It takes two
Summer two-ball events set to beginBy Ken Love,sports@altoonamirror.com
The area's summer 'two-ball' season starts in earnest next Friday when play begins at Sinking Valley's 41st annual Two-Man Invitational.
The tournament will begin a four-week run of better-ball tournaments held at local clubs. After Sinking Valley, Park Hills will hold its tournament from July 16-19, next will be Iron Masters (July 24-26) followed by Summit Country Club (Aug. 1-2).
While better-ball tournaments are popular throughout the country, central Pennsylvania seems to have taken this tournament format to new heights as nearly every club in the area now hosts its own two- or three-day event - usually the club's biggest tournament of the year.
"I think the tournaments are so big in this area because of Park Hills," said Randy Repko, head professional at Summit Country Club in Cresson. "They were the first club in the area to hold this type of tournament and have done such a great job, with a lot of history. When I started at the Summit in the early 90s, I was able to learn from head pros Jim Gillam of Sinking Valley and Jim Sroka of Iron Masters, who ran really well-run tournaments.''
Park Hills' classic does indeed have a lot of history. The first event was held in the summer of 1968 when partners Bill Kelley and Wes Lingenfelter won the inaugural championship flight trophy. Over the years, the best local players have claimed this title, including Greensburg native Rocco Mediate, who teamed with Tommy Smith to win the tournament three years in a row as a college student in the early 80s, before turning professional.
Sinking Valley's event enjoys the second longest tenure having begun in 1969. Iron Masters is next, starting in 1977. Interestingly, the winners of Iron Masters' first tournament, John Hummel and Kevin Feath, have competed in each of the tournament's 32 years.
The last of the area's summer 'two-balls' is held at Summit Country Club in early August. "We moved our tournament from June to avoid conflicts with our maintenance and aerifying schedule," Repko said. "It's worked out really well for us."
In addition to the four local summer two-ball events, Scotch Valley holds a spring better-ball tournament. Over the past few years, the club has settled on a late May date that has worked well. Earlier this year, the young, local duo of Anthony DeGol and Sean Brannan captured the title.
A look at recent winners in the summer's upcoming two-ball tournaments uncovers a pattern of winners that includes three prominent names - Artie Fink, Jimmy Gillam and John Handrigan. One of these three golfers has claimed 14 of the last 16 events played over the past four years - either together or with another partner.
Jimmy Gillam, in fact, enters the summer as a defending champion in all four events, having won last year with John Handrigan (Park Hills and Sinking Valley) and Artie Fink (Iron Masters and Summit). Gillam also recently won Down River's two-man event, partnering with Terry DelBaggio on Father's Day weekend.
While the overall tournament winner is crowned in the championship flight, what really makes the two-ball events fun and competitive for all golfers is the fact that the entire field is flighted. This means that a typical field of anywhere from 90 to 140 teams are divided into groups of approximately 16 - based on either handicaps or qualifying scores. Each team will then compete for the individual title in its respective flight, giving every team an opportunity to win.
According to Park Hills head pro Dale Althaus, their tournament's first two flights are determined through qualifying, the rest by handicap. Park Hills is also the only local club to decide its title through match play.
"Everyone in our tournament plays on Thursday," Althaus said. "The score places teams in the championship and first flights. It also gives us a score that lets us seed everyone for the match play format we use for all flights."
Althaus and the other local head professionals and tournament directors are already preparing for their busiest week of the year. Maintenance, kitchen and pro shop staffs will work long hours to showcase their course and to crown new champions at their respective clubs for 2009.
