Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993 TAG: 9306120170
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The underdogs in the team and individual competition yapped loudest and longest on a day when - for the first time in tournament history - no player in the 108-member field managed to break par on Blue Hills' user-friendly, par-71 course.
Botetourt Country Club, usually locked in the kennel club when it comes to team play, did most of the barking Friday, firing a six-man total of 439 to take a three-shot lead over favored Roanoke Country Club.
Blue Hills, the team most figured would rule on its home turf, was third at 444. Hunting Hills was at 445, and 1992 champion Hanging Rock was in a fifth-place tie with Hidden Valley at 449.
In individual play, Lewis Conner and Scott Hunter, a pair of teen-agers from Hunting Hills, matched even-par 71s to take a one-shot lead over a tightly bunched field. Three players - Botetourt's Rodney Naff, Blue Hills' 55-year-old Winston Carter and reigning Valley Amateur champion Don Foster - were tied for second at 72.
Many names most expected atop the board were lumped in a 10-way logjam at 73, including 1992 champion Bobby Penn, 1988 winner Ned Baber, '89 champion Mike Smith and former pro Miller Baber.
The hottest story on a hot day was Botetourt, which has never finished higher than fourth in team play. Everything broke right for the Daleville club, including a 73 and 74 from its two alternates, Andy Miller and Danny Saunders.
"I would have said the chances of us leading this thing after one round were one in a hundred," said Danny Hopkins, who contributed a 74. "I think we could have gotten 50-1 from somebody before we teed off today.
"I think we led this tournament one time way back when maybe after one hole. Hey, we're not going to win this thing. But, baby, if another [Hurricane] Hugo comes through tonight and wipes out the next two rounds, we'll be celebrating with champagne."
Naff, who produced six birdies with his John Daly-like rip, agreed with his sidekick, Hopkins. "No way, are we going to win. We'll be last [today]. One hundred-to-one? Give me a dollar on that. That's how confident I am about our chances."
Roanoke Country Club, which has won the team title a record six times, still has to be considered the favorite.
"We're in good position," Smith said. "I just can't believe nobody scored any better than they did. This golf course is not that difficult."
Blue Hills, which had hoped to build a first-round lead in its back yard, got lackluster efforts from everybody but Carter, Foster and Don Ragland (73). The host club's three big guns - Mark Funderburke (75), Hunter Morrissette (76) and Dan Keffer (78) - shot mostly blanks.
"We're definitely disappointed," Morrissette said. "We probably shouldn't have had to count anything over 75. We just played bad as a team. We certainly didn't take advantage of what was supposed to be a home-court advantage."
Conner, 19, coming off a 25-hole loss to Alabaman Scott Taylor in Thursday's first round of the North & South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C., didn't seem to be impressed with his position. He was 2 under until bogeying Nos. 15 and 18.
"I'm just hoping to finish in the top 20," he said. "I just don't have the game to play with some of these guys.
"But I'm surprised I didn't play better. Coming off Pinehurst No. 2 and then coming to this place you feel like you're going to shoot low even if you don't play your best."
Hunter, who battled Conner on the Roanoke junior scene, was satisfied with his round, which was spiced by a chip-in for eagle-3 at the par-5 13th.
"I've been playing really well," he said. "I never thought 71 would be leading, though. As far as Lewis and I go, I owe him a couple. Maybe this is my time."
\ SAND BLASTS: Penn, the heavy favorite in the individual chase, said he was glad to be only two shots back. He missed an 18-inch birdie putt on the final hole. "That was dumb," he said. "I should have marked my ball and I didn't. I'm not worried about it yet, though. I'm happy to be in the hunt. I thought I might be pretty far back. Nobody broke 71 here. That's ridiculous." . . . While tournament pressure undoubtedly gagged some of the field, it didn't affect Carter, the 11th qualifier on the Blue Hills team. "I play better under pressure. I seem to concentrate better," said Carter, after his best round of the year. . . . Barry Wirt's 74 included a stretch from holes Nos. 11-14 where he went birdie, double bogey, eagle, birdie. . . . Thirty-six players failed to break 80. "That's what happens when you play like a bunch of dogs," said 76-shooter Bill Burton of Hanging Rock. . . . The tournament moves to Hidden Valley today and concludes Sunday at Hanging Rock.
by CNB