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Luther claws way to co-medalist honor By Don Hunt Doug Luther birdied three of the first four holes Wednesday at Rogue Valley Country Club, and felt as ashamed as a bank robber in church. "I didn�t deserve it," he said. "I was scraping it around." Luther scraped, scrapped and scrambled his way to a 1-under-par 71 during the second day of qualifying at the Southern Oregon Golf Tournament, and wound up tying Brad Bills for medalist honors in the men�s regular division. Match play begins today at 6:30 a.m. and continues through Monday. SOGT Medalists REGULAR MEN � Brad Bills and Doug Luther, 71. JUNIOR-SENIOR MEN � Greg Miller, 72. SENIOR MEN � John Dunkin and Howard Tomlinson, 74. WOMEN � Amanda Nealy, 75. SENIOR WOMEN � Eleanor Mitchell, 81. MATCH PLAY � Begins today at 6:30 a.m. and runs through Monday at Rogue Valley Country Club. Luther hit only 10 of 18 greens and had to sink several tough putts to salvage par, but when all was said and done the Portland psychiatrist had outshot everyone in the 416-player field other than Bills and defending champion Tommy Smith, who fired a non-counting 69 on Tuesday. As the defending champion, Smith was automatically seeded No. 1 and didn�t need a qualifying score, but still chose to play a practice round. "I hit a lot of sketchy shots but also made a lot of putts � that�s what saved me," Luther said. "I never felt comfortable out there the whole day." Luther made a 12-foot birdie putt on the first hole, an 8-foot birdie putt on the third hole and then chipped in from 40 feet on the fourth hole to go 3-under. "I felt like I was getting away with something," Luther said. "I didn�t deserve to be 3-under at that point." Luther did get in a groove on the back nine, parring seven straight holes during one stretch. A birdie on the final hole would have left him with a snazzy 69, but he instead got in a sand trap and made bogey for his 71. Despite his inconsistency off the tee and on iron shots Wednesday, Luther is optimistic about his chances during match play. He has never advanced past the quarterfinals. "I�ve taken time off work this summer and have been playing quite a bit," he said. "I struggled to keep the ball straight today and still shot 71, so that�s encouraging." Tom Deatherage�s 75 was the top qualifying score in the junior-senior division Wednesday, leaving Greg Miller as medalist. Miller shot a 72 on Tuesday. In the senior men�s division, Howard Tomlinson fired a 74 Wednesday to match John Dunkin�s score a day earlier. While Luther was scrambling his way around the course, Eugene�s Rick Abel was a model of consistency en route to a 72. Abel, who is playing in the tournament for the first time, hit 14 of 18 greens but missed several birdie putts that could have given him a much lower score. "I really should have had a 67 or 68," he said. "I missed two putts that were less than three feet and a few others less than 10. But par is a good score and I�ll take it." Defending runner-up Brooks Newsom had the third-best score in the regular men�s division Wednesday with a 73. Scott Tuttle fired a 74, while Steve Wood, Ryan Schaefer and Jerry Eklund all carded 75s. Newsom is working through inconsistent iron play, a problem that surfaced during last week�s Rogue Valley Stroke Play City Championships at Cedar Links when he shot 69 one day and 78 the next. "Things were better today," he said. "I still hit a few bad shots, but I�m not steering the ball like I was. I�m hitting through it, and that�s a good sign." Tuttle, one of the top amateur players in the Rogue Valley during the 1990s, had a roller-coaster round. He double bogeyed the first hole and bogeyed the second, fought back to even par after 12 holes and then four-putted the 14th for another double bogey. Tuttle plays in a few scramble tournaments but otherwise has given up the game in favor of his family and job. "Prior to today I don�t think I�ve hit my own ball since January," he said. "It took me a few holes just to get the hang of it. Considering the way I started out, I was happy with my score." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA