Cooper, Shirey Win Second 
ASGA 4-Ball in Three Years

        Russ Cooper of Hot Springs and David Shirey of Camden fired a 9-under par 63 to grab the lead in the first round of the ASGA 4-Ball Saturday, April 5 at Rebsamen Golf Course in Little Rock.  Chris Jenkins and Steve Bradley of Little Rock were one stroke back with a 64 and defending champions Tim Cain of Conway and Michael Wharton-Palmer were third with a 65.

            Sunday’s final round was a 9:00 a.m. shot gun start for the record tying 58 teams competing.  Play was suspended at 11:00 a.m. as a strong thunderstorm producing heavy rain and dangerous lightning blew thru Little Rock.

            “The golf course became unplayable with the heavy rain in a matter of minutes,” stated Rick Jenkins, golf professional at Rebsamen.

            After an hour delay, Jay Fox, ASGA Director of Golf Operations announced the final round had been washed out, to the delight of most of the teams.  The wind and cold rain produced a wind chill of 37 degrees Sunday morning.  “With the impending forecast of rain most of the day, there really wasn’t much choice,” Fox said.  “If it had stopped raining at noon, it would have been at least an hour, probably two before the course would have been ready to play.”  Rain and thundershowers continued throughout most of the day.

            Cooper and Shirey, who also won in 2001, said the rain-out didn’t diminish the thrill of winning.

            “We didn’t even think about a rain-out, until the pro (Jenkins) told us at the score board Saturday that the 63 might be the winning score,” Cooper said.  “We weren’t even aware that the forecast for Sunday was that bad.”

            “We would have loved to play all 18 Sunday,” Shirey said, “but it just wasn’t meant to be.  We’re thrilled to be ASGA 4-Ball Champions.”

            Cain and Wharton-Palmer established a new single round record, 11-under par 61 and 36 hole record of 18-under par 126 last year.  Jenkins and Bradley won the title in 1998.

            Two previous champions, Tracy Harris and Ralph Bradbury (1994) and Bev Hargraves and Bubba Klugh (1999) tied for fourth at 6-under par 66.

            Most of the teams had played seven or eight holes when play was suspended.  The top 25 teams earned gift certificates from the Rebsamen Golf Shop.

            Play was suspended using the latest radar weather information.  Fox, Jenkins and ASGA Director of Handicapping Mac Stubbs monitored the weather via Intelicast.com and Weather.com on the Internet.  Phone calls were also made to clubs in Hot Springs and Benton as the storm moved into Little Rock from that direction.

            “We hope to never put any player in harm’s way,” Fox said.  “We blew the horn at the appropriate time to give the players a chance to get to the clubhouse.”