THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507140206
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
RYAN MARKS GAVE himself an early birthday present. Marks, who turned 17 Thursday turned in a two-day score of 146 to win the overall title in the Virginia Beach Junior Golf championship held Tuesday and Wednesday at Red Wing Golf Course.
Marks' two-over-par score topped his closest competitor, Michael Schiller, by seven strokes. Gary Crutcher finished third, one stroke behind Schiller. Marks also won the long ball event by hitting a colossal tee-shot on the 398-yard sixth hole.
The triple-H weather - hot, hazy and humid - didn't detract from the tournament, sponsored by the city's Parks and Recreation Department.
``The turnout was good, and the players aren't letting the heat bother them apparently,'' said tournament coordinator Margaret Rucka.
The tournament attracted 66 golfers between the ages of 11 and 17.
Boys played in four divisions: 11 and under; 12 and 13; 14 and 15; 16 and 17.
Six girls competed in the tournament. The youngest boys and the girls used the short tees. Everyone else used the white, the second-longest of the four sets of tees. The youngest boys played 18 holes; all others played 36 over the course of two days.
Holly Corbin won the girls title for the second straight year by shooting 164 for 36 holes. Corbin, 15, is a rising 10th-grader at perennial golf power Great Bridge High School. Her drive on the 315-yard 14th hole captured the long ball award. Brook Abbott finished second with a score of 181, and Jocelyn Veraque shot a 196 for third place among the girls.
Marks, an intense competitor, took a seemingly insurmountable five-stroke lead into the second day of the tournament and didn't let up, despite bogeying the 12th and 13th holes on the final day. He recovered from that by parring the last five holes.
The rising senior played fourth on the Cox High School team that finished second in the state to Mills Godwin High School.
``We lost the state by one stroke after leading going into the final day,'' said Marks. ``I didn't want to become overconfident out here.''
Marks called his iron shots the strongest part of his game now.
Last year's 11-and-under champion, John Bonds, moved up a division and finished second to 12-and-13 champion Patrick McDuff. McDuff shot a 161 to win the title by three strokes. John Watson was third at 168 and won the closest to the pin competition.
The second time was the charm for Ryan Garland. After finishing second to Darren Alexander in the 14-15 division in 1994, Garland claimed the championship this time out. His 152 score was two shots better than runner-up David White. Six shots back, and taking third, was Ryan Roebuck. Garland added the longest-drive win to his title.
Lonnie Clark was another double winner in the 11-and-under bracket. His 18-hole score of 83 outdistanced the field by 10 strokes, and Clark won the longest-drive event in the division. Benji Nowak finished second at 93, two strokes up on Billy Paulson.
Davey Slack won closest to the pin honors in the 16-17 division. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Ryan Marks, 17, a rising senior at Cox High, lines up a putt. Marks,
who calls his iron shots the strongest part of his game, also won
the long ball event by hitting a shot 398 yards.
Gary Crutcher of Granby High School was the third-place winner of
the Virginia Beach Junior Golf event at Red Wing Golf Course.
Marks reacts to a putt that rimmed the cup.
by CNB