THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9506300241
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
All that remains to be filled in the 168-player Eastern Amateur field are the 12 spots allotted to qualifiers via the First Flight Tournament.
The First Flight, a 36-hole preliminary to the Eastern that is limited to players whose handicaps otherwise would not enable them to particate in the feature tournament, is scheduled at Elizabeth Manor July 10-11.
The 39th annual Eastern will be played at the same site on July 13-16.
This year's Eastern has drawn three former winners, including defending champion Steve Liebler. Also entered are J.P. Leigh and Tom McKnight.
With a field that is dominated by top players from this state and neighboring North Carolina, the Eastern has attracted participants from 22 states.
Also represented are 41 universities and colleges, stretched from Old Dominion to UCLA, from Georgetown to Texas, from Florida State to Ohio University.
The players range from 16-year-old Matt Paulson, a rising junior at Cox High School in Virginia Beach, to 64-year-old Bill Harvey, a driving range operator at Greensboro, N.C.
The average age is 24.1. and that's actually the ``oldest'' field in several years.
``Fifteen years ago the average age was 28,'' said tournament chairman Dave Whitener. ``Five years ago it was 22.''
This year there are 43 players seeking to become the youngest Eastern winner ever. No player under 20 years of age has won the Eastern. There have been three 20-year-old titlists - Greg Chapman in 1979, O.D. Vincent in 1988 and Jason Widener in 1991.
The oldest Eastern champion was McKnight, the three-time State Amateur winner from Galax, who led the field in 1993. At 38 years of age, McKnight came within one shot of tying the tourney's scoring record with his 11-under-par 269.
Touring pro Curtis Strange set the record in 1975.
Being the oldest champion has provided a new challenge for McKnight.
Says McKnight, who played in his first Eastern in 1970 when he was at the University of Virginia and is competing for the fifth time: ``I would like to break that record (the oldest champion).''
There are 15 others who are over 38. This talented group includes the 47-year-old Leigh, David Partridge (40), Jay Rickles (42) and University of Virginia coach Mike Moraghan (40).
Officials in the Eastern have not tinkered much with the format because the Eastern has been so successful. Always there's a waiting-list of players who are hoping to get in when somebody has to withdraw.
It has been a 72-hole event since its inception. For several years it had a 36-hole finale when it was played over a three-day period. It has been four days since 1963.
Only those with handicaps of 2 and under are invited. Higher handicap players can seek to qualify through the First Flight tourney.
At one time the Eastern accepted players with handicaps of 4 and under but the field grew too large to be accommodated in the daylight hours. There were 306 players in 1960 and the tournament had to be finished under automobile lights.
There were 286 players in 1959 and 274 in 1958.
Whitener now closes the field at 168.
There's a sprinkling of lefthanders entered. Only one, Ralph Howe III in 1986, has ever won.
Entries close today in the First Flight. Tournament director Tim Newsom, the Elizabeth Manor pro, anticipates a field of 180. The First Flight is for players with handicaps of 2.6 and higher. ILLUSTRATION: File staff photo
Tom McNight, of Galax, was the oldest winner ever of the Eastern
Amateur in 1993, at age 38. He'll be back to try again this year.
File staff photo
Jason Widerer, 20, of Greensboro, N.C., was one of three youngest
champions of the tourney. He won in 1991 while a student at Duke
University.
by CNB