Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407020048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PINEHURST, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
But it's a safe bet the Roanoker never will forget his two-day experience at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club's storied No. 2 course.
"Heck with the scores," King said. "It's the experience that nobody can ever take away from me. Hey, it was fun while it lasted."
How many times do you hear that from a golf professional who just shot an 82?
"Hey, I got to talk with Arnold Palmer on the first tee [Tuesday] and played two days with two Masters champions [Charles Coody and Tommy Aaron]. Tell me how many guys get to do that? That's the kind of stuff I'll take away from this tournament, not the scores I shot."
King got into trouble early on Friday. He bogeyed the first two holes and was 2-over through five holes when a thundershower suspended play for two hours, 25 minutes.
The sun came back out at 5:30 p.m., but no rainbow appeared for King. He limped to the house, making two double bogeys and five bogeys over the final 11 holes.
King, 50, tied for 106th after a 78 Thursday, wound up at 18-over 160, tied for 133rd in the field of 154. The cut was at 7-over 149.
King, who made the field as an alternate when Gay Brewer withdrew entry last Friday, was paired with Senior Tour regulars Coody and Aaron both days. King commended both "for putting up with me."
"Mr. Coody and Mr. Aaron were super to play with," he said. "They talked to me a lot and it really made me feel more comfortable. After I made the double bogey at No. 1 Thursday to start the tournament, Mr. Coody made me feel better when he said, `All right, just make you a couple of birdies now.' That was nice."
"The guys out here, at least the ones I met, are just great."
But they're playing in a different league, King confessed.
"The atmosphere here was so much different that what I'm used to. I've played in a lot of [Virginia] State Opens, the Anheuser-Busch Classic in 1981. It was a lot like this. You see all these good players and you're kind of in awe of 'em."
\ EX-ROANOKER PACKING: Virginia Beach's Gary Strickfaden, who beat King in a playoff for in the Richmond sectional qualifier, also failed to make the cut, shooting 75-78.
"I felt I had a good shot at the cut with a 74 [Friday]," Strickfaden said. "I was in pretty good shape until I bogeyed No. 10 [a 565-yard par-5], leaving my third shot short in impossible position. Then I made double at 12 and it was over."
Strickfaden, who lived in Roanoke from 1982-86, cost himself weekend tee times on two holes. He was a combined 7-over on Nos. 2 and 12. If he had parred those two holes both days, he easily would have made the cut at 4-over.
\ MARVIN ON THE MOVE: Seven-time State Amateur champion Marvin "Vinny" Giles of Richmond appears to be a lock for low amateur honors for the second straight year.
Giles fashioned a 1-under 70 - one of only 19 sub-par rounds posted by those who finished Friday. His 1-under 141 total leads his nearest amateur pursuer by seven shots.
"I'm tickled to death because I haven't been playing very well," the 51-year-old Giles said.
Seven shots back with 36 holes to play, Giles faced the inevitable question: Can he win?
"Believe me, I'm not enjoying any visions of grandeur. Face it, I have no chance. And that's that."
\ SAND BLASTS: Hot Springs native J.C. Snead, who has only three birdies in two days, slipped to 74 Friday but made the cut at 146. Snead says Pinehurst is a good place to play well. "I can't hang with the guys where the scores or 15- or 18-under. The harder the course, the better chance I have. I just don't make enough putts to make a lot of birdies." . . . Amateur Corbin Cherry of Mill Valley, Calif., posted what's believed to be the highest 36-hole total in tournament history. Cherry had rounds of 90-95, hitting only one green in regulation in two days. He had eight pars and 11 dreaded "others" - double or worse - in 36 holes. He has a prosthetic left leg; he lost part of the limb in the Vietnam war.
by CNB