Rainey Statum Earns
His Second Victory of 2006 Season

22 April 2006 - Webster, TX - For the first time in a few years rain would not be a factor for the Texas Putting Tour at the South Texas Putt-Putt just south of Houston. James Taylor would take the opening round lead shooting a nice 10 under 26. With only two other players able to crack the 30 mark, Rainey Statum at 28 and Mike Baldoza at 29, Taylor was in good position to try and win his first professional Texas Putting Tour event.

The second round would see Lee Messinger shoot the best round of the day at 11 under 25 and move into contention one stroke behind second round leader Rainey Statum who was in at 17 under 55. With Brice Bergesen tied with Messinger one stroke back and Cliff Matthews and Taylor at two and three strokes behind Rainey respectively it would be a tight final round.

Among the contenders it would be Matthews posting the best final round at 9 under 27 but it would not be quite enough to catch Statum, who shot 8 under 28 last round for a final total of 26 under 83. Matthews would take second place one stroke back and the available World Spot, followed by Messinger in third and Taylor in forth. The win was Statums second in two tries on the Texas Tour and also provided him with a state spot. Addition spots went to Jeffrey Smith and Taylor in match play.

Ramsey's Final Round Puts Him in Winner's Circle

22 April 2006 - Webster, TX - In the amateur division Jason Sheffield was the early leader, posting an opening round 8 under par for a two stroke lead over Jack Ramsey who strung together five aces in a row on the back nine. Mike Huckaby, Adam Sahmel and Doug Austin were a couple more strokes back at 5 under par.

Things got exciting in the second round as the leaders began to back up and the followers began to catch up. After a tough second round 2 under par, Sheffield held on to a share of the lead, but was tied in a logjam at the top with Huckaby, Sahmel and Ken Stanfill. One stroke off the lead was Ramsey waiting to make his big move in the final round.

Ramsey, confident that if he could shoot the front nine well in the final round he would win the tournament, came alive. Ramsey aced the first five holes, then took a couple of deuces before acing Holes 8 and 9 for 7 under of the front. With a couple more aces on the back nine, Ramsey shot the low round of the field for the day at 10 under par, blowing past the leaders to finish at 89. Sheffield was able to hold on to second four strokes back at 93, with Stanfill moving into the third spot at 95. Huckaby finished at 96 for fourth place and the final expense reimbursement. The win gave Jack a state spot and addition spots went to Lloyd Navarro Jr. and Jason Sheffield in match play.

Article and scores provided by Lee Messinger.