Senior Amateur Tour

RECORD PLAYOFF DECIDES HARRIS TEETER SR TOUR EVENT

Posted: 4/19/2009 12:55:11 PM

Pittsboro, NC - (April 16, 2009) - When he teed off at 10:00 am Thursday morning at Chapel Rdge GC, Raleigh's Brent Massey had no idea that he would still be on the course until just before 5:00 pm, and that it would take him 28 holes to secure his first Championship Flight victory of the year on the Harris Teeter Senior Amateur Golf Tour. Massey, along with Durham's Eric Ardery, shot a 2-over 74 for their 18-hole regulation score. As is the case with any 1st place tie on-Tour, they headed back out to hole #1 to shoot it out in a sudden death playoff for all the marbles. After swapping 7 pars and 2 bogeys on the front-nine, both players made the turn to #10. Massey cut the corner on the 381 yard, par-4 hole and had 78 yards left to the green. Ardery had pulled his tee shot and came in from around 160 yards. When Ardery left his approach about 70 feet left of the hole and proceeded to 3-putt from there, a routine sand wedge followed by a 2-putt from 15 feet secured the win for Massey and ended the longest playoff in the 11 year history of the Tour. The A Flight competition also came down to a sudden death playoff to determine the top spot. While Durham's Ed Lothes and Ron Caulder of North Myrtle Beach didn't come close to matching the number of holes their Championship Flight counterparts had to endure, their playoff didn't lack for drama of it's own. After matching each other on the 1st playoff hole, Caulder hit an excellent green-side bunker shot on hole #2 to leave himself with a short putt to tie Lothes and extend the playoff at least one more hole. However, Caulder missed his 3-footer for the tie, which allowed Lothes to grab his first Harris Teeter Tour win in his rookie season. The B and C Flights also had hotly contested races, even though both were decided in the regulation 18 holes. John Ashby of Galax was the only B Flight member to break 80, shooting a 79. He needed every shot however, because he nipped Summerville's Roger Witt by a single stroke. Youth was served in the C Flight as the Tour's youngest member, Mike Thomas of Pittsboro, who just reached the minimum age requirement of 50 to join the Tour, shot an 82 for a 2-stroke victory over Autryville's Charlie Williams. HARRIS TEETER SENIOR AMATEUR TOUR CHAPEL RIDGE GC EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP (6,503 yards) Brent Massey, Raleigh 74 Eric Ardery, Durham 74 Austin Overby, Raleigh 75 Bill Rockenstein, Raleigh 76 David Michaels, Greensboro 76 Mitch Whitley, Zebulon 76 Ken Eichele, Pinehurst 76 A FLIGHT (6,202 yards) Ed Lothes, Durham 74 Ron Caulder, North Myrtle Beach 74 Dudley Barnette, Cary 76 Dale Casey, Zebulon 76 Terry Lewis, Charlotte 76 B FLIGHT (6,202 yards) John Ashby, Galax 79 Roger Witt, Summerville 80 David Teal, Fayetteville 81 Richard Pfister, Pittsboro 83 Lewis Burgman, Greensboro 85 C FLIGHT (6,202 yards) Mike Thomas, Pittsboro 82 Charlie Williams, Autryville 84 Benny Miller, Raleigh 85 Greg Postlethwait, Durham 86 Dale Rucker, Rockingham 89

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