Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 18, 1993 TAG: 9308180021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Randy King Staff Writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 17-year-old Floyd native torched Countryside with a 1-under-par 70 to capture the 15-17 title of the Roanoke Valley Golf Association's 1993 Junior Championship.
"This is the way I wanted to go out . . . I wanted to leave a winner," said Bower, who will enter Radford University next week on a golf scholarship.
"I'm happy with the way things turned in my junior career. I wish I could have won the State Juniors. I won it when I was 13 and never did it again. But, overall, I had a good career. Hopefully, I can do just as well in college."
Bower's 36-hole total of even-par 142 was good enough for a two-shot victory over favorite Ryan Ketron of Roanoke.
Bower, who won the RVGA 13-15 crown in 1990, birdied the final two holes to shoot a 2-under 33 on the back nine. Ketron, who fell two shots behind when he bogeyed the par-3 16th after knocking his tee shot in the water, also birdied the final two holes.
"It was basically match play between Ryan and I after the front nine," Bower said. "When he hit in the water at 16, I figured I was in good shape."
Bower said he almost decided to skip the RVGA, but decided to play when it dawned on him it would be his final shot at a junior championship.
"With us going off at 7 o'clock in the morning, it meant I had to get up at 5 a.m. two days in a row," said Bower, whose home is some 40 miles from Roanoke. "At first, I wasn't too crazy about that thought. But then I thought about this being my last tournament and changed my mind. When I left the house this morning, Mom said, `Go show 'em who's who.' "
He did just that. Bower, who entered the day tied with Ketron and Scott Griffin, one shot behind first-round leader Brian Hill, took the lead for good when Ketron bogeyed the par-5 12trh and never trailed again.
Griffin, the defending 15-17 champion, birdied the first two holes to take the lead, but shot himself out of contention by playing the next eight holes 7-over. Griffin eagled the par-5 17th to shoot 74 and take third at 146.
Hill, who led by one after an even-par 71 at Blue Hills on Monday, was kayoed by double bogeys at Nos. 9 and 12, knocking his ball out of bounds on each hole. The rising Northside junior finished with a 78 and 149 total.
Nick Varney (72), who had won the 13-15 the past two years, finished fourth at 147, while Troutville's Mark Sweeney (74) was fifth at 148.
Jason Orlando, who at 14 figures to be the next strong Roanoke-area junior, fired a 73 to capture the 13-15 crown. Orlando's 145 total beat runner-up Mark Baldwin by three shots.
"It's a big win. There were a lot of good people playing," said Orlando, a rising ninth-grader at Northside High.
Doug Kenney, despite six penalty strokes, shot a final-round 75 to take third at 149.
Matthew Chandler, an 11-year-old Rocky Mount native, shot a final-round 38 to nip Trey Clower by one shot for the 11-12 Midgets title. Chandler had an 80 for 18 holes from the red tees.
Phillip Ingram of Roanoke won the 9-and-under Pee Wee title with a 32 for six 150-yard holes.
by CNB