Scott Wise was on lunch break earlier this week when he looked at the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame's Web site.

"I was actually bored at work," Wise said. "First, I really wanted to see what the three courses were this year. Then I clicked on the 'past champions' button.

"Dicky Linkous' name was on there about 18 times, but I noticed he'd never won it three years in a row. So I got to thinking about how nice it would be to do that."

Wise, a rising fifth-year senior at Virginia Tech, launches his quest today to become the first player in the 31-year history of the Hall of Fame men's championship to win three consecutive titles when he tees off at Roanoke Country Club.

The 54-hole event moves to Daleville's Ashley Plantation Golf Club on Saturday. The final round is Sunday at Hidden Valley, an 11th-hour replacement for scheduled final-round host Ole Monterey, which is fighting problems with its greens.

Wise is one of five players who have won the title in consecutive years. The others include: five-time champion Linkous, who turned the trick twice (1986-87 and 1990-91); three-time winner Bobby Penn (1992-93); Jake Allison (1995-96); and Peter Wallenborn (1974-75).

"I think I'm playing well enough to do it ... I just have to go play my game and hope that nobody else lights it up for three days and comes after me, I guess," Wise said.

Wise, whose game started to come around during the Hokies' spring schedule, comes in hot. The smooth-swinging left-hander shot 63-70 two weekends ago to coast to the Blue Hills' club championship by five shots. On Monday, he shot 3-under 139 for 36 holes at Hidden Valley to pace qualifying for the State Amateur.

"I hear there are a bunch of guys playing well, so I'm not going to be a shoo-in by any means," said Wise, who beat Matt Mankin last year by four shots.

Besides Allison and Penn, other former champions in the field are Jack Allara (2001), Rodney Naff (1994), Steve Firebaugh (1985) and David Tolley (1983). Top threats looking for their first HOF title include Mankin, Miller Baber, Cam Young, Scott Griffin and David Hagadorn.

"I'm sure those guys all want to beat me, but I think that's fun," Wise said. "I'll be [an older guy] one of these days. After I'm through with college, I'm sure my game will probably degrade a couple levels, so I've got to get in all of my good stuff now."

Wise, who has yet to win a college tournament, said his overwhelming success in the Roanoke Valley's most prestigious amateur event has been special for him.

"To me, it's a very big one," Wise said. "It's in the paper, everybody reads about it, you get a lot of publicity for it, so, yeah, I think it's pretty important.

"I grew up reading about this tournament. Then there are the guys at work, your peers, and just people in the community ... you keep hearing about it for months."

With a 10-man roster that includes Wise, Mankin, Tolley, Naff and Mark Funderburke, Blue Hills is the heavy favorite to capture its first men's team title since 1993.

The 36-hole women's championship will be played Saturday and Sunday at the same sites as the men's event.

Defending champion Marilyn Bussey heads a field that includes five-time winner Dot Bolling, plus former champs Sara Cole (1989, '92), Valeta Pittman (2002) and Ann Kite (2000).

Reigning City-County champion Meg Davies, who squandered a three-shot lead last year, also figures as a prime contender. Davies is Wise's longtime girlfriend.

"Meg is putting real well, so I think she'll play well," Wise said. "As far as both of us winning, it would be nice. But I'm not going to jinx it by talking about it."

Reprinted with permission from The Roanoke Times.