Spoon, Poplin Add Youth to T of C Field

 By STEVE WILLIAMS

 A couple of high school players have joined the list of qualifiers for the 2003 Triad Golf Today Tournament of Champions.

Southern Alamance sophomore Nathan Spoon captured the Southwick Amateur at Southwick G.C. and Eden Morehead senior Joseph Poplin prevailed in the Gate City Open’s Amateur division at Bryan Park’s Players Course.

Spoon and Poplin join an impressive list of players who have captured individual championships this year. All will receive invitations to the seventh annual T of C, tentatively scheduled next spring at Greensboro National Golf Club. Club champions from courses in the Triad Golf Today circulation area will also be invited to join the exclusive field.

Other recent winners include Greg Earnhardt (see story on page 39), Brant Stovall, Craig Bennett, Marcus Gray, Brandon Turner and Chris Ingram. 

Spoon nips Petty at Southwick

GRAHAM – Nathan Spoon used a long birdie putt on the final hole to edge defending champion Wayne Petty and win the 15th annual Southwick Amateur Sept. 21-22.

Spoon shot 70-66 over the two days while Petty shot 72-65 on the par-70 course.

Spoon, 15, said he thought the 35-footer he made would force a playoff with Petty, but he was unaware that Petty had bogeyed the hole.

Petty, who was seeking his eighth Southwick title, fired birdies at Nos. 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 14 and 16 to offset bogeys at 11 and 18. The one at 18 was a result of his second shot from the rough clipping some tree limbs.

Spoon, who earlier this year finished second in the Alamance County Amateur, closed strong with four birdies over the final six-hole stretch.

He had already qualified for the T of C by winning the club championship at Quarry Hills. Southwick is like a second home course since the Southern Alamance High School team practices there.

Mike Roshelli and Stan Queen shared third place at 141, both shooting 71-70.

 Poplin takes honors In Gate City event

 GREENSBORO – When rain washed out the first round of the Gate City Open’s amateur championship August 31, the event was reduced to a one-day shootout at Bryan Park.

It became Joseph Poplin’s time to find the spotlight. The Morehead High School senior, who plays out of Meadow Greens Country Club in Eden, took the advice of pro David Thacker and entered the event.

He posted a three-under-par 69 on the Players Course to get past Garland Yates, Robert Chessman and Norman Roberts by a single shot.

Poplin, number one player on the Morehead team, had played the front nine of the Bryan Park course in high school matches but had never before played the back nine. In the shotgun start, he began his round on No. 9. Through 16 holes he was two under par, mixing four birdies with two bogeys. The final birdie, a 12-footer on No. 7, proved to be the winner.

 Bennett captures Reidsville Jaycee 

REIDSVILLE – Craig Bennett, who won the 1996 Reidsville Jaycee Tournament then skipped the next five events, captured the title again Sept. 23 at Wolf Creek Golf Club, edging Patrick Brady by one shot.

The two Reidsville natives, who play out of Pennrose Park Country Club, turned the tournament into match play over the final nine holes.

Bennett, who shot 64-67 on the par-70 course, began the day with a two-shot lead over Brady and went up by three when he turned the front nine in 31 compared with Brady’s 32.

But Brady quickly took the lead on the back nine with a birdie-par-eagle start while Bennett bogeyed 10 and 11 before scraping out a birdie at 12 after twice flirting with the creek that borders the right side of the hole.

It appeared that Brady would extend the lead to two at 13 when he wedged to within four feet on the par-4 hole and Bennett was faced with a 25-footer. But Bennett made his putt and Brady missed, leaving the match even with five holes to play.

After both players parred the next two holes, Bennett regained the lead at 16 when Brady three-putted. Both players bogeyed 17 and Brady’s chip for birdie at 18 stopped inches short. Bennett managed to two-putt to claim the one-shot victory.

Bennett’s 131 total equaled the tournament record set 20 years earlier by Daniel Thore. Brady’s 66-66 also ranked as one of the best performances in the 34-year-old event’s history.

Terry Mills of Madison was third at 135 (67-68) and Lester Kimber, the champ in 2000 and 2001, tied for fourth at 136 (69-67). It was the last-ever tournament appearance by Kimber, who died three weeks later after suffering a stroke.

Craig Galbrieth (67-69) and Tony Nichols (70-66) also shared fourth place. 

Perdue defends Beaver Hills title 

MARTINSVILLE – Keith Perdue birdied the second hole of a sudden-death playoff and won the second annual Beaver Hills Invitational for the second straight year.

Perdue, who plays out of the Martinsville club, edged Eddie Gilbert in the playoff after both shot 67-71 on the par-71 course Sept. 28-29.

Gilbert, a former Beaver Hills regular who now resides in Richmond, held a one-shot lead going into the final hole of regulation play. But he bogeyed the par-5 hole.

The first playoff hole was the par-5 No. 18 and both players made par. They moved to the 580-yard, par-5 No. 10 and Perdue reached the green in two shots and two-putted from 25-foot, making a tough four-footer coming back after running his eagle bid by the cup. Gilbert’s birdie putt from 15 feet narrowly missed.

Perdue had two birdies and two bogeys in the second round while Gilbert had three birdies and three bogeys. 

Stovall prevails again At Greensboro National

 SUMMERFIELD – Brant Stovall, a freshman starter on the Guilford College golf team, won the Greensboro National Fall Classic for the third straight year Oct. 6, defeating Marcus Gray and Randy McDowell  by two shots.

Stovall, a Lawsonville resident who works part time at Greensboro National, grabbed the first-round lead with a five-under-par 67 and he turned the front nine in the second round with a three-under 33. He suffered a couple of bogeys coming in for a 71 but was never really threatened on the back nine as he closed at 138.

Gray shot a pair of 70s and McDowell shot 69-71 to finish in a tie for second at 140. Kim Mansfield was third at 142 (68-74) and Rocky Manning (71-72) and Don Vanderbeck (73-70) tied for fifth at 143.

 Gray wins second Title of Year

 BEAVER, W.V. – Marcus Gray of Kernersville, winner of the Gillespie Invitational in August, captured the Raleigh County Open in September at Grandview CC in Beaver, W.V.

Gray fired seven birdies during a three-under-par 69 in the opening round and he came back with a 74 in the second round. His only birdie in the second round came on the 18th hole and it was needed to force a playoff with Mike Mays. He then birdied the first playoff hole to take the title. 

Turner Best of Best At Tot Hill Farm

 ASHEBORO – Brandon Turner, back in Asheboro after four years at Pfeiffer College, captured the Best of the Best Tournament at Tot Hill Farm Oct. 19-20.

Turner, who tied for 10th in the Asheboro County Amateur earlier this year, fired rounds of 70 and 77 to edge Josh Turner (no relation) by one shot. Josh Turner, a Liberty resident, posted scores of 73-75.

Garland Yates and Asheboro City Am champ Tony Concutelli tied for third at 149.

Yates led the event after 27 holes but suffered a quadruple bogey at the par-3 No. 11 hole.

The event was open to championship and first flight qualifiers from the Asheboro City Am.

 Ingram wins Jerry Jones Am

 WINSTON-SALEM –  Chris Ingram captured the championship of the rain-shortened Jerry Jones Amateur at Winston-Lake Golf Club in September. Ingram opened with a 74 and played the front nine the second day in 37 before rain halted play. The tournament was declared official for 27 holes.

 Garland Yates Wins John Ridge Classic  

ARCHDALE – The second round of the John Ridge Classic at Holly Ridge Golf Links was postponed by rain on Oct. 13 and was made up Nov. 10 with Garland Yates shooting a 70-72--142 to win by one shot over Gary Zachary who shot a 70-73--143.