance at the end of regulation at 87. Jimmy Comer fired a 27 himself in the final round himself to fall one back of the playoff at 88.
Helton would win for the third time this year in North Carolina, adding Greensboro and Lumberton to his credits. The win in South Carolina for Helton was his first since winning in Spartanburg in 1996. Helton did win the playoff over Nance 30 to 32.
Rounding out the top five for the Pro Division include Gary English and Tony Varnadore tying for third at 83, while Mike Brown, Michael Hitt, and Jimmy Mott were tied for fifth at 84.
There were 18 spots paid out in the first of two combined tournaments with the tours on Saturday. The cash line for the Pros sat at 88, which wound up a six-way split for the final four spots. The APA sat at 90 which was good for fourth place.
The qualifying spots that were awarded from Gastonia went to Tony Varnadore (NC State Spot--defeating English in a playoff), Greg Ward (NC Match Play spot), Rick Baird (SC State spot), and Frank Warren (SC Match Play spot).
These two tours will head over to Charlotte on Sunday, July 8, at 10:00am on Course 2. This will be the first time an event will be held there since the 1996 Charlotte Open on the National tour.
Scores provided by Rick Rybaczek and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Gastonia, NC Event (7 July 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Ward 27 26 27 80 $150.00 2 Greg Newport 27 28 26 81 $110.00 3 Gary English 29 26 28 83 $85.00 Tony Varnadore 26 30 27 83 $85.00 5 Mike Brown 29 26 29 84 $70.00 Michael Hitt 28 28 28 84 $70.00 Jimmy Mott 26 31 27 84 $70.00 8 Darrell Britt 28 27 30 85 $58.00 Frank Warren 30 26 29 85 $58.00 10 Rick Baird 29 28 29 86 $53.00 Andy Coradini 30 25 31 86 $53.00 12 Dean Dwiggins 25 31 31 87 $50.00 C. L. Jones 32 30 25 87 $50.00 Jay Klapper 27 31 29 87 $50.00 15 Randy Carter 29 29 30 88 $30.00 Mike Flavin 27 31 30 88 $30.00 Tony Jackson 29 31 28 88 $30.00 Tony Pack 30 29 29 88 $30.00 Rick Rybaczek 26 30 32 88 $30.00 Randal Smith 27 27 34 88 $30.00 21 Dan Anders 29 32 28 89 Gary Benfield 28 30 31 89 Robert Johnson 30 33 26 89 Jonathan Reid 25 29 35 89 25 Michael Cardwell 30 32 28 90 26 Chris Bunting 33 30 28 91 Ray Guthrie 29 29 33 91 Randy Reeves 29 30 32 91 29 Tommy Barbour 34 28 30 92 Todd Fowler 30 32 30 92 Brian Martin 35 28 29 92 Gary Moore 32 29 31 92 33 Bart Bason 31 31 31 93 Billy Caudle 31 33 29 93 35 Bob Jackson 32 30 33 95 36 Robert Ward 31 34 34 99 37 Peter Ansbacher 40 31 34 105 Amateur Division of Gastonia, NC Event (7 July 2001)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Steve Helton** 30 30 27 87 $15.00 2 Chuck Nance 28 27 32 87 $15.00 3 Jimmy Comer 33 28 27 88 $15.00 4 Brian Hutchins 32 33 25 90 $15.00 5 J. L. Coffey 31 32 28 91 6 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 32 31 31 94 7 Richard Griffin 35 29 31 95 Bear Landin 28 34 33 95 9 Tommy Hutchinson 32 31 33 96 Todd Trent 33 30 33 96 11 Adam Smith 32 34 32 98 12 Betty Helton 33 31 36 100 13 Walter Kolb 38 34 37 109 14 David Gregor 36 38 36 110 Linwood Moist 38 35 37 110 16 Keith Brigman 31 40 40 111
** Defeated Chuck Nance 30 - 32 to win the 18-hole playoff.