DATE: Wednesday, October 1, 1997            TAG: 9710010644

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAY LIDINGTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   51 lines

CHURCHLAND'S FLOYD WINS EASTERN GOLF

Wish Churchland's Robbie Floyd a happy 17th birthday today and it might be repetitive.

A memorable birthday for Floyd was assured Tuesday at Sleepy Hole when he won medalist honors at the Eastern District golf tournament, defeating Maury's Casey O'Hearn by a stroke on the tournament's final regulation hole.

Maury won the team title with 677. Granby was second with 686 and Churchland third with 714. All three teams advance to the Eastern Region tournament Oct. 14-15.

Not even Mother Nature could deter Floyd, who sank a 3 1/2-foot putt on the 18th green with a stiff wind whipping up whitecaps on the Nansemond River nearby. As he was lining up the putt, a fly landed on his ball. Floyd calmly stepped back before nailing the putt.

``I almost didn't hit it hard enough,'' Floyd said. ``Boy, it was a big relief for me when it went in.''

Floyd trailed O'Hearn by two strokes after Monday's opening round at Ocean View and by four after he bogied No. 10 Tuesday at Sleepy Hole.

Then, Floyd seemed to turn it on. After back-to-back birdies on No. 12 and No. 13 and O'Hearn bogies on No. 11 and No. 12, the two were tied for the lead.

The tension on the final five holes was palpable. The two walked together but talked little.

``We talked about how we almost expected this to happen. We knew that before it started,'' Floyd said. ``It worked out. We played almost equal.''

O'Hearn struggled throughout the final round, fighting off shaky iron shots and hitting only one green in regulation on the back nine. He bogied three of the last five holes.

``Nothing was going right,'' O'Hearn said. ``I just couldn't connect and I just handed it away.''

O'Hearn finished with a 153 for the tournament, second only to Floyd's 152. O'Hearn's Maury teammate, J.R. Lockery, finished third with a 164.

Jonathan Elliott and Steve Gibson, both of Booker T. Washington, as well as Aaron Short of Wilson and Nick Beane of Norview will go to the regional as individual qualifiers.

Beane's teammate, Dan McMillan, also qualified by defeating yet another teammate, Chris Peoples, and Stephen Manrique of Lake Taylor in a three-hole playoff. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MOYOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot

Churchland's Robbie Floyd rallied from four strokes back in the

final eight holes to win the Eastern District golf tournament

Tuesday at Sleepy Hole.

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