ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608120135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
Miller Baber continues to turn the 1996 Valley Amateur into a veritable one-man golf clinic.
In another basically flawless exhibition Saturday at Countryside, Baber was 3-under-par for 31 holes in dispatching teen-ager Jason Orlando 2 and 1 and two-time champion Bobby Penn 5 and 4.
Baber, who is 15-under for his 99 tournament holes played, will attempt to fire up his birdie machine one more time today when he faces 19-year-old Brian Agee in the 36-hole final.
Agee, playing a course that he knows like the back of his hand, was a giant-killer Saturday, eliminating 1993 champion Rodney Naff 1-up and defending champion Tim Chocklett 2-up.
``Now comes the machine,'' said Agee of Baber. ``He's hitting the ball better than anybody. I know he's the favorite. I just want to play my best and I just hope the outcome is good.''
Baber, 31, has been better than good this week. After taking care of the stubborn Orlando in the morning quarterfinals, Baber drew Penn in a marquee semifinal matchup.
Penn, a five-time winner of Roanoke's two majors (the Valley Am and Hall of Fame) never had a chance. Baber birdied the first two holes, then went 3-up when Penn bogeyed the par-3 third.
Penn got a hole back with a birdie at No. 4, but gave it right back with a bogey at No. 5. Baber went 4-up when Penn drove into a creek and bogeyed No. 8.
Another birdie at No. 12 stretched Baber's lead to 5-up. The match ended at No. 14 when a beaten Penn conceded Baber an 18-inch par putt. The proud Penn confessed he's never been taken to the woodshed so fast and so hard.
``What else can you say?'' Penn said. ``A freight train runs over the big guy.
``I'm just not playing well enough to beat people playing like he is. The way Miller is playing, if you make a few bogeys and get 2- or 3-down, it's all over.''
Baber confessed he's never had such a lengthy run of near errorless golf.
``I've never been one who has been able to string so many good rounds together,'' Baber said. ``I just hope I've got some more in me.''
After beating Naff in what he called ``the toughest match of my life,'' Agee drew the defender. Chocklett, who never led, still had a shot coming to the final hole after Agee missed a 2-footer to win the match at No. 17.
Agee, hot over the blown opportunity, regrouped and sealed the deal at 18, drilling a 15-footer for birdie.
``I tried to give it away,'' Agee said. ``I was just a dummy at 17. Here I give him a 3-footer [for par] and I miss a 2-footer.''
In Seniors play, Floyd's Reggie Clark moved into position for his record sixth title. Clark birdied the 18th hole to beat Al Looney 1-up in Saturday's semifinals.
``That's the first one I made all day,'' said Clark. ``I was due, all right. If the other guys plays bad and I play well, I can win [today].''
Clark, 63, will face former Salem High boys' basketball coach John Edwards in today's 18-hole final. Edwards outlasted Don Hampton 1-up in 22 holes in the semifinals. The match ended when Hampton missed a 3-foot par putt on the fourth extra hole.
``I never expected to get this far,'' said Edwards, who upset defending champion Bill Proffitt in Thursday's quarters.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB