THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Monday, October 21, 1996 TAG: 9610210122 SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 59 lines
Bert Atkinson sank a 10-foot downhill putt for eagle-3 at the 513-yard 18th hole Sunday as the Carolinas team salvaged a 108-108 tie in the 51st Carolinas-Virginias Match at Bayville Golf Club.
It was the first tie in match history as the Carolinas team, which held a 38-12 edge in prior matches, retained the Captain's Putter, symbolic of victory.
With the final Carolinas duo needing to halve the last hole to retain the putter, Paul Simson laced a 4-wood 255 yards to set up Atkinson's winning putt.
Atkinson sank the putt with the team of Vinny Giles and Tom McKnight looking at a 2-foot birdie putt after Giles' chip shot from the front fringe had threatened the left side of the hole.
A three-putt by Atkinson/Simson, which would have cost Carolinas the match, was a possibility.
Carolinas teammates Terry Ezell and Mark Thaxton had earlier three-putted the 18th from 6 feet, with Ezell knocking his downhill 6-foot birdie putt some 8 feet past, turning what could have been a 3-3 split in the Pinehurst alternate-shot format into a 6-0 loss to Mark Teachey and David Passerell.
``I've been playing in this thing since 1962 and this is the most competitive I can ever remember it being,'' said Giles, who had won the front nine worth two points with a twisting 3-footer at the ninth hole. ``There are a hundred ways you can figure to win this, but only a couple ways to figure a tie.''
The Virginias had been eight points down following the completion of the four morning seniors matches. But the team match nearly turned Virginias' way on two matches involving three locals - Suffolk's J.P. Leigh, Chesapeake's Billy Judah and Virginia Beach's Troy Ferris.
Leigh sank a 25-foot downhill birdie putt at the par-3 16th to even the Leigh/Keith Decker match with Mitch Adams and Chris Corn. After halving the 17th, Leigh knocked a 2-iron onto the front of the 18th green, but Decker ran the eagle putt 12 feet past.
When Corn drained a par-saving 15-footer and Leigh's comebacker slid by on the right, the match finished tied.
``That's the whole thing right there,'' Leigh said. ``If Corn doesn't make that putt, we win.''
Judah and Ferris then had a chance to post a 5-1 victory, but Ferris' 4-footer for birdie curled off the left lip, their match finishing in a 3-3 split. ``I got a tie-breaker system for this,'' Ferris said. ``Let's have everybody putt that 4-footer and the team that makes the most of them wins.''
Simson, the sixth-ranked amateur in the U.S. and two-time defending North-South Amateur champion, had watched Giles hole two shots from off the green in Friday's matches and thought for a second that he'd done it again at the 18th.
``Until the last 4 feet, it had an excellent opportunity to go in,'' said Simson, who with Atkinson beat Giles/McKnight 4-2. ``I was thinking anything could happen.'' ILLUSTRATION: RESULTS
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.] by CNB