Greg Ward Posts Fifth Victory of 2004 Season on the PPA South Carolina State Tour
Greg Ward23 May 2004 - Spartanburg, S.C. - After barely escaping a playoff win on Saturday, Greg Ward decided to turn it up a notch and flat out dominated the 19-player Pro Division field on Sunday in Spartanburg on Course 1. Ward's dominance evidently was proven as he was the only player to break 80 and won by seven shots. Ward posted rounds of 25, 22, and 26 to close out the Spartanburg weekend with a final score of 73 and Ray Guthrie and Michael Hitt were the closest ones to him at 80.
Ward's first round 25 was shared by three other players, including Guthrie, Rick Baird, and Tony Pack. Ward would put his move on in the second round when his 22, the lowest round of the tournament and weekend, gave him a five-shot lead on Michael Hitt through 36 holes. In that round, Hitt fired a 23 to put him at 52, while Guthrie posted a 28 to fall into third at 53.
But Ward was just too much going into the final round of play. Ward only shot 26, but the lead widened to a final seven-shot victory over Guthrie and Hitt. The win for Ward was his fifth of the season and has won all four South Carolina events that have played inside the state of South Carolina. His other victory on their tour was in White Lake at the 2004 Carolinas' Open.
Baird and Allen Wall both finished tied for fourth at 81. Hitt took the Sunday low medalist spot for their State Championship, while Wall grabbed the two-day qualifying spot.
Jeff Carr held on to a one-shot win in the APA Division, after dueling it out against local player Chris Alley, and a surging final round from Brian Hutchins. Alley had the first round lead with a 25, but Carr would shoot 25 in the second round to make the pair deadlock through the second round. Hutchins was four back at 55 and actually trailed Larry Smith for the third spot by one shot before he was able to make his run.
Hutchins would fire a 24 in the final round to wind up at 79, but Carr aced 18 to finish the tournament at 78, and forced Alley to ace out the last two to overtake him. Alley was unsuccessful in his bid and actually missed the final two he played, thus giving Carr his fifth APA win in South Carolina for 2004. Carr won with a score of 78, with Alley and Hutchins both finishing at 79.
The South Carolina tour will resume their schedule on the weekend of June 12 & 13 in Forest City, North Carolina. The events will be on Course 2.
Professional scores provided by Frank Warren, APA scores by Chris Alley and tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Spartanburg, SC Event
(Spartanburg, SC - Course #1 - 23 May 2004)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Greg Ward
25 22 26 73 $ 120.00 2 Ray Guthrie 25 28 27 80 $ 73.00 Michael Hitt 29 23 28 80 $ 73.00 4 Rick Baird 25 30 26 81 $ 53.00 Allen Wall 27 27 27 81 $ 53.00 6 Todd Fowler 29 25 28 82 $ 45.00 7 Tony Jackson 26 30 27 83 $ 38.00 Frank Warren 27 29 27 83 $ 38.00 9 Robert Johnson 29 28 27 84 $ 18.00 Randy Reeves 28 28 28 84 $ 18.00 11 Tony Pack 25 30 30 85 12 Tony Varnadore 27 23 36 86 13 Billy Caudle 29 32 26 87 14 Andy Coradini 30 30 29 89 15 Darrell Britt 30 26 34 90 Randy Orr 30 34 26 90 17 Gary English 31 29 32 92 18 Steve Lyon 32 32 30 94 19 Bob Jackson 33 33 31 97 Amateur Division of Spartanburg, SC Event
(Spartanburg, SC - Course #1 - 23 May 2004)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Jeff Carr
26 25 27 78 $ 10.00 2 Chris Alley 25 26 28 79 $ 10.00 Brian Hutchins 28 27 24 79 $ 10.00 4 Larry Smith 29 25 29 83 5 Ricky D. Schults 29 29 27 85 6 Richard Griffin 30 28 28 86 7 Todd Trent 29 29 30 88 8 Terry Hendrix 36 27 32 95 9 Adam Smith 35 31 30 96 10 Bill Bryson 32 37 33 102 11 Lynn Self 38 34 39 111 12 Steve Helton 36 WD
