Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 27, 1993 TAG: 9306270133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Danny Hopkins of Salem teed off with the first group - at 7:30 a.m. - and when he finished 3 1/2 hours later, he had recorded a bogey-free 5-under-par 67.
The round gave Hopkins a three-stroke lead over Mike Krulich after the first day of the tournament at the par-72, 6,338-yard Blacksburg Country Club.
"I'm tickled to death," said Hopkins, whose five birdies included all four par-5s. "It's been a long time since I played a round without a five on the scorecard."
Hopkins started early because he had another golf tournament - the Don Holliday Memorial. And he benefited from the course and weather conditions, which were at their best early in the day.
"There was an advantage," Hopkins said. "The greens were perfect and there wasn't a breath of wind."
Of the four players who broke par, three started before 8 a.m., avoiding gusty winds and rain showers that popped up in the afternoon.
Hopkins set the tone for his round on the 526-yard, par-5 second hole. His drive left him only 230 yards from the hole but landed in a rut on the course.
Hopkins used an 8-iron to cross the creek that bisects the course's hardest hole. Then he drilled a perfect 3-wood shot to within three feet of the hole, setting up his first birdie.
Krulich also had some heroics on a par-5 hole that highlighted his round. His tee shot on the 519-yard 17th was long but he had a bad lie. Still, Krulich managed to hit a 3-wood 255 yards to within 30 feet of the hole. He two-putted for birdie.
"That was a big birdie save," said the Bluefield, Va., resident. "I hit four real good shots on that hole and got my birdie."
Defending champion Dicky Linkous of Roanoke and Lexington's Scott Reynolds were tied for third at 71.
Linkous was the lowest-scoring pro in the field and the only player who started his round later in the day who broke par.
The changing weather proved to be Linkous' undoing on the back nine.
"I felt I had a good round going, I was 3-under after nine," said Linkous, who also won the tournament in 1989. "No. 12 was the problem with the round. The wind started blowing when we played the back nine. It was blowing this way [at our backs] on Nos. 10 and 11. As I teed off on No. 12, the wind switched and I hit too much club."
Linkous' tee shot went long and left on the 374-yard, par 4. He ended up with a double-bogey 6 on the hole.
Reynolds was three-under on the back nine en route to his 71.
Four golfers were tied at even par 72: Tim Chocklett of Roanoke, Scott Mulkey of Bluefield, Va., and Hobe Bauer and his son, B.J., both of Bluefield, W.Va.
by CNB