Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994 TAG: 9401210337
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Six months after becoming so frustrated with efforts to retool his swing that he considered backing away from the sport, Smith now finds himself as the No. 1 player in the Roanoke Times & World-News' 1993 men's golf rankings.
Smith joined Salem's Dot Bolling and Roanoke's Ryan Ketron atop the '93 lists.
Bolling, who captured her third straight Roanoke City-County title and was runner-up in the State Women's Amateur, was ranked No. 1 among women.
Ketron, who won the Roanoke Valley Hall of Fame Juniors title and the Smith Mountain Lake Junior and finished in the top three in numerous other marquee events, is a repeat No. 1 in the junior rankings.
Of the three players' seasons, Smith's easily was the strangest. As late as July, Smith said, he was so down about the lack of improvement after revamping his swing that he almost reached a point of no return.
"Phil Owenby [Roanoke Country Club head professional] and I went to Georgia in January and he showed me some stuff on video that I was doing wrong . . . stuff that I wasn't able to recognize on my own," Smith said.
"I saw the flaws and I put in a lot of effort to correct them. But the results didn't come. The week before U.S. Amateur qualifying, I told Phil I was very disappointed with the results of my year and that I felt like unless things started to break soon that I just couldn't spend that much time and energy on golf from this point on.
"Phil kept telling me that I had to be patient. He was concerned that I was getting down to the deadline as far as getting results. He kept saying, `You're doing all the right things . . . just keep working and eventually it's going to pay off.' "
The pro was right. Smith's game came on like a John Daly drive the rest of the season. Highlights included a second-place finish behind David Partridge in the state Mid-Amateur, qualifying for both the U.S. Amateur and Mid-Amateur and a strong showing in his debut in the Virginias-Carolinas team matches competition.
"I think it was my best season ever," Smith said. "In the past, individually, I had some better tournaments, but as a whole, I think it was my best year. I think I got a long way this year on my game, much further than in the past.
"Really, I didn't have a good ball-striking tournament all year. But I didn't make a lot of mistakes and I've always had a good short game. In competition, I always seemed to make three, four, five birdies a round. And as long as you can do that and don't make real bad mistakes, you can only shoot so bad."
Salem's Bobby Penn, who beat out Smith for the top spot in 1992, was second in the rankings. Penn won the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame title for the second straight year before having his season cut short by surgery to remove his appendix.
A berth in the State Am final, in which she lost 1-up to late-rallying Anne Patrick of Richmond, topped Bolling's superb season.
"It was quite an experience making it to the championship match of the entire state," Bolling said. "I never would have dreamed I would make it that far. It was a heck of a year."
Bolling edged 17-year-old Lee Shirley of Salem for the No. 1 spot. Shirley, who will attend the University of North Carolina on a golf scholarship this fall, posted quite a season herself, becoming the youngest player ever to win the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame women's crown. She also won the Middle-Atlantic PGA Junior title, plus recorded top-3 finishes in national events in Pinehurst, N.C., and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Ketron, who has built as impressive a resume as any junior in a long time in the valley, posted wins in the Smith Mountain Lake Junior Open and the Roanoke Valley Hall of Fame Junior. The 17-year-old William Byrd senior also recorded top finishes in two national junior tournaments - second in the Bobby Bowers Memorial and third in the 160-player Donald Ross Junior in Pinehurst, N.C., in late December.
Ketron also teamed with his father, Jim, to shoot 73 in an alternate-shot format and capture the Donald Ross Father-Son title in a field of 80 teams.
"I felt like I played more consistently this year than last," said Ketron, who won four titles in 1992. "I didn't play that well in the high school season, but I had a good year."
Brian Hill of Northside finished second in the junior rankings.
\ METRO\ TOP GOLFERS\ \ Men\ 1. Mike Smith\ 2. Bobby Penn\ 3. Rodney Naff\ 4. Scott Hunter\ 5. Mark Funderburke\ 6. Don Foster\ 7. Ned Baber\ 8. Ted Comer\ 9. Gib Wingfield\ 10. J.D. Sisson\ \ Women\ 1. Dot Bolling\ 2. Lee Shirley\ 3. Nancy Shuck\ 4. Marilyn Bussey\ 5. Sara Cole\ 6. Audrey Najjum\ 7. Mar-C Milona\ 8. Penny Stallins\ 9. Roma Stverak\ 10. (tie) Judy Knight
Janet Cochran\ \ Boys\ 1. Ryan Ketron\ 2. Brian Hill\ 3. Scott Griffin\ 4. Nick Varney\ 5. Aaron Johnson\ 6. Mark Sweeney\ 7. Jason Young\ 8. Tony Orlando\ 9. Tommy Lesperance\ 10. (tie) Joe Surkamer
Doug Kenney
by CNB