Tuesday afternoon it was supposed to be the old guys battling for the hardware at Roanoke Country Club. The way the play unfolded and the participants were enjoying the afternoon, it looked more like a few high-schoolers had taken over the Northwest city links.
Roanoke dentist Jack Allara was looking to join longtime local golf legend Ned Baber as only one of two men to ever win both the men’s and senior men’s (55 and over) championships in Hall of Fame history. When his second shot to the par-4 eighteenth hole nearly went into the hole, Allara had definitely completed the biggest ‘filling’ of his career. Allara had captured the regular men’s HOF in 2001.
Allara’s final round 75 followed a first-round 70 at Ashley Plantation, and was good enough to hold off charging Bill Nunnenkamp and Jack Tuttle, both of whom finished two shots back at 147. Jeff Lynch took fourth at 148 while Tim Chocklett and Chips Wooddy came home tied at 148.
In the Super Senior (65 and over) championship, Fred Widdowson, 70, made it a virtual walk in the park by firing a final round 73 to go with his 72 at Ashley Plantation on Monday. The 145 total left him six shots clear of runnersup Don Assaid and B.H. Rakestraw.
Baber, who won the regular men’s title in 1988 and picked up senior titles in 1994 and 2004, had finished his super senior round at 77 on his home RCC course before the younger senior leaders had made the turn. Baber, the 1960 State Amateur champion, who was a competitive force in the same era as Roanoke golf icons George Fulton and Connie Sellers, entertained the media beside the scorers tent after his round Tuesday. He was showing a 1938 newspaper clipping about Hot Spring’s Sam Snead getting secretly married after procuring a marriage license in Covington.
In the team competitions, Roanoke Country Club (440) came from behind to knock off first-round leader Ole Monterey (451) in the senior division team title. Hidden Valley (454) took third. On the super senior team side, Hanging Rock held off Blacksburg Country Club by 2 shots, while Roanoke Country Club took third, seven shots back.
BILL TURNER sports story
