Dave Taylor Opens 2001 Season With Win in Richmond on Virginia State Tour
31 March 2001 - Richmond, VA - Cool weather and overcast skies welcomed the start of the 2001 Virginia State Tour. A field of 25 professionals and 15 amateurs came made up this inaugural event of the 2001 season in Virginia. The field included the 2000 Virginia State Champions, Vince Batten - pro and Wayne Saunders - amateur, and several past PPA National Champions. The Richmond course, consistently home to some of the lowest scores on the tour, was rumored to be tougher with the new carpet laid down several weeks prior to the tournament.
Dave Taylor playing in the 2000 PPA National Championship in Fayetteville, N.C.
Darrell Anderson who returned to tournament play in 2000 opened the tournament with a 24 to take a one-shot lead after 18 holes of play. The second round saw Kevin Garrett fire a tournament low 23 to finish his first 36 holes at 49, 23-under par, and take a one-shot lead into the final 18 holes of play. Tied at 50, one-shot behind Garrett, were Dave Taylor, Darrell Anderson, and Wesley Pollard. Lurking two shots behind after 36 holes of play were Daryl Freeman, 1973 PPA National Champion, and Brad Lebo. Consistency in the form of three consecutive rounds of 25 lead Dave Taylor to a 54 hole score of 75, 33-under par. Darrell Anderson also fired a final round of 25 to tie Taylor at 75. Second round leader Kevin Garrett struggled to a final round of 30 to finish at 80 in a tie for eighth place. Vince Batten tied the tournament low round of 23 in his final round to move from four strokes off the lead to just one behind Taylor and Anderson who were tied at 75. Alone in fourth was Daryl Freeman, making his first appearance in a Virginia State PPA event, who shot a final round of 26 to finish at 77. In a three way tie for fifth were Peter Neumann, Wesley Pollard, and Manfred Stewart. Rounding out the money winners were Ed Grajewski, Kevin Garrett, Ken Cook, Mike Brown, and Brad Lebo who tied for eighth at 79.
In the amateur division, Jonathan Moore led after two rounds at 50, 22-under par, before starting the final round making 13 out of his first 14 holes. With just four holes to play, Moore still had a chance to shoot in the 60's if he aced the final four holes. However, Moore missed the final four holes and finished with a final round 23, 13-under par, to post a seven stroke victory over Amy Smith, Liz Shumaker, and Wayne Saunders who tied for second at 80. Doug Gurney rounded out the top five at 82 in the amateur division.
Scores provided by Ed Grajewski.
Professional Division of Richmond, VA Event (31 March 2001)
Round Virginia Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1 Dave Taylor 25 25 25 75 25.00 $200.00 2 Darrell Anderson 24 26 25 75 24.00 $110.00 3 Vince Batten 27 26 23 76 23.00 $85.00 4 Daryl Freeman 27 24 26 77 22.00 $75.00 5 Peter Neumann 25 27 26 78 20.00 $55.00 Wesley Pollard 26 24 28 78 20.00 $55.00 Manfred Stewart 26 29 23 78 20.00 $55.00 8 Ed Grajewski 27 27 25 79 16.00 $40.00 Kevin Garrett 26 23 30 79 16.00 $40.00 Ken Cook 27 27 25 79 16.00 $40.00 Mike Brown 28 26 25 79 16.00 $40.00 Brad Lebo 26 25 28 79 16.00 $40.00 13 Thomas Rawles 28 29 23 80 13.00 14 Buddy Taylor 26 30 26 82 11.50 Rusty Taylor 28 27 27 82 11.50 16 Gary Moore 29 27 27 83 10.00 17 Gilbert Sharpe 28 29 27 84 7.50 Rick Baird 27 29 28 84 7.50 Gary Hinshaw 30 26 28 84 7.50 Bart Bason 28 28 28 84 7.50 21 Gil Logan 29 27 30 86 5.00 22 Justin Taylor 29 26 32 87 4.00 23 Wayne Cheatham 30 29 29 88 3.00 24 Matt Summey 31 31 27 89 2.00 25 Scott Searcy 30 33 33 96 1.00
Amateur Division of Richmond, VA Event (31 March 2001)
Round Virginia Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1 Jonathan Moore 25 25 23 73 20.00 $20.00 2 Amy Smith 27 24 29 80 18.00 $20.00 Liz Shumaker 26 28 26 80 18.00 $20.00 Wayne Saunders 26 25 29 80 18.00 $20.00 5 Doug Gurney 29 26 27 82 16.00 $20.00 6 Chuck Cyr 29 27 27 83 15.00 7 Malcolm Shumaker 27 30 27 84 14.00 8 Paul Lowery 26 30 29 85 12.50 Steven Jones 29 28 28 85 12.50 10 Russell Johnson 31 24 32 87 11.00 11 Bill Garrett 28 32 28 88 10.00 12 Tyler Proffitt 30 32 29 91 8.50 Walter Kolb 31 30 30 91 8.50 14 Earl Davis 31 28 33 92 7.00 15 Robert Chetister 36 36 31 103 6.00