Brooking rallies to claim Harvest

Published 12:00 am Sunday, April 9, 2000

Greg Brooking of McComb shot a final-round 71 to overcome a four-shot deficit to win the championship flight of the 30th Annual Harvest Club Memorial Golf Tournament Sunday at Duncan Park.

Brooking, the defending champion, finished with a two-day total of 145 to win by three strokes.

&uot;I felt good. I knew that I had a chance (to win),&uot; Brooking said. &uot;I’m just appreciative of the people who put this tournament together and I want to commend (Duncan Park golf pro) Marvin Gray. He made this as smoothly as ever.&uot;

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Former NFL All-Pro Willie Richardson of Jackson, who played in a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Colts, finished second with a two-round score of 148 after a second straight round of 74.

&uot;I didn’t realize Greg was playing so good,&uot; Richardson said. &uot;I enjoyed it. It was a good tournament. The fellowship and being with the other players was wonderful.&uot;

Kevin Smith of Natchez also finished with a score of 148, but had to settle for a third-place finish on a scorecard tiebreaker.

Addis West of Natchez shot a final-round 77 to win the first flight with a final score of 158.

Ellis Wells of Metairie, La., who made an eagle on the par-4 No. 12 hole, shot a final-round 74 to finish second with a two-day total of 159.

Even though Thomas &uot;Boo&uot; Campbell of Natchez did not finish in the top three in the first flight, he had three good holes of play.

Campbell eagled the 12th, reached the green in one on the par-4 1st and made back-to-back birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes. He finished with a 173.

Sam Haynes of Jackson moved up from the second flight to a 3rd-place finish in the first flight with a final-round 78 to finish with a score of 165.

That jump gave James Jones of Canton first place in the second flight with a two-day score of 170.

Robert Williams of Prentiss had a final-round score of 82 to finish second with a 172 and Rock Promise of Baton Rouge, La., was third with a 173.

James Wilson of Biloxi won the third flight with a score of 183. Myron Griggs of Monroe, La., also had a score of 183, but finished second on a scorecard tiebreaker.

Lee Haynes of Baton Rouge finished third with a two-day score of 185.

John Brown easily won the senior flight with a two-day score of 147, 12 shots ahead of Clinton Forge of Birmingham, Ala., who finished second with a 159. Jim Chapman finished third with a score of 161.

Thanks in large part to tougher pin placements, many of the scores on Sunday where actually higher than on Saturday despite the quieter weather conditions. That meant anyone who made par had a good round.

Brooking was the only player who finished with an ever-par 71 on Sunday. No other player did better than a 74.

The start of the final round was delayed for 30 minutes due to frost.

&uot;It was much colder than we wanted it to be,&uot; said Tournament Committee member K.G. Watkins.

This year’s field was one of the largest ever — 85 players. Watkins said the turnout was much bigger than he expected — 60 to 65 players.

Sixty-five of the 85 players in this year’s tournament were from out of town as from as Pensacola, Fla., Phoenix, Ariz., and New York for the tournament.

One of the highlights of the three-day event was the Junior Golf Tournament.

&uot;There are several volunteers involved in this as well as myself,&uot; Gray said. &uot;Every kid got a minimum of three golf clubs. That was the highlight of the tournament in my mind.&uot;