Fink

The area’s longest-running golf tournament will see golfers teeing it up this Saturday and Sunday at Summit Country Club in Cresson.

First held in 1924, the Central Counties tournament for individuals and teams includes golfers from more than a dozen Central Pennsylvania courses, competing over two days of stroke-play.

For the first 60 years of the Central Counties Individual, the tourney was conducted as a match-play event. Back in 1924, Clinton Country Club’s Richard Quigley won by defeating fellow Clinton member J. Wynn Fredericks in the finals.

Huntingdon’s Ed Strickler would notch a record 11 victories from 1965 through the late 1990s, while Sinking Valley’s Artie Fink Jr. notched his sixth title just last year at Nittany Country Club.

Fink’s victory last June came in exciting fashion, having outlasted Cresson’s Quintin Dziabo in a sudden-death playoff. Sinking Valley’s Andrew Ferguson finished close behind in third place.

Junior Golf

Like many, I feel the number one way to grow the game of golf is to encourage young boys and girls to get involved in the game.

A great way to do this is through the many youth clinics and activities offered in our area. The local Ridgerunner Tour is a great example, offering summer tournament action for junior golfers for the past several years. They do a fantastic job promoting the game.

Another local junior tour has joined the fray this year, the iRN Golf Academy Junior Golf Tour, offering tournament play for golfers from elementary up to college age.

Their tournaments are scheduled during various weekdays, three to four times each month and will be held at many of our local courses.

This is a great way to get any young, aspiring golfer involved in this great game. To register, call 814-932-4416 or 814-977-1293. Their Facebook page is @iRN Golf Academy.

Central Counties

Last month, the area’s best golfers came together to compete at Sinking Valley Country Club for the Central Counties Two-Man Best-Ball championship.

The overall winner of this event was the team of Quintin Dziabo and Brett Smith from Summit Country Club. The two golfers scored their victory after posting a score of 10-under-par 62, an impressive five shots ahead of second place.

WPGA Amateur

Summit’s Quintin Dziabo was at it again this week when he once again qualified for the West Penn Golf Association Amateur Championship. Sinking Valley’s Andrew Ferguson also qualified for this prestigious event.

Dziabo scored a 1-over-par 73 at Latrobe Country Club on Wednesday to finish in 10th place, while Ferguson posted a 74 of his own (tying for the15th spot).

Both of these fine scores were good enough to earn entry into the 125th WPGA Amateur Championship to be held at Sunnehanna Country Club, July 14-15.

95 Years Ago

During the second week of June in 1930, Tom Norton set a new course record at Blairmont Country Club.

Playing two times around the nine-hole links, Norton finished his first nine in 35 strokes and followed with a fine 34 to shoot 69, becoming the first golfer to record a score below 70 on the Hollidaysburg-area course.

Norton was a Philadelphia native who came to this area as Blairmont’s first head professional in 1922. By 1930, Norton had resigned as head pro and was an executive at the Gables Department Store in Altoona.

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