Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 1, 1990 TAG: 9007010103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
"Those pins sure are thick," said Grant, who was headed for trouble at No. 18 when his bunker shot hit the stick and dropped 2 1/2 feet from the hole.
Grant, a 20-year-old Radford product, made his putt for par and emerged with a 1-up victory over Tom Brittain of Tazewell in the semifinals of the Virginia State Amateur golf tournament.
It was the fourth 1-up victory in as many matches for Grant, who will attempt to become the first State Amateur champion from the New River Valley when he meets 21-year-old Hank Klein of Richmond in a scheduled 36-hole final today beginning at 8 a.m.
Klein, a first-team All-American for Division III national champion Methodist College in Greensboro, N.C., won four of the last seven holes to sideline Old Dominion University's Stanley Jones of Halifax.
Klein needed 23 holes to defeat another ODU golfer, Jon Hurst, in the quarterfinals Saturday morning, and Grant eliminated former Virginia Tech golfer Mike Matthews of Fairfax on the 20th hole.
It was Jones who ruined the hopes of medalist Fred Widicus by a 3-and-1 margin in the morning round. Jones had four birdies and an eagle against Widicus, and did not have a bogey all day until the 12th hole of the afternoon.
None of the players was as sharp in the afternoon, when 90-degree heat and high humidity seemed to sap their energy. Grant had a 3-over-par 75, including conceded putts, and Brittain shot 76.
Grant never trailed against Brittain, who will be a senior at Virginia Tech, but the match was even after Grant hit into the woods to the right of the 16th green and could advance his ball only a few feet.
Grant regained the lead at the par-5 17th, where Brittain's third shot struck a tree and came to rest 15 yards behind its origination point. He settled for a double bogey.
Grant two-putted for par and came to No. 18 with a one-shot lead, but his second shot at the par-4 hole landed in a green-side bunker that offered little landing area to a cup that sloped away from him.
Grant's shot jumped out of the bunker and conceivably could have rolled off the green if it hadn't hit the flag stick 18 inches or more above the ground.
"I could tell as soon as I hit it that it wasn't the shot I wanted," said Grant, who will be a senior at Virginia Commonwealth.
"It was pure luck; that was all it was. It wasn't a good sand shot. It just happened to be on line."
Brittain made a clutch 6-footer for par, but it was to little avail as Grant rolled in his tester to avoid a third straight overtime match.
"As soon as he got in the bunker, I figured he was going to make five," Brittain said. "He'd been having trouble out of the sand all day. We still should have been playing."
However, Grant's good fortune on the course was not without its inconveniences.
"I've got to find a hotel room," he said. "Then, I've got to go somewhere and do my laundry. I don't have a single thing left that's clean."
Grant had not previously qualified for match play in the Virginia State Amateur, although he won the Greater Blacksburg Open four weeks ago.
"What's weird is, I don't have any match-play experience at all," he said. "When I left home to come up here, I said I'd probably be home Friday [after the first round]. I'm sure this is a surprise to a lot of people."
It should be a big surprise to Grant's parents, who left earlier in the week for a vacation in Hilton Head, S.C.
"My dad left a phone number on the refrigerator, but I lost it," Grant said. "I've been trying to get in touch with my older brother, Andy, but he hasn't been home. It looks like I could be here all by myself for the final."
by CNB