Thomas Rawles Takes Richmond Tournament in a Playoff
29 September 2001 - Richmond, VA - For the first time since April 1, 2001, Richmond's Course 3 was the site of the most recent state event. The tradition in Richmond has always been the consistency of very low scores, and on Saturday morning, records were either tied or close to it. In the first of two events in Richmond, players were treated to very chilly and blustery conditions, resulting in a high number of rounds of 23 or better in the first two rounds. Robert Johnson got off on the right foot by firing a 21 for a two-shot lead on Thomas Rawles and Kevin Garrett. The second round was the round that would produce the majority of the low scores in the morning event. Buddy Taylor tied a course record (20) to go in at 45, but Johnson fired a 23 to retain his lead at 44 and missed tying the all-time 36-hole record by one stroke. Also, Matt Summey fired a 21 and Greg Newport posted a 22 in the second round. 
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Thomas Rawles playing in the 2000 PPA National Championship in Fayetteville, NC |
Scores did go higher in the final round as the score of 23 was the lowest score shot. Johnson could not hold on to a win as he fired a 29 to finish at 73. Buddy Taylor and Thomas Rawles both passed him, as well as Darrell Anderson, in the final round. Rawles fired a final round 24, while Taylor fired a final round 26 to force the playoff at 71.
Thomas Rawles would win the playoff over Taylor. Both were going for their first win of the 2001 season. Rawles wins his first PPA event in over a year.
In the APA Division, Steven Jones had a one-shot lead at 51 heading into the final round and fired a final round 26 to go in at 77. Jonathan Moore capitalized with a final round 25 to force a playoff. In the playoff, Jones took command in winning the playoff by three shots (28-31) and grabbed his third win of the season, tying Moore for most wins in the division. Chuck Cyr finished in third at 80.
After Taylor settled for second in the playoff, Anderson finished in third at 72. Johnson's 73 was good enough for the fourth spot, and Peter Neumann rounded out the top five at 74. There were 27 players in the Pro Division and 15 players in the APA. There were 13 Pro Division spots paid out with the final score of 79 receiving a two-way split. Fourteen players did break 80 on Saturday morning.
Scores provided by Ed Grajewski.
Professional Division of Richmond, VA Event (29 September 2001)
| | Round | | Prize |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | Money |
1 | Thomas Rawles** | 23 | 24 | 24 | 71 | $200.00 |
2 | Buddy Taylor | 25 | 20 | 26 | 71 | $110.00 |
| 3 | Darrell Anderson | 24 | 24 | 24 | 72 | $85.00 |
4 | Robert Johnson | 21 | 23 | 29 | 73 | $75.00 |
5 | Peter Neumann | 25 | 26 | 23 | 74 | $65.00 |
6 | Manfred Stewart | 27 | 25 | 23 | 75 | $55.00 |
| 7 | Rick Baird | 25 | 25 | 26 | 76 | $45.00 |
8 | Ed Grajewski | 25 | 29 | 23 | 77 | $40.00 |
| Jeff Spainhour | 28 | 24 | 25 | 77 | $40.00 |
| 10 | Brad Lebo | 26 | 27 | 25 | 78 | $40.00 |
| | Greg Newport | 29 | 22 | 27 | 78 | $40.00 |
| | Matt Summey | 30 | 21 | 27 | 78 | $40.00 |
| 13 | Kevin Garrett | 23 | 31 | 25 | 79 | $20.00 |
| Tony Varnadore | 25 | 25 | 29 | 79 | $20.00 |
| 15 | Gary Moore | 28 | 24 | 29 | 81 | |
| 16 | Mike Brown | 25 | 28 | 29 | 82 | |
| 17 | Daryl Freeman | 27 | 30 | 26 | 83 | |
| Rick Rybaczek | 26 | 30 | 27 | 83 | |
| 19 | Rusty Taylor | 25 | 27 | 32 | 84 | |
| 20 | Dave Taylor | 28 | 29 | 28 | 85 | |
| 21 | Ken Cook | 29 | 26 | 31 | 86 | |
| Ray Guthrie | 27 | 31 | 28 | 86 | |
| 23 | Tommy Barbour | 30 | 27 | 30 | 87 | |
| Andy Coradini | 30 | 29 | 28 | 87 | |
| Gilbert Sharpe | 30 | 29 | 28 | 87 | |
| 26 | Gary Hinshaw | 30 | 32 | 27 | 89 | |
| 27 | Wayne Cheatham | 31 | 30 | 32 | 93 | |