Daryl Freeman Shatters 54 Hole PPA World Record En Route to Victory in Richmond, VA

Action commenced at a furious pace, with Freeman seizing the opening-round lead with a course record-tying score of 19. Freeman's only miss came on the 12th hole, which has a classic right-to-left "checkmark" hole design. Batten shot a sizzling 21 to move into solo second place. At 22, Dave Taylor held third position. Bason and Jeff Spainhour shared fourth place at 23. Lebo, Summey, Thomas Rawles, 2004 PPA World Match Play Champion Darrell Anderson, and 2005 PPA Senior National Champion Bill Baus were in a sixth-place logjam at 24.

Freeman maintained his blistering pace through the second round of play. Freeman posted a second-round 22, which included a bogey on the 7th hole, to take a four-stroke 36-hole lead at 41. Freeman's two-round total of 41 matched Batten's existing 36-hole PPA scoring record, which Batten set earlier in the 2005 season during a local tournament on course # 1 in Richmond, Virginia. Batten and Dave Taylor moved into a second-place tie at 45. Shooting consecutive rounds of 23, Bason lurked another stroke back in fourth position at 46. Alone in fifth place at 48 was Rawles.

In the final round of the tournament, Freeman aced fourteen of his first sixteen holes. The tournament was contested using a shotgun start format, with Freeman completing play on holes 1 and 2. Freeman's ace effort on hole 1 jumped out of the desired carpet groove and he settled for a deuce. With hole 2 remaining, Freeman stood six strokes ahead of his closest pursuer and two strokes ahead of the existing 54-hole PPA scoring record. Prudently, Freeman purposely left his ace effort on hole 2 several inches short of the hole to avoid any risk of a difficult uphill deuce putt if an aggressive ace effort were to trickle past the hole. With his tap-in deuce, Freeman posted a final-round 22 and a 54-hole total of 63, establishing a new 54-hole PPA scoring record. The win was Freeman's second of the 2005 season on the Virginia PPA Tour. Batten finished alone in second place at 69. Finishing in third position at 70 was Dave Taylor. Lebo rallied with a final-round 21 to tie Summey and Bason for fourth position at 71. The cash line for the nine money spots awarded in this event fell at 74.

Action in the amateur division was highlighted by an 18-hole playoff between 2005 AmPutters.com Classic Champion Jeff Carr, former professional standout Chuck Dibbs and Barry Moore. After the trio completed 54 holes of regulation play tied at a score of 76, Carr fired 25 in the playoff to defeat Dibbs and Moore, who each posted 28. The victory was Carr's fourth of the 2005 season.

Play opened in the amateur division with a tightly-bunched leader board. Dibbs and Moore jumped into a tie for the first-round lead at 24. 2004 APA National Champion Ricky D. Schults, James Walker, and Mike Matthews shared third position at 25. Another stroke back in a tie for sixth place were 2005 APA Virginia Putting Classic Champion Marty Handschuh and 2003 APA National Champion Bonnie White. Carr posted a lackluster opening-round 29. Mired in a tie for 12th place, he seemingly was a non-factor.

Dibbs continued his stellar play in the second round by posting his second consecutive 24 and seizing sole possession of the 36-hole lead at 48. Handschuh's brilliant second-round 23 moved him into second place at 49. With a second-round 27, Moore fell into third position at 51. Carr battled back courageously in the second round, firing a blistering second-round 23 and pole-vaulting into a tie for fourth place with Schults at 52.

Carr maintained the positive momentum in the final round of regulation, firing 24 to post a 54-hole total of 76. Moore rebounded with a third-round 25 to tie Carr at 76. Dibbs struggled a bit in the third round, but managed to join the tie at 76 by posting a third-round 28. The trio would head to an 18-hole playoff to determine a winner. Schults and Malcolm Shumaker finished in a tie for fourth place at 78. Rounding out the six expense reimbursement spots awarded in the amateur division was local amateur standout Brandon Whitton, who shot 80.

In the 18-hole playoff, Carr aced ten of the first eleven holes. Moore trailed by three strokes at that juncture of the playoff. After making an untimely bogey on the 10th hole, Dibbs stood five strokes behind Carr after the first eleven holes. Dibbs fought mightily, however, acing holes 13 and 15. Bogeys by Carr and Moore on hole 14 and deuces by both players on holes 13 and 15 allowed Dibbs to move a stroke ahead of Moore and within two strokes of Carr's dwindling lead. The players matched cards on holes 16 and 17. With honors, Dibbs made a deuce hole 18, with Moore subsequently acing the hole to tie Dibbs. Putting last, Carr confidently aced the 18th hole to post a playoff score of 25 and secure a three-stroke playoff victory over both Dibbs and Moore.

After a break of about an hour following the day's first tournament, the Virginia PPA Tour returns to action with a second 54-hole event to be held on course # 3 in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 17.