Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 30, 1990 TAG: 9006300261
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Grant was paired with seven-time champion Vinny Giles, who had captured five of his titles by the time Grant was born in July 1969.
"I wasn't worried about losing," said Grant, from Radford. "I had everything to gain. He's expected to win in the first round."
If Grant was excited before the match, he was elated afterward, having sidelined Giles 1-up at the Birdwood Golf Course.
Grant managed to bring his emotions under control after a slow start in the afternoon and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 1-up victory over John Minor in a 21-hole affair that was the longest match of the day.
"The Giles match took a lot out of me," said Grant, who will be a senior at Virginia Commonwealth. "I think I was asleep for the first two holes in the afternoon. When I woke up on the third tee, I was two down."
It was a day for surprises, with no former champions advancing past the first round. Hank Klein of Richmond upset three-time champion Tom McKnight of Galax 2 and 1, and Scott Seymour of Fairfax ousted 1987 winner Keith Decker of Martinsville.
"For three months, I've been hitting the ball as well as I could ask," McKnight said. "Then, I got up here and I missed more fairways in three days than I had in a month."
Of the eight players who survived the first day of match play, six were collegians, led by University of Virginia junior Fred Widicus, the qualifying medalist who was 5 under par through 29 holes Friday.
"Personally, I can't see anybody beating Widicus," said Grant, who is in the lower bracket and would like nothing better than a shot at Widicus in the final.
Widicus advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-and-2 victory over another VCU golfer, Jerry Wood of Martinsville, and will meet Old Dominion senior Stanley Jones of Halifax.
Another ODU player, Jon Hurst of Dumfries, will meet Klein in the other upper-bracket match. Klein, an NAIA All-American at Methodist College, won the last six holes in his afternoon match to beat Freddie Von Bargen 2-up.
In the lower bracket, it will be Virginia Tech's Tom Brittain of Tazewell against former Roanoker Gary Strickfaden, who now lives in Virginia Beach. Strickfaden, by far the oldest player remaining in the field at 46, had a hole in one on the fourth hole of his afternoon match against Chris Turner.
Brittain, who had not previously qualified for the match play, beat UVa golfer Tom Zeuthen 4 and 2 in the morning, then dispatched Seymour 2 and 1 in the afternoon.
"It took me six years to get to match play," said Brittain, winner of the Campbell Invitational during the college season. "I figured I might as well do something once I got here."
by CNB