Michael Hitt Wins His First PPA Event in Two Seasons With Final Round of 23
11 May 2002 - Spartanburg, SC - For the second consecutive week, a South Carolina weekend was put on hold due to rain. A 10:00 a.m. doubleheader on course 3 in Spartanburg was put back an hour when rain fell just minutes before the scheduled tee off.
Michael Hitt playing for the South Carolina Team in the 2000 Clayton Cup matches in Richmond, Virginia.
When the rain stopped and changed over to a light mist, play finally got underway, but the players had to also deal with some winds that came through and produced some unexpected higher scores than anticipated. Any threats of the all-time South Carolina 54-hole record of 67 would have to wait until another time.
Greg Ward, winner of the 2002 Carolinas' Open, and Allen Wall started off with a share of the first round lead at 24, with Dan Anders and Mike Flavin tied for third at 25, and a gaggle of players tied for fifth at 26. Through the second round, the race was continually tight. Ward fired a 25 to go in as the outright leader at 49, while Wall was one back at 50. Michael Hitt climbed to third at 51, leaving a slew of players at 52 and 53.
Hitt would be the one who would turn it on in the final round. A 23 (low round of the morning) was good enough to overtake the lead in the clubhouse at 74, with Ward playing directly behind him. Ward mustered a 27 to fall two back of victory. Frank Warren also had a solid performance on Saturday morning as he placed third with a score of 77. Anders and Wall each were tied for fifth at 78. Only six players did break 80 on a course where it is considered the easiest of all time on the South Carolina tour. The rain from earlier in the day hampered the high scores.
A perfect back nine in the second round by Steve Helton gave him a one-shot lead at 50 and a final round 24 by Jamie Sanders put the two in a playoff for first in the APA Division. Both Helton and Sanders, from Spartanburg, played off in the first playoff this season on the APA tour in South Carolina and was won by Helton. Helton carded a 25 to win by four over Sanders, who was gunning for his first win ever on the circuit.
Helton picked up his second win of the season. Sanders' finish is his highest ever. Brian Hutchins ended up in third finishing two shots back at 80. The APA also had its highest turnout of the season at 16 players.
There were 30 professionals out on Saturday for the doubleheader. The money line was at 84, where it was a five player split for the final spot. Hitt, with his win, his first since June, 2000, took the South Carolina State Qualifying Spot and the first of his two potential World Putting Championship spot.
Recap and Scores provided by Opie Roberts
Professional Division of Spartanburg, SC Event (11 May 2002)
Round
Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Michael Hitt 26 25 23 74 $125.00 2 Greg Ward 24 25 27 76 $80.00 3 Frank Warren 26 27 24 77 $70.00 4 Dan Anders 25 27 26 78 $60.00 Allen Wall 24 26 28 78 $60.00 6 Gary English 28 26 25 79 $55.00 7 Andy Coradini 32 24 24 80 $52.00 Todd Fowler 26 27 27 80 $52.00 Tony Jackson 29 25 26 80 $52.00 10 Robert Johnson 25 27 29 81 $40.00 Jay Klapper 26 28 27 81 $40.00 Jonathan Reid 28 28 25 81 $40.00 Tony Varnadore 28 26 27 81 $40.00 14 Gary Hester 26 28 28 82 $35.00 15 Lewis Burton 28 24 32 84 $7.00 Billy Caudle 29 25 30 84 $7.00 Kevin Chambers 32 26 26 84 $7.00 Brian Martin 27 26 31 84 $7.00 Vance Randall 26 33 25 84 $7.00 20 Darrell Britt 30 29 26 85 Mike Flavin 25 29 31 85 Bob Jackson 26 29 30 85 23 Rick Baird 27 28 31 86 Ray Guthrie 26 30 30 86 Greg Newport 30 27 29 86 Randy Reeves 27 28 31 86 27 Rob Smarzik 30 30 28 88 28 Rick Rybaczek 29 30 30 89 29 Tony Pack 28 32 31 91 30 Opie Roberts 28 32 32 92
Amateur Division of Spartanburg, SC Event (11 May 2002)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Steve Helton** 27 23 28 78 $10.00 2 Jamie Sanders 28 26 24 78 $10.00 3 Brian Hutchins 29 23 28 80 $10.00 4 Todd Trent 27 24 30 81 5 Tommy Hutchinson 27 30 26 83 6 J. L. Coffey 30 30 25 85 7 Christopher Alley 29 35 23 87 Adam Smith 27 28 32 87 9 Ricky D. Schults 29 32 28 89 10 Ben Blake 28 32 30 90 11 Betty Helton 31 30 30 91 12 Chris Hudson 32 29 31 92 13 Terry Hendrix 34 30 32 96 14 Ricky L. Schults 34 28 40 102 15 Darren Harvey 35 35 35 105 16 Linwood Moist 38 35 36 109
** Won in 18-hole playoff over Sanders (25 - 29)