Greg Ward Opens 2007 Season with
Playoff Victory over Brad Lebo24 March 2007 - Burlington, N.C. - The Southern Putting Tour began its second season of pure competition this past weekend in Burlington and one of the best turnouts for a season opener was in store. On a rare summer-like late March afternoon, a field of 39, with a majority of the players teeing it up for the first time since the fall, returned to the famed and picturesque Burlington course to get the season off to a great start. The first three-some on the scoreboard featured reigning Player of the Year Rick Culverhouse, teeing it up with the Southern Tour champion Vince Batten, and 2006 PPA National Champion Brad Lebo. All three began play with aces on the first hole and the season was off and running. Thirty minutes later, the field of 39 was on the course in hopes of winning the first event of the season.
Greg Ward
2007 Burlington Open ChampionLebo had a torrid start to the day with an opening round of 23, and was good enough to lead by two strokes over Ray Guthrie. There was a five-way log-jam in a tie for third at 26, including former National Champion Greg Ward, reigning Southern Tour Match Play Champion Ricky Schults, Rick Baird, Dan Anders, and Bill Baus.
Lebo continued his brilliant play into the second round, but stumbled after he made the first two holes. Lebo hit one of the obstacles on hole three and put him in a position for an improbable deuce putt, in which he did not succeed. After the bogey, he went on to make nine of the final 14 holes to end the round at 26 and sat in the clubhouse with the two-round lead at 49. Baird capitalized on Lebo's mishaps when he fired a solid round of 23 to move into a tie for the lead with Lebo. Ward bettered his opening round by two strokes to move to within one stroke of the leaders. The nearest to any of them was at 53 and seemingly out of contention.
That would be because Ward and Lebo were putting on an aces clinic in the final round. Lebo shot a final round 23 to finish at 72 and seemingly had his first career in Burlington all sewn up. But Ward was chasing late and had caught Lebo with one hole to play. Needing to ace 18 for a round of 21 and the victory, Ward lipped out his tee shot and finished at 72, setting up a playoff to kick off the season for the second consecutive season.
Baird managed to finish in third by himself at 76. There was a seven-way tie for fourth at 81. Of those were Schults, Russell Sigmon, Jr., Greg Newport, Bill Kirby, newcomer Caleb Kennedy, Robert Johnson, and Randal Smith.
In the playoff, Ward and Lebo traded aces down the stretch. Both missed their tee shots when they needed it the most. Ward hit a firm putt on 17 that did not kick to the hole, and Lebo responded with one that went just past the hole on the left. Both misfired on 18. Ward caught the right lip on his tee shot, and Lebo did not come within reach of the hole after missing it six inches right.
Sudden death was in order. Both made the first hole, forcing the playoff to continue. Ward made his tee shot on hole 2, and Lebo missed the line to the right causing the ball to roll over the topside of the hole along the hill at the back rail. As a result, Ward won the tournament and posted his fourth career tournament victory on the Southern Putting Tour.
The Southern Putting Tour will continue play this Sunday on Course 1 at 10:00 a.m. for the 13th annual Howard Loy Memorial.
Article and scores provided by Opie Roberts and the PPA Southern Putting Tour.
Professional Division of the 2007 Burlington Open
(Burlington, N.C. - Course #1 - 24 March 2007)
Round Southern Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Tour Points Money 1 Greg Ward* 26 24 22 72 40.00 $ 150.00 2 Brad Lebo 23 26 23 72 34.00 $ 110.00 3 Rick Baird 26 23 27 76 33.00 $ 90.00 4 Russell Sigmon, Jr. 29 24 28 81 29.00 $ 65.00 Greg Newport 27 27 27 81 29.00 $ 65.00 Bill Kirby, Jr. 29 27 25 81 29.00 $ 65.00 Caleb Kennedy 30 27 24 81 29.00 $ 65.00 Robert Johnson 29 25 27 81 29.00 $ 65.00 Randal Smith 27 26 28 81 29.00 $ 65.00 Ricky Schultz 26 28 27 81 29.00 $ 65.00 11 Rick Culverhouse 27 26 29 82 23.00 $ 42.00 Dan Anders 26 29 27 82 23.00 $ 42.00 Daryl Freeman 29 25 28 82 23.00 $ 42.00 Jeff Carr 28 27 27 82 23.00 $ 42.00 Lance Perdue 28 28 26 82 23.00 $ 42.00 16 Vince Batten 29 26 28 83 19.00 $ 40.00 Randy Carter 29 28 26 83 19.00 $ 40.00 Steve Shively 27 28 28 83 19.00 $ 40.00 19 Randy Reeves 30 27 27 84 17.00 $ 40.00 20 Andy Coradini 27 26 32 85 14.50 Manfred Stewart 28 28 29 85 14.50 Ray Guthrie 25 30 30 85 14.50 James White 30 27 28 85 14.50 24 Bill Baus 26 28 32 86 10.50 Lewis Burton 28 30 28 86 10.50 Rick Rybaczek 28 28 30 86 10.50 Randy Orr 29 30 27 86 10.50 28 Chris Bunting 28 33 27 88 6.50 Jay Klapper 28 28 32 88 6.50 Tony Jackson 29 29 30 88 6.50 Darrell Britt 31 29 28 88 6.50 32 Tom O'Brien 30 29 30 89 5.00 33 Tony Varnadore 29 28 33 90 5.00 Steve Toomey 29 30 31 90 5.00 35 Billy Caudle 32 30 31 93 5.00 Stan Seethoff 29 32 32 93 5.00 Bob Jackson 35 27 31 93 5.00 38 Frank Warren 31 30 33 94 5.00 39 Michael Cardwell 31 34 30 95 5.00 * Earned a qualification spot for the 2007 PPA Southern Putting Tour Championship.
Frankie Peters Open
2007 Season with Four Stroke Victory24 March 2007 - Burlington, N.C. - Frankie Peters was shut out in his first Southern Tour season, but finally got the monkey off his back on Saturday as he kicked off the 2007 season on a positive note. After a very closely pack of amateur breaking 30 in the opening round, Peters separated himself from the group with an abysmal round of 22 in the second round and coasted to his first career victory on the Southern Tour. Peters was in a six-way tie for second at 29 and trailed by only one to Bo DeBruin. There was also a vast group of players at 30 in a five-way tie for eighth.
By the end of the second round, Peters put himself in a one-man show. Peters posted a career best round of 22 that would place alone in the lead by four shots at 51. Chris Alley, Dennis Biesma, and Bonnie White all shared second at 55, and DeBruin dropped to fifth at 56.
Peters continued to shine in the final round as he posted another respectable round of 25, and it was good enough to win without anyone posing a threat. Peters would go on to collect his first career Southern Tour APA victory with a great score of 76. Alley and Biesma each shot 25 in the final round as well to finish in a tie for second at 80. White and DeBruin both ended up tied for fourth at 84.
Peters will hope to continue his successful play this weekend as he will tee off first on Sunday in the 13th annual Howard Loy Memorial. Play will get underway at 10:00 a.m.
Article and scores provided by Opie Roberts and the PPA Southern Putting Tour.
Amateur Division of the 2007 Burlington Open
(Burlington, N.C. - Course #1 - 24 March 2007)
Round Southern Expense
