Greg Ward Breaks 70 for His Second Win of the 2002 Season on the South Carolina Tour
11 May 2002 - Spartanburg, S.C. - The skies were still overcast, but the conditions on Course 3 dried out, prompting scores to go lower than the morning session. Only one round in the morning was a 23, but in the afternoon, there were ten rounds of 23 or better, including three 22's.
Greg Ward, winner of the South Carolina Tour event in Spartanburg, S.C.
Fresh winning the 2002 Carolinas' Open and finishing in second in the morning, Greg Ward put himself back on top in Spartanburg with solid rounds of 23, 22, and 24 for a three-round score of 39-under par 69. The score was the second lowest score ever shot on the South Carolina tour (Robert Johnson holds the all-time record of 67 set last July). Ward won by four strokes over Lewis Burton and Mike Flavin, who each carded 22's in the final round to finish at 73.
Ward broke it open in the second round after being in a three-way tie with Gary English and Randy Reeves for the lead at 23. Ward's second round 22 missed the all-time 36-hole record of 43 (last set by Allen Wall), but was holding on to a three-shot lead over Reeves and Ray Guthrie. Guthrie posted a perfect nine on the front on his way to a 23 to draw back in contention. Rick Baird was then fourth at 50 and then fifth through fifteenth were separated by just two shots from 51 to 53.
The lowest scoring average round of the day came in the final round. Burton and Flavin turned in a pair of 22's each to tie Ward for the low round of the entire day, but not enough to beat out the fellow Georgian. Ward's final round 24 was enough for his second win in a span of a week. It was Ward with a 69, followed by Burton and Flavin at 73.
Brian Hutchins was in the spotlight all afternoon for the APA Division. Hutchins had a golden opportunity to set an all-time APA record for a 36-hole score and also an 18-hole score on top of that. Hutchins began the afternoon's opening round with a 23 to lead by two strokes over Jamie Sanders and then busted it open.
Hutchins made the first 11 holes of the second round and the talk of two records were being discussed. Hutchins chances for a 19 was denied when he missed hole 14 (the second hole he missed that round), and had a chance to tie the 36-hole record of 44, but missed hole 17 that denied any chance of that. Hutchins settled for a two-round score of 45 to lead by six shots, and extended it to eight shots at the end of the tournament with final score of 71. The win is Hutchins' first of the season on the South Carolina tour. Christopher Alley and Ricky D. Schults finished in second at 79.
Baird finished in fourth at 74, while Guthrie and Reeves rounded out the top five at 76. Andy Coradini, Gary English, Greg Newport, and Tony Varnadore all finished tied for seventh and rounded out the top ten at 77.
Once again, there were 30 pros out in the afternoon and there were 15 money spots paid out in this event. The score of 79 was the last spot available.
Burton received the South Carolina State Qualifying spot and defeated Flavin for his second World Match Play spot in this tournament. Frank Warren won the two-day qualifying spot from this weekend. Through 10 events this season, Coradini and Ward share the overall lead for Player of the Year with 212 points, while Jackson slipped to third after this weekend and trails the leaders by 11.5 points.
The South Carolina tour returns to action again in Spartanburg on the weekend of June 1 & 2. The events will be held on Course 2 and will begin at 12:00pm on Saturday, June 1.
Recap and Scores provided by Opie Roberts
Professional Division of Spartanburg, S.C. Event (11 May 2002)
Round
Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Ward 23 22 24 69 $125.00 2 Lewis Burton 25 26 22 73 $80.00 Mike Flavin 28 23 22 73 $80.00 4 Rick Baird 26 24 24 74 $60.00 5 Ray Guthrie 25 23 28 76 $58.00 Randy Reeves 23 25 28 76 $58.00 7 Andy Coradini 26 26 25 77 $50.00 Gary English 23 28 26 77 $50.00 Greg Newport 25 27 25 77 $50.00 Tony Varnadore 27 25 25 77 $50.00 11 Darrell Britt 26 28 24 78 $38.00 Opie Roberts 28 25 25 78 $38.00 Allen Wall 25 30 23 78 $38.00 Frank Warren 25 26 27 78 $38.00 15 Todd Fowler 25 26 28 79 $35.00 16 Robert Johnson 24 30 26 80 Jay Klapper 26 31 23 80 18 Billy Caudle 27 31 23 81 Kevin Chambers 27 25 29 81 Michael Hitt 25 29 27 81 Bob Jackson 28 27 26 81 Jonathan Reid 26 29 26 81 Rick Rybaczek 28 27 26 81 24 Tony Jackson 28 27 27 82 Vance Randall 25 27 30 82 26 Dan Anders 29 28 26 83 27 Gary Hester 27 30 27 84 Tony Pack 27 29 28 84 29 Brian Martin 29 27 30 86 30 Rob Smarzik 32 25 33 90
Amateur Division of Spartanburg, S.C. Event (11 May 2002)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Brian Hutchins 23 22 26 71 $10.00 2 Christopher Alley 28 23 28 79 $10.00 Ricky D. Schults 27 27 25 79 $10.00 4 Chris Hudson 26 30 24 80 5 J. L. Coffey 31 27 24 82 Todd Trent 26 34 22 82 7 Terry Hendrix 26 27 30 83 Tommy Hutchinson 29 23 31 83 Ricky L. Schults 28 30 25 83 10 Steve Helton 27 30 28 85 11 Jamie Sanders 25 34 29 88 12 Betty Helton 32 32 29 93 13 Linwood Moist 32 32 30 94 14 Darren Harvey 34 32 33 99