Robert Johnson Win First PPA State Tour Event Since 2003 PPA National Championship Victory
Robert Johnson
2003 PPA National Champion12 June 2004 - Forest City, N.C. - On an afternoon where temperatures scorched over 90 degrees on Saturday, 20 pros and nine amateurs tested the waters on Course 2 in Forest City and the course was biting off the patience of the competition. Only two players in the Pro Division broke 90 on Saturday and there was a playoff still to be decided after that. Two amateurs also broke 90 and those two had better scores than the winning Pro score.
Local favorite Allen Wall jumped out ahead with a first round 26 for a three-shot lead over Daryl Freeman. Wall came in to the event winning the last event played on Course 2 with a decisive score of 82. However, his chances to seal off another win began to deteriorate in the second round. Wall shot a 32 in the second round to go in at 58, but he maintained his lead by a slim one stroke over Freeman and Greg Ward, both in at 59 through two rounds.
Robert Johnson entered the final round tied for fourth at 60 and would post his only sub-30 round in the final round by posting a 29 to finish the event at 89. Wall came in afterwards with a 31 to also end up at 89 and a playoff had to be decided. It was where Johnson took control on the front nine and finished the playoff with a round of 29 and won by five strokes. The win for Johnson is his first of the season and his first individual PPA win since winning the 2003 National Championship.
However, the winning score for the Pro Division did not turn out to be the low score of the afternoon. Ricky D. Schults turned in a final round 28 to finish the event at 88. But it was not the best score because local APA player Brian Hutchins posted the day's best score of 25 to erase Schults' two-stroke lead and made it a victory for himself. In his career, Hutchins had failed to post a win on his course in Forest City and on Saturday, the monkey finally broke through. The final round 25 vaulted Hutchins to finish with a score of 87. Schults had to settle for second and third went to Dennis Biesma at 91.
Freeman finished in third at 90 with rounds of 29, 30, and 31. Jonathan Reid, playing in his first event of the season, took home a surprising fourth place finish at 91. Six players finished in a tie for fifth at 92, which included Bob Jackson, Greg Ward, Tony Varnadore, Todd Fowler, Randy Reeves, and Tony Jackson. Johnson would grab his second World Match Play spot from this event on Saturday.
Afterwards, the fourth and final bracket for the South Carolina Match Play Championship was set and it was to be played immediately after the playoff. However, a severe thunderstorm ripped through the Forest City area where rain was pouring at a clip of an inch and a half an hour and showers persisted throughout the rest of the day, causing the course to become unplayable. The brackets had to wait until Sunday.
The South Carolina tour resumes play on Sunday, June 13 at 10:00 a.m. on Course 2 in Forest City with the fourth bracket to be played afterwards.
Tournament recap and scores provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of the Forest City, N.C. Event - 12 June 2004
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Robert Johnson*
30 30 29 89 $ 120.00 2 Allen Wall 26 32 31 89 $ 80.00 3 Daryl Freeman 29 30 31 90 $ 65.00 4 Jonathan Reid 32 29 30 91 $ 55.00 5 Todd Fowler 32 32 28 92 $ 40.00 Bob Jackson 34 29 29 92 $ 40.00 Tony Jackson 30 30 32 92 $ 40.00 Randy Reeves 32 33 27 92 $ 40.00 Tony Varnadore 32 30 30 92 $ 40.00 Greg Ward 30 29 33 92 $ 40.00 11 Andy Coradini 33 29 31 93 Jay Klapper 32 30 31 93 13 Rick Baird 32 31 31 94 Michael Hitt 33 29 32 94 Vance Randall 34 29 31 94 Frank Warren 32 30 32 94 17 Ray Guthrie 30 33 33 96 18 Opie Roberts 31 32 34 97 19 Rick Rybaczek 33 35 32 100 20 Darrell Britt 35 35 33 103 * Robert Johnson won the 18 hole playoff over Allen Wall (29-34).
Amateur Division of the Forest City, N.C. Event - 12 June 2004
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Brian Hutchins
31 31 25 87 $ 10.00 2 Ricky D. Schults 29 31 28 88 $ 10.00 3 Dennis Biesma 34 28 29 91 4 Jeff Carr 35 28 30 93 5 Richard Griffin 32 33 30 95 6 Bill Bryson 36 30 36 102 7 Chris Alley 38 38 28 104 Chris Hudson 38 34 32 104 9 Terry Hendrix 32 34 40 106
