Frank Warren Wins 2003 Palmetto Classic for
Second Victory of 2003 Season
Frank Warren
2003 Palmetto Classic Champion27 April 2003 - Columbia, SC - It took a final round 24, a round that included aces on eight of the final nine holes of play for a 10 on the back, for Frank Warren to win his second PPA event in the last three weeks and proclaim his first ever Palmetto Classic championship.
Warren had contended all afternoon in his quest to this the 7th annual Palmetto Classic that was held for the second consecutive season in Columbia. However, he had to fight it down to the end as he was trailing Tony Jackson throughout the bulk of the day. It took Warren's impressive final round score coupled with Jackson's fallen wheels in the final round to clinch the title and kept the bragging rights within the state of Georgia. Greg Ward won last year's event being a representative of Atlanta. Warren, from Augusta, made sure that by winning on Sunday, the streak of a true South Carolina resident failing to win the event was held in check.
It would be Jackson, Robert Johnson, and Darrell Britt holding a three-way share of the lead at the early going. All three posted a score of 26, but scores were tightly packed after the first round. In all, out of the 26-player field, 15 players were within three of the lead after the first round.
Jackson then would be holding his own ground midway through the event. Jackson posted a 25 in the second round to take the outright lead at 51 and was up two on Warren and Rick Culverhouse, another Georgia product. Three back were Britt and Randy Reeves at 54 as it closed out the top five after two rounds of play.
Britt took himself out of contention after the third round. He shot a 35 to slip out of the top 15 and was in at 89. Meanwhile, Jackson continued to pave the way. A 27 gave him a score of 78, which matched Ward's score after the third round last year before Ward stumbled but held on to win by one. The 2003 South Carolina tour president felt the same amount of pressure in the late going. Jackson fired a final round 32 to get him to 110, which topped last year's winning score by a stroke.
But, Warren was hot on his heels. After an front nine 14, Warren put on a massive clinic on the back nine as he made eight of the final nine to shoot 10 on the back, a 24 for the final round, and turned a four-shot deficit after the third round to a four-shot win for himself. Warren shot 106 to win the Palmetto for his first major South Carolina tour win. The win also was his second of the season, and within the last four South Carolina events played to this point. Warren also won in Lumberton just two weeks ago to end a six-year drought of victories.
Jackson was second at 110. Randy Reeves was third at 111, while Rick Culverhouse managed to finish in a tie for fourth with Michael Hitt and Andy Coradini at 112. Ward, the defender, rebounded from a slow start by shooting 30 in the first round to finish tied for seventh at 113. Jackson earned the one-day South Carolina State Spot, with Hitt and Coradini each earning one of the two-day spots that were available this weekend.
Warren becomes the third Georgia resident to win the Palmetto Classic. North Carolina residents have won the other four played. Allen Wall, from Shelby won the inaugural event in Rock Hill back in 1997, and Greg Newport, from Burlington, won three straight from 1999 through 2001.
Also grabbing his second win of the season was Ricky D. Schults. With Todd Trent not able to defend for the amateur division, Schults took it upon himself to claim his first South Carolina major. After trailing by one shot to Orangeburg product Jeff Carr, Schults took the lead after the third round by two shots when he carded a 28 to go in at 86.
Schults held on despite Carr's surging final round. Carr posted a 26, but Schults fired a 27 to slip away with the win. Schults wins the Palmetto with a final score of 113, with Carr at 114 finishing in second. Chris Hudson and Russell Taylor tied three-time champion Tommy Hutchinson for third at 119. Hutchinson also set a new course record as he fired a 23 in the third round to make it interesting down the stretch.
The South Carolina will return to Columbia in late August for three events on Course 1. That course is also the site of this year's State Championship. The tour will take the next month off and will not play again until Saturday, May 31 in Spartanburg on Course 2. The event is tied in with the North Carolina tour and it precedes the 19th annual Carolinas' Open with Ward, a five-time winner, defending on Sunday, June 1 at 9:00 a.m.
Tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts and scores provided by Rick Rybaczek..
Professional Division of 2003 Palmetto Classic
(Columbia, SC - 27 April 2003)
Round SC Tour Prize Player 1 2 3 4 Total Points Money 1 Warren, Frank 27 26 29 24 106 40.00 $ 200.00 2 Jackson, Tony 26 25 27 32 110 37.00 $ 150.00 3 Reeves, Randy 26 28 27 30 111 36.00 $ 120.00 4 Hitt, Michael 28 29 28 27 112 34.00 $ 92.00 Culverhouse, Rick 27 26 28 31 112 34.00 $ 92.00 Coradini, Andy 28 27 29 28 112 34.00 $ 92.00 7 Ward, Greg 30 27 27 29 113 31.50 $ 78.00 Fowler, Todd 28 28 29 28 113 31.50 $ 78.00 9 Johnson, Robert 26 29 30 30 115 29.50 $ 68.00 Randall, Vance 28 28 30 29 115 29.50 $ 68.00 11 Wall, Allen 28 32 27 29 116 27.50 $ 58.00 Pack, Tony 29 28 27 32 116 27.50 $ 58.00 13 Britt, Darrell 26 28 35 28 117 26.00 $ 50.00 14 Rybaczek, Rick 31 27 31 29 118 25.00 15 Klapper, Jay 30 29 30 30 119 23.50 Reid, Jonathan 30 31 28 30 119 23.50 17 Varnadore, Tony 28 32 29 31 120 21.50 Burton, Lewis 30 29 32 29 120 21.50 19 Baird, Rick 29 32 29 32 122 18.50 Barbour, Tommy 32 33 26 31 122 18.50 Anders, Dan 31 31 30 30 122 18.50 Caudle, Billy 30 28 32 32 122 18.50 23 Guthrie, Ray 28 30 35 30 123 15.50 English, Gary 30 32 32 29 123 15.50 25 Roberts, Opie 33 30 31 32 126 14.00 26 Jackson, Bob 37 37 30 26 130 13.00 Amateur Division of 2003 Palmetto Classic
(Columbia, SC - 27 April 2003)
Round SC Tour Expense Player 1 2 3 4 Total Points Reimb. 1 Schults, Ricky D 28 30 28 27 113 20.00 $ 15.00 2 Carr, Jeff 29 28 31 26 114 17.00 $ 15.00 3 Taylor, Russell 32 32 26 29 119 15.00 $ 10.00 Hutchinson, Tommy 34 31 23 31 119 15.00 $ 10.00 Hudson, Chris 30 30 29 30 119 15.00 $ 10.00 6 Carpenter, Donnie 29 32 31 28 120 13.00 7 Coffey, J. L. 33 29 26 33 121 12.00 8 Smith, Larry 30 29 32 31 122 11.00 9 Alley, Christopher 30 31 31 31 123 9.50 Sanders, Jamie 29 33 30 31 123 9.50 11 Hendrix, Terry 32 31 29 33 125 8.00 12 Bruchac, Alex 28 33 33 32 126 7.00 13 Popwell, Chris 33 31 31 34 129 6.00 14 Helton, Steve 30 33 34 35 132 5.00 15 Self, Lynn 35 36 31 38 140 4.00 16 Hoover, Larry 35 37 35 36 143 3.00 17 Sanders, Josh 41 39 37 35 152 2.00
