Randal Smith Wins Again in Spartanburg, South Carolina
9 June 2001 - Spartanburg, SC - The last time Randal Smith visited Spartanburg, he came out as the 2000 South Carolina State Champion. On Saturday, he continued his dominance as he prepared for Sunday's Palmetto Classic after amazing rounds of 25, 27, and 26 with the final round breaking the tie after the second round with Greg Ward and won Saturday's tournament by four strokes over Ward. Smith opened play with a two-stroke lead over Ward and Michael Hitt. Ward managed to tie Smith after the second round with a 25 (tied with Smith and three others for low round of the tournament) and both were in the clubhouse at 52 before Smith maintained his pace with a final round 26 to capture his first win since winning the State last year and won his third career South Carolina event in the last two seasons.
Randal Smith - 2000 South Carolina State Champion.
Last year, the course was treated with new Challenger carpet and high temperatures with muggy conditions made scores average 29 per round. In this tournament, scores averaged 29.529 per round in a 31-player field. Last year's tournament did not feature a single player breaking 80 on the first day. With temperatures in the low 80's and muggy conditions, only one player broke 80 as Smith did it with a 78.
For the first time since the 1997 campaign, Richard Griffin participated in a Putt-Putt event. Griffin played in the amateur division and came from behind to win by three shots. Griffin trailed two-round leader Brian Hutchins by one stroke; then he fired a final round 25 to win his first tournament played in four seasons. Griffin shot 80 to capture his first win of the season. Hutchins finished second at 83, while Tommy Hutchinson finished in third at 87.
Peter Neumann finished in third for the Pro Division with two final rounds of 27 and 26 to end up at 83, and Tony Varnadore and Jonathan Reid rounded out the top five at 84.
With the win, Smith grabbed the State Qualifying spot to be played in Rock Hill later this year. Tony Jackson took the Match Play spot to be played on Course 2 in Spartanburg in August. There were fifteen spots paid out in the Pro Division with the score of 88 receiving a four-way split for the final two spots. Three spots were once again paid out for the APA Division.
The fifth annual Palmetto Classic will be contested on Sunday at 10:00am on Course 1 with Greg Newport as the defender of this event. After that, the tour will return to Anderson for a doubleheader on Saturday, June 23, starting at 10:00am.
Recap and Scores provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Spartanburg, SC Event (9 June 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Randal Smith 25 27 26 78 $125.00 2 Greg Ward 27 25 30 82 $80.00 3 Peter Neumann 30 27 26 83 $70.00 4 Jonathan Reid 29 30 25 84 $60.00 Tony Varnadore 32 25 27 84 $60.00 6 Michael Hitt 27 30 28 85 $55.00 Tony Jackson 28 27 30 85 $55.00 8 Gary English 28 30 28 86 $55.00 Tony Pack 31 26 29 86 $55.00 10 Todd Barfield 30 31 26 87 $40.00 Darrell Britt 31 28 28 87 $40.00 Todd Fowler 28 30 29 87 $40.00 Jay Klapper 28 29 30 87 $40.00 14 Dan Anders 29 29 30 88 $18.00 Mike Flavin 28 31 29 88 $18.00 Jimmy Mott 34 26 28 88 $18.00 Rick Rybaczek 31 32 25 88 $18.00 18 Robby Bryant 31 27 31 89 Robert Johnson 29 29 31 89 Greg Newport 30 32 27 89 Allen Wall 29 29 31 89 22 Rick Baird 31 28 31 90 23 Andy Coradini 30 28 33 91 Daryl Freeman 29 33 29 91 Brad Lebo 30 29 32 91 26 Tommy Barbour 32 34 28 94 27 Bob Jackson 32 32 31 95 28 Brian Martin 34 29 33 96 29 Randy Reeves 31 28 29 98 30 Opie Roberts 34 31 35 100 31 Bobby Kirby 35 36 30 101
Amateur Division of Spartanburg, SC Event (9 June 2001)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Richard Griffin 27 28 25 80 $10.00 2 Brian Hutchins 27 27 29 83 $10.00 3 Tommy Hutchinson 28 30 29 87 $5.00 4 William Glisson 30 27 31 88 5 J. L. Coffey 32 29 29 90 6 Steve Helton 33 30 33 96 Chris Hudson 33 33 30 96 8 Betty Helton 32 34 32 98 9 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 31 32 36 99 10 Keith Brigman 32 33 36 101 11 Linwood Moist 36 30 37 103 12 Adam Smith 36 30 38 104 13 Robbie Norby 37 34 41 112