Randal Smith Post Two Stroke Victory
in Spartanburg, S.C.31 July 2004 - Spartanburg, S.C. - If there was a player whose last name was Smith, chances were that he would win a PPA tournament on Saturday in Spartanburg. That was the case when Randal Smith, a product of the PPA North Carolina tour, won the Pro Division by using a final round 25 to win by two strokes over four players. Larry Smith, an amateur from Alabama, won the APA Division with the best score of the entire afternoon.
Randal Smith
2000 PPA South Carolina State ChampionRandal Smith was no stranger to collecting victories on Course 2, the site of this year's South Carolina State Championship. Smith won the 2000 PPA South Carolina State Championship when it was last played on that course. Smith had to come from behind to edge out Rick Baird by two strokes. In this event, Smith trailed by two strokes to Frank Warren and Daryl Freeman, previously the last 54-hole event winner here, before making his move.
Warren was leading the way with an opening round 25 to lead by one stroke over four players. By the end of the second round, Warren was deadlocked with Freeman and Darrell Britt at 53, with Bob Jackson, Tony Jackson, and Greg Ward all tied for fourth at 54, and Smith in seventh by himself at 55.
Smith continued to improve his play in the final when he shot 25 to finish at 80. The three co-leaders were playing behind Smith, and all three could not hold on as the best any of them shot was 29. No one was threatening Smith's lead and Smith would win his third career South Carolina event and post his first PPA win since the 2003 NCPPA debut in Asheboro. Smith won by two strokes over Bob Jackson, Freeman, Britt, and Andy Coradini, all finishing at 82.
The other Smith that won on Saturday came from the APA Division. Larry Smith won his first APA title on the South Carolina tour after a 24 in the final round overtook Chris Hudson's astounding two-round lead of three strokes. Hudson gave Smith all the opportunity he needed when he shot 33 in the final round after an opening round 23 and the second round lead at 51. Hudson slipped to a tie for fourth after the final round 33 ended his chances. Smith would win on Saturday with the day's best score of 78. Brian Hutchins was second at 80 and Ricky Schults finished alone in third at 83.
The next tournament on the South Carolina tour will be on Sunday, August 1 at 10:00 a.m., once again on Course 2 in Spartanburg. The South Carolina Match Play Championship will be played immediately after the medal play tournament on Sunday.
Tournament recap provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Spartanburg, SC Event
(Spartanburg, SC - Course #2 - 31 July 2004)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Randal Smith
28 27 25 80 $ 120.00 2 Darrell Britt 27 26 29 82 $ 63.00 Andy Coradini 28 28 26 82 $ 63.00 Daryl Freeman 28 25 29 82 $ 63.00 Bob Jackson 26 28 28 82 $ 63.00 6 Tony Jackson 27 27 29 83 $ 40.00 Robert Johnson 27 29 27 83 $ 40.00 Greg Ward 26 28 29 83 $ 40.00 9 Frank Warren 25 28 31 84 $ 35.00 10 Vance Randall 32 28 26 86 $ 35.00 Allen Wall 28 31 27 86 $ 35.00 12 Michael Hitt 26 32 29 87 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 30 29 28 87 14 Randy Reeves 29 28 32 89 Opie Roberts 31 29 29 89 16 Randy Orr 29 30 32 91 Tony Varnadore 26 30 35 91 18 Rick Baird 31 30 31 92 Todd Fowler 30 31 31 92 20 Billy Caudle 31 27 35 93 Jonathan Reid 32 30 31 93 Stan Seethoff 29 32 32 93 23 Ray Guthrie 31 35 31 97 Amateur Division of Spartanburg, SC Event
(Spartanburg, SC - Course #2 - 31 July 2004)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Larry Smith
26 28 24 78 $ 10.00 2 Brian Hutchins 28 27 25 80 $ 10.00 3 Ricky Schults 26 29 28 83 $ 10.00 4 Chris Alley 29 26 29 84 Chris Hudson 23 28 33 84 6 Jeff Carr 26 28 32 86 7 Richard Griffin 28 29 30 87 8 Terry Hendrix 29 32 27 88 9 Bill Bryson 29 29 31 89 Barry Moore 26 33 30 89 11 Lynn Self 33 28 30 91 Keith Waters 28 31 32 91 13 Todd Trent 29 33 32 94
