THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607050258
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS, VA. LENGTH: 73 lines
When Troy Ferris went to the front desk of his motel Thursday morning to tell the clerk he would need to rent his room for another night if he advanced to the finals of the State Amateur, he got a surprise.
``She said, `It doesn't matter what happens, I've already rented your room out, and we're full,' '' the Norfolk native said. ``So here we are, my dad and me, packing everything into the car at 6:30, then heading to the golf course.''
And there they were 10 hours later, searching for a new place to stay after Ferris disposed of two Northern Virginians, 1994 champion Scott Inman 5 and 4 in the quarterfinals and Austin Eaton 4 and 2 in the semifinals.
Ferris will face Richmond's John Rollins in today's 36-hole final. Rollins, a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University and reigning Colonial Athletic Association champion, was a 4-and-2 winner over Chesapeake's Billy Judah in the quarterfinals and a 4-and-3 winner over Roanoke's Charles Keffer in the semis.
Ferris and Eaton were even through 11 holes, before Ferris won four in a row to become the first South Hampton Roads resident to advance to the finals since Gary Strickfaden lost to Keith Decker in 1991.
The pivotal hole was No. 12, a 476-yard par 4. Eaton, who had won the previous hole to pull even in the match, hit a perfect drive down the middle. Ferris' ball precariously hugged the left tree line before coming down in the short left rough. Ferris' approach shot was short of the green, but he pitched to 6 feet and made par.
Eaton put his approach shot in the left bunker, blasted to 4 feet but missed the par putt, returning the advantage to Ferris.
``That was the match for me,'' Eaton said. ``Nothing I did seemed to go right after that.''
Ferris won the 13th hole by draining a 45-foot birdie putt, and Eaton conceded the 14th after pushing his approach shot from 147 yards into the right fringe, skulling his third shot over the green, then pitching barely onto the fringe.
Ferris all but sealed the match on the next hole, a 222-yard par 3. His tee shot landed right of the green in fluffy grass, while Eaton's tee shot made the green, 40 feet from the flag. Eaton two-putted for par and seemed to have won the hole to get back to 2-down when Ferris's pitch stopped 35 feet below the cup.
But Ferris rammed his putt into the center of the cup to gain a half.
``That surprised me - and him, I think,'' Ferris said. ``Here he was looking like he would win the hole and get some momentum back and I roll that one in.''
Moments later, the match was over. Eaton conceded the par-5 16th after hitting his drive into the 17th fairway, then an approach off a tree limb and into the creek, then another shot that still hadn't made the green.
Ferris, meanwhile, was in the fairway, 80 yards from the flag. Seconds after Eaton conceded the match, Ferris knocked a wedge 2 feet from that flag and tapped in for a celebratory birdie.
In the morning, Ferris birdied the third, fifth and sixth holes to take a 4-up lead. ``I was just barking up a bad tree,'' said Inman, who lost to David Partridge in the final last year.
Ferris's mind will be on Bermuda when he and Rollins tee off this morning at 8. It was in that British colony that Ferris played his only other 36-hole match-play final, last spring break. He defeated Tim Carr 4 and 3 to win the Bermuda Amateur.
``I was looking at tournament schedules during spring break and I saw the one there,'' he said. ``I wound up winning - and in five matches, just like you need here.''
As Eaton climbed into his car, he extended his hand to Ferris a final time.
``When I pick up the paper Saturday, I want to see `New State Amateur champion Troy Ferris,' '' he said.
It sounded good to Ferris.
``It's not a shock that I'm in the finals,'' he said. ``I'm not trying to be cocky, but I've always done well in match play. I like everything about it.''
Except the motel trouble. by CNB