(Huntington, WV) It was another beautiful day which welcomed the players to the final round of the 15th West Virginia Senior Four-Ball Championship which was held at Guyan Golf & Country Club. In the Championship Division it was the team of Steve Fox and Harold Payne that were looking to hold onto their one stroke lead heading into today’s final round. The two started off their round in a great way carding birdie on the opening hole to go up by two shots. They then added another birdie on the par-4 fourth hole to see their lead advance to three shots over the team of Jeff Harper and Chuck Workman. The team of Harper/Workman then snatched a birdie on the fifth hole to get back to within two shots. Both teams birdied the par-5 eighth hole and headed to the back nine where Harper and Workman quickly moved into a tie for the lead after birdies on the tenth and eleventh holes. A Fox/Payne bogey on the thirteenth gave Harper/Workman a one shot lead but the lead was quickly flipped when Steve Fox made a birdie on the difficult par-3 fifteenth and Harper/Workman made bogey. This two shot swing put Fox/Payne one up heading to the sixteenth tee. On the sixteenth, the two teams looked like they would trade pars, but Jeff Harper made a long 40-foot putt for birdie to tie the lead for he and his partner. All four players hit great approaches inside 12 feet on the seventeenth hole and once again Harper’s putter was the difference as he was first to make his birdie attempt and put pressure on Fox and Payne. After both of their birdie attempts narrowly missed the two found themselves one down heading to the final hole. Facing putts of over 20 feet each the two both made great attempts but weren’t able to capitalize and Harper was able to two putt for par and claim the victory for he and his partner Chuck Workman. This is the second straight WV Senior State Title for Harper as he claimed the 2016 Senior Amateur title a month ago at The Resort at Glade Springs. The two finished the four-ball stroke play with a tournament total of nine under-par, 133, after round of 67 and 66. Fox and Payne claimed runner-up after posting rounds of 66-68 for a tournament total of 134. Claiming third place was the team of Jim Grimmett and Rick Moore who ended with a tournament total of three under-par, 139. Also coming in under par for the championship was the team of Mike Marrara and Eric Fairbanks who claimed fourth place after a two under-par 140.
In the Senior Division it was Ed Morrison Jr. and Charlie Stone who claimed a six shot victory after posting back to back round of 67. The hometown team began where they left off after round one carding two birdies in their first three holes of today’s round. A bogey on the par-4 fourth was quickly erased as the two made a birdie on the par-4 fifth and added another on the eighth. The team then played steady golf coming in as the had eight pars and one birdie on the back to post their second consecutive 67. Sitting six shots back and claiming runner-up in the Senior Division was the team of Ed McCall and Joel Davis who posted a tournament total of two under-par, 140. The two followed their opening round of 69 with a final round 71 which included three birdies and three bogeys. In a tie for third were the teams of Matt Martin / Rick Barthelmess and Eddie Griffith / Kenneth Zigmond who both finished with tournament totals of two over-par, 144.
