Lee Messinger Posts a Five Stroke Victory on PPA Oklahoma State Tour

13 August 2005 - Arlington (Division), TX - It turned out to be a hot day in Arlington on Saturday, but not as hot as Lee Messinger. Lee has been showing dominance in recent tournaments around the area. He continued his streak on the Division course. The first round had a tight group for 1-3. Lee was in the lead at 30 with two putters in at 31, Steve Armstrong and Don McCracken. Steve fell a little in the second round with a 35. Lee shot a 27 and Don shot a 29 and found himself 3 behind the leader with just one round left on a tough course. Lee was not going to give up his lead firing a 29 to put him in with a final of 86. Lee had the lowest round in each of the three rounds. Don McCracken came in second with a 91 and Steve Armstrong finished third with a 98. James Taylor received the state qualifying spot.

In the APA Donny Halpain showed his dominance of the Division course. Donny won the Oklahoma State Qualifier earlier this year and wanted to continue his reign over the course. Rob Martin was the earlier challenger. Division is Robs home course and he shot a 31 in the first round to tie with Donny. Donny decided to turn on the burners then and fired a 28 in the second to continue his lead with a 59 total. Closest to Donny was Rob Martin and Danny Hoel at 63. Donny tried to give away his lead earlier in the third round but managed to pull together and aced five of his last six holes. This gave Donny a front 9 score of 13 to go along with the 19 he shot on the back (shotgun start). Donnys 91 secured the win and Jimmy VanBuskirk shot a 29 to move himself to the runner-up position.

Scores and Article provided by Jason Van Buskirk.