Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 20, 1993 TAG: 9306200052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Is Bobby Penn that good, or is Roanoke golf that bad?
Consider: Here's a guy who almost never plays competitively, yet every time he tees it up in Roanoke's two biggest local tournaments - the Hall of Fame and Valley Amateur - he's not only the prohibitive favorite, but he usually wins. Counting his 1982 title, Penn has won the past three Hall of Fames he's entered and two of the past three Valley Amateurs.
And, still, Penn says: "I don't think I'm that good. I can't believe I'm winning golf tournaments."
Penn said Roanoke has some talented amateurs besides himself.
"I think you've got a lot of good players in Roanoke," Penn said. "But I think a lot of them aren't used to playing in tournaments where you've got to play the ball down. I think that works on a lot of guys psychologically. I've played a lot of tournament golf since I was little, so I'm used to playing the ball down. I think that's an advantage for me."
Blue Hills pro Billy King claims many of the Roanoke players simply aren't tournament-tough enough.
"They shoot 68 or 69 every week with their buddies," King said. "But put a scorecard in their hands, put their names up on a scoreboard and they go crazy. Suddenly, they're doing things they never do. Walking around, surveying putts from every angle. I saw one of my guys plum-bobbing a putt. He never does that normally. They all need to play in more tournaments to get over that."
So what if Arman Fletcher soared to a final-round 86 in the rain at Hanging Rock. The real story was the 65-year-old golfer's 69 in the second round at Hidden Valley.
"That was one of the damndest rounds I've ever seen," said Penn, who played with Fletcher. "There were several par-4s the guy couldn't even reach in two and he shoots 2 under."
Many local golfers could learn a thing or two about course management from Fletcher. The old man can't hit it out of his shadow, but he does know how to get the ball in the hole.
Lee Shirley, all by her lonesome, is Roanoke's future in women's golf. Little wonder her women's victory was a popular one among the older set.
"I think it's great she won," said runner-up Nancy Shuck. "We don't have enough girls playing golf. Maybe what's she doing can spur on some other youngsters to take up the game. We [the veteran golfers] are not going to be around forever."
\ KISTLER SCHOLARSHIP: Clayton Craft, a senior at William Byrd High School, is the third recipient of the Phil Kistler Memorial Scholarship awarded by the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame. The $1,350 scholarship honors Kistler, a prominent Roanoke surgeon and outstanding golfer who died in 1990. Craft will attend Roanoke College.
\ WADKINS ENLISTS: Bobby Wadkins has entered the AMF Signet Open, which will be played July 15-18 at Willow Oaks in Richmond. This will be the sixth appearance in the State Open for the 18-year PGA Tour veteran. He won the tournament from 1981-83.
\ TOURNEY RESULTS: North Carolinian Walter Hall birdied the final hole to deny Martinsville's Keith Decker another Chatmoss Invitational crown on June 13. Hall finished the 36-hole tournament at 3-under-par 141, while Decker shot 142. Danville's Harry Lea was third. . . .
London Downs' Tracy Newman (148) and Hidden Valley's Mike Flannery (156) finished in the money recently at the MAPGA Southern Chapter Assistants championship at Richmond's Meadowbrook Country Club. Tim White of Brandermill in Richmond won with a 141 total. . . .
Hanging Rock teaching pro Chip Sullivan shot 69 to finish third, two shots behind winners Woody FitzHugh and Ronnie Kelly, this week in the MAPGA Birkdale Pro-Am in Richmond. . . . Bill Bales, Jim Hunter, Scott McGregor and Alan Julian fired a 13-under 60 to win the recent Red Cross benefit captain's choice at Hanging Rock. Linda Hyler, Becky Brown, Margaret Johnson and Bonita Howell won the women's division.
\ SAND BLASTS: Dicky Linkous, who ruled Roanoke amateur golf until turning pro 18 months ago, will attempt to defend his title next weekend in the Greater Blacksburg Open at Blacksburg Country Club. . . . At 65, Audrey Najjum shows no signs of retreat. The venerable veteran with countless titles to her name recently toured Waterfront in 72 in an invitational tournament. This week, she recorded the 10th hole-in-one of her career, acing the 16th hole at Roanoke Country Club. . . . Saturday's Don Holliday Memorial Tournament at Countryside has a sellout field of 288 players for the seventh consecutive year. . . . Sectional State Amateur and State Open qualifying will be Monday at Roanoke Country Club. Sixty-one players will shoot for 13 available spots in the State Amateur, while 46 players will be seeking 10 available Open berths in the 36-hole qualifier. . . . Kelly Mitchum, who played one year of high school golf at Lord Botetourt in the late 1980s, made nine birdies in 34 holes while beating Ron Whittaker 3 and 2 in the final of the recent North & South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C.
by CNB