Brad Lebo Aces Final Hole for
Win in First Tournament of
2004 PPA Virginia State Tour
Brad Lebo
Winner of 2004 PPA Virginia State Tour Event in Lynchburg, VAA total of 25 professionals and 15 amateurs gathered at Joe Aboid's course in Lynchburg for the start of the 2004 season. Amongst the competitors were four players who traveled from the Cleveland, Ohio area, including the defending APA National Champion, Bonnie White. The field received a rude awakening when showers came into Lynchburg two hours before the 12:00 p.m. start and the showers lingered throughout the day, with some breaks in the final two rounds.
The race to victory for Lebo began when he was mired in a share of the lead with fellow Pennsylvanian Mike Brown. Each shot 26 in the opening round. In the second round, the two leaders both shot 28 and were still out in front at 54. However, Vince Batten would make a statement as he shot 27 to match his first round and joined the two-some at the top of the leader board. Rusty Taylor, who won last week in Burlington, and Darrell Anderson were two shots out of the lead at 56.
In the final round, Brown fired a 26 to get it to 80, while Batten was playing behind and only shot 28 to finish at 82. Lebo was still out on the course and was up by one stroke with two holes to play. Lebo hit his tee shot on 17 too hard sending the ball to the back rail and then back down both hills for a long deuce putt. Lebo missed his deuce putt to the left and settled for a three to move back into a tie for the lead. Lebo aced the final hole to claim the victory by a narrow one-stroke margin.
Lebo would be the only player to break 80 on the newly redesigned Course 2 in Lynchburg. By posting a score of 79, Lebo picks up his first win on the Virginia tour since September, 2002 in Charlottesville on the eve of the State Championship. Brown finished in second at 80, and Taylor surged into third at 81.
Conway Coffey, playing in his first APA tournament since playing in 1989, and coming from nearby Forest, Virginia posted an impressive three-shot victory over reigning State Champion Bill Garrett and Chuck Dibbs. Coffey was the only amateur that broke 30 in each round to secure his first win of his career. Coffey shot 85, with Garrett and Dibbs finishing at 88 for a share of second.
Rounding out the top five in the Pro Division were Batten at 82 and Daryl Freeman and Matt Summey were tied for fifth at 85. There were 12 available money spots with the score of 90 receiving a full share. The APA paid back five spots and the last spot was at 90. Lebo does become the first person to garner his second World Match Play Championship spot for the 2004 season.
The Virginia tour resumes their action in Lynchburg on Course 2 at 10:00 a.m.
Scores and Article provided by Opie Roberts.
APA Recap (by Chuck Dibbs)
The 2004 Virginia State Putting Tour began its season exactly where it finished the 2003 season in Lynchburg, Va. Course owner and PPA commissioner Joe Aboid welcomed competitors from as far away as Ohio as some of the best putters in the game tried to warm up the carpets after three months of winter came to a close.
The weather did not cooperate with the field on Saturday. It started raining shortly before 10am and did not stop until halfway through the tournament. The course drained fairly well, however, with only a hole or two needing the attention of a broom during the event. The wet carpets did little to deter Conway Coffey. Posting three rounds in the twenties, his final round 28 and score of 85 bested State Champion Bill Garrett and Chuck Dibbs by three strokes. Mike Matthews ignited for a final round 26 that included 11 aces to leapfrog into fourth place, and John Petrie rounded out the amateur cashers with a score of 90. A handful of competitors were in the mix until the back nine of the last round when Coffey pulled away with some very timely aces.
Professional Division of Lynchburg, VA Tournament
(Lynchburg, VA - 27 March 2004)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Brad Lebo
26 28 25 79 $ 200.00 2 Mike Brown 26 28 26 80 $ 140.00 3 Rusty Taylor 28 28 25 81 $ 120.00 4 Vince Batten 27 27 28 82 $ 95.00 5 Daryl Freeman 28 26 31 85 $ 77.50 Matt Summey 29 28 28 85 $ 77.50 7 Bill Baus 30 29 28 87 $ 62.50 Peter Neumann 29 30 28 87 $ 62.50 9 Darrell Anderson 27 29 32 88 $ 57.50 Ed Grajewski 29 30 29 88 $ 57.50 11 Gary Hinshaw 31 30 29 90 $ 50.00 Gary Moore 30 31 29 90 $ 50.00 13 Rick Rybaczek 32 31 28 91 Gilbert Sharpe 32 28 31 91 15 Opie Roberts 33 31 28 92 Steve Shively 32 30 30 92 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 32 32 28 92 Jeff Spainhour 31 30 31 92 19 Tom O'Brien 32 32 29 93 Manfred Stewart 32 31 30 93 21 Randal Smith 29 35 30 94 22 Wayne Cheatham 31 27 37 95 23 Gil Logan 36 30 31 97 Jonathan Moore 34 31 32 97 25 James White 34 33 37 104 Amateur Division of Lynchburg, VA Tournament
(Lynchburg, VA - 27 March 2004)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Conway Coffey
28 29 28 85 $ 20.00 2 Chuck Dibbs 30 28 30 88 $ 20.00 Bill Garrett 28 32 28 88 $ 20.00 4 Mike Mathews 29 34 26 89 $ 20.00 5 John Petrie 32 29 29 90 $ 20.00 6 Dennis Biesma 32 29 30 91 7 Jason Paljug 31 33 28 92 8 Amy Smith 32 30 31 93 9 Malcolm Shumaker 30 35 30 95 Bonnie White 35 30 30 95 11 Jonathan Koo 34 34 28 96 12 Barry Moore 28 32 28 100 Ryan Carter 34 37 29 100 Walter Kolb 39 31 30 100 15 James LeBrun 34 36 35 105
