Columnist Peter Benton: Corona-Raynes team up for LVCC crown

Peter Benton

Wednesday, June 6, 2001 | 11:09 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

The Las Vegas Country Club's three-day, 54-hole Memorial Weekend Member-Member Tournament saw the full field play Chapman Scotch Foursome the first day of play.

This is where both partners hit a tee shot on each hole, then hit each other's second shot before selecting which of these balls they prefer. They then hit alternately with that chosen ball until it is holed. A total of 35 percent of combined handicaps were deducted from the total score.

Better ball of partners with 90 percent of handicaps was played the second day, while the third and final day saw combined low net of partners with full handicap.

Wayne Corona and Glenn Raynes combined beautifully and won the Championship Flight handily with a score of 262.65. Nawaz Qureshi and Steve Portz placed second with 275.75, while in third place at 277.15 was the Bill Fain/Ron Hanson pairing.

Presidents Flight victors were Russ Olson and Bob Frusca, who won convincingly with a score of 626.65. Richie Stevens and Russ Schroeder placed second at 276.30 with third spot going to the duo of Woody Hensley and Johnny Joseph. Their score was 277.85.

The Larry Paluzzi/Howard Goodwin team was victorious in the Directors Flight, coming in with a 272.70. Jim Pettis and Jessie Doroshow followed at 277.50. In third place with 282.35 was the Hoot Jones/Dan Ayala pairing.

In the Ladies Flight, Rene Raynes and Cheryl Blackard waltzed away with the title after coming in with a 277.20. The Tammy Gephardt/Paula Wallin twosome followed at 281.50, while in third spot with 284.30 was Laurie Durant and Larren Buckley.

Howell's tie for 14th place at the recent Kemper Insurance Open, worth $63,000, lifted his total to $300,290. Special temporary membership is achieved by surpassing No. 150 on the previous year's money list (Brett Quigley, $247,037 in 2000).

Howell's goal is to finish in the top 125 on the 2001 PGA Tour money list and earn fully exempt status for the 2002 season. Howell acquired special temporary membership in 2000 but failed to finish in the top 125 on the money list, placing 145th with $263,533.

Gary Hallberg was the first player and Tiger Woods one of the most recent to qualify for the Tour by winning enough money as a special temporary member.

Hallberg came out of college at Wake Forest in the summer of 1980 and recorded six top-10 finishes on the way to placing 56th on that year's money list. Woods posted two wins and three other top-10 finishes in late 1996 to place 24th on the money list, win Rookie of the Year honors and earn his PGA Tour card.

Maltbie's share of the $200,000 purse was $40,000. By comparison, Tiger Woods picked up $738,000 from last week's Memorial purse of $4.1 million.