66TH AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Warren Wins in Playoff
Charles Warren of Columbia captured the 66th Annual South Carolina Golf Association Amateur Championship on the third hole of sudden death over Sammy Truett of Myrtle Beach. The 72 hole Championship was held August 6-10, over the par 71 Thornblade Club in Greer.
Warren forced the playoff with a nine foot par putt on 488 yard, par 4 18th hole. Truett bogeyed both 17 & 18 to lose a two stroke lead. His seven foot putt for bogey on 18 kept his chances for victory alive.
On the first hole of sudden death, both players missed good birdie opportunities. Warren almost lost the playoff on the second playoff hole when his errant second shot came within feet of going out of bounds on the tight par five. He managed par to force a third hole. Tiring of the playoff, Truett tried to end it quickly. He played his 25 foot birdie putt a little too aggressively. It was a putt, “I thought I could make.” The playoff was over when he missed the four footer for par coming back.
Warren, the 1997 NCAA and ACC Champion, posted rounds of 73, 70, 66 and 71. The senior at Clemson, Warren battled all the way to the front from a tie for 26th position after the first round. He picked up the lead with just nine holes to play but quickly lost it with a double bogey 6 on the tenth.
Truett, 35, was just to be playing at this level. A former professional, he enjoyed the atmosphere of top amateur golf. “I missed a good opportunity but win or loose, I had fun. Professional golf was cold and standoffish,” Treutt explained.
Although Truett and Warren gave up leads, they did not give up the biggest one. That distinction went to Justin Roof of Conway. Roof seem to have lock on the tournament until he scored a quadruple bogey eight on the 8th hole to throw away his four stroke lead. The Wake Forest All-American’s aggressive approach shot took a bad bounce off a green side rock wall and finished out-of-bounds. He knocked the next, his fourth, into the water and lipped out the putt to make 8. However, Roof hung close throughout the final nine and missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to join the playoff.
The 1997 Amateur drew the largest response in SCGA tournament history. More than 490 applications were received for 150 spots. The applicants competed at one of four qualifying sites. The sites, medalists and scores were: Smithfield Country Club, Josh Campbell (Williamston) 37-30–67; Verdae Greens Golf Club, Andrew Crane (Greenville) 34-36–70; Northwoods Golf Club, Alex Blackmon (Darlington) 31-36–67; and Legend Oaks Plantation, Luke Ferguson (Rock Hill) 32-33–65.
Final Results
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Charles Warren (Columbia) 73-70-66-71?280* |
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Sammy Truett (Myrtle Beach) 68-69-71-72?280 |
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Justin Roof (Conway) 69-67-73-72?281 |
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Kyle Thompson (Easley) 71-71-70-70?282 |
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Cordes Ford (Charleston) 69-71-70-73?283 |
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Bert Atkinson (Charleston) 70-69-73-72?284 |
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Kevin Pendley (Greenwood) 71-74-69-71?285 |
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Tommy Biershenk, Jr. (Inman) 69-72-73-72?286 |
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Walter Todd (Laurens) 68-73-71-74?286 |
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Brad Martin (Spartanburg) 73-71-74-70?288 |
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Michael Gravley (Greer) 73-71-73-71?288 |
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Jordan Byrd (Columbia) 65-75-75-73?288 |
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Luke Ferguson (Rock Hill) 72-74-71-72?289 |
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Dale Overcash (Aiken) 70-71-74-74?289 |
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Taylor Hough (Spartanburg) 71-72-74-74?291 |
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Jamie Thomas (Jefferson) 69-74-74-74?291 |
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Bill Bowers (Greer) 74-76-73-69?292 |
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Terry Ezell (Rock Hill) 75-75-71-71?292 |
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Mike Selvy (Greenville) 71-68-81-73?293 |
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Ben Duncan (Greenville) 73-75-71-74?293 |
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Jay McAllister (Spartanburg) 72-74-72-75?293 |
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Mark Payne (Gaffney) 74-76-74-70?294 |
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Gus Sylvan (Columbia) 73-75-75-71?294 |
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Julian Taylor (Greenville) 71-73-76-75?295 |
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Frank Ford,III (Charleston) 69-74-74-78?295 |
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Jonathan Byrd (Columbia) 74-76-72-74?296 |
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Rion Moore (Orangeburg) 74-71-76-75?296 |
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Bill Haas (Greer) 74-75-71-76?296 |
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Brad Krapfel (Columbia) 76-75-77-69?297 |
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Bobby Hines (Greenville) 77-74-75-71?297 |
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Josh Campbell (Williamston) 75-73-77-72?297 |
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Mark Thaxton (Rock Hill) 74-73-73-77?297 |
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Ty Durham (Easley) 74-71-70-82?297 |
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Sean Thornton (Easley) 75-73-78-72?298 |
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Dr. Bob Varn (Orangeburg) 74-74-78-72?298 |
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Bill Smunk (Kingstree) 72-74-76-76?298 |
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Chip Brooke (Seabrook Is.) 72-74-69-83?298 |
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Butch Bagwell (Spartanburg) 76-76-74-73?299 |
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Scott Polen (Simpsonville) 71-76-79-73?299 |
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Alex Blackmon (Darlington) 77-74-74-74?299 |
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Lanny Correll, Jr. (Columbia) 74-76-77-73?300 |
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Joe Hendrick (Chesterfield) 70-77-78-75?300 |
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Eddie Hargett (Blythewood) 70-76-78-76?300 |
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Gary Moore (Anderson) 74-74-75-77?300 |
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Clint Douglas (Greenwood) 80-70-76-75?301 |
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Tommy Addison, Jr. (Clinton) 72-77-77-75?301 |
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Bill Duncan (Greenville) 72-77-76-76?301 |
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Tim Crowe (Anderson) 72-70-83-76?301 |
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Paul Tucker (Pageland) 73-77-74-77?301 |
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Austin Page (Duncan) 76-77-76-73?302 |
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John White, III (Irmo) 74-78-76-74?302 |
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David Steelman (Lexington) 75-72-80-75?302 |
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Barry Black (Spartanburg) 75-77-74-76?302 |
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Milan Gettys (Gaffney) 75-75-73-79?302 |
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Jay Coggins (Mauldin) 70-76-85-72?303 |
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Brian Webb (Saluda) 77-76-76-74?303 |
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Joe Vignati (Rock Hill) 75-78-70-80?303 |
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Rod Austin (Wellford) 75-76-82-71?304 |
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Tommy McGinnis (Hilton Head) 75-77-76-76?304 |
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Clark Lowther (Ridgeland) 74-75-79-78?306 |
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Jackson Hughes,III (Greenville) 74-79-75-78?306 |
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Bernie Shealy (Blythewood) 75-74-76-81?306 |
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David League (Greenville) 77-75-81-74?307 |
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Tommy Lever (Greer) 75-78-77-77?307 |
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Keith Murphy (Charleston) 74-76-76-81?307 |
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Jim Burgess (Kingstree) 76-75-80-77?308 |
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Brandon Jolly (Darlington) 78-75-78-78?309 |
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Stephen Welch (Bishopville) 76-76-77-80?309 |
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Ben Cox (Greenville) 75-74-83-78?310 |
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Jeff Davis (Spartanburg) 73-79-85-75?312 |
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Mike Bussell (Greenville) 76-76-82-79?313 |
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Guy Evans (W. Columbia) 78-74-83-84?319 |
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Duff Wagner (Taylors) 74-76-91-79?320 |
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David Giffin (Easley) 77-75-84-85?321 |
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Matt Drinkhahn (Central) 77-75-84-89?325 |
