Jude Prather Wins
Oklahoma State Tournament in Ft. Worth, TX

30 April 2005 - Ft. Worth (Westside), TX - With just enough wind to give the air a nip, the Oklahoma Professional Putters Tour continued on, a week after the tour had an event just across town at the Arlington Division course. If you look across the course of practicing putters, one man stands out, Danny Hoel. No, it is not just because of his pink slacks and green socks. It is because you hear his ball hit multiple rails before finding a resting spot in the bottom of the hole. If the shots require three rails to get to the hole, Danny Hoel has mastered it. Most putters shy away from shots that require more than one rail and a possible back door. Danny may have three rails hit before he has the ball ten feet down the carpet. Some days the shots just dont fall for Danny, but some days Danny cannot miss, no matter how many rails he hits. This was Dannys day to be hot.

With the other putters wondering which course Danny was playing, he put down scores of 32, 30 and 29 for a total of 91. This was the lowest of all putters Pro and Amateur. Jimmy VanBuskirk followed Danny as the runner-up with a score of 98, 7 strokes behind Danny. Neal Armstrong and Jason VanBuskirk received the state spots for match play and Danny received the state spot for metal play.

In the pro ranks Jude Prather fired up his White Fang putter to shoot a 94 for three rounds. Judy, Judes wife, picked up the Jack Nicklaus White Fang for Jude off of the internet between last season and this season. Jude had a white fang when he was younger, but lost the putter. Jude started the day with a 28, which would tie for the lowest round of the day. Jude then cooled down a little shooting a 35, but still maintained a 1 stroke over Lee Messinger, who was in with a 64 for the first two rounds. Jude then finished strong with a 31 to seal the deal. Lee finished second with a 97. Jude, Lee and Chris Conradi received state spots.

Article and scores provided by James Taylor and Jimmy VanBuskirk.