Cliff Matthews Posts Second Straight Victory to Open His 2005 PPA Season

24 April 2005 - Arlington (Division), TX - Cliff Matthews, in his second tournament of the year, fired an opening round of 26 to start the tournament in a sprint. Matthewss first tournament of the year was the day before for the Texas Tour on the same course which he won by shooting an 86. Jeff Smith found himself in second by shooting a 28 and James Taylor was in third with a 30. Cliff stretched his opening distance further by shooting back to back 26s. The next closest pro was James Taylor who was in at 57 after shooting a 27 to capture second place 5 strokes behind Cliffs 52. Jeff Smith slipped into a tie for third with Lee Messenger at 61.

Cliff Matthews put the cruise control on in the third round and coasted in with a round of 30 and a tournament winning 82 while Jeff Smith started a fire by shooting an amazing 25, the lowest round of the weekend, and a final of 86 to cut James Taylor by one stroke who finished third with an 87. State spots went Cliff Matthews, Jude Prather, who defeated James Taylor in match play, and Lee Messinger, who defeated Chris Conradi in match play.

In the APA division Steve Willmann started strong shooting a 27 in the opening round. He was followed closely by Donnie Halpain, turning in a opening round 29. In the second round Donnie continued to shoot well with a 28 and a total of 61 while Steve Willmann fell back to tie Mike Huckaby for second with a 61.

Donnie finished the third round with a decent 30 to win with a 87 and Mike Huckaby passed Steve Willmann by shooting a total of 91and capturing the Runner-up trophy. This was Donnies first win as an amateur. State spots went to Donnie Halpain in medal play, Rob Martin and Trevor Lewin in match play.

Article and scores provided by James Taylor.