ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 4, 1996 TAG: 9605060123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Golf
SOURCE: RANDY KING
Steve Firebaugh figured there was no better time than now to reach for a career Mulligan.
After 16 years in the golf business, including the past seven as head professional at Chestnut Creek Golf Club in Hardy, Firebaugh resigned this week to take a job as a salesman at a Rocky Mount automobile dealership.
``While it's quite a change from what I've been doing, it was an opportunity I couldn't turn down,'' Firebaugh said Friday. ``I've been thinking about doing something else for a while now; I've just always been scared to do it.''
The 33-year-old Roanoke native has been in the golf game ever since he graduated from Northside High. After one year of college, he spent three years working in the pro shop at Blue Hills before moving to Waterfront for a six-year stint. He was hired as head pro at Chestnut Creek in 1989.
Firebaugh said the Hardy-based club's well-publicized financial troubles and impending sale - the club was purchased Wednesday by Smith Mountain Lake mega-developer Ron Willard - entered into his decision.
``There wasn't a lot of job security,'' he said. ``The place was up for sale, and nobody really knew what was going to happen.''
The routine 70- and 80-hour work weeks of being a head pro also helped turn Firebaugh's head.
``You work almost every day, including weekends and holidays,'' he said. ``It's not like you're playing golf all the time, either.
``I've got a family, two small children. It will be nice to be able to go watch my little girl play a softball game.''
Firebaugh said he will soon apply to regain his amateur status. He's hoping two years from now he'll be free again to tee it up with the area's top amateur players.
``Maybe I can win the Hall of Fame again,'' said Firebaugh, who captured Roanoke's biggest amateur event in 1985. ``I'm looking forward to butting heads with guys like Jake Allison and Mike Smith [two of the area's top players]. Hopefully, I'll be able to break 80.''
LAKE PARTY: Many of the state's best best players will congregate this weekend at Smith Mountain Lake for the fifth Water's Edge Four-Ball Invitational.
The two-man, best-ball event at the plush par-72, 6,906-yard layout has a field of 66 teams. Sixty-nine of the 132 competitors have a handicap of two or less.
Fieldale's Keith Decker, who combined with Richmond's David Partridge on a tournament-record 10-under-par 144 last year, will team with Bluefield's Charlie Green this year.
Bill Sibbick, who teamed with Galax's Tom McKnight to win in 1993, has picked up Martinsville sidekick Frank Richardson this year.
Other teams to watch include the Lexington duo of David Brogan and J.W. Entsminger; Rick Bendall and Bobby Evans of Lynchburg; and defending VSGA Four-Ball champions Jake Allison of Roanoke and Mark Teachey of Waynesboro.
The field will be cut to the low 50 teams ties after today's first round. The 36-hole tournament concludes Sunday.
SOUTHWESTERN PIPELINE: George Mason University has found a gusher of talent in the Roanoke area, which supplies the Patriots with three of their top six players.
Heading into GMU's final spring tournament this weekend, former Glenvar High star Adam Harrell led the Patriots with a 75.42 stroke average. Ex-Cave Spring High standout Scott Hunter was second at 76.0. Former Lord Botetourt High player Andy Miller was sixth at 79.71.
Harrell and Hunter, both seniors, tied for second individually as the Patriots beat 21 schools for the team title at the Princeton Invitational last weekend.
Both players recorded their low rounds of the year at the Georgetown Invitational - Harrell had a 69, Hunter a 67. Miller's low round (72) also came at Georgetown.
Ray Harrell, Adam's younger brother, also is on the squad. The freshman didn't compete in any varsity events, but figures to get some playing time next year.
COLLEGE HOTSHOTS: Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest and East Tennessee State, all nationally ranked over the past year, head the field for the Liberty Classic to be played Thursday and Friday at Water's Edge.
``We may, very possibly, have the next NCAA champion competing,'' said event organizer Frank Landrey, Liberty's head coach.
Other teams in the 54-hole tournament include Florida State, Georgia Southern and UNC Charlotte.
A pro-am on Wednesday tees off the event.
TOURNAMENT RECAP: The team of Janet Cochran, Bonita Howell, Debbie Young and Brenda Harvey combined for a 1-under-par 71 to capture the low gross title in the Roanoke Valley Women's Golf Association's Four-Lady Best-Ball tournament at Roanoke Country Club. Holley Updike, Betty Baker, Nancy Shuck and Dot Bolling were second at 72. Barbara LaCroix, Polly DelVero, Libby Speicht and Joanie Schumann took low net honors with a 56. Tama Taylor, Roma Stverak, Anne Sarber and Joyce Chapman were second with a 61. ... Wes Swope and Kathy Hull of Drive-A-Way Golf Center combined for a 1-under-par 70 to tie for third in the recent Middle Atlantic PGA Pro-Scratch Lady event at Shenandoah Valley in Front Royal.
SAND BLASTS: Salem's Lee Shirley finished fourth in scoring average (79.2) for North Carolina's women's team this season. Shirley, a sophomore, played in six of nine tournaments for the Tar Heels, with her best finish being a 13th in the ACC Championships. ... Giles High standout Andrew Wagner and Harrisonburg High star Philip Bowers have signed letters of intent to attend Radford University. Wagner was Three Rivers District champion and finished 15th in the VSGA Junior in 1994. Bowers won the Valley District title in 1994 and finished sixth in the VSGA Junior in 1995. ... Danville native and former Virginia standout Jimmy Flippen is fourth in the latest men's amateur national rankings released by Golfweek magazine. ... Ed Sneed may be 60th on the 1996 Senior PGA Tour money list, but nobody can accuse him of not having any aces in the hole. The Roanoke native already has scored three holes-in-one this season. No other player on tour has more than one. Sneed, by the way, also leads the circuit in sand-save percentage (71.4). ... For the second year in a row, Hanging Rock Golf Club has been picked as a 3-star award winner on Golf Digest's list of places to play.
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