ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 golf TAG: 9607010128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GOLF
SOURCE: RANDY KING
After 10 years of playing hopscotch around the state, the VSGA State
Amateur Championship finally returns to the Old Dominion's golfing mecca this
week.
For the first time since 1986, The Homestead Resort's renowned Cascades
Course is playing host to the 83rd annual shootout between the state's top
men's amateurs.
``We've got the No.1 rated course in the state, so we feel like we should have the state's No.1 tournament,'' said Wayne Nooe, The Homestead's director of golf.
``I think the VSGA is now looking to settle in a few courses to hold its biggest championship each year instead of jumping around so much. I can tell you that the Homestead wants to be one of the regulars in that rotation.''
Dallas-based Club Resorts, which bought the venerable resort in October 1993, has developed a strong relationship with the VSGA, Nooe said.
``We want VSGA events,'' he said. ``Myself, I'm really impressed with how big amateur golf is in Virginia. It's a whole lot bigger deal here than it was back in North Carolina [his home state and where he worked previously]. Here, a whole [lot] more people seem to be interested in the amateur game, and that's great.''
The 106-player field tees it up Monday, when the first round of 36-hole qualifying begins on the beautiful, but tough mountain layout. The low 32 qualifiers advance to Wednesday's start of match play. The champion will be decided in Friday's 36-hole final.
Defending champion David Partridge of Richmond heads a field that includes seven other former winners: Scott Inman (1994) of Springfield, Allen Barber ('92) of Yorktown, Keith Decker ('88, '91) of Fieldale, Richmonder Hank Klein ('90), Carl Peterson ('73) of Chesapeake, Wayne Jackson ('56, '65) of Gloucester and Roanoke's Ned Baber ('60).
Other top threats include 1992 Kenridge winner Pat Tallent of Vienna, 1995 qualifying medalist Jimmy Flippen Jr. of Danville, former West Virginia Amateur runner-up Charlie Green of Tazewell, 1994 runner-up and reigning Kenridge champ David Brogan of Lexington and four-time qualifying medalist J.P. Leigh of Suffolk.
Longtime State Am guns - seven-time champion Vinny Giles of Richmond and two-time winner Tom McKnight of Galax - are not competing. Giles is playing in the U.S. Senior Open this week, while McKnight is scheduled to play in the prestigious Rice Planters Invitational in Charleston, S.C.
Including Decker and Brogan, 20 Southwest Virginians qualified regionally out of a field of 433 entries. The Roanoke contingent includes Baber, Jeff Lynch, Josh Points, Scott Hunter, Charley Keffer, Brian Agee, Mark Funderburke, Nick Varney, Ryan Ketron and Andy Miller.
TEMPORARILY OUT OF BOUNDS: The Roanoke women's scene has lost one of its top players, at least for the time being.
Sara Cole, a two-time Hall of Fame and City-County champion, has moved to Virginia Beach after a job transfer.
``I'm hoping to get back to Roanoke eventually, maybe in a year or two,'' said Cole, who works for United Parcel Service. ``I'm going to miss my friends and the competition. But I'll be back one day to take all of 'em on again.''
SHOOTING TWO: Former college basketball referee Paul Housman did a lot of that in a recent round at his home Hidden Valley course.
Housman birdied all four of the layout's par-3s. The 10-handicapper's card included three net 1s, since holes Nos. 3, 11 and 15 are rated as the course's seventh, 10th and eighth hardest holes, respectively.
SIX-FIGURE PAYOFF: Kazim Temple, host of the Mid-Atlantic PGA Club Pro tournament on Aug.12 at Hanging Rock, has announced plans for a $100,000 hole-in-one shootout.
Qualifying began Friday and ends Aug.3 at seven area clubs - Countryside (July 19-20, Aug. 2-3); Hanging Rock (July 19, July 26, Aug. 2); Blue Hills (July 12-13, July 20, July 27); Ole Monterey (July 12-13, July 19-20, July 26-27); Botetourt (July 13, July 19, Aug. 2); Alleghany (July 20); and Clifton Forge (July 29). Qualifying is held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Those closest to the pin at each of the 25 qualifiers will earn a berth in the final shootout, where the first ace pays $100,000 and closest to the pin pays $500.
SAND BLASTS: Simon Cooke, 1995-96 player of the year in the ACC, has turned professional. The Virginia graduate made his pro debut in the recent Nike Dominion Open in Richmond. ... Greater Blacksburg Open winner Sean Farrell will soon return to his native Zimbabwe, for whom he will play in the World Amateur Championship in the Philippines in November. ...
Pete Vanderwarker, who served as head pro at Hidden Valley from 1977-80, qualified for this week's U.S. Senior Open. Vanderwarker, currently with the Greenville, S.C.-based Maxfli Golf, shot a 1-under 70 on Monday to earn one of two available Open qualifying berths in Florence, S.C. ... Blue Hills head pro Billy King will embark on a 10-event Senior Series tour in North Carolina next week. ...
Tom McKnight tied for 18th in the recent Sunnehanna Amateur in Johnstown, Pa., shooting 11-over 291 and finishing 10 shot backs of winner Jeff Thomas of New Jersey. ... The team of Bobby Penn, Bill Champion, Joe Marchese and Wally Moss combined for a 15-under 57 at Hanging Rock to capture the Don Holliday Memorial title. Howie Burgess, Garland Berry, Bill Shrader and Jim Sowder shot 58 to take second in the record 296-player field.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB