ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996 TAG: 9606260030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN THE REGION
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Merrill Lynch Senior PGA Tour Shoot-Out Championship appears to have found a home in Hot Springs.
For the second straight fall, The Homestead Resort will play host to the high-dollar competition among 10 of the over-50 tour's top players. The $500,000 event, which pays $130,000 to the winner, will be held Tuesday, Oct.1, on the Homestead's famed Cascades Course.
Dave Stockton, who edged Larry Laoretti for the crown last year, will return to defend his title. The other nine participants will be selected at a later date.
The tournament will be taped by ESPN and televised by the sports cable network on Christmas Day from 4 to 6 p.m.
In other news in the region:
* The San Diego Chargers signed wide receiver Bryan Still, their top pick in the April draft, to a three-year contract Tuesday. Details were not released.
Still, a former Virginia Tech standout, was a second-round pick and the 41st player selected. In four seasons, he caught 84 passes for 1,458 yards and 11 touchdowns. He gained 2,434 all-purpose yards.
Still is the second of San Diego's eight draft choices to sign. Tackle Jim Mills of Idaho signed last week.
* Kevin Barker, a junior outfielder for Virginia Tech this past season, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Barker, who set an Atlantic 10 record with 20 home runs in 1996, was a third-round pick of the Brewers. He was assigned to the Ogden (Utah) Raptors of the Pioneer League, a rookie level club. Terms of Barker's contract were not disclosed.
* Eight of the 32 qualifiers for today's opening round of the State Junior Match Play Championship are from Southwest Virginia.
Reigning state junior champion Cameron Yancey of Blackstone shot a 2-under par 67 to win medal honors for the second straight year. Eric Hooke, an all-Timesland selection from Highland High School in Monterey, was the high local qualifier with a 70. Marty Stanley of Martinsville shot a 71 and Kevin O'Connell of Lexington had a 72.
Roanoke's Michael Damiano and Lexington's George Pickral each had 74s, while Lexington's Eric Reynolds, Martinsville's Aaron Kovac and Lee Fisher of Bedford shot 75.
* Tuesday's first round of the Virginias Women's Stroke Play Championship at the Country Club of Fairfax was washed out by rain. The tournament will be shortened to 36 holes and continue today.
Salem's Dot Bolling, who finished fourth last year, is the top area entry in the 96-player field.
* Junior Kelly Fackler was one of eight Lynchburg College student-athletes ranked among the NCAA Division III national leaders in spring sports final statistics.
Fackler, from Fieldale-Collinsville High School, finished third nationally in triples with 12. She also was 18th in batting with a .504 average.
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