Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 8, 1993 TAG: 9308080035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It's a veritable American Automobile Association convention. Like license tags? You've got 'em - from 30 states and Canada.
Top junior players from around the continent and beyond will begin to converge on RCC today in preparation for Tuesday's start of the 10th annual tournament.
The Robertson, obviously no longer a secret, drew a record 452 entries from California to Florida, from Canada to Puerto Rico.
"Ten years ago, we never envisioned the tournament would grow to such a prominent stature on the national scene," tournament chairman Dallas Peoples said. "The tournament basically started out as a local tournament with maybe 63-64 entries. Every year it has gotten bigger and bigger.
"I think the biggest reason for that is that the participants themselves have helped spread the word. Every year now, I probably get 100 letters from participants and their parents saying how much they like Roanoke and this tournament. They enjoy the way they're treated and they keep singing the praises."
No matter how many entries, only so many players can participate. Entries director Gene Hawthorne had the unenviable task of having to pare the original entry list down to the tournament field of 189.
"We had a very difficult time cutting the entries," Hawthorne said. "We basically used three criteria. First, we looked at have they played here before and how they have played. The second criteria was handicap. Third, we looked at each individual's past career record."
There were 352 entries, 57 of which carried handicaps of 2 or better, in the boys' 15-18 age division. Seventy-nine players were given a automatic spot in the tournament. Hawthorne invited 130 other players to Monday's qualifier, in which 92 are expected to show and play for the remaining 41 spots in the 120-member 15-18 field.
In the boys' 13-14 division, 18 of the 48 entries received automatic spots. Of those not getting exemptions, 16 are expected to qualify Monday for the remaining six berths in the 24-member field.
The girls' division, which drew only a footnote of attention in the tournament's early years, has expanded tenfold. Forty-five of 52 girls' entries were accepted.
In the showcase boys' 15-18 field, Jason Barba of Virginia Beach will attempt to defend his crown. Barba shot a 1-over-par 143 in last year's rain-shortened tournament to edge Robert Floyd, son of PGA Tour star Raymond Floyd, and North Carolinian Drew Scott by one shot.
Other top contenders in the 15-18 class include: New Yorker Ted Haley, recent winner of an American Junior Golf Association stop in Las Vegas; last year's third-place finisher, Jimmy Henderson of Lebanon, Ohio; and North Carolinian Seth Marshburn, winner of last year's 13-14 crown.
Most of the top juniors in Virginia are entered, including VSGA State Juniors and Bobby Bowers champion Robby Rasmussen of Chesapeake; 1992 VSGA Junior Match Play champion G.W. Cable of Oakton; 1992 VSGA State Juniors and '93 Junior Match Play champion Chip Glover of Verona; 1993 U.S. Junior Open participant Whit Staples of Haymarket; and 1992 VSGA Junior Match Play runner-up Conlin Giles of Norfolk.
Local stalwarts entered include defending Group AA state champion Ryan Ketron; 1990 Group A state champion Scott Reynolds of Lexington; two-time Commonwealth Games of Virginia winner Tim Bower of Floyd; and 1993 VSGA Junior Match Play runner-up Scott Griffin of Troutville.
Salem's Lee Shirley will be gunning for a second straight girls' title. Other threats include Maryland's Jenny Chuasiriporn, fourth last year, and Virginia Beach's Olivia Faison.
\ KING SCHOLARSHIP: J. Tyler Pugh, a senior at North Cross who plans to attend the University of Richmond, has been awarded the King Family Memorial Scholarship of $300 by the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame. The King Family Memorial honors Clarence and Martha King and their grandson, John.
\ SAY IT AIN'T SO, SAM: How misleading are money figures on the ultra-rich PGA Tour these days?
Consider this classic example: Gary McCord, the self-admitted hack who doubles as a CBS golf analyst, is only a 35th-place paycheck ($6,719) of overtaking a fellow by the name of Sam Snead on the all-time money list. Snead won $620,126 and 81 tournaments from 1933-79. McCord has won $613,407 and zero tournaments since 1973.
"When I pass Sam, I've got to call him and apologize," McCord said.
\ SAND BLASTS: Curtis Strange is exhibiting signs of shaking his long slump. Strange, who hasn't cashed a first-place paycheck since winning the 1989 U.S. Open, has finished in the top-10 in his past four starts. . . . A third 18, designed by Strange and Tom Clark, will open at Williamsburg's Kingsmill Resort next summer. . . . Dating to last summer, top Roanoke junior Ryan Ketron has posted five wins, five seconds and a third. . . . The biggest factor in Donna Andrews' success in the past two U.S. Opens? The Lynchburg native keeps the ball out of the high grass. Andrews ranks second on the LPGA Tour in driving accuracy, hitting 82.4 percent of all fairways. . . . Area summer rates wars continue. Countryside (after 3 p.m. only) and Botetourt County Club (after noon on weekdays) are offering $18 deals for greens fees and carts. . . . UVa rising senior Tripp Shreves won the recent Washington Metropolitan Golf Association men's championship in 38 holes at Congressional in Bethesda, Md. . . . Blacksburg Country Club pro Jim Williams (71) was fourth in the Pro Sweeps, and his son, Kurt, shot a 74 to take third in the 16-17 age group in the recent MAPGA Pro-Junior tournament at Lakeview Golf Club in Harrisonburg. The younger Williams qualified for the MAPGA Junior Championship to be held Thursday in Alexandria.
by CNB