Rick Culverhouse Earns Second Straight Victory on Southern Tour in Martinez Open
22 April 2006 - Martinez, GA - Rick Culverhouse exited the last Southern Tour event played in Spartanburg with a win under his belt. This weekend, the Southern Putting Tour headed south to Georgia for the first of three scheduled weekends. Culverhouse entered Martinez and the Blue Course looking to make history and did so as he came back to knock off Randy Orr and Daryl Freeman in the final round and claimed his second straight Southern Tour win. A field of 36 professionals, the largest in the tour's brief history and largest non-National PPA field since 1998, gathered for the Martinez Open on the more difficult Blue Course during a muggy and inclement afternoon along the Savannah River. Patches of rain fell throughout the day. Rain escaped play in the first round and did not fall until late in the second round. After a lull, the rain fell again into the third round and intensified as the round progressed. The weather did not halt play at any given time. Brand new carpeting was laid out just two weeks prior to this event and was completely soaked from overnight rain on Friday. As it tried to dry out during practice, scores bounced around and grew higher as the day wore on.
Rick CulverhousePlayers figured a round just under 30 would be good enough to compete. Sixteen players were fortunate enough to fire a round in the 20's. Two of them would go even lower as they fired respectable -10 rounds. Randy Orr and Daryl Freeman each posted 13's on each nine to claim top honors with a 26. A shot back in third were Bob Davis and Allen Wall, each with a 27. Tour rookie Ricky Schults actually grabbed the early lead with a 12 on the front, but tightened up on the back and was amongst a group of players tied for fifth at 28, including Culverhouse, whose peril on hole 9 paved way for a solid back.
Orr would take over in the second round. After committing his first bogey of the day on hole 3, Orr played the back nine -5. Freeman posted a 29 to trail Orr by two strokes through two rounds. Culverhouse began the second round with aces on five of the first seven holes en route to a 12 on the front and also moved into a share of second with Freeman. Through 36 holes, Orr was leading at 53, while Freeman and Culverhouse were each at 55.
Orr tried to rebound from the miscue on hole 3, but failed once again in the final round. After taking his second and last bogey of the day, Orr found himself in a dead heat with the other chasers. However, the twosome of Freeman and Culverhouse answered Orr's miscue by each running four of the next five, and Culverhouse added one more ace to make it five of six. Orr would make three of the next five, but would be a couple of shots down with nine holes to go.
Freeman aced hole 11 to tie Culverhouse for the lead and the two traded scores for the next four holes. Culverhouse stepped to hole 16 and made it. Freeman playing a couple of groups later, missed the hole, but reached the upper right corner for a tricky deuce putt in which he missed. This gave Culverhouse a two-shot lead that he would not relinquish. Culverhouse made the following hole to secure a three-shot win over Orr and Freeman. It would be the largest margin of victory this season on the tour.
Culverhouse became the first player in Southern Tour history to win multiple events and became the first to win back-to-back. He also won the inaugural PPASouthernTour.com Open in Spartanburg three weeks ago.
Culverhouse finished the event in a downpour by firing a 26 and won with a score of 81. Orr and Freeman each were second at 84. Greg Ward ended up in fourth at 86. Davis and Wall were tied with Michael Hitt at 87. Orr defeated Freeman in a playoff for the Southern Tour qualifying spot. Culverhouse the first World Match spot offered by the Southern Tour. The Southern Tour announced on Saturday that 15 total World spots will be offered from this tour throughout the next 11 tournaments.
Of the 36 players, 18 money spots were given out. The final cash spot was at 91. That spot was a six-for-five split.
The Southern Tour will compete on Sunday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. for the Martinez Classic on the Red Course.
Article and scores provided by Frank Warren, Opie Roberts and the PPA Southern Putting Tour.
Professional Division of the 2006 Martinez Open
(Martinez, GA - Blue Course - 22 April 2006)
Round Southern Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Tour Points Money 1 Rick Culverhouse 28 27 26 81 40.00 $ 150.00 2 Randy Orr* 26 27 31 84 33.50 $ 100.00 Daryl Freeman 26 29 29 84 33.50 $ 100.00 4 Greg Ward 28 28 30 86 32.00 $ 80.00 5 Michael Hitt 31 29 27 87 30.00 $ 70.00 Bob Davis 27 31 29 87 30.00 $ 70.00 Allen Wall 27 30 30 87 30.00 $ 70.00 8 Darrell Britt 29 29 30 88 27.50 $ 58.00 Randy Reeves 29 30 29 88 27.50 $ 58.00 10 Robert Johnson 30 28 31 89 24.50 $ 45.00 Gary Hester 31 28 30 89 24.50 $ 45.00 Andy Coradini 30 30 29 89 24.50 $ 45.00 Vance Randall 31 30 28 89 24.50 $ 45.00 14 Frank Warren 28 33 30 91 19.50 $ 34.00 Vince Batten 30 28 33 91 19.50 $ 34.00 Randal Smith 32 29 30 91 19.50 $ 34.00 Rick Baird 31 32 28 91 19.50 $ 34.00 Mike Flavin 29 31 31 91 19.50 $ 34.00 Brad Lebo 29 32 30 91 19.50 $ 34.00 20 Tony Jackson 31 29 32 92 15.50 Ricky D. Schults 28 30 34 92 15.50 22 Bill Kirby Jr. 31 30 32 93 13.00 Jay Klapper 31 32 30 93 13.00 Dan Anders 29 32 32 93 13.00 25 Greg Newport 29 33 32 94 9.00 Lewis Burton 28 35 31 94 9.00 Hank Mersereau 32 32 30 94 9.00 Rick Rybaczek 31 33 30 94 9.00 Gary English 29 34 31 94 9.00 30 Stan Seethoff 33 34 28 95 6.00 31 Russell Sigmon 33 34 29 96 5.00 32 Opie Roberts 33 33 31 97 5.00 Steve Lyon 31 34 32 97 5.00 34 Steve Toomey 29 34 35 98 5.00 Robert Ward 31 36 31 98 5.00 Mark Ross 34 32 32 98 5.00 * Earned a qualification spot for the 2006 PPA Southern Putting Tour Championship.
Jeff Carr Wins Weekend Opener in Martinez, GA
22 April 2006 - Martinez, GA - The Southern Tour traveled to Martinez, GA for the first of two weekends prior to the Week of Nationals scheduled for this summer. The weekend includes preview events on both the Blue and Red Courses to give the players a chance to feel out the new carpets and begin to work on shots they'll need this summer.
Jeff CarrInitial practice sessions on the Blue Course on Friday were brutal due to the new carpets. Then overnight thunderstorms drenched the already slow carpets, making many of the practiced shots less reliable. To compound things further, showers midway through the second and third rounds caused troubles for many players looking to post some decent scores on the first visit to Martinez this season.
2005 South Carolina State Champion Jeff Carr dominated the Martinez courses during 2003 and 2004, and again on Saturday he was ready for the challenge. Carr put together the best rounds of the day in a field of 18 amateurs who made the trip, posting a three round score of 88 for a one stroke victory over Frankie Peters.
Carr took the early lead right from the start with an opening round 8 under par. Barry Moore, Dennis Biesma and Donald Ralph followed one stroke back at 29, with Peters, Larry Smith and Martinez local Bo DeBruin close behind at 30.
The second round rains slowed the leaders down a bit. Carr managed a second round 6 under par, yielding to Peters who fired a second round 9 under par to take the 36 hole lead at 57. Smith and Mark Lawson held on to trail the leaders at 59 for two rounds.
The players worked through a heavier shower early in the final round, then as the group began to reach the final holes was again hit with the strongest shower of the day. Carr held steady through the final round, shooting another round at 6 under par to finish at 88. Peters slipped a little in the final round, but held on to second place at 89.
Smith finished third at 90, with Lawson two more strokes back at 92. DeBruin was fifth at 93. Todd Trent shot the best final round in the field at 7 under par to tie Walter Kolb at 96 for a split of the final expense reimbursement slot.
The win was Carr's first of the 2006 season, and moves him to the top of the 2006 Southern Tour points standings.
The Southern Tour returns to action on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. for the first event of the season on the Red Course. Playing significantly better in practice sessions, Sunday's scores are expected to be much lower.
Article and scores provided by AmPutters.com.
Amateur Division of the 2006 Martinez Open
(Martinez, GA - Blue Course - 22 April 2006)
Round Southern Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Tour Points Money 1 Jeff Carr 28 30 30 88 23.00 $ 10.00 2 Frankie Peters 30 27 32 89 19.00 $ 10.00 3 Larry Smith 30 29 31 90 18.00 $ 10.00 4 Mark Lawson 31 28 33 92 17.00 $ 10.00 5 Bo DeBruin 30 31 32 93 16.00 $ 10.00 6 Walter Kolb 31 30 35 96 14.50 $ 5.00 &n
