Gary Hester Wins Asheboro Classic
By Four Strokes
Gary Hester playing in the 2000 Carolinas' Open.
24 March 2002 - Asheboro, NC - All it took was a final round 26 to run away from the competition in Asheboro on Sunday. Gary Hester had to do so in an effort to collect his first win on the North Carolina tour in nearly a year. On a picture perfect late morning in Asheboro, despite windy conditions, although much lighter than the day before, Hester completed a picture perfect weekend with rounds of 24, 29, and 26 to go out as the winner by four shots over Rick Baird.
Hester's 24 in the opening round was only good for second. Ray Guthrie got off to a blistering start by carding a pair of 11's and go in with the lowest round shot for the weekend (22). Guthrie found himself in a backward slide during the latter parts of the tournament as a pair of 32's pulled him way out of contention. Hester, in turn, responded with a 29 in the second round, but then found himself in a tie with Baird for the lead at 53. Baird opened play with rounds of 26 and 27 to share Hester's lead.
Hester managed to pull one out by firing a final round 26 to win by four. Hester was only player in the field to post his score in the 70's as he won the Asheboro Classic with a final score of 79. Baird's final round 30 gave him second at 83. Buddy Taylor had a strong tournament on Sunday by finishing in fourth at 84.
Bear Landin completed a weekend sweep of victories in Asheboro as he won for the second time in the APA Division. Landin had to come from behind for the second straight day to pull one out and had to use a well-played round in order to get it. Trailing by two shots to Keith Waters, leader at 58, Landin posted a final round 25 to win by three over Waters. Landin won with a final score of 85. Waters was second at 88, and Russell Sigmon, Jr. finished in third at 94.
Rounding out the top five for the Pro Division were three players tied for fourth. Billy Caudle, who was one of those that finished in a three-way tie for fourth on Saturday, tied Greg Newport and Rusty Taylor at 85. Despite warmer conditions, the numbers in each field drew less. The Pro Division only had 29 players, while the APA only fielded six.
Hester's win earned him the second World Match Play spot from the North Carolina tour. He also took the State Qualifying spot for High Point in October and the Match Play spot that will be played in September in Lumberton.
There were fourteen spots paid out in the Pro Division. The cash line stood at 87 and it was split between six players for the final two spots.
The NCPPA will return to action in three weeks. They will head to High Point on Saturday, April 14 for the Furniture City Open as it starts at 12:00pm on Course 1. Afterwards, they will head to Burlington for the Howard Loy Memorial. That tournament will be on Sunday, April 15 on Course 1, starting at 10:00am. Greg Newport is the defending champion of both of these events.
Scores and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Asheboro, NC Event (24 March 2002)
Round Prize NC Tour Player 1 2 3 Total Money Points 1 Gary Hester 24 29 26 79 $150.00 40.00 2 Rick Baird 26 27 30 83 $110.00 34.00 3 Buddy Taylor 28 27 29 84 $90.00 33.00 4 Billy Caudle 28 29 28 85 $75.00 31.00 Greg Newport 28 29 28 85 $75.00 31.00 Rusty Taylor 28 27 30 85 $75.00 31.00 7 Dan Anders 30 28 28 86 $56.00 27.50 Andy Coradini 27 31 28 86 $56.00 27.50 Ray Guthrie 22 32 32 86 $56.00 27.50 Peter Neumann 28 29 29 86 $56.00 27.50 11 Vince Batten 28 31 28 87 $28.00 22.50 Darrell Britt 28 32 27 87 $28.00 22.50 Chris Bunting 26 32 29 87 $28.00 22.50 Mike Griffin 31 28 28 87 $28.00 22.50 Gilbert Sharpe 30 29 28 87 $28.00 22.50 Randal Smith 29 31 27 87 $28.00 22.50 17 Brad Lebo 29 28 31 88 18.50 Thomas Rawles 27 27 34 88 18.50 19 Tommy Barbour 30 28 31 89 15.50 Robert Johnson 34 25 30 89 15.50 Gary Moore 32 29 28 89 15.50 Tony Varnadore 31 30 28 89 15.50 23 Michael Cardwell 27 35 28 90 13.00 24 Rick Rybaczek 30 30 32 92 12.00 25 Glenwood Arrington 33 30 30 93 11.00 26 Opie Roberts 31 33 30 94 10.00 27 Lee Witcofski 35 33 28 96 9.00 28 Bob Haizlip 33 37 28 98 8.00 29 Randy Carter 34 31 35 100 7.00 Amateur Division of Asheboro, NC Event (24 March 2002)
Round Expense NC Tour Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement Points 1 Bear Landin 28 32 25 85 $15.00 23.00 2 Keith Waters 31 27 30 88 $10.00 19.00 3 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 30 31 33 94 $5.00 18.00 4 David Gregor 33 29 33 95 17.00 5 Ben Blake 32 34 35 101 16.00 6 Walter Kolb 35 33 42 110 15.00
