Rusty Taylor Wins NCPPA Season Opener for First PPA Win since 2000
Rusty Taylor
20 March 2004 - Burlington, N.C. - The 2004 North Carolina PPA season began where it last left off in 2003, in Burlington. Coming back to Burlington was one of the huge opportunities for players to start out the season. A total of 44 professionals and amateurs dusted off their putters from the closet over the winter and returned to Burlington for the first ever Alamance County Open with one thing in mind and that was to play successfully well.
For Rusty Taylor, a win had been rare. His last PPA win, his only career win, came in 2000 when he won the second annual Dogwood Festival Open in Charlottesville, Virginia. Taylor made the 5 1/2 hour haul from outside of Baltimore to compete in the 28-player field.
In the early stages of the tournament, he had told his playing partner, Opie Roberts, that he was playing aggressive this season. He jumped out to a humongous start, making six of the first eight on Course 2, but what he did not realize was that he was two shots down to Roberts. Roberts made the first eight holes before catching the right lip on hole 9 for his second consecutive perfect nine in North Carolina competition, dating back to the perfect back nine in last year's State Championship held on Course 1. After making hole 9, Taylor trimmed the lead to just one shot.
Taylor and Roberts dueled it out on the back and both finished the opening round of the season with the two lowest scores of the day. Taylor aced out the remaining five holes to finish off the round with a 21, and Roberts missed 18 to the right to fall to second by himself at 22. Vince Batten, who won that coveted State title, had the third lowest round of the day by posting a 23 to end the round into the third slot.
During the second round, the players who were in the spotlight began to stumble a bit as the typical March winds began to strengthen. Only one other player could match the score that Batten posted for the remainder of the day as Jay Klapper fired a 23 to move into third after the second round. Batten fired a 25 to grab the outright lead at 48. Taylor could only get the round to 28 and drop to second at 49, while Roberts had bigger problems despite a bogey-free 31 that temporarily dropped him out of the top five.
As the winds continue to blow at around 20 mph, Batten left some room for Taylor to work with. Batten fired a final round 30 to end the afternoon with a 78, and was already passed by Brad Lebo. Lebo fired a final round of 26 to go in the clubhouse with a score of 77, which would lead the division at this point. Taylor began a comeback that would include an improbable finish.
Taylor aced hole 16 to grab a one-shot lead with two holes to play. He still needed a par on 18 to clinch the victory. His tee shot missed to the right and went up the slope. Normally, the ball would descend back to the front side of the hole for an easy tap-in deuce, but Taylor's ball mysteriously stayed on top of the slope at the back rail. With a severe right-to-left break to the hole, Taylor firmed his deuce putt and rattled it in the hole for the win and a final score of 76.
The win by Taylor does mark his first PPA victory since he won in 2000 at Charlottesville. Lebo would finish in second at 77.
Brian Hutchins won in a three-player battle with David Gregor and Gerald Vick down the stretch in the APA Division. Vick was carrying a one-shot lead over Gregor and Hutchins after two rounds of play. Hutchins fired a 25 in the final round to edge out Gregor and Vick and put up a final score of 80. Gregor finished in second at 81, while Vick closed out with a third place finish at 82. The win for Hutchins was the second consecutive season that Hutchins won the APA season opener on the North Carolina tour.
Batten finished in a tie for third at 78, along with Klapper, Roberts, and two-time defending North Carolina Player of the Year Andy Coradini. There were 14 cash spots available in the Pro Division and the score of 83 was a full share. The APA reimbursed five spots and the score of 84 was the last spot available. Taylor's win earned him the right to receive the first North Carolina State qualifying spot for this October in Forest City, and the first seed in the Match Play to be played in September on this very course.
Tournament recap and scores provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Burlington, N.C. Event (20 March 2004)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Rusty Taylor
21 28 27 76 $ 150.00 2 Brad Lebo 24 27 26 77 $ 110.00 3 Vince Batten 23 25 30 78 $ 79.00 Andy Coradini 26 28 24 78 $ 79.00 Jay Klapper 27 23 28 78 $ 79.00 Opie Roberts 22 31 25 78 $ 79.00 7 Bob Haizlip 26 27 26 79 $ 60.00 Lance Perdue 25 25 29 79 $ 60.00 Allen Wall 25 29 25 79 $ 60.00 10 Robert Johnson 30 25 25 80 $ 45.00 Lee Witcofski 27 26 27 80 $ 45.00 12 Rick Rybaczek 24 32 26 82 $ 40.00 13 Billy Caudle 31 24 28 83 $ 40.00 Ray Guthrie 26 28 29 83 $ 40.00 15 Michael Cardwell 31 24 29 84 Greg Newport 29 29 26 84 17 Randy Carter 28 28 30 86 Tony Varnadore 28 26 32 86 19 Rick Baird 31 32 24 87 Tommy Barbour 28 29 30 87 Chris Bunting 27 31 29 87 Daryl Freeman 30 30 27 87 Mike Griffin 31 28 28 87 Thomas Rawles 29 31 27 87 25 Gary Moore 33 28 27 88 26 Steve Shively 29 30 31 90 27 Randy Reeves 31 31 30 92 28 Bill Kirby 28 31 35 94 Amateur Division of Burlington, N.C. Event (20 March 2004)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Brian Hutchins
27 28 25 80 $ 10.00 2 David Gregor 27 28 26 81 $ 10.00 3 Gerald Vick 28 26 28 82 $ 10.00 4 Frankie Peters 29 26 29 84 $ 10.00 Todd Trent 27 28 29 84 $ 10.00 6 Walter Kolb 30 29 28 87 7 Ricky D. Schults 32 28 28 88 8 Adam Smith 30 27 33 90 9 Dennis Biesma 31 30 32 93 10 Chuck Nance 32 30 33 95 11 James LeBrun 35 29 34 98 12 Steve Helton 30 35 35 100 Mark Lawson 34 34 32 100 14 Linwood Moist 41 35 29 105
