Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 22, 1994 TAG: 9408220010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
So what happens in Sunday's finals of the 1994 Valley Amateur men's golf championship?
You guessed it. The winning parlay reads underdog-underdog.
In a pair of exciting, 1-up surprises, Adam Harrell knocked off Rodney Naff in the Open division, while Reggie Clark upended Gibby Wingfield for the Seniors title.
"The home course didn't take very good care of the defenders today, did it?" Wingfield said.
"Those rascals, I tell you."
Harrell was given little prayer against Naff, a player who has taken the local scene by storm the past year, winning the '93 Valley Am and the 1994 Hall of Fame titles.
"I don't think there were many people who gave me a chance today, and for that reason, I wanted this one badly," said Harrell, a 20-year-old George Mason junior who starred in Roanoke's junior ranks.
"I'm proud of how I held up. That's probably the best two rounds of golf I've ever played, mentally speaking. I was into every shot, which I knew I had to be to beat this guy."
Harrell took Naff's best shots and never wavered. The former Glenvar High star never trailed in the 36-hole match.
It wasn't easy, however. Leading 3-up with 13 holes left, Harrell watched Naff go eagle-birdie-par through course holes No. 6-8 to draw even.
Suddenly, the game was on. Naff had found a rhythm and Harrell knew it.
"At that stretch, you can tell [Naff] had his beat back," Harrell noted. "I knew he wouldn't just die or crack under pressure. He plays under a lot of pressure about every day, from what I hear."
But the steady Harrell refused to fold. He answered Naff's salvo by sticking a 9-iron approach to 15 inches for an easy birdie at No. 10 to regain the lead.
"That was a big shot at 10," Harrell said. "I wanted to come right back with birdie and throw it right back at him."
One of Harrell's few mistakes - a missed 4-footer for par at No. 12 - allowed Naff to get even again.
At No. 13, Naff had a chance to take his first lead of the match, but came up short on a a 5-foot straight-in birdie putt.
"That was huge," said Naff, 38. "I had a chance to put him down, put a little pressure on him for a change."
After the two players swapped Nos. 14 and 15 - Harrell won 14 with a birdie while Naff took 15 with a sand-save par - and halved No. 16 with pars, the match went to No. 17 square.
Naff, his game strangely checking in and out, then committed a unpardonable mistake, launching a 7-iron long and left over the green at the 167-yard, par-3 17th.
Naff, who had lived on his "up and down" game all day long, finally ran out of magic. His chip slid 10 feet past the cup and he missed the putt, allowing Harrell to take the hole with par.
Needing to win the 18th to force overtime, Naff had one last chance, but his 15-foot birdie effort burned the right edge of the cup and slid past.
"The kid played well," Naff said. "He didn't make hardly any mistakes.
"He never game me any room. I was down all day long and that makes things tough. When I got even late, I thought he might bend a little, but he didn't. I felt a lot of pressure. He didn't. Then again, he might not know where he is."
Harrell shot rounds of 2-under 69 and 70 on his way to victory. Naff's card read 73-69.
"I wasn't going to allow myself to fold under the pressure," Harrell said. "I had confidence in my ability. It's a great win."
Like Harrell, Clark simply refused to be denied in the over-50 Seniors class. The 61-year-old Floyd native never trailed in capturing his record sixth Valley Am Seniors crown.
"This one is sweet, because Gibby Wingfield is the best player I've played in this tournament," Clark said. "Beating Gibby Wingfield here is like winning an U.S. Open for some people."
Wingfield, 56, wouldn't go quietly, though. Down three holes with four to play, the one-time pro birdied the par-3 15th to get one back, and then took No. 16 when Clark three-putted for bogey.
After having his birdie chip hit the stick and rattle out at No. 17, Wingfield came to the par-5 18th 1-down.
But Clark wouldn't budge. The veteran calmly knocked his third shot - a 25-yard pitch - to tap-in distance, ending Wingfield's hopes.
"It was a good match," said Clark, who shot 70. "I told my wife before coming down here my only chance to beat Gibby was to get on top early, make him play defensive and not let him start freewheeling. I wanted to make pars and make him beat me."
Wingfield said he's all too familiar with Clark's sly act.
"I knew I was in trouble when I got up and read in the paper that Reggie said I was going to beat him to death," Wingfield said. "He was just setting me up, I think.
"The old son-of-a-gun. We've played a thousand times. He hadn't shot a good round all week. So I should have known he'd pull this stuff on me today."
by CNB