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The following is a list of the area's best golfers over the most recent five decades.
The list includes amateur golfers only, which affects the likes of Jimmy Gillam, who has spent the bulk of his golfing career as a professional.
The list is also limited to members of Altoona-area courses only, so golfers like Ed Strickler and Frank Frontino, who played most of their golf outside of Blair County are also not included in this summary.
A look at the past five decades:
1970s: Wes Lingenfelter
A standout athlete at Juniata College, Lingenfelter was one of the founding members of Iron Masters Country Club.
During the 1970s, he captured best-ball victories at Park Hills, Sinking Valley and Iron Masters Classic and also dominated the Iron Masters club championship, winning a record seven club titles at the Roaring Spring course.
For good measure, Lingenfelter also posted a club championship victory at Park Hills during the decade of the 1970s.
(Honorable mentions: Patsy DelBaggio, Ben DelBaggio Jr.).
1980s: Leonard DelBaggio
During the 1985 Greater Altoona championship, Leonard DelBaggio put on a spectacular display of golf, shooting scores of
69 and 71 to win the individual title.
His 36-hole total of 140 would stand as the record low score for more than 20 years.
During the 1980s, DelBaggio would win three club championships at Sinking Valley.
He also partnered with brother Patsy to win four Iron Masters Classic titles and with good friend Greg Ferguson to win multiple Sinking Valley Invitationals.
(Honorable mentions: Bo DelGrosso, Bobby Sweitzer and Dan Lawruk).
1990s: Greg Ferguson
Longtime Sinking Valley member Greg Ferguson has been a dominant local golfer for many years.
His most productive decade may very well have been the 1990s when he captured back-to-back Central Counties Individual titles (1994, '95).
Ferguson also notched three Sinking Valley club championships and multiple area best-ball titles during the 1990s.
(Honorable mention: Sean McLanahan, Brian Smith).
2000s: Artie Fink Jr.
Although Artie Fink began winning area events in the late 1990s, he started to dominate the local golf scene in the 2000s.
That decade saw Fink capture eight of 10 club championships at Sinking Valley. He also won two more club titles at Park Hills during that time.
Fink's dominance was also on display at the Greater Altoona championship, where he captured five individual titles. He also took home four Central Counties victories during the 2000s. During the same time, Fink was highly competitive in state events and qualified for multiple USGA Championships.
(Honorable mentions: Steve DeStefano, Wes Turiano).
2010s: Anthony DeGol
The past decade has seen the emergence of Anthony DeGol as a force to be reckoned with locally.
While in college, DeGol was a walk-on golfer at Penn State who went on to become one of the best golfers on the entire Nittany Lion golf team.
Later, DeGol would spend some time pursuing a professional golf career, before regaining his amateur status back.
Since then, DeGol has been the man to beat in every local tournament he enters. A list of DeGol's recent victories includes five Greater Altoona individual titles.
He has also dominated play in the Scotch Valley club championship with six victories and has been a prolific winner of local best-ball with a total of 15 during the 2010s.
(Honorable mentions: Todd Homan, Artie Fink Jr. and Quintin Dziabo).