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with Greg Ward, Cliff Matthews, Bill Baus, Andy Coradini, and Lewis

Burton.

Interestingly, Napoli’s hip cartilage had deteriorated and his
compensation for walking with the pain was so that his left side was 1

1/2 inches shorter than the right side. This may have helped Napoli

more than he realized at the time. It was also about this time that a
different type of carpet was being used on the Putt-Putt courses. Years

before, the carpet was very fast and thin. On a “Stimpmeter” (invented

in 1936 by Edward Stimpson) the reading for the faster carpet would
easily be a 13 or 14. To put this in perspective, most major

championships on the PGA tour would have the greens set at 11 or 13.
The newer carpet “Stimpmeter” reading would be 7 or 8. It was very

slow, which forced players to adapt their strokes to the need for more

velocity. In a game that requires consistent precision, hitting the ball
hard was a task that was difficult to adjust to for some players. For

Napoli, his hip cartilage issue changed the way he made impact with

the ball. It may have been a natural overspin adjustment for the slower
carpet.

However, the carpets at Orange Lake had become faster in 1999 after
three years of the existing carpet receiving public play and National

Championships.

Unfortunately, Napoli found trouble in round 2. He made several

careless bogeys during the beginning of his round and could do no

better than a 32. With a two-round total of 57, Napoli found himself
trailing the leader, Andy Coradini, by 8 strokes. However, Napoli has

always been a player to rebound from a poor score. He knew that in

round two it was not a symptom of stroking the ball poorly, but a few
strategical mistakes that were the costly factor. Napoli closed the day

with a 24 and 27. The leaders were at 103, Napoli was 5 strokes