Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 12, 1993 TAG: 9309120033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 150-player field will qualify Saturday and Sunday, with the low 64 advancing to next Monday's start of match play.
Smith, 33, qualified for the tournament for the first time. No matter what happens, it should be quite an experience for Smith, whose qualifying pairing is Jay Sigel, possibly the world's best-known amateur player.
Sigel, of Berwyn, Pa., has won the Mid-Amateur a record three times and the U.S. Amateur twice, including an 8-and-7 victory over Roanoker David Tolley in 1982.
Danny Yates of Atlanta is the defending champion of the Mid-Amateur, which drew a record 3,600 entries for sectional qualifying.
The winner receives automatic berths in next year's Masters and U.S. Amateur.
\ LOCAL TEAMS ADVANCE: For the first time, two teams of Roanoke golfers have qualified for the Oldsmobile Scramble National Championship, to be held Sept. 30-Oct. 4 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
Tim Holbrook, head professional at Hidden Valley, and amateur partners Mike Brammer, Rick Ives, Richie Richardson and Greg Fry combined to shoot 17-under par in winning the gross title in Tuesday's sectional at Hunting Hills. Host pro Glen "Roby" Roberson and amateur partners Chris Scordas, Kriss Myers, Mike Sassard and John Click took the net division at 18-under.
In Orlando, 150 five-man teams in each of the two divisions will compete on six courses to determine the champions. The event, billed by organizers as the "world's largest golf tournament," drew more than 140,000 competitors in sectional qualifying.
\ TOUR TIDBITS: Nick Price and Paul Azinger are considered the front-runners for PGA player of the year, but a strong case can be made for Greg Norman. "The Shark" has won twice and has displayed unparalleled consistency, finishing in the top 10 in 11 of 14 tournaments (78.6 percent). Nobody else is even close to that figure.
With his win in The International three weeks ago, Phil Mickelson became the first left-handed player to post a multiple-win season on the PGA Tour. He is one of only five left-handers to have won on the tour. Bob Charles, Sam Adams, Ernie Gonzalez and Russ Cochran are the others.
It will be at least one more year before the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic gets a break on the PGA Tour schedule. Next year's tournament again will be played the week before the British Open. Anheuser-Busch officials are negotiating for scheduling relief in 1995.
Forest Oaks Country Club, home of the Kmart Greater Greensboro Open, will undergo a six-hole renovation before next year's tournament. The severity of slope in sand traps and around the greens will be greatly reduced on the first six holes of the back nine, allowing "for more playability from a competitor's standpoint," tournament chairman Louis Moore said.
\ BIG-NAME CADDIE: Jack Nicklaus carried son Gary's bag in the recent T.C. Jordan Boast Golf Classic at Bear Lakes, Fla., the first time he's toted a sack since his college days. Gary opened with a 67.
"I just kept him focused," Jack Nicklaus said.
The elder Nicklaus also hopes to caddie for Gary during the second stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School at Bear Lakes this fall, should his son make it through the first stage.
"Maybe he needs somebody to help him with his course management," Nicklaus said.
\ SAND BLASTS: Salem's Lee Shirley finished 17th in an elite 48-player girls field at the recent Maxfli PGA Junior Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. Shirley broke 80 all four rounds, shooting 76, 79, 75 and 78 on Pinehurst's No. 4 course. Erika Hayashida of Peru shot a 9-under-par 279 to blow away the field by nine shots. . . . Hanging Rock teaching pro Chip Sullivan finished ninth in the recent Middle Atlantic PGA Section championship at Two Rivers Country Club in Williamsburg. Sullivan's finish earned him a spot in the National Club Pro Championship to be played in October at West Palm Beach, Fla. The top 40 finishers in West Palm will earn berths in next year's PGA Championship. . . . Ridgeway native Jerry Wood is toiling on the Jordan Tour. Wood shot a first-round 66 Thursday in this week's stop at Alachua, Fla. . . . Reigning State Amateur champion David Partridge of Richmond won both his matches to lead a team of five Virginia amateurs to a 4 1/2-2 1/2 win over a French team in the VSGA-Ligue d'Aquitaine match in Biarritz, France. The VSGA team consisted of Partridge, Allen Barber of Newport News, Simon Cooke of Richmond, Peter Jacobi of Arlington and Keith Decker of Martinsville.
by CNB