Andy Coradini Wins 2001 Virginia State Championship (Richmond, VA

30 September 2001 - Richmond, VA - Andy Coradini, who finished in second in last year's Virginia State Championship, one stroke short of victory, finished with rounds of 24 and 25 to win his first ever medal play state championship.

Last season in Fredericksburg, Andy Coradini was out dueling eventual state champion Vince Batten on the final nine holes of play before Batten pulled one out at the end to win by one shot over the Georgia product. This season, Coradini was seeking revenge and put all of the second place finishes in the major championships of 2000 behind him. Batten was unable to attend the 2001 Virginia State Championship, thus leaving an open door for a new champion on the Virginia tour. Another brisk and chilly morning was on tap for the 22nd renewal of the Virginia State Championship that was held on Course 3 in Richmond. For the second straight season, six rounds were to decide the winner. In the early going, two of the Pennsylvania players were to take early command with opening round 23's. Brad Lebo and Mike Brown were starting off on the high note and led by two shots over the rest of the field.

The general rule in Richmond has always been the low score. In the morning, 23 was the lowest round shot and it was accomplished on four different occasions In the second round, Kevin Garrett and Jeff Spainhour shot the lowest of the round at 24. Garrett's 24 gave him the lead after the second round at 49 for a one-stroke lead over Rick Baird, and by two over Mike Brown and Peter Neumann.

Scoring continued to add up in the third round before the one-hour break in action. Andy Coradini and Darrell Anderson both posted third round 23's as it was the lowest that round. Coradini went into the halfway point with a one-shot lead over Kevin Garrett and a score of 76 going into the final three rounds. Garrett fired a 28, while Neumann posted a 26, and Gary Moore also tallied a 26 to go one off the lead at 77.

The APA got themselves underway as well with defending champion Wayne Saunders posting an opening round 27 to put himself in a tie for third with Chuck Cyr and Liz Shumaker. Malcolm Shumaker, the 1999 APA State Champion, and Jonathan Moore, found themselves with the lead by opening with a 26. Moore would grab the lead by himself after another 26 put him atop the leader board at 52 and was leading by two shots over a trio of players. Steven Jones, who finished as runner-up in the last two APA National Championships, received his first ever medal play state championship after acing 18 in the playoff over former state champion, Malcolm Shumaker

The third round saw a third different leader at the house. Jonathan Koo, winner of the 2001 APA Virginia Open, carded a third round 23 to grab the outright lead at 79 and was holding a one-shot advantage over Moore and Cyr when the break in action was put in place.

After the break, the APA's teed off after the Novices, and the championship was really cooking. Koo would attain his lead and actually extended it to two shots, despite firing a 28 in the fourth round. Moore, Cyr, and Steven Jones, who fired a fourth round low score of 25, were two back of the lead. In the fifth round, Shumaker jumped right back in the chase for his second title in three years. He posted a 23 to tie Koo for the lead at 134, with Cyr, the 1997 champion, one shot back, and Moore two shots off the pace.

In the final round, Jones made his move by firing a 24 to go in at 162 and waited. Shumaker missed out on the outright win by getting it to 28 to tie Jones. The final threesome of Koo, Cyr, and Moore all had a chance to join the other two in the playoff. Koo missed 18 cleanly and Cyr and Moore both lipped out their ace shot to fall short of their quest.

In the first playoff since 1999, ironically won by Shumaker in Lynchburg, both players would not let one separate from the other and it had to be decided on the final hole again. Jones made 18 to clinch his first state title of his career by firing a 28 in the playoff and won by one over Shumaker.

Meanwhile, in the Pro Division, as the afternoon wore on, scores finally got lower as the day progressed. Gilbert Sharpe fired the day's best round of 22 in the fourth round for a two-shot lead at 100. Coradini and Anderson both found themselves two back of the lead with 36 holes remain. Anderson also fired a 22 in the fourth round to stay close to the lead. Through five rounds, it was then a four-man race for the crown. Coradini retook the lead at 126 after posting a 24 that round. His lead was just one shot over Sharpe and Anderson, with Baird two back at 128.

Usually, the final round of the first half of a major championship was known as the "moving round". In the final round of the event, players began to jockey for position as the scores were coming in lower on average than the previous five rounds played. In the final round, five different players recorded 23's and another three players posted a 24 for themselves to make the outcome more interesting. However, Coradini was not among those as he had to battle off Anderson, Sharpe, and Baird down the stretch and managed to win by two shots with a final round 25 and a 108-hole score of 151. Coradini's afternoon score of 75 was not the lowest posted during the second half. That belonged to Anderson, who put in rounds of 22, 25, and 26 for a total score of 73.

This was Coradini's first medal play state championship in his career after coming up short last season in Virginia, North Carolina, and the National Championship. Coradini is credited to winning the 1993 PPA National Championship that was also held in Virginia, the 1999 North Carolina Match Play Championship, and the 1995 and 2000 North Carolina Teams Championships. Coradini received $800 for his victory, while Anderson won $600 for second. Baird, Moore, Sharpe, and Greg Newport all finished tied for third at 154 and collected $392.50 for their efforts.

Special thanks was given out to Gary Hinshaw, operator of the Richmond facility, for hosting the 2001 State Championship. Coradini will get his shot at defending the title when the 2002 State Championship heads to Charlottesville, Virginia. The state produced players coming from Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland and Tennessee.

Virginia has completed its play for the 2001 regular season. They will, however, host a special weekend tournament on October 20 & 21 in Newport News. The tournament on the 21st will be the Fall Classic.

Professional Division of the 2001 Virginia State Championship
(Richmond, VA - 30 September 2001)

			Round							Prize
	Player	Hometown	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Money
1	Andy Coradini	Loganville, GA	26	27	23	26	24	25	151	$800.00
2	Darrell Anderson	Mechanicsville, VA	29	28	23	22	25	26	152	$600.00
3	Rick Baird	Pineville, NC	25	25	30	26	22	26	154	$392.50
	Gary Moore	Mechanicsville, VA	26	25	26	28	26	23	154	$392.50
	Greg Newport	Liberty, NC	31	25	24	26	24	24	154	$392.50
	Gilbert Sharpe	Richmond, VA	27	27	24	22	27	27	154	$392.50
7	Daryl Freeman	Bristol, TN	28	25	28	26	24	24	155	$300.00
8	Brad Lebo	Shippensburg, PA	23	30	29	25	25	25	157	$280.00
9	Kevin Garrett	Richmond, VA	25	24	28	28	29	25	159	$240.00
	Dave Taylor	Severn, MD	25	30	27	28	25	24	159	$240.00
	Rusty Taylor	Gambrills, MD	27	27	28	25	25	27	159	$240.00
12	Mike Brown	Springfield, PA	23	28	29	29	28	23	160	$162.00
	Ken Cook	Richmond, VA	31	27	25	27	27	23	160	$162.00
	Peter Neumann	Blacksburg, VA	25	26	26	26	30	27	160	$162.00
	Thomas Rawles	Portsmouth, VA	31	28	25	27	26	23	160	$162.00
	Rick Rybaczek	Greensboro, NC	30	26	25	27	29	23	160	$162.00
17	Jeff Spainhour	Chesapeake, VA	29	24	28	25	30	25	161	$110.00
	Buddy Taylor	Gambrills, MD	27	29	29	28	23	25	161	$110.00
	Tony Varnadore	Rock Hill, SC	30	25	25	29	26	26	161	$110.00
20	Danny Dore	Baltimore, MD	27	31	27	26	26	25	162	$80.00
	Robert Johnson	Lake Wylie, SC	25	29	26	29	27	26	162	$80.00
	Manfred Stewart	Richmond, VA	29	28	27	25	27	26	162	$80.00
	Matt Summey	Richmond, VA	29	25	28	28	24	28	162	$80.00
24	Ray Guthrie	Walnut Cove, NC	27	27	28	31	26	26	165	$75.00
25	Tommy Barbour	Graham, NC	31	27	27	28	29	24	166	$75.00
26	Ed Grajewski	Midlothian, VA	29	28	30	28	25	27	167	$75.00
27	Wayne Cheatham	Richmond, VA	28	28	34	28	27	30	175	$75.00
28	Gary Hinshaw	Richmond, VA	28	30	30	31	28	29	176	$75.00