Allen Wall Wins
2006 Forest City Open22 July 2006 - Forest City, N.C. - In the first Southern Tour weekend since the Nationals, an unusual small gathering patented their skills this weekend in the foothills of Southern North Carolina. Despite the lowest turnout of the season, the Connors were in high spirits for the competitors who did come out and support the first of two events played at the Forest City facility. Players who practiced on Friday found the vast array of colored carpeting as a test of immaculate skills for the weekend. A severe thunderstorm ripped through the region overnight and the fluffiness of the carpet flattened out in time for the tournament on Saturday.
Allen WallOnly 19 professionals arrived from as little as 20 minutes to as much as eight hours away. Of the contingency featured local favorite Allen Wall and he would prove his heiress as he has done so over the years. With the dampness and moisture left over the night before and lasting into the second round, scoring for the first round were right on cue.
Daryl Freeman would produce the tournament's low round early with 13 aces for an opening round 23. Wall's local wisdom placed him into second one shot off the lead. Darrell Britt found himself in the third position at 25.
Freeman's stunning round would soon be overshadowed from there. A bogey on the troubled second hole set the tone for an ominous front for the 1973 National Champion from Bristol, Tennessee. Wall, the favorite from Shelby, NC, responded by playing his natural game and shot 27 to take the outright lead that he would not hand over for the remainder of this extremely muggy Saturday. After two rounds, Wall was sitting in the driver's seat at 51, and was enjoying a three-shot advantage over Freeman, Frank Warren and Michael Hitt.
Nobody who was on the heels of Wall would make a crucial run. Warren and Hitt each posted a 26 and neither could gain ground. Wall fired a 26 also in the final round to claim his second Southern Tour victory of the season.
Wall finished with a final score of 77, good enough for a three-stroke victory. Warren and Hitt each finished in second at 80. Vance Randall and Tony Jackson shared the fourth place honors at 82.
Article and scores provided by Frank Warren, Opie Roberts and the PPA Southern Putting Tour.
Professional Division of the 2006 Forest City Open
(Forest City, N.C. - Course #1 - 22 July 2006)
Round Southern Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Tour Points Money 1 Allen Wall 24 27 26 77 40.00 $ 150.00 2 Frank Warren 26 28 26 80 33.50 $ 100.00 Michael Hitt 27 27 26 80 33.50 $ 100.00 4 Vance Randall* 28 27 27 82 31.50 $ 78.00 Tony Jackson 29 28 25 82 31.50 $ 78.00 6 Rick Baird 29 28 26 83 29.00 $ 50.00 Daryl Freeman 23 31 29 83 29.00 $ 50.00 Dan Anders 26 27 30 83 29.00 $ 50.00 9 Brad Lebo 29 29 26 84 26.00 $ 14.00 Rick Culverhouse 29 27 28 84 26.00 $ 14.00 Darrell Britt 25 31 28 84 26.00 $ 14.00 12 Greg Newport 27 29 31 87 23.00 Ricky Schults 28 31 28 87 23.00 Robert Ward 28 28 31 87 23.00 15 Bob Jackson 31 29 28 88 20.50 Opie Roberts 30 33 25 88 20.50 17 Robert Johnson 30 29 30 89 19.00 18 Lance Perdue 26 33 31 90 18.00 19 Michael Cardwell 36 30 33 99 17.00 * Earned a qualification spot for the 2006 PPA Southern Putting Tour Championship.
Caleb Kennedy Follows up 2006 APA National Championship with Victory in Forest City Open
22 July 2006 - Forest City, N.C. - Usually when a player wins a National Championship or any high-profiled tournament, the player would carry over his success into upcoming tournaments and continue to make a name for himself. Caleb Kennedy won the 2006 APA National Championship just two weeks ago and continued to perform strongly in his first tournament since the Nationals. At 15, Kennedy became the youngest APA National Champion since 1969 and now would become the youngest Southern Tour winner ever as he rallied from three shots down to Larry Hoover and proclaimed his name to the top of the field on Saturday.
Caleb Kennedy opens the 2006 APA National ChampionshipEarly action saw Hoover sharing the first round lead with Alabama belle Lynn Self, each firing identical nines of 12 and 14 for a total of 26. Kennedy was tied with two others for the third spot at 28, two shots off the lead.
Hoover continued his opening round mastery into the second round, while Self faded. Hoover aced the last four holes on the front and posted an 11 to lead by as many as four over Kennedy and Barry Moore. The lead would be slightly cut in half thanks to Moore making up three shots midway on the back before Hoover took a couple of the back late in the round. Hoover was staring at sole possession of the lead at 52, with Moore trailing by two shots at 54, and Kennedy right behind them at 55, along with Todd Trent, who shot the tournament's best round 23 in round number two.
With Moore and Hoover in the same pairing, both were battling each other down the stretch. Kennedy, teeing off first for the amateurs as a courtesy for winning the National Championship, steered away early. The teenager from Asheboro, NC misfired on the first five holes, including a bogey on hole 3. While all that was happening, Hoover duplicated Kennedy's start, but with a bogey on hole 2. Moore also started the round off slowly, but was sharing the lead with Hoover and took the lead after the front nine. Hoover was down one to Hoover and Kennedy was two off the lead.
Hoover made a late surging run and took the lead back from Moore with four to play. Kennedy also provided late heroics of his own. After missing hole 10, he found the cup on the next seven, including the improbable 12th hole. Hoover also made 12, but missed the relatively easy 15th hole to create a three-way tie with four to play.
Kennedy and Hoover both made 16 before Moore missed his opportunity. Kennedy then took it from there when he made 17 and both missed it to follow. After a successful landing on the table top on hole 18, Kennedy tapped in the deciding deuce putt. Hoover had one last chance to join Kennedy at 82, but was not successful on his tee shot and fell one shot behind Kennedy at 83.
Kennedy secured his first Southern Tour win of the season and in outstanding form by posting a final score of 82. Hoover finished one shot off the pace at 83 for another second place output. Moore wound up tied with Smith for the third spot on Saturday at 84.
Article and scores provided by AmPutters.com.
Amateur Division of the 2006 Forest City Open
(Forest City, N.C. - Course #1 - 22 July 2006)
Round Southern Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Tour Points Money 1 Caleb Kennedy 28 27 27 82 23.00 $ 10.00 2 Larry Hoover 26 26 31 83 19.00 $ 10.00 3 Larry Smith 28 29 27 84 17.50 $ 10.00 Barry Moore 28 26 30 84 17.50 $ 10.00 5 Chris Hudson 34 24 28 86 16.00 6 Todd Trent 32 23 32 87 14.50 Jeff Carr 29 31 27 87 14.50 8 Paula Gay 29 29 30 88 12.50 Lynn Self 26 30 32 88 12.50 10 Chris Alley 30 30 31 91 11.00 11 Donald Ralph 31 33 34 98 10.00 12 Robert Gay 32 32 37 101 9.00 13 Linwood Moist 34 36 34 104 8.00
