Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990 TAG: 9007190130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Spencer, from Raleigh, N.C., steadied himself after a slip on the 13th hole and went on to win the Scott Robertson Memorial by two shots.
"I don't know what I would have done to that contact lens if it had cost me the tournament," said Spencer, who closed with a 2-over-par 73 to finish with a 54-hole total of 216. "All I need it for is night driving and seeing the scoreboards."
If Spencer had looked at the scoreboard after the 13th hole, he would have seen that his once-commanding lead had dwindled to one shot over Jimmy Flippen and three shots over Nick Cifelli.
"The contact lens started bothering me on the tee at [No.] 13," Spencer said. "I should have taken it out right then and there. It got stuck in the corner of my eye and made me see double."
It also made him see double bogey after he hooked his drive behind some trees, chipped out and three-putted for a 6.
Spencer saved par from off the green at No. 14, but by then, the contact lens was history. He removed it during a wait on the 15th tee, but the danger had passed because, up ahead, Flippen was in the process of making back-to-back double bogeys.
Cifelli, tied with Spencer after 36 holes, came back to claim second at 218. Flippen was third at 219, followed by Scott Kammann and David Martin at 220.
Spencer, who had shot a 5-under-par 31 on the back nine Tuesday, came back with birdies on three of the first four holes Wednesday to complete a 13-hole stretch during which he was 8 under par.
The kicker was a 50-foot birdie putt at No. 4, which, coupled with a double bogey by Cifelli, produced a three-shot swing.
"I could never catch him after that," said Cifelli, bound for Furman University on a partial golf scholarship. "He's probably the best putter I've ever seen."
Spencer said "bad" putting has been his downfall in the past. He made some recent adjustments, though, and finished seventh in the North-South Junior and won two matches in the Western Junior.
"I don't think anybody here knew who I was," Spencer said. "I don't know if that means it was an upset, but I thought I had a chance at the top 10."
Spencer, who will not turn 17 until next month, will have a chance to become the first repeat winner of the Robertson. He should have some stiff competition from Mike Pearson, among others.
Pearson, who moved to Martinsville from Baltimore in January, made up 11 shots on the last 12 holes to win the 13-14 age group by three shots over Chris York of Potomac, Md.
"There's a lesson to be learned from this, and that's to stick with it," said Pearson, a former 13-and-under Maryland State Junior champion. "I think [York] thought he had it. A lot of people thought he had it."
Pearson, who will be a ninth-grader at Carlisle School in the fall, trailed by eight shots going to the seventh tee. He gained one shot at No. 7 with a birdie, then picked up three with a birdie at No. 8, where York bogeyed.
The players were tied going to No. 15, where Pearson took the lead for good with a birdie to York's bogey.
"I don't think he was mad at me," said Pearson, who became friends with York in Maryland junior tournaments. "I'm sure he was mad at himself."
Pearson closed with a 75 and a three-day total of 224. York was at 227, followed by Evan Fabricant of New City, N.Y., at 228, and Robert Floyd of Miami Beach, Fla., at 230. Floyd is the son of professional golfer Raymond Floyd.
In the girls' division, Meredith Tucker of Rocky Mount, N.C., completed her wire-to-wire victory with a final-round 80. That gave her a 54-hole total of 233 and a three-stroke victory over defending champion Ann Pohira of Winter Park, Fla., who could not overcome an eight-shot deficit after the first round.
by CNB