Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 30, 1994 TAG: 9408190015
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
One couldn't blame Dot Bolling if she told the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame to take its women's tournament ... and shove it.
The Hall of Fame, a personal torture chamber for Bolling over the past 10 years, spanked the four-time City-County champion yet again Friday at Roanoke Country Club.
This time, it was teen-age sensation Lee Shirley holding the paddle.
And like all the other times, it hurt.
``I hate this damned tournament,'' Bolling said.
No wonder.
For the second time in five years, Bolling squandered a big lead lead late and let somebody else walk away with the trophy she covets most.
``I gave it away,'' Bolling said. ``It's pretty hard to play when you've got a rope around your neck.''
Bolling got hung on the final five holes, making three bogeys (Nos. 14, 15 and 17), to waste a three-shot lead. Once the door opened, Shirley slammed it on Bolling, making birdies on the final two holes to win by two.
Shirley finished with a final-round of 1-over-74 for a 36-hole total of 6-over 150. Bolling, who led Shirley and Kathy Dodd by four after a first-round 72 at Countryside, closed with 80-152.
Shirley, 18, seemed almost apologetic that she had to be the latest one to beat Bolling in the HOF.
``Sure, it would be nice to see her win this thing because she wants it so bad,'' said Shirley, packing away her second straight HOF title.
``Hey, she's a good player. She'll win this thing before long.''
Bolling must wonder about that. She's been whipped so many times so many ways in this tournament. She threw away a late lead in 1990 before losing to Vickie Linkous in a playoff.
``I just didn't play well enough to win,'' she said. ``It's all nerves. I've put a lot of pressure on myself to win this tournament and it hurts me, I think.''
But the feisty 48-year-old Bolling doesn't plan on giving up.
``I'll be back,'' she said. ``If Lee plans on staying home I might have a chance.''
The women's event was a two-horse race. Third-place finishers Neva Price, the only player besides Shirley to break 80 Friday with a 78, and Dodd (84) tied for third at 160. Marilyn Bussey (80) took fifth at 161.
Bolling's late collapse not only cost her the individual title but also denied Hidden Valley its second straight and fifth team title in six years. Hidden Valley came up one shot short of Countryside, which scored its record eighth women's team title.
In Juniors play, 17-year-old Brian Agee came up with a topper for his resume, scoring his first win in ``a tournament that means something.''
Agee, a rising senior at Northside, shot his second straight 3-over 74 to survive a three-way scramble with Chris Turner and Ray Harrell. Turner (73) and Harrell (76) finished one shot back.
``My first victory ... yeah, this lets everybody know I'm here,'' Agee said. ``It's nice to finally break the ice and get one under my belt.''
Turner, best known for his record 63 at Blue Hills in last summer's McLelland Metro Invitational, had seven 3s on his card. But all those treys couldn't overcome a ``6'' - a costly double bogey at the par-4 15th.
Harrell, 16, under the gun late in a junior major for the first time, shot 4-over 39 on the front and never had a share of the lead again.
``Hey, I figured I would choke big time, so I'm pretty happy,'' Harrell said. ``I held up pretty well under the heat, I think. It was fun. Let's do it again.''
In Juniors team play, Countryside, led by Justin Young's day's-best round of 72 and Agee's 74, edged Hanging Rock by four shots for its record sixth Junior team title.
The day's final event, the Seniors, provided yet another close finish. In what looked like a flashback from the late 1960s and early '70s, Ned Baber outlasted longtime friend and foe Dan Keffer in a playoff.
Keffer, 56, missed a 2-foot par putt on the playoff's second hole - the 185-yard par-3 11th - to hand Baber his first HOF Seniors title.
``I think I just hit it a little firm,'' Keffer said of his crucial miss that hit the cup and veered off.
Baber had birdied the 17th hole to get even with Keffer, who fashioned a 1-under 70 on his old track - the only sub-par round of the tournament.
``It's a shame it had to end that way,'' said Baber, 57, who with the win became the first player to ever win the HOF regular men's and men's Senior titles.
``Last year, you remember it went the other way,'' noted Baber, who lost to J.D. Sisson in a three-way playoff including Rufus Spiers in 1993.
Keffer said it brought back memories knocking heads with Baber, a rivalry that started when the latter moved to Roanoke in 1967.
``We've gone at it a few times,'' Keffer said. ``I remember beating him for the club championship here about 20 years ago here on the 23rd hole. So I guess he got even today.''
In team play, Blue Hills' strong cast posted it second straight triumph, shooting a stout 5-over 218 to beat RCC by four shots. Keffer's 70, combined with 73s from Spiers and Winston Carter, carried Blue Hills to its record fourth Senior team title. RCC has won three.
by CNB