Frank Warren Posts First Career PPA Win at Martinez, GA Course
15 May 2004 - Martinez, GA - The South Carolina tour made its return to Georgia for the first of two trips to Augusta. There were a total of 27 players on hand on an early summer afternoon and the competition on the Red Course on Saturday took a huge surprise.
Frank WarrenIn 2002 the Martinez, GA Red Course hosted a PPA event and an eight-round record was set. On Saturday, the weather was hot and humid, but no rain was in sight. Surprisingly, the scores were extremely higher than expected as only three players out of the Pro Division field broke 80.
One of those would be the eventual winner, Frank Warren. Warren was celebrating his 48th birthday and had his mother out to catch a moment of his play. It may have sparked Warren to winning by a decisive six shots over defending champion Andy Coradini and Tony Jackson.
Warren led wire-to-wire and completely used the local knowledge for his first career win at the Martinez course. Warren shot 24 in the first round to only lead by one, but his second consecutive 24 gave him a three shot lead on Jackson and dashed away to his first win of the year.
Warren won Saturday's event with a final score of 71. Second went to Coradini and Jackson, both posting a score of 77. Rick Culverhouse and Tony Varnadore finished tied for fourth at 80. Warren grabbed the World Match Play spot here and Jackson was the low qualifier for the State Championship. Although it was his first career win in Martinez, it was Warren's first win in the Augusta area since 1993 when he won the only eight-round event ever held on the South Carolina tour that was held at the old Gordon Highway course.
In the APA Division, Jeff Carr posted his third consecutive win at the course. Carr shot an opening round 23 and would hang on to win by two shots over Ricky D. Schults. Carr finished the tournament with a final score of 77, with Schults finishing in second at 79. Chris Alley and Todd Trent both came in third at 85.
The second set of brackets for the South Carolina Match Play Championship was also determined as four new Pros and two new amateurs took center stage. In the Pro Division, Warren, the top seed, knocked off Michael Hitt 2 & 1. Stan Seethoff, seeded #5, upset Greg Ward 1-up. Jackson, the #2 seed, beat up local Mike Flavin 3 & 2. Ray Guthrie, the #6 seed, broke through to beat Tony Varnadore 1-up.
Carr won a sudden death playoff against Steve Helton, going to the fourth hole and the match was over when Helton's putt on 16 popped out of the cup. Alley easily defeated Trent 4 & 3 in the other match.
The next tournament is slated for Sunday at 10:00 a.m. on the Red Course.
Tournament results provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Martinez, GA Event
(Martinez, GA - Red Course - 15 May 2004)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Frank Warren
24 24 23 71 $ 120.00 2 Andy Coradini 28 24 25 77 $ 73.00 Tony Jackson 25 26 26 77 $ 73.00 4 Rick Culverhouse 26 28 26 80 $ 53.00 Tony Varnadore 27 28 25 80 $ 53.00 6 Mike Flavin 25 27 29 81 $ 39.00 Ray Guthrie 26 26 29 81 $ 39.00 Stan Seethoff 27 26 28 81 $ 39.00 Greg Ward 28 28 25 81 $ 39.00 10 Michael Hitt 24 30 28 82 $ 35.00 11 Rick Baird 28 30 25 83 Gary English 27 29 27 83 Robert Johnson 27 27 29 83 14 Randy Orr 27 32 25 84 15 Darrell Britt 29 27 29 85 Randy Reeves 25 30 30 85 17 Opie Roberts 25 29 32 86 18 Dan Anders 31 31 25 87 Mark Ross 31 28 28 87 20 Steve Lyon 30 29 30 89 21 Vance Randall 32 26 34 92 Amateur Division of Martinez, GA Event
(Martinez, GA - Red Course - 15 May 2004)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Jeff Carr
23 26 28 77 $ 10.00 2 Ricky D. Schults 25 27 27 79 $ 10.00 3 Chris Alley 28 29 28 85 Todd Trent 28 26 31 85 5 Steve Helton 30 34 27 91 6 Terry Hendrix 32 35 28 95
