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Sadakata, Lucas rally for tourney victoriesBy DAVE THEALL © St. Petersburg Times, published January 10, 2001 The winning pattern in the New Year's Invitational at St. Petersburg Country Club last week strictly was come from behind. That was true with open winner Akio Sadakata of Melbourne after his first round of 3-under 69. That left him tied for third, three strokes off the pace set by Ty Tryon of Orlando. But after his second round of 67, Sadakata coasted in with a 72-hole total of 271 -- 17 under par. That ties Steve Scott, the 1999 winner, as the second lowest score in the 75-year history of the prestigious amateur tournament. Paul Tucker of Duke shot 72-67-70-70-279 for second place. However, the big comeback occurred in the senior division. Tampa's Don Lucas, last year's runner-up, was 10 strokes off the pace after an opening round of 80. Spencer Gaylord of the host club and Mike Garber of Pinehurst, N.C., shared the lead with 70s. All Lucas did the next three chilly days was to follow up with rounds of 75, 70 and 68 for a 293 total and a comfortable six-stroke margin over Gaylord. "I got off to a bad start the first day with a two-stroke penalty on my second shot of the day," said Lucas, 58, who carries a 1 handicap at Bloomingdale Golfers Club in Valrico. "I had marked my Precept ball with three blue dots and on my second shot hit a playing partner's Precept with two blue dots. "That misfortune just told me I had to keep grinding," Lucas said. "Golf's a goofy game, but at least I had 71 holes to make it up." Grind he did until Sunday's final round when Lucas had reduced the deficit to two strokes. He proceeded to tie with senior leader Gaylord after just two holes. On their first hole, the 10th, Lucas parred and Gaylord bogeyed. Then on the next hole, a par 4, Lucas hit a wedge on his 120-yard approach shot to within 3 feet and proceeded to drain the putt. With Gaylord taking par, the match was even. From there, it was all downhill for Lucas, especially after a string on three consecutive birdies on their second nine. In all, Lucas hit 13 greens in regulation during the match and was helped by taking only 27 putts. One was an up-and-down from 12 feet after blasting out of a bunker. "My putting saved me," said Lucas, a native of Elkhart, Ind., who played college baseball at Adrian College in Michigan. "It's a thrill winning this tournament with all its history and tradition. It's real special and a nice way to start the new year. "I met a lot of fine people at the tournament, including the tournament staff, who remembered me by name." NOTES: Having not played in 21/2 weeks, Lucas said he was a little rusty coming into the tournament. He had a house full of family guests over the holidays, which kept him from hitting the links. Lucas didn't take up the game until he graduated from college. He realized his baseball days were over and wanted to find a new sport. He was one of 2,300 entries in the U.S. Golf Association's Senior Amateur Championship in September, when he advanced to the finals of 164 at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club. After shooting rounds of 74-79, Lucas made the 64-man field for match play. He won his first match over Gary Shimmin of Chicago, setting up Lucas to play the winner of the Maury Povich-Jay FitzGerald first-round match. Lucas had met Povich, the television show host, on the practice green and was hoping they'd meet in the second round. But it wasn't to be. FitzGerald disposed of Povich 4 and 3, then downed Lucas 2 up in the second round. Lucas' next major tournament will be the Florida State Golf Association's senior championship, April 17-19, at Riverwood Golf Club in Port Charlotte. Two former Pinellas County prep standouts tied for 13th with 54-hole totals of 292. They were Dustin Atkatz of St. Petersburg, who played for Canterbury School and USF, and Countryside High School grad Brendan Takacs. Takacs is a freshman on the golf team at Central Florida. Tournament director Richard Hope said the full field of 128 players not only held up in the cold weather but shot surprisingly well. "The cold, including the low 40s the first day, didn't seem to bother them," Hope said. "The weather got better each day, and the course was in better shape than last year," he said. The winners received crystal bowls on wooden bases that will be supplemented with name-engraved plates. NORTH FLORIDA PGA: The West Central Chapter of the PGA, representing the bay area, finished second in last month's Chapter Challenge at the Vinoy. Members of the West Central team included Jim Smith, Missing Links Range; Paul Coe, Wentworth; Jim Slattery, Belleair; and Frank Reynolds, The Eagles. MOONLIGHT TOUR: Fred Cornell of Clearwater shot 3-under 69 last week in a mini tour event at River Hills Country Club in Valrico for a two-stroke victory over former tennis great Ivan Lendl and Henno Terblance. For details on the tour, go to www.moonlightgolf.com. PINELLAS INTERCLUB: Wentworth plays host to the fifth match of the season at noon Thursday.
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