Daryl Freeman Wins His Second
NCPPA Event of the 2004 Season
Daryl Freeman
PPA Hall of Fame Member and Two-time winner on the NCPPA in 20044 April 2004 - High Point, NC - After a cold front ripped through High Point on Saturday night, the field for this Sunday's installment of the High Point weekend was playing under brutal, bone-chilling winds. Temperatures in the high 40's for the 10:00 a.m. start and winds gusting to near 30 miles per hour made the conditions feel like it was in the 30's for the entire day.
These conditions made the field average scoring jump up four strokes from 87.27 on Saturday to 91.44 on Sunday. One of the holes that was challenging to the players was hole 17, where the field played it a combined +1 for the tournament. Those included a pair of 6's and four 4's on the card during the three rounds of play in High Point. There were high numbers taken on certain holes that would not be taken had there been no wind. One player started the day with a 4 on the first hole.
Daryl Freeman tested the elements much differently than the rest of the field. He was putting in a two-some at the end and before he went in the clubhouse, the leader was Brad Lebo at 27. Freeman's round started with 10 aces on the first 12 holes en route to a 24 for a three-shot lead. Even though it was an impressive score with the field averaging 31.7 per round, the lead did not last.
Bob Haizlip opened play with a first round of 31 and trailed by seven. The whole weekend for Haizlip had not been pleasant for him up to that point. On Saturday, Haizlip finished dead last in a 30-player field and shot 95. Haizlip decided to play the second round on Sunday. After missing hole 1, Haizlip started on a tear by making the next 11. After missing hole 13, Haizlip closed the second round with five consecutive aces to finish the round with a 20 and would find himself leading after the second round. Freeman fired a 28 to trail Haizlip by one. The next nearest competitors were Lebo and Opie Roberts, both four back at 55.
In the final round, Haizlip began the round unlike his previous round. He deuced five of the first seven, but still recovered to shoot 14 on the front. Freeman also fired a 14 on the front, but would win it on the back nine. While both players could not get anything going on the back, Freeman did manage to ace 15, 16, and 17 down the stretch to pass Haizlip and claim his second win of the young PPA season on the North Carolina tour. Freeman fired a final round 29 to win with a final score of 81. Haizlip finished in second at 82. Ironically, Freeman won a tournament last season in Spartanburg with conditions similar to what he experienced on this chilly afternoon.
Larry Hoover fought off a pair of amateurs in his group and edged Dennis Biesma by one stroke to claim his first career state tour APA win. Hoover fired a final round 31 to hang on to the win and shot 89 for his efforts. Biesma had a two-shot lead after the seventh hole of the third round before Hoover could tie it up two holes later. On the back nine, Hoover and Biesma matched each other and Hoover had it decided when he aced 17 before Biesma could miss it. Biesma did have a chance to force the playoff on 18, but his tee shot did not go and Hoover would walk out of High Point winning his first medal play singles event. Hoover finished the tournament with a score of 89. Biesma finished in second at 90, while Brian Hutchins and Keith Waters finished tied for third at 92.
Brad Lebo finished in third in the Pro Division with a score of 84. Allen Wall rebounded from a disappointing Saturday to take fourth at 85. Roberts tied Andy Coradini, Tony Jackson, and Greg Ward at 86 to round out the top five. There were 14 cash spots available and 91 received a two-for-one split. The score of 92 for the APA was the cash line there. Haizlip qualified for the State Championship and Match Play from this tournament by virtue of his second place finish. Jay Klapper, who won the Saturday tournament there, received the first offered World Match Play spot given by the North Carolina tour for being the two-day low medalist. Klapper also will be heading to the next North Carolina weekend as the overall points leader by 1.5 points over Freeman.
The North Carolina tour will head to Lumberton in two weeks on the weekend of April 17 & 18. The activities will get started at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 17 and at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 18.
Tournament recap and scores provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of the 2004 Guilford County Open
(High Point, NC Event - 4 April 2004)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Daryl Freeman
24 28 29 81 $ 150.00 2 Bob Haizlip 31 20 31 82 $ 110.00 3 Brad Lebo 27 28 29 84 $ 90.00 4 Allen Wall 32 25 28 85 $ 80.00 5 Andy Coradini 28 28 30 86 $ 68.00 Tony Jackson 31 27 28 86 $ 68.00 Opie Roberts 28 27 31 86 $ 68.00 Greg Ward 31 28 27 86 $ 68.00 9 Rick Baird 30 30 27 87 $ 55.00 10 Ray Guthrie 28 30 31 89 $ 45.00 Jay Klapper 30 28 31 89 $ 45.00 12 Don Thompson 31 31 28 90 $ 40.00 Tony Varnadore 31 32 27 90 $ 40.00 14 Rick Rybaczek 32 29 30 91 $ 20.00 Lee Witcofski 31 29 31 91 $ 20.00 16 Billy Caudle 30 30 32 92 Robert Johnson 29 29 34 92 18 Michael Hitt 32 29 32 93 19 Thomas Rawles 30 36 28 94 20 Ben Blake 29 33 33 95 Randy Carter 32 30 33 95 Steve Lyon 30 31 34 95 23 Steve Shively 33 34 30 97 24 Gary Hester 31 39 30 100 25 Chris Bunting 34 34 31 102 26 Gary Moore 36 37 31 104 27 Michael Cardwell 36 36 35 107 28 Rusty Taylor 41 WD Amateur Division of the 2004 Guilford County Open
(High Point, NC Event - 4 April 2004)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Reimbursement 1 Larry Hoover
28 30 31 89 $ 10.00 2 Dennis Biesma 29 30 31 90 $ 10.00 3 Brian Hutchins 29 30 33 92 $ 10.00 Keith Waters 33 31 28 92 $ 10.00 5 Ricky D. Schults 33 33 31 97 6 James LeBrun 32 32 35 99 7 Mark Lawson 32 35 34 101 Frankie Peters 37 33 31 101 9 Adam Smith 35 35 32 102 10 Chris Alley 31 34 38 103 11 Chuck Nance 39 36 31 106
