Mike Baldoza Wins
2003 PPA Texas State Championship14 September 2003 - Longview, TX - It was a beautiful day at the Longview, Texas Putt-Putt for the 2003 Texas State Championship. With light winds and a temperature in the lower 80's the weather would not be a factor. The early matches saw a bit of a surprise as two players with only one spot advanced to the round of 16. Rodney Phillips defeated Tom Adair twice and Keith Barfield won over Andy Gaiser and Steve Tanton. Both Rainey Statum and Don Parker, also players with only one spot, also threatened to advance but were unable to win two matches in a row against the same players. Rainey beat Steve Armstrong easily in the first match but Steve managed to hang on with a 1-Up win in the second match to advance to the round of 16. Don Parker and Marc Portugal had a very similar match to Rainey and Steve with Don winning the first match 3 with 2 but Marc pulling out a 1up victory in the second match to advance.
The round of 16 started out with a small upset as Jon Drexler defeated the best player on tour over the course of this season, Brice Bergesen, 1-Up. The only other surprise in the round of 16 was Keith Barfield's blowout of Wade Sahmel 7 with 6. Wade had won with a great score of 30-under on Saturday and many had picked him as one of the favorites while Keith had shot 13 strokes worse. Keith played well in the match but it was Wade who could not get anything to drop. The quarterfinals saw Jon Drexler continue his run by defeating Rodney Phillips 2 with 1. He was joined in the semifinals by another player on a roll in Keith Barfield who handled Jeffrey Smith 2 with 1 to advance. In the other bracket in would be a battle between a National Champion and a World Champion. Cliff Matthews defeated Jude Prather and Byron Kirby to advance while Mike Baldoza handled David Lynch and got by Joel Baker on the second hole of sudden death. Joel commented after the match that the putt Mike hit to win was one of the prettiest putts he had ever seen. It didn't just go in but was hit so smooth and pure it didn't have anywhere to go but in.
Once Mike got by Joel he again had the old look in his eye, he dominated play against Cliff jumping ahead quickly and never letting up. His 6 with 5 win was impressive to say the least. Mike would face Keith Barfield in the finals who defeated Jon Drexler 3 with 2. Jon had been down for most of the match but managed to crawl back even on the 31st hole. Keith then proceeded to win the next three holes to take the match.
The finals saw Mike Baldoza continue to scorch the Longview course. A 13-under 23 over the first 18 holes gave him a 6 hole lead over Keith. A slight bobble with a bogey on hole 2 the 20th hole in the match and a miss on the easy hole 3 the 21st hole let Keith get back to within 4. Mike then turned it back on a romped to a 7 with 6 win and the Texas State Title. Congrats go Mike who was also inducted into the Texas Putting Legends on Saturday night.
Chance Marett Wins 2003 APA Texas State Championship in His Rookie Season
14 September 2003 - Longview, TX - The amateur division looked like it would be an all local affair as the first three players to reach the semi-finals were from either Tyler or Longview. Dave Blalock defeated Trevor Lewin and Steve Yancey to advance, Rhet Wylie defeated Danny Hoel and Jason Sheffield and Chance Marett defeated Mike Huckaby and Neal Armstrong. The only ongoing match pitted another local, Gary Plain, against James Taylor. James managed to break up the local sweep with a 2 with 1 win.
The semi-final matches pitted James Taylor against Chance Marett and Dave Blalock against Rhet Wylie. Both matches would end with identical scores of 4 with 3. James was unable to break up an all local final as he had done earlier and Chance Marett face Dave Blalock for the title. Over the first nine holes Chance opened up a three hole lead on Dave but Dave managed to close the gap over the second nine and the even going to the last eighteen holes. Again Chance opened up a three hole lead on the front nine of the last eighteen holes and Dave found himself three down with nine to go. He had managed to close the gap the last time they went through the back nine but he was unable to accomplish it a second time and Chance Marett won 4 with 3.
This was Chance's 4th win in only seven events this year. It was also his first year ever playing on the Texas Tour.
Article and scores provided by Lee Messinger.
Professional Division of 2003 PPA Texas State Championship
(Longview, TX - 14 September 2003)
Prize Money for
the Professional Division of
2003 PPA Texas State Championship
(Longview, TX - 14 September
2003)
| Mike Baldoza | $1,080.00 |
| Keith Barfield | $580.00 |
| Jon Drexler | $520.00 |
| Cliff Matthews | $520.00 |
| Rodney Phillips | $220.00 |
| Jeffrey Smith | $400.00 |
| Joel Baker | $400.00 |
| Byron Kirby | $360.00 |
| Brice Bergesen | $340.00 |
| Lee Messinger | $340.00 |
| Wade Sahmel | $340.00 |
| Marc Portugal | $200.00 |
| Steve Armstrong | $240.00 |
| David Lynch | $340.00 |
| Gary Reed | $340.00 |
| Jude Prather | $200.00 |
| Joel Woodall | $100.00 |
| Rainey Statum | $100.00 |
| Don Parker | $100.00 |
| Steve Tanton | $140.00 |
| Tom Adair | $180.00 |
| Andy Gaiser | $40.00 |
| Steve Norman | $40.00 |
| Randy Wimpy | $40.00 |
Amateur Division of
2003 PPA Texas State Championship
(Longview, TX - 14 September
2003)
