By Ken Love

For the Mirror

Last weekend saw the last of the club champions in the Greater Altoona area being decided.

At Scotch Valley, the men’s championship witnessed some top-notch golf as Sean Brannan took home the trophy after a two-day total of 144, even par. Finishing in second-place, just four strokes back, was David DeGol Jr at 148.

The women’s side of the competition was just as compelling and actually included one of the best performances by a female in local golf history.

Northern Cambria native Samantha Formeck opened the Scotch Valley tournament with an outstanding score of 75. Her good play continued during Sunday’s second round as the 2011 Youngstown State graduate scored an amazingly low 66!

Formeck’s round of 66 is the lowest competitive score I can remember in any local women’s event. Here’s hoping Formeck, a standout performer in high school and college, continues to be a presence in local, state and national events in the upcoming years.

Michele Day finished in second place with a terrific two-day total of 151.

The DQ blues

Golf may be the only sport where players call penalties on themselves, and while there are certainly some that go uncalled, stories of golfers complying with the rules “even when no one is looking” provide some of the sport’s brightest moments.

One such incident occurred just a couple of weeks ago when former British Open champ Justin Leonard disqualified himself from the Rogers Charity Classic in Alberta, Canada.

Turns out that after playing just eight holes, Leonard noticed the range-finder he was using had the “slope” function turned on. While some tournaments, like this one, allow range-finders to measure distance, the additional “slope” function is something that’s always off-limits.

When Leonard noticed the issue, even though no one else would have known, he quickly fessed up and disqualified himself. Impressive. Kudos to Justin Leonard.

Laurel Valley Invitational

Three Sinking Valley golfers had impressive finishes in last weekend’s Laurel Highlands Invitational. Andrew Ferguson (226) finished in second place, Artie Fink Jr. (227) in third and Quintin Dziabo (229) finished fourth. Windber Country Club’s Brady Moran was the overall winner at 225, while the Sinking Valley men finished first in the team competition.

75 years ago this week

During the last week of August in 1949, Cresson’s Edna Lafferty was the medalist at Oakmont Country Club while qualifying for the Women’s U.S. Amateur Championship.

Lafferty’s 36-hole score of 165 was the tournament’s best qualifying score and earned her a spot into the national amateur championship played at Merion Country Club the following month.

Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at GLTR777@atlanticbb.net.