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June 22, 2009

Money-leader Potter continues to shine on pro tour

By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

Cashing first-place checks in the last two weeks, Ted Potter has earned the most money in a season on the NGA Hooters Tour during the last eight years.

Potter’s playoff victory over Martin Flores in Sunday’s Buffalo Run Casino Classic at Peoria Ridge Golf Course in Miami, Okla., boosted his tour-leading money total to $142,790. The Silver Springs, Fla., man also led the tour’s money list in 2006 with $102,609.

Potter, who has three victories and eight top-10s in 10 events this year, joined Elliot Gealy (the 2004 money leader with $137,704), Michael Connell and Eric Johnson as five-time winners on the Hooters Tour.

Only six players have more career Hooters victories — Chad Campbell with 13, Dave Schreyer with 10, Steve Ford and Andy Morse each with seven and Dicky Thompson and Tommy Biershenk with six.

Flores, meanwhile, played in only his second tour event this year. His second-place check for $16,607 placed him 31st on the money list.

Course statistics

The 580-yard eighth hole at Peoria Ridge played the easiest in the tournament, yielding 14 eagles and 179 birdies during the four rounds. There were only 32 scores over par — 25 bogeys and seven double-bogeys.

Two more par-5s, No. 15 and No. 1, had 158 and 153 birdies, respectively, and the short, 364-yard No. 17, had 151 birdies and 10 eagle-2s.

By contrast, No. 2, a 425-yard, par-4, was the hardest hole with the fewest birdies (33) and most bogeys (126) in the tournament.

Three par-3s — Nos. 4, 6 and 11 — all played around 200 yards and had only 38 birdies each. Bogey totals were 117 for No. 6, 85 for No. 4 and 76 for No. 11.

The 437-yard, par-4 18th had 106 bogeys, the only other hole with triple-digit bogeys.

The tournament’s daily stroke averages were consistent — 72.79 and 72.09 for the full-field days and 70.69 and 70.55 for the two rounds after the cut.

The 71 players who made the cut provided the largest field for the last two days in a Hooters Tour event this years.

U.S. Open report

All four NGA Hooters Tour players who qualified for the U.S. Open missed the 36-hole cut.

The cut was 4-over-par 144, and Ryan Blaum missed playing in the final two rounds by only one stroke after rounds of 72-73. Blaum won Hooters Tour tournaments in 2007 and 2008.

Shawn Stefani was another shot back at 146 after a pair of 73s. Michael Welch shot 73-76—149, and Andrew Svoboda had 80-74—154. Welch’s lone Hooters crown came in 2007.

Support for Giuliani

Andrew Giuliani, who missed the cut in his Hooters Tour debut, did receive a different kind of support last week.

The son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has he support of Duke lacrosse athletes in his lawsuit against the school.

Giuliani sued Duke in July 2008, saying the school broke a contract with him when it dismissed him from the golf team. The News & Observer in Raleigh (N.C.) reported Saturday that members of Duke’s 2006 lacrosse team filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Giuliani’s behalf.

The younger Giuliani claimed that Duke’s golf coach manufactured accusations against him to justify kicking him off the team in 2008, when he was a junior. He’s seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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