29 Sep 2008 at 13:21 | Published by: JJM | Views: 8035 | News search

Kevin Lacey of Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) won the National Championships 2008 of American PPA minigolf federation. The tournament was played at three 18-lane minigolf courses of the Putt-Putt Fun Center in Richmond, Virginia, on 18–20 September 2008.

Professional Putters Association (PPA) plays exclusively on minigolf courses manufactured by its main sponsor, the Putt-Putt company. Putt-Putt makes felt courses in the style of mid-20th century, in size not much bigger than eternite courses. The competitions are played with a golf ball, using a golf putter without a rubber in the club-head.

Some lanes of a typical Putt-Putt minigolf course:

photos from Rick Rybaczek, PPA

Charlie Greenwalt of Brownsburg, Indiana, was left only 1 point short of the American dream, as he scored 19 in the 5th round of the competition. Two other players scored a 20-round, and a round of 21 points was seen nearly 20 times in the competition.

But despite such a large number of very low scores, a perfect round of 18 points has been played only twice in the history of PPA competitions. Warren Morris played an 18-round on 24 October 1973, and John Napoli on 23 May 1979.

Brad Lebo of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania was the leader in National Championships 2008 after 10 rounds, with score 235, but his weak two last rounds 27 + 24 left him to third place in final rankings. Jay Klapper of Lawrenceville, Georgia took silver, 1 point ahead of Lebo, and 1 point behind the winner Kevin Lacey, who played an average score 23.67 in 12 rounds.

» results of the competition
» player profile of Kevin Lacey
» player profile of Jay Klapper
» player profile of Brad Lebo
» player profile of Charlie Greenwalt
» all-time records of PPA competitions

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