30 August 2003 - Martinsville, VA - Manfred Stewart needed a couple of good finishes this weekend to secure a spot into the North Carolina State Championship. All it took was just one tournament on Saturday, and that tournament sparked a win and a berth to the North Carolina State Championship to be held in Burlington on October. Stewart won in a close battle amongst local players and secured his first ever NCPPA win with a one-stroke win on Course 2 in Martinsville.Manfred Stewart Wins First Title on
PPA North Carolina State Tour
Manfred Stewart
2003 Martinsville Open ChampionThe tournament got underway with the first ever perfect nine in PPA tournament competition in Martinsville. Rick Rybaczek aced the first nine holes of play en route to an opening round 24 and shared the score with Stewart. Stewart made the over three-hour trip from Richmond earlier in the morning and got only about 90 minutes of learning, but it paid off. Stewart then popped another good round of 25 and went into the clubhouse with a score of 49.
Local player Randal Smith opened up play with a round of 23 to lead the first round, and then was caught by Stewart. Both Smith and Stewart shared the clubhouse lead through two rounds, but struggled in the final round.
Temperatures were close to 90 degrees on Saturday, with hot and humid conditions. On a day like that, the carpet tends to fluff up and become slow. Stewart fired a final round 29 to take the lead at 78. Smith was three back with six to play, and missed all six holes at the end to finish with a round of 32.
Russell Sigmon, Jr.
2003 APA Martinsville Open ChampionRybaczek fired a 28 in the final round to make it close as he finished tied with Glenwood Arrington for second at 79. Arrington fired a final round 23 to make it interesting down the stretch. Rick Baird finished alone in fourth at 80, while Smith's 81 was good for fifth.
Russell Sigmon, Jr. won his fourth consecutive tournament in Martinsville as he posted a decisive seven-shot win. Sigmon led from wire-to-wire and won his first APA event since he won last year's state championship in High Point. Sigmon started off the afternoon with an opening round 25 for a three-shot lead and kept the lead at three through the second round.
Sigmon shot a 29 in the final round, but wound up winning by a lot more. The defending APA State Championship won the event with a score of 81, good enough for a seven-shot victory on Keith Waters. Waters finished in second at 88, while Larry Hoover finished alone in third at 89.
The final tournament on the schedule for the North Carolina tour is scheduled for Sunday, August 31, at 10:00 a.m. on Course 2 in Martinsville.
Tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts and scores provided by Rick Rybaczek..
Professional Division of Martinsville Open
(Martinsville, VA - 30 August 2003)
Round NC Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1
Manfred Stewart
24
25
29
78
40.00 $ 150.00
2
Glenwood Arrington
25
31
23
79
33.50 $ 100.00
Rick Rybaczek
24
27
28
79
33.50 $ 100.00
4 Rick Baird
29
24
27
80
32.00 $ 80.00
5
Randal Smith
23
26
32
81
31.00 $ 75.00
6 Andy Coradini
25
27
30
82
29.50 $ 63.00
Greg Newport
27
28
27
82
29.50 $ 63.00
8 Mike Griffin
27
29
28
84
27.00 $ 43.00
Bob Haizlip
25
27
30
84
27.00 $ 43.00
Lance Perdue
27
27
30
84
27.00 $ 43.00 11 Bear Landin
27
24
29
85
25.00 12 Darrell Anderson
29
29
28
86
23.50 Ray Guthrie
30
26
30
86
23.50 14 Billy Caudle
32
29
28
89
20.50 Gary Moore
31
30
28
89
20.50 Opie Roberts
29
31
29
89
20.50 Adam Smith
32
30
27
89
20.50 18 Tommy Barbour
31
31
29
91
18.00 19 Randy Carter
30
28
35
93
16.50 Michael Cardwell 30 32 31 93 16.50 Professional Teams Results from the Martinsville Open
(Martinsville, VA - 30 August 2003)
Round NC Prize Players 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1 2 4 5 Amateur Division of Martinsville Open
(Martinsville, VA - 30 August 2003)
Round NC Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Points Money 1
Russell Sigmon, Jr.
25
27
29
81
23.00 $ 10.00
2
Keith Waters
30
30
28
88
19.00 $ 10.00
3 Larry Hoover
32
28
29
89
18.00 $ 10.00 4 Dennis Biesma
32
27
31
90
16.00 $ 4.00 David Gregor
30
31
29
90
16.00 $ 4.00 Frankie Peters
28
27
35
90
16.00 $ 4.00 7 Roy Sigmon
31
31
29
91
14.00 8 Walter Kolb
29
30
34
93
12.50 Malcolm Shumaker 33 30 30 93 12.50 10 Chris Hudson 31 32 31 94 11.00 11 Chuck Nance 34 33 32 99 10.00 12 James LeBrun 31 36 34 101 9.00
