Seeking a Repeat

Evans hopes to duplicate his 2002 CPC heroics with a quieter heart at Twin Warriors Golf Club

By Roger Graves, Staff Writer

Nervous? Indeed. Barry Evans was more nervous than at his own wedding or during the birth of his two children.

Pressure? Absolutely. It pounded, pulsated throughout every artery in Evans' body.

He stood on the 13th tee of the final round of The 35th PGA Club Professional Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., last June owning a six-stroke lead when he realized the gravity of what he was about to accomplish. Suddenly, it was harder to breathe in the sweltering heat and humidity. Standing on the threshold of a lifelong dream to win a national professional championship to complement the NCAA Division III national title his Ramapo College, N.J., team secured in 1982, Evans struggled to maintain his previously calm, collected composure.

"I'll be totally honest," relates Evans, the 41-year-old head professional at Berry Hills Country Club in Charleston, W.Va. "The pressure I felt in the last round of The CPC last year at Valhalla was unlike anything I've ever felt in my life. It was awful. It was excruciating. I've never been that nervous for 18 holes in my life and I don't think I'll feel that level of nervousness ever again. It was quite an experience."

The Barry Evans saga had a happy ending in 2002 at Valhalla, which proved its unforgiving pedigree while hosting the 1996 and 2000 PGA Championships, the latter won by Tiger Woods in the epic playoff with Bob May. But after building that six-shot advantage, Evans endured a bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch to transform a runaway into an intriguing finish. His consecutive pars on the final four holes ultimately elevated him to a two-stroke victory over Mike Gilmore of Wheatley Hills Golf Club in East Williston, N.Y. But Evans provided The Golf Channel and its worldwide audience with abundant drama before the West Virginian harnessed his emotions and reverted to cruise control for the two-shot triumph in North America's most prestigious event for club professionals.

"I wasn't petrified; I wasn't scared," recalls Evans, as he prepares to defend his PGA Club Professional Championship June 19-22 at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. He hopes to become the first back-to-back champion in more than 20 years in The 36th CPC presented by Buick, Club Car Inc., Titleist, FootJoy Worldwide and Cobra Golf.

"I was hitting decent shots, but you have to remember that Valhalla was set up like a U.S. Open course. If you're five yards off line, you're struggling to make a bogey. Nobody has ever asked me this before, but I wasn't choking.

"In that bad stretch, I only hit one bad shot and if that had taken a decent kick, I would have been all right there, too. On 14, my adrenaline was going and I nuked it over the green. The next hole, I hit my tee shot farther than I had hit it the whole week and it took a bad kick. After 15 green, I looked at my caddie and said, 'three shots, right?' He said yes, three-shot lead. I told him right there and then, 'OK, we're going to win this thing.' There was tremendous pressure. Remember, I was 11 under with six holes to play on one of the toughest golf courses you'll ever play.

"Looking back, I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished for the week."

Myriad Rewards for Champion

Proud, indeed. Winning The CPC is tantamount to winning The Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship all rolled into one for the typical PGA Professional. For his 2002 victory, Evans earned $47,000 from the $350,000 purse, a berth in the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club, a spot on the 10-member U.S. team for the 2003 PGA Cup Matches against Great Britain & Ireland, six PGA Tour exemptions, a beautiful crystal championship bowl, and his name engraved on the coveted Walter Hagen Trophy.

The 2003 CPC champion at Twin Warriors Golf Club in New Mexico will receive a similar portfolio of prizes.

"All week I was trying not to think about what winning this could do for me," confides Evans, who became an instant celebrity following his exposure on The Golf Channel and was immediately named to the Titleist advisory staff. "After the second round of successive 70s, I knew I was in good position. Then, after I shot the 66 in the third round (the low round of the tournament), I couldn't help but think about what it would mean to win The CPC. I knew about the PGA Championship, the PGA Cup Matches, the six PGA Tour exemptions and everything else. But I tried not to get ahead of myself. In hindsight, it's good I didn't know about all of the other things that winning The CPC has meant to me. It has been amazing. It's amazing how many people watched it on The Golf Channel and wrote cards or letters congratulating me."

Evans' 2002 CPC victory sparked the largest party Berry Hills C.C. in Charleston, W.Va., has ever thrown. More than 300 members and many members from other clubs in the area stopped in to applaud the first Tri-State PGA Section member to win The CPC since Sam Snead in 1971.

"It was a very, very special party the club members put on for me," says Evans. "More than 300 showed up. It's the best feeling I've ever had in my life. They made me get up to give a speech and I got choked up, but it was really a great experience. My old college coach, Vince Nardiello, and half of that Division III national championship team called or sent cards. That's the first time I've talked to coach in 18 years.

"When I went to the PGA Championship last August, I must have signed 1,500 or 2,000 autographs. I'd say to the kids 'you don't even know who I am, do you?' They surprised me. A lot of them would say, 'you're the club professional champion' or 'you won The CPC; I saw it on TV.' It might get old for the tour players who have to do it every week, but it's the funnest thing in the world for the 25 of us who qualify for the PGA Championship through The CPC.

"I can't say winning The CPC has changed my life, other than every golfer in West Virginia knows me and my members tell me I've given more speeches this year than in the past 10 years combined," laughs Evans. "It's been an unbelievable experience."

Defending Champion Sustains Injury

Evans, who claims to have no visions of grandeur in pursuing a full-time career on the PGA Tour, began his tune-up for The 2003 CPC at Twin Warriors by guiding the United States to a record-tying 19--7 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in the PGA Cup Matches Feb. 28--March 2, and by competing in the Ford Championship at Doral in March. Evans compiled a heady 3-0-1 record in the PGA Cup Matches and shot an opening-round 73 at Doral. But in the second round at Doral, he injured his back and was forced to withdraw.

"I probably overdid it a little bit," says Evans. "When I went to the PGA Cup Matches, I hadn't played in four months and I was beating balls every day to get back into playing shape. Then I played seven straight days. In the second round at Doral, it caught up with me. I bent over to put a tee in the ground and had a bad back spasm. I had to withdraw after the second hole.

"I went to an orthopod and I've been going to a physical therapist twice a week for the past month. I actually don't feel any pain when I swing now and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get into good shape to defend the CPC title in New Mexico.

"The PGA Cup Matches were the most enjoyable experience I've had in my life. I played well and we all meshed together. I have 11 new friends from the Cup Matches, and we all send each other cards and letters saying 'see you in New Mexico in June.' The CPC will be a lot of fun in New Mexico. This time, there won't be any pressure on me."

No pressure in 2003? No nervousness for Evans?

"I got that all out of my system at Valhalla last year," says Evans with a chuckle. "Heck, I went to the PGA Championship at Hazeltine in front of thousands of people and I was a little nervous on the first tee. But I hit one shot and I was fine. I have no desire to be out on the PGA Tour full time. I'll play in five more PGA Tour events this year, but there won't be any pressure on me. I want to prove I'm good enough to make a cut or two, but it won't be life or death. The pressure won't be anything like I felt at Valhalla last year in The CPC."

Longest CPC Course Ever

Evans was able to tame Valhalla in 2002 with a power game that featured long, accurate driving. Driving may be even more important June 19--22 at Twin Warriors, which at 7,624 yards will play as the longest course in CPC history. The Crosswater Course at Sunriver Resort in Oregon was the previous longest course at 7,470 yards in 2001. Another long hitter, Wayne DeFrancesco of Woodholme C.C. in Baltimore, Md., won that CPC.

"The eventual Champion at Twin Warriors will have to be hitting on all cylinders with every facet of his game," predicts Gary Davis, head professional at Twin Warriors, who notes that the course can be stretched to 7,760 yards from the tips of the tour tees. "But given the length of the golf course, the winner will probably be a long hitter who can also keep the ball in the fairways. The premium will really be on driving. The rough will be thick enough to prevent players who miss fairways from hitting greens in regulation. The greens are fairly large, with several divided into different tiers. That means a long drive in the fairway will set up your ability to put the ball on the green in the desired position. I would look for the player who can drive it long and straight to be successful here."

That should play right into Evans' strength.

"I'm a really aggressive golfer with my driver; I like to hit driver any chance I get because I can usually hit it pretty long and straight," says Evans. "I know Donna Caponi was really giving me heck on The Golf Channel's live telecast of The CPC last year because I kept hitting driver on the back nine in the final round when I had a big lead. She went nuts when I hit driver on 15 and again on 18. I haven't played Twin Warriors; it's a long golf course and I'll hit a lot of drivers."

Hoping to re-create his positive 2002 CPC experience, Evans isn't taking any chances. He is trying desperately to recruit John DeAnthony, a member at Berry Hills C.C. who caddied Evans to victory at Valhalla, to travel to New Mexico and carry his bag in The 2003 PGA CPC.

"John might have a scheduling conflict with work, but we're trying to work it out so he can go with me to Twin Warriors and be back on the bag," assures Evans. "Part of the reason I was able to do so well at Valhalla was that my caddie and I were both thinking very clearly for all 72 holes. I was very comfortable with John on the bag, and why change something that works?"

The longest course in CPC history, the fact that Twin Warriors Golf Club is situated at 5,400 feet above sea level, and that the average temperature at Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., in June is 90 degrees could create an endurance test for the field of 156 PGA Professionals during The 36th CPC.

"Louisville last year was as hot as I've been in a long, long time on a golf course," recalls Evans, whose initial rounds of 70-70-66 made his closing 75 academic in his march to the 2002 CPC title. "The heat was stifling on Friday and Sunday at Valhalla. Heat doesn't usually bother me, but it gets tough for club professionals because for the most part we don't walk. Even in section events and in the regional CPC tournaments, we usually ride in carts.

"The thing you have to watch out for is if your legs get tired. When your legs get tired, your swing changes and that's when you can start losing it. If it's hot and we have to do a lot of walking in New Mexico, we'll have to drink plenty of water and keep an eye on the legs. But it's hard to imagine that it will be any tougher than walking at Valhalla in the heat last year."

And, certainly, the nervousness and pressure that pounded Barry Evans in his quest to secure his first national championship at Valhalla a year ago cannot be replicated on the high desert of New Mexico. For that, Evans is grateful.