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Bare Def
Lexington, NC- Jacksonville, Fl resident Andy Bare made a five foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Florence, SC native Gregg Jones and capture the Tarheel Tour’s Sapona Open and the first place check of $17,500. The win is Bare’s second on the Tarheel Tour and his first since winning the Warrior Classic back in the spring of 2006.
Bare opened his round trailing second round leader Stuart Moore by a shot, but found himself chasing Jones, a member of Clemson’s 2003 national championship team, as he headed down Sapona’s twisting back nine. Jones opened the final round three shots off of the lead, but quickly moved to the top of the leaderboard after a 4-under par opening nine of 31.
As Jones was putting the finishing touches on the low round of the day, a 5-under par 66, Bare was searching for his errant tee shot on the 429-yard par four 17th. Bare found his ball in the right rough, 208 yards from the pin with an obstructed view of the green and hit what he described as, “One of the best shots I have ever hit.” Bare’s five iron caught a few leaves from an overhanging tree, but otherwise escaped unharmed and sailed over the lake fronting the green, settling 10-feet from the hole. The subsequent birdie left Bare at 11-under par for the tournament, tied with Jones. Needing to make a birdie to win the event outright, Bare’s five footer on the par-5 18th slid by the hole on the low side, leaving the former UNC-Greensboro golfer tied with Jones and headed back to the 18th tee for a playoff.
Bare opened the playoff with a solid drive down the right side of the fairway, leaving him only 242 yards to hole, while Jones missed the fairway left, forcing him to lay up on his second shot. Bare blasted a three wood short and left of the green, leaving him a tricky pitch for his third, while Jones played his third shot past the flag, leaving him 25-feet straight downhill for his birdie. Bare’s pitch left him with almost the exact same putt for birdie that he missed in regulation, five feet up the hill with a left to right break. After Jones’ birdie attempt skirted past the left side of the hole, Bare took advantage of getting a second chance and firmed the winning putt into the center of the hole.
For Bare the win was gratifying because despite earning nearly $300,000 since his win at Warrior in 2006 and finishing in the top-3 six times in 2007, his confidence was surprisingly low coming into the event, “I haven’t been playing my best golf lately and I’ve been a little bit banged up so I really didn’t have any great expectations coming into this week.” The win moved Bare into sixth place on the 2008 Tarheel Tour money list with total earnings of $21,583 after only four events.
For Jones, the consolation prize was $9000 and his top finish on the Tarheel Tour in three plus seasons as well as his first top-10 since the Musgrove Mill Classic in August of 2007. Jones has now made all three cuts in the events he has played in 2008 and sits in 11th place on the money list having earned $12,683.
Three players tied for third at 10-under par including Kingston, TN native Jonathan Mount. Mount, playing in his first Tarheel Tour event, showed no sign of nerves in firing a final round 68 to finish tied with Blake Adams and DJ Fiese. Adams had a 30-foot eagle putt on his final hole to grab a spot in the playoff but was only able to manage a birdie and a tie with Mount and Fiese.
The Tarheel Tour would like to thank the entire staff and membership of Sapona Country Club for being such gracious hosts to the Tarheel Tour for the third straight year. Special thanks go out to superintendent Keith MacKenzie, head pro Marshall Stotts, and to both of their staffs for all of their hard work. Thanks also to all of the volunteers whose participation was greatly appreciated by the entire Tarheel Tour staff. The next event on the Tarheel Tour schedule is the Cabarrus Classic April 29 – May 1.
Sapona Open
Final Results
1. x-Andy Bare, Jacksonville, FL, $17,500.00, *69-65-68-202 -11
2. Gregg Jones, Florence, SC, $9,000.00, *66-70-66-202 -11
3. Jonathan Mount, Kingston, TN, $6,000.00, *68-67-68-203 -10
3. Dj Fiese, Roswell, GA, $6,000.00, *67-67-69-203 -10
3. Blake Adams, Eatonton, GA, $6,000.00, *69-65-69-203 -10
6. Stuart Moore, Gainsville, GA, $4,000.00, *66-67-72-205 -8
7. Will Mc Girt, Boiling Springs, SC, $3,250.00, *64-72-70-206 -7
7. Michael Valicenti, West Palm Beach, FL, $3,250.00, *66-69-71-206 -7
9. John Scott Rattan, Montgomery Village, MD, $2,162.50, *68-70-69-207 -6
9. Scott Weatherly, Fort Payne, AL, $2,162.50, *68-69-70-207 -6
9. Jay McLuen, Athens, GA, $2,162.50, *66-71-70-207 -6
9. Matt Cannon, Hunterville, NC, $2,162.50, *68-67-72-207 -6
13. Dustin Bray, Charlotte, NC, $1,875.00, *68-69-71-208 -5
13. Richard Scott, St Simons Island, GA, $1,875.00, *68-68-72-208 -5
15. Steve Sokol, Oxford, CT, $1,725.00, *72-66-71-209 -4
15. Gil Yong Park, South Korea, $1,725.00, *69-70-70-209 -4
15. Jordan Pomeranz, Sanford, NC, $1,725.00, *67-72-70-209 -4
15. Juan Lizarralde, Uruguay, $1,725.00, *68-68-73-209 -4
19. Jason Martin, Lenoir, NC, $1,537.50, *66-72-72-210 -3
19. Ben Duncan, Greenville, SC, $1,537.50, *71-69-70-210 -3
19. Alex Hamilton, Aiken, SC, $1,537.50, *68-72-70-210 -3
19. Josh Crutcher, Sanford, FL, $1,537.50, *71-69-70-210 -3
19. David Sanchez, Pinehurst, NC, $1,537.50, *69-67-74-210 -3
19. Ryan Sharpe, Greensboro, NC, $1,537.50, *70-71-69-210 -3
25. Mathew Cram-Smith, New Market, TN, $1,437.50, *67-69-75-211 -2
25. Tim Streng, Arlington Heights, IL, $1,437.50, *71-70-70-211 -2
27. Dustin Adair, Woodruff, SC, $1,350.00, *73-65-74-212 -1
27. Kieran Staunton, England, $1,350.00, *71-69-72-212 -1
27. Bryan Jones, Marietta , GA, $1,350.00, *71-66-75-212 -1
27. Josh Coley, Cleveland, TN, $1,350.00, *70-70-72-212 -1
27. Ryan Strickland, Old Hickory, TN, $1,350.00, *67-69-76-212 -1
32. Matt Crenshaw, Elon, NC, $1,225.00, *70-68-75-213 E
32. Matt Vick, Franklin, TN, $1,225.00, *69-71-73-213 E
32. Courtney Brisson, Wallace, NC, $1,225.00, *74-67-72-213 E
32. Shaun Norris, South Africa, $1,225.00, *72-69-72-213 E
32. Chris Yoder, Winston-Salem, NC, $1,225.00, *73-68-72-213 E
37. Cory Kaufman, Bluffton, SC, $1,112.50, *71-69-74-214 +1
37. Jeffrey Castle, Nottingham, MD, $1,112.50, *70-71-73-214 +1
37. Mark Petzold, Charlotte, NC, $1,112.50, *71-70-73-214 +1
37. Matt Short, Hudson, NC, $1,112.50, *68-73-73-214 +1
41. B.J Szafran, Greensboro, NC, $1,025.00, *69-71-75-215 +2
41. Sean Szerencits, Coplay, PA, $1,025.00, *74-67-74-215 +2
41. Soo Ahn, Morrisville, NC, $1,025.00, *70-71-74-215 +2
44. Beau Mitchell, Clermont, FL, $962.50, *65-75-76-216 +3
44. B.J Pitzen, Lakeland, FL, $962.50, *73-68-75-216 +3
46. Alex Knoll, Bethlehem, PA, $925.00, *69-69-79-217 +4
47. David Denham, St Simons Island, GA, $915.00, *70-70-79-219 +6