Daughtry wins second straight Wayne County Amateur title

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on June 7, 2004 1:55 PM

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Randy Daughtry was four strokes out of the lead heading into the final round of the 2004 Wayne County Men's Amateur Championship at Lane Tree Golf Club on Sunday.

As the defending open division champion, Daughtry knew he had an outside chance going into Sunday's play, but knew he would have to play well to defend his title.

"I thought if I could stay around par, maybe one or two under, I could have a good chance," Daughtry said following his round.

On the final hole, with a crowd of over fifty spectators and fellow competitors watching from behind the green, Daughtry sunk an eight-foot putt for par to seal a two-under round of 70.

At the time, he was tied for the lead at one-over with Mike Rackley and Sam Strawn, who still had the final hole to play.

A playoff was almost certainly on the horizion, but both Strawn and Rackley bogeyed the final hole to leave Daughtry alone in first place.

It marked the first time in the event's six-year history that the previous year's champion had successfully defended the title. Joe Dean is also a two time WCMA champion, but had not won the title in back-to-back years.

Daughtry won last year's event after only two rounds of golf, as the final day was cancelled due to rain. Daughtry watned to get three full rounds in after winning after the rainout of last year's final round.

"It feels good to finish it off," he said.

Daughtry ended up with a final combined score of 216, one-over par for the tournament. Strawn and Rackley tied for second at two-over 218, with Kevin Kornegay and Robby Price tying for fourth at five-over par.

Bill Brewer claimed the senior division title, defeating second-place finisher Philip Brantley by two strokes. Brewer only recently moved back to Wayne County, and was competing in the event for the first time. He felt that going in, he could contend for the championship.

"If I played well, I thought I'd have a chance to win." he said.

Milton Smith and Richard Walderman tied for third in the senior division, with John Grice coming in fifth.

In super senior division's final grouping, Harvey Reinhardt trailed leader Joe McLamb by two strokes on the eighteenth tee. Reinhardt birdied eighteen, and McLamb bogeyed, making Reinhardt the champion by a shot.

Reinhardt won his third WCMA championship. He won the Senior Divison champinoship in 1999 and in 2000.

After a disappointing performance on Saturday, Reinhardt was much happier with his play in the final round.

"I played much better," he said, following his round of 76. "You'd like to go out and shoot even par, but you can't do that every time."

Reinhardt ended up with a combined score of seven-over par. His first-round 67 at Walnut Creek tied Mike Wooles' 2001 score at Southern Wayne as the lowest in tournament history.

McLamb finished second at eight-over, with Mickey Nance in third, James Ratliff in fourth, and Richard Costner and Jere Hilburn in a tie for fifth.

The tournament committee's decision to move the event from late July to early June proved to be a good one, as competitors enjoyed cooler weather, and rain was only a minor factor during the first round.