Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 3, 1993 TAG: 9307030132
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
Southwest Virginia's two big guns - three-time champion Tom McKnight of Galax and two-time winner Keith Decker of Martinsville - and Roanoke long shots Mike Smith and Dan Keffer checked out early after being eliminated in Friday's two rounds of match play at James River Country Club.
Toss in three other Southwest losers - Bluefield's Mike Krulich and Tazewell's Charlie Green and Buck Brittain - and it guaranteed some heavy traffic coming back on I-64.
"Tell 'em all don't run over me," said Keffer, trying to make light of Southwest Virginia's mass exodus.
The biggest shockers, no doubt, were the fast exits of McKnight and Decker, who collectively, have won five of the past nine State Am titles. Both were unceremoniously dumped in the first round on the 19th hole.
McKnight, 38, who came east playing some of his best golf of the season, missed a 2 1/2-foot par putt on the first playoff hole to lose to 5-foot-6 Rich Hanna of Virginia Beach.
McKnight, furious over the loss, drove the cart straight to his car, where he loaded his clubs and hit the road with nary a word to anyone.
"He was hot," said Hanna, a 21-year-old Virginia Beach native who played at James Madison University.
"He missed a three-foot birdie putt at No. 14 that would have put him 3-up, he bogeys No. 16, and then I make a 25-foot snake at 18 to tie. He just let the match get away."
The same could be said for Decker. After squandering chance after chance to beat Arlington's Tom Offutt in regulation, Decker dug his own grave when he missed the green at the first playoff hole and made bogey.
"I had a ton of opportunities to win it," said Decker, who missed a 10-footer for par at the 19th. "I just couldn't make anything happen, and [Offutt] did what he had to do to win."
McKnight and Decker were joined in the first-round upset line by 1992 titlist Allen Barber of Yorktown. Barber, playing on his home course, lost when Chesapeake's J.P. Leigh drained 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th.
"I got what I deserved," said Barber, who airmailed his tee shot 20 yards over the green on the 137-yard par-3 17th to allow Leigh to get even. "You can't get away with what I did at 17.
"That's as bad as I've putted in years. I did everything I could do wrong to lose."
While those three golfers were being bounced, seven-time champion Vinny Giles of Richmond narrowly escaped a first-round upset, coming from 2-down with two holes to play before outlasting Chesapeake's Jay Rickles in 20 holes.
Giles, 50, proceeded to pounce on 20-year-old Jimmy Flippen Jr. of Danville in the second round, 5 and 4. Giles birdied three of the first five holes against Flippen and never trailed.
"I was lucky enough to get off to a big enough lead where if I screwed up some holes, I could still win," Giles said.
"Shoot, I was lucky to get through the morning. I had to make an eight-foot funky, sidehiller to get up and down from the trap for par at 17, then had to birdie 18 to tie. I'm not playing that well."
Unlike McKnight, Decker and Barber, Keffer and Smith at least survived their first-round matches.
Keffer, 55, played the final five holes 3 under to knock off Spotsylvania watch salesman Patrick Cawthorne 2 and 1 in the morning. Keffer, the 1981 runner-up, was 3-down early against 18-year-old Conlin Giles of Norfolk in the afternoon and never made up the deficit, losing 2 and 1.
"I just didn't hit the ball well off the tee in the afternoon," Keffer said. "It sort of started out bad and got progressively worse.
"I'm going keep playing in this thing until I get past the round of 16, though. Last year, Flippen beat me. This year, it's Giles. Those kids keep spoiling my fun."
Smith dispatched Green 2 and 1 in the first round, despite bogeying Nos. 15-17 after going 4-up.
In the afternoon, Smith missed a three-foot putt at No. 17 to let Richmond's Greg Bales go 1-up. Smith rolled in a 10-foot birdie at No. 18, but Bales drained a seven-foot birdie seconds later to win 1-up.
"Neither one of us should have won," said Smith, who was 4-down after six holes.
by CNB