Greg Ward Holds on for One-Stroke Victory Over Andy Coradini in Rock Hill
2 September 2001 - Rock Hill, S.C. - After being a no-show on Saturday, Greg Ward found himself still on top the South Carolina PPA points standings and after Sunday's play, he was still the leader after his fourth win of the season on the tour. Ward is amongst the heavy favorites to win the South Carolina State Championship in three weeks on the very course he played on this Sunday, Course 1.
Greg Ward, 2000 PPA North Carolina State Champion and 2001 PPA National Champion.
Through the first round, Ward was tied for the lead with Rick Baird and Michael Hitt at 24, which turned out to be the low round of the tournament. Ward would take over from there after a second round 25 gave him a three-shot lead over Andy Coradini and would hold on to win his fourth tournament in South Carolina and his second in North Carolina. Ward fired a final round 27, while Coradini mounted a comeback, but could not pull it off.
In the end, Ward finished the day with a final score of 76 to win by a single shot over Coradini. Coradini shot 77 to finish second. Billy Caudle tied Peter Neumann for third at 79, and four players tied for fifth at 81, including Rick Baird, Greg Newport, Ray Guthrie, and Tony Jackson.
Brian Hutchins at the Putt-Putt Course in High Point, N.C.
Brian Hutchins has captured his first ever APA Player of the Year in South Carolina. The 1999 South Carolina APA State Champion held off the 2000 Champion Tommy Hutchinson by nine points in the standings. Hutchins, also, won again in Rock Hill and grabbed the tour's leading eighth victory of the season. Hutchins will head to the State Championship in Rock Hill on September 22 as a heavy favorite.
Hutchins would use his second round again as a dominating factor with a 24 to hold off Hutchinson by three shots. Hutchins finished the day at 80 to complete his second weekend sweep of the season in Rock Hill. He also swept the events played on Course 2 back in April. Hutchinson finished in second at 83. Finishing in third was William Glisson at 84.
Skies were still overcast on Sunday, but the conditions were windy throughout the day. There were 16 money spots paid out in the Pro Division with the score of 85 receiving a full share. The APA Division got three spots, as usual, with the score of 84 getting the final spot.
Caudle took the South Carolina Qualifying spot and both of the North Carolina State and Match Play spots from this event. Tommy Barbour took the two-day spot from Bob Jackson in a playoff. Todd Trent received the North Carolina APA two-day qualifying spot.
The North Carolina tour will next be in action this coming weekend. They will head off to Greensboro on Saturday to play the Barbara Nance Memorial. That will get underway at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday on Course 2. They will then head to Burlington for the 27th annual Elton Davis Memorial Classic. This is a four-round event that will get underway at 10:00 a.m.
South Carolina will be back in Rock Hill on Saturday, September 22. This will be the last regular season tournament for the Pros and the first day of the APA State Championship. Action will get underway at 12:00 p.m. on Course 1. Sunday will be the six-round State Championship for the Pros and the final three rounds for the APA. This will get underway at 9:00 a.m. on Course 1 as well.
Recap and Scores provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Rock Hill, S.C. Event (2 September 2001)
Round
Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Ward 24 25 27 76 $ 130.00 2 Andy Coradini 27 25 25 77 $ 90.00 3 Billy Caudle 26 29 24 79 $ 68.00 Peter Neumann 28 26 25 79 $ 68.00 5 Rick Baird 24 30 27 81 $ 60.00 Ray Guthrie 29 26 26 81 $ 60.00 Tony Jackson 26 28 27 81 $ 60.00 Greg Newport 29 27 25 81 $ 60.00 9 Gary Moore 28 25 29 82 $ 50.00 10 Gary Benfield 28 30 25 83 $ 50.00 11 Tommy Barbour 31 26 27 84 $ 45.00 Robert Johnson 30 27 27 84 $ 45.00 13 Todd Fowler 31 27 27 85 $ 40.00 Bill Kirby, Jr. 29 28 28 85 $ 40.00 Rick Rybaczek 28 28 29 85 $ 40.00 Randal Smith 29 30 26 85 $ 40.00 17 Todd Barfield 27 32 27 86 Bob Jackson 28 29 29 86 Tony Varnadore 29 30 27 86 20 Nick Gill 26 28 33 87 Michael Hitt 24 33 30 87 22 Chris Bunting 29 31 28 88 Lewis Burton 28 28 32 88 Frank Warren 29 29 30 88 25 Gary English 29 30 30 89 Brad Lebo 32 28 29 89 Allen Wall 29 29 31 89 28 Darrell Britt 29 32 29 90 Opie Roberts 29 29 32 90 30 Robert Ward 29 30 32 91 31 Kevin Chambers 31 30 31 92 32 Brian Martin 31 35 33 99
Amateur Division of Rock Hill, S.C. Event (2 September 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Brian Hutchins 29 24 27 80 $ 10.00 2 Tommy Hutchinson 27 28 28 83 $ 10.00 3 William Glisson 28 29 27 84 $ 5.00 4 Jimmy Comer 28 28 31 87 5 Steve Helton 31 27 30 88 Todd Trent 30 27 31 88 7 J. L. Coffey 29 29 32 90 8 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 29 32 30 91 Adam Smith 28 33 30 91 10 Betty Helton 33 26 34 93 Robin Trent 30 32 31 93 12 Linwood Moist 31 35 31 97 13 Walter Kolb 38 33 35 106