Maumelle's Lee wins by 4 in River Valley Stroke

Stan Lee of Maumelle fired a final-round 4-under par 67 on Sunday to win the River Valley Stroke Play Championship at Russellville Country Club.

Lee, who shot 68 during the first round on Saturday, won the Arkansas State Golf Association designated event by four strokes with his 7-under total of 135. Kerry Lott, a Dardanelle native and member of the Arkansas Tech University golf team, finished second after rounds of 70 and 69 gave him a total of 3-under 139. Lee began his final-round march to the title with birdies on the par-4 third hole and the par-3 fourth hole. After a bogey at the par-4 eighth, Lee bounced back with a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole to make the turn in 33 strokes. Three more birdies on the back nine (Nos. 12, 16 and 17), countered by only one bogey on the inward nine (No. 14)helped Lee, a former member of the PGA Tour, cement the victory.

"I putted exceptionally well," said Lee, one of only four players in the championship flight to post a better score on Sunday than he did on Saturday. "I hit the ball decent, but the hole locations were tough today and I had to make some 6-10 footers to shoot a decent score, and I was able to make all of those."

With the victory, Lee took over the lead in the ASGA Amateur of the Year standings. He passed Tracy Harris of Little Rock, who shot 66-77 for a 143 total and a share of sixth place this weekend.  With 21 ASGA men's designated events now in the books, only eight tournaments remain this season in the race for ASGA Amateur of the Year.

"I am going to give it my best shot down the stretch," said Lee of winning ASGA Amateur of the Year. "It is something that means a lot to me."

Lott, who is in the top 10 of the ASGA Amateur of the Year standings, shot 1-over 36 on the front nine Sunday. He then made three birdies and no bogeys on the back nine for a 33 on the inward nine and second place outright. "I made some putts today, and I hit the ball well both days," said Lott. "I just finally made some putts today."   Lott said that local knowledge was an advantage, though not as much as one might think.  "I've only played (Russellville Country Club) five or six times since it reopened after the renovation last year," said Lott. "So it wasn't that big of an advantage, but I did know where to miss my drives at and that helped me a lot."

Rounding out the top five in the championship flight were Chris Jenkins of Little Rock (69-72-141), John Vinson of Batesville (70-71-141) and Steven Bradley of Little Rock (70-72-142).

Keith French 71-74-145

Jim Smith 77-72-149

Cliff Keeney 74-75-149

James Colgrove 74-80-154

John Feltner 77-80-157

Lonnie Hayden 76-85-161

Second Flight

Jim Jordan 79-75-154

A.D. Davis 78-79-157

Dean Pitts 79-82-161

Randy Adkins 77-85-162

Frank Beauchamp 80-90-170

Third Flight

Will Berry 87-74-161

Eugene Still 80-83-163

Billy Wyatt 85-81-166

Bruce Carothers 87-79-166

Roy McSpadden 83-85-168

David Harp 89-82-171

Senior Flight

Joe Bushee 67-69-136

Jack Jordan 76-73-149

Sug Wilson 74-77-151

Kenny Johnson 78-73-151

Tom Woodmancy 77-75-152

Bob Johns 75-78-153

J.R. Baugh 76-78-154

Richard Meredith 77-79-156

Paul Lewis 79-79-158

Harley Burke 82-77-159

Tom Gadberry 78-81-159

George Branch 81-82-163

Dick Gardner 82-83-165

Bobby Golden 78-88-166

Billy Ross McCarthey 84-82-166