Dave Nutini Wins His First GLT Event in Ray Browning Memorial
Patrick O’Keefe Wins His First APA Event
Dave Nutini playing the Village Course at the Willoughby, OH Course.
Patrick O'Keefe and Dave Nutini
(left to right).8 September 2002 - Willoughby, OH - Dave Nutini of Canal Winchester came to Willoughby still looking for his first GLT win after numerous second and third place finishes since turning pro several years ago. Nutini finally accomplished that goal at Willoughby, lighting up the course to win the 72-hole Ray Browning Memorial.
Nutini fired rounds of 26-27-26-28 for a total score of 107, 37 strokes under par. He trailed John Napoli of Sagamore Hills by one stroke after the first round and trailed Cleveland’s Tom O’Brien by one stroke after the second. But Nutini turned up the heat in third round and found himself with a two-shot lead over O’Brien entering the last round. John Napoli, Bill Thompson of Olmsted Falls and John Bambling of Pittsburgh, PA were three shots back.
Nutini went cold for the first part of the final round, enabling his competitors to catch up. With nine holes left to play, as many as seven players had a legitimate chance to win. But Nutini was able to rekindle his solid play down the stretch to claim the victory by a single stroke over Roger Beckerman of South Euclid, whose last-round charge from sixth place fell just short. Thompson tied Brandon Yee of Columbus for the third place position, two back at 109. Napoli and Bambling tied for fifth at 110, along with Mike O’Rourke of Pittsburgh, PA. Bambling and O’Brien received GLT spots for their efforts.
Patrick O'Keefe, APA winner of the Ray Browning Memorial.Local standout Patrick O’Keefe joined the APA just to participate in the Ray Browning Memorial’s amateur division. The move paid off for O’Keefe as he claimed his first APA title with rounds of 26-28-27-28 for a total score of 109. O’Keefe trailed Bill Wahls of North Ridgeville by one after the first round before taking the lead in round two. Anthony Amick of Canal Winchester shot the low amateur round of the day, a 25, in the third round to tie O’Keefe at 81. But Amick struggled in the last round, enabling a charging Barb Mingo of North Olmsted to take second place at 112, with a 26 in the final round. Amick finished third at 115.
The GLT players enjoyed viewing a collection of memorabilia, compiled by Jim White, from Ray Browning’s stellar career in the PPA. Ray’s former wife Joanne and members of her family were in attendance to honor the memory of one of the game’s all-time greats. The Haggerty family hosted a fine tournament, for which the Great Lakes Tour is very grateful.
Scores provided and tournament recap provided by Bill Thompson.
Professional Division of the 2002 PPA Ray Browning Memorial
(Willoughby, OH - Village Course - 8 September 2002)
Round Prize GLT GLT Player 1 2 3 4 Total Money Points Spots 1 Dave Nutini 26 27 26 28 107 $175.00 100.00 2 Roger Beckerman 28 27 28 25 108 $130.00 85.00 3 Brandon Yee 28 28 28 25 109 $105.00 72.50 Bill Thompson 29 26 27 27 109 $105.00 72.50 5 Mike O'Rourke 29 28 26 27 110 $75.00 60.00 John Bambling 28 29 25 28 110 $75.00 60.00 MATCH John Napoli 25 29 28 28 110 $75.00 60.00 8 Tom O'Brien 28 24 29 30 111 $60.00 48.00 MEDAL John Ventura 26 29 29 27 111 $60.00 48.00 10 Bill Baus 30 28 27 27 112 $60.00 42.00 11 Jay Hadsell 26 33 30 25 114 $33.00 32.00 Rick Alessi 29 26 29 30 114 $33.00 32.00 Paul Pastilong 28 32 26 28 114 $33.00 32.00 Jim White 29 28 27 30 114 $33.00 32.00 Jim Cruse 27 31 27 29 114 $33.00 32.00 16 Ken Hastings 27 30 27 31 115 21.50 Scott Buddie 29 27 28 31 115 21.50 18 Jim Heikkinen 30 26 28 32 116 18.00 19 Craig Williams 28 34 25 34 121 15.00 John Darst 32 29 28 32 121 15.00 21 Paul Johns 27 32 33 31 123 12.00 22 Karl Moe 29 29 36 32 126 10.00 Amateur Division of the 2002 PPA Ray Browning Memorial
(Willoughby, OH - Village Course - 8 September 2002)
Round Expense GLT Player 1 2 3 4 Total Money Points 1 Patrick O'Keefe 26 28 27 28 109 $35.00 40.00 2 Barb Mingo 28 31 27 26 112 $30.00 34.00 3 Anthony Amick 27 29 25 34 115 $30.00 30.00 4 Jeff Brown 29 29 30 28 116 $30.00 28.00 5 Bill Wahls 25 33 30 29 117 26.00 6 James Weber 27 32 32 28 119 24.00 7 Andy McCoy 31 32 28 31 122 22.00 8 Bill Combs 35 30 32 36 133 20.00
