Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993 TAG: 9308150040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Randy King
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A variety of circumstances have kept most of the area's best players away from the tournament that starts at Blue Hills on Wednesday.
Bobby Penn, who won back-to-back titles in 1990-91, recently had his appendix removed, and, under doctor's orders, can't play.
Mike Smith, the 1988 champion, can't play because he's headed to Houston for the U.S. Amateur.
Many other top players are not competing because of the five-day tournament format, which requires most contestants to take a week's vacation from their jobs.
Other top names, especially the elite country-club set, won't play simply because they look at what used to be Roanoke's biggest golf event as a second-rate affair.
"It's unfortunate that some of the big names boycott this tournament," defending champion Don Foster said. "I know some are not satisfied with the format. But I like it. It's a tough tournament to win because anything can happen in match play."
Foster, who is exempt from qualifying, is not exactly in top shape. He recently cut his arm on a piece of metal. The wound required nine stitches, which he still carries.
"I'll be all right by Friday," the 54-year-old veteran assured.
Besides Foster, top entries include David Hagadorn, Tim Chocklett, Mark Funderburke, Adam Harrell, Scott Hunter and junior hotshot Ryan Ketron.
After 36 holes at Blue Hills and Hanging Rock, in which the low 31 players qualify, the tournament moves to Countryside for three days of match play. The 36-hole finale will be played next Sunday.
\ RVGA JUNIORS: Troutville's Scott Griffin will attempt to defend his title in the Roanoke Valley Golf Association junior championship that begins Monday at Blue Hills and concludes Tuesday at Countryside.
Top threats to knock off Griffin include Ketron, Brian Hill, Nick Varney and Floyd's Tim Bower.
\ QUAD-PEAT?: Salem's Lee Shirley will attempt to rewrite Virginia golf history when she goes after her fourth straight state Junior Girls title Tuesday and Wednesday at Fredricksburg Country Club. Shirley and Floyd's Susan Slaughter (1985-87) are the only players to ever win the tournament three times in a row. Shirley's primary challengers figure to be Chesapeake's Karla Roberson, Midlothian's Anne Cardea and Virginia Beach's Olivia Faison.
\ DEPOSIT THIS, PLEASE: Donna Andrews' recent three-week hot streak on the LPGA Tour has made her banker most happy.
Andrews, who has finished second, fourth and second in her past three LPGA starts, has won $130,488 during the sizzling spell to leapfrog from 42nd to 14th on the 1993 LPGA money list with $211,326. The Lynchburg native won nearly $300,000 last year.
\ JDF JAM: More than 400 golfers jammed Hanging Rock Monday and Tuesday for the annual Juvenile Diabetes Foundation-Cox Cable captain's choice tournament.
The team of John Thornton, John Marssinko, George Weyrock and Chuck Suggs captured the overall title with a 13-under-par 60. The team of Vickie Martin, Susan Potter, Mary Simpson and Sally Nicely collaborated on a 64 to take the women's division. The big winner, though, was charity as approximately $35,000 was raised to fight juvenile diabetes.
\ RADFORD RECRUITS: Radford University golf coach Steve Ames announced this week he has received commitments from three recruits, including Brian Songer of Pearisburg. Songer, who starred at Giles High School, is transferring to Radford from Bluefield College, where he played one season.
The other two recruits are Evan Fabricant of New City, N.Y., and Ontario native Stefan Pernu, a winner of 17 junior and high school titles in Canada. The trio joins Floyd native Tim Bower in the Highlanders' 1993 recruiting class.
\ CLEMENT SCHOLARSHIP: J. Scott Sarver, a junior at Virginia Tech, has been awarded the G. Buddy Clement Memorial Scholarship by the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame. The $1,000 scholarship is in memory of Clement, founder of the Hall of Fame and its scholarship program.
\ SAND BLASTS: Andrews came up short in the recent U.S. Women's Open, but still claimed a part of history. Andrews and winner Lauri Merten were the first players ever to play four sub-par rounds in the Women's Open championship. . . . Former Roanoker Frank Moore tied for fourth in last weekend's Greater Hampton Amateur. Moore, who now resides in Virginia Beach, shot even-par 207, but finished 17 shots behind winner Allen Barber, who blitzed The Woodlands' short par-69 layout with scores of 66-63-61 to win by 14 shots. . . . Former Radford High stalwart Matt Martin, now at Virginia Tech, coasted to a 10-stroke win in the recent Montgomery County Amateur. . . . Former Glenvar High standout Adam Harrell finished third in the 18-21 age group and seventh overall in the recent Tar Heel Invitational in Vass, N.C. Harrell's George Mason University teammate, Scott Hunter of Roanoke, was seventh in the 18-21 division.
by CNB