THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501130240
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
WHO WOULD THINK a schedule change in the British Open might have repercussions for the Eastern Amateur in Portsmouth, Va.?
The British Open shifted to July 20-23 this year, moving back one week from its traditional dates.
That prompted a change in the dates of the Virginia State Open and the Anheuser-Busch PGA tournament at Williamsburg.
And suddenly the Eastern Amateur, which had scheduled itself away from the Anheuser-Busch last year with a later start, now once again is in conflict with the pro tournament.
Both the Anheuser-Busch and the Eastern Amateur will be July 13-16.
``That's regrettable,'' said Eastern Amateur chairman David Whitener. ``But there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.
``It is imperative that we do not conflict with the State Open, which draws many of the state's finest amateurs, and with the shift of the British Open the State Open moved a week. We cannot conflict with it.''
Eastern Amateur director Galen Hill said about 50 percent of the players in the State Open are amateurs. ``We do not want to lose the best players in our own state,'' he said.
Hill pointed out that the Eastern conflicted with the Southern Amateur last year. ``To my knowledge, our only conflict with amateur tournaments will be with the USGA Public Links.''
After several years of playing at the same time as the Anheuser-Busch, the Eastern shifted its dates last year to July 21-24.
``Primarily our move from early July was to allow our membership to use the course over the July 4 holiday period,'' Whitener said. ``We also were hopeful that attendance at our tournament might increase if we didn't conflict with the PGA tournament. But there really wasn't any significant change.''
Whitener said the Eastern Amateur executive committee met Wednesday night and discussed the tournament.
``We have some suggestions that we want to take before the Elizabeth Manor board and we'll be discussing that in the near future.''
Whitener said invitations to the Eastern will go out April 1.
The First Flight tournament, a preliminary to the Eastern, will be July 10-11. July 12 will be a practice day for Eastern participants. ILLUSTRATION: David Whitener is chairman of the Eastern Amateur Golf
Tournament.
by CNB