Greg Newport Wins the
$5,000 ProPutters.com Classic28 July 2003 - Lubbock, TX - Trailing the leader after 36 holes, Randy Reeves, by two strokes, Greg Newport put together closing rounds of 23 and 25 giving him a two-stroke margin of victory in the the 2003 ProPutters.com Classic. Randy Reeves opened the tournament leading after 36-holes with rounds of 24 and 22 for a one-stroke victory over Robert Johnson and Robin Ventura. Greg Newport, Jeffrey Garrison and Daryl Freeman were just two strokes behind Reeves at 48 with 36-holes to go.
Greg Newport
2003 ProPutters.com Classic ChampionGreg Newport's third round 23 put him in the lead at 71, 37-under par, but still left him with a narrow one stroke lead over Robin Ventura who was in second at 72 with 18 holes to play. Kevin Lacey was in third at 73 with 36-hole leader, Randy Reeves, in fourth at 74. Tony Varnadore's third round 21 and Brad Lebo's third round 22 moved them into a tie for fourth at 75 with Rainey Statum and Rick Baird at 75.
Rick Baird
2003 ProPutters.com Classic Runner-UpNewport continued his consistent play with a final round 25 for a 72-hole total of 96, 48-under par. His three nearest competitors entering the final round all struggled with Robin Ventura carding a 33, Kevin Lacey posting a final round 29 and Randy Reeves posting his second straight 28. Among those players at 75 entering the final round, Rick Baird put together the best final round posting a 23 for a 72-hole total of 98 and a second place finish. Tony Varnadore followed up his tournament best round of 21 with a final round of 26 to tie for second with Robert Johnson at 101. Randy Reeves and Kevin Lacey finished at 102 in a tie for fifth with Byron Kirby of Sulphur, LA.
The win for Newport was his third PPA National Tour career victory. Newport won the 1996 PPA Charlotte, NC Open and the 2000 Pepsi-Cola Open played in Fayetteville, N.C. Newport is the 2002 PPA Virginia State Champion and has appeared on the PPA television series twice in 1997 and 1999.
Defending 2002 ProPutters.com Classic Greg Ward opened slowly with rounds of 28 and 30 but closed the tournament with rounds of 25 and 23 to finish in a tie for sixteenth place. The 2002 PPA National Champion, Cliff Matthews, opened with rounds of 26 and 24 but closed with rounds of 26 and 30 to also finish tied with Ward for sixteenth place.
Michael Foster of Smithville, MO used his closing rounds of 24 and 25 to pull ahead of Jeff Brown and post a two-stroke victory in the amateur division of the 2003 ProPutters.com Classic. Jeff Brown lead the amateur division after 36-holes with rounds of 27 and 26. Foster closed to within two strokes with a third round 24 and Brown's round of 26. Foster's closing round of 25 made up four strokes on Brown and gave him a 72-hole total of 106, 38-under par. Brown finished alone in second at 108 with Anthony Amick and Seth Smith in a tie for third at 111. Jeff Carr rounded out the top five amateur finishers at 115.
Professional Division of the $5,000 ProPutters.com Classic
(Lubbock, TX - 28 July 2003)
Round Prize Player (Hometown) 1 2 3 4 Total Money 1 Greg Newport (Liberty, N.C.) 23 25 23 25 96 $ 500.00 2 Rick Baird (Pineville, N.C.) 25 24 26 23 98 $ 400.00 3 Tony Varnadore (Rock Hill, S.C.) 26 28 21 26 101 $ 302.50 Robert Johnson (Lake Wylie, S.C.) 24 23 29 25 101 $ 302.50 5 Randy Reeves (Montgomery, AL) 24 22 28 28 102 $ 220.00 Kevin Lacey (Cincinnati, OH) 25 24 24 29 102 $ 220.00 Byron Kirby (Sulphur, LA) 25 24 27 26 102 $ 220.00 8 Rainey Statum (Kingwood, TX) 24 27 24 28 103 $ 190.00 9 Brad Lebo (Shippensburg, PA) 28 25 22 29 104 $ 166.25 Manfred Stewart (Richmond, VA) 28 28 23 25 104 $ 166.25 Frank Warren (Augusta, GA) 27 24 27 26 104 $ 166.25 Brice Bergesen (Houston, TX) 27 24 27 26 104 $ 166.25 13 Robin Ventura (Cincinnati, OH) 23 24 25 33 105 $ 145.00 Andy Coradini (Loganville, GA) 27 25 24 29 105 $ 145.00 Robert Smith (Dallas, TX) 26 25 28 26 105 $ 145.00 16 Greg Ward (Loganville, GA) 28 30 25 23 106 $ 117.50 Cliff Matthews (Arlington, TX) 26 24 26 30 106 $ 117.50 Gary Reed (Lubbock, TX) 26 28 24 28 106 $ 117.50 Paul Sample (Bend, OR) 26 27 26 27 106 $ 117.50 Joel Woodall (Lubbock, TX) 29 24 26 27 106 $ 117.50 Rick Rybaczek (Greensboro, N.C.) 26 27 24 29 106 $ 117.50 Bill Baus (Cleveland Heights, OH) 27 28 26 25 106 $ 117.50 Tom O'Brien (Cleveland, OH) 24 27 26 29 106 $ 117.50 24 Jeffrey Garrison (Morgantown, IN) 26 22 30 29 107 $ 90.00 Rick Culverhouse (Brunswick, GA) 27 26 28 26 107 $ 90.00 James Heikkinen (North Olmsted, OH) 27 26 26 28 107 $ 90.00 Daryl Freeman (Bristol, TN) 23 25 31 28 107 $ 90.00 28 Vince Batten (Richmond, VA) 27 27 27 27 108 $ 82.50 Randy Orr (Lawrenceville, GA) 29 25 28 26 108 $ 82.50 30 Rick Shelton (Lakewood, CO) 28 26 28 27 109 $ 40.00 John Bambling (Pittsburgh, PA) 30 28 26 25 109 $ 40.00 32 Robb Titchell (Columbus, OH) 25 29 29 27 110 Rod Miller (Columbus, OH) 27 29 27 27 110 Roger Beckerman (South Euclid, OH) 29 32 23 26 110 35 Richard Gillooly (Amstelveen, The Netherlands) 30 23 31 29 113 Steve Norman (Irving, TX) 28 25 27 33 113 Billy Caudle (Harrisburg, N.C.) 31 27 28 27 113 Ron Frederick (Chandler, AZ) 28 26 28 31 113 39 Steve Wood (Golden, CO) 30 27 29 28 114 Thomas Rawles (Portsmouth, VA) 30 29 27 28 114 Rod Phillips (Lubbock, TX) 30 29 25 30 114 Vance Randall (Asheville, N.C.) 30 33 24 27 114 43 Mike Baldoza (Austin, TX) 26 27 29 33 115 Terry Smith (McPherson, KS) 29 28 32 26 115 Robbie Vaughn (Odessa, TX) 27 30 29 29 115 John Napoli (Clearwater Beach, FL) 30 26 33 26 115 Mike Chisum (Wichita Falls, TX) 29 28 28 30 115 James White (Concord, OH) 29 28 28 30 115 49 Kelly Mize (Lubbock, TX) 29 30 30 27 116 Lee Messinger (Addison, TX) 28 31 29 28 116 Don Parker (Houston, TX) 28 28 31 29
