Ken Love

A fun alternative to the ultra-competitive world of PGA and LPGA events takes place this weekend.

I’ve always found the American Century Championship, a tournament featuring celebrities and stars of other sports, extremely interesting to watch.

You get to see talented athletes competing in an unfamiliar sport under the bright lights of national television. It’s fun to see how these stars hold up to the pressure.

The tournament’s final two rounds are always broadcast on NBC, and I’ve always been surprised by the high level of competition.

Recent winners of this event include football’s Tony Romo and NBA superstar Stephen Curry. Former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Rick Rhoden holds the all-time record with eight tournament victories.

If you get a chance to hear any competitor speak of the event, you can tell just how much this tournament means to them.

Curry will be one of the favorites to win again this year, along with former tennis star Mardy Fish, but I’ll be tuning in to see how the entire field of star athletes holds up under the pressure of competing in such an unfamiliar sport.

Crosby Denis

Hollidaysburg’s Crosby Denis is only 16 years old, but she’s been a top competitor in area golf events for the better part of a decade. A star on the Golden Tigers girls golf team, Denis spends a considerable amount of her summer working on her golf game and competing in area events.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Denis posted another impressive score. This time it was a remarkable 71 shot at the Ridgerunner Junior Golf Tour event held at the Penn State Golf Course in State College. A score like that is noteworthy at any age — let alone someone so young.

Denis is also an accomplished high school tennis player, but golf might just be the number one sport in this young lady’s promising future.

Correction

The winner of the recent Mount Union ALCC best-ball tournament was actually the team of Landon Hollenshead and Calvin Mentzer, who hail from Franklin County. The duo scored rounds of 65 and 64 for a two-day total of 19-under-par.

Finishing in second place was the team of Justin Henry and Mike Pantano at 15-under, followed by Andrew and Gregory Ferguson, who finished third at 14-under, 134.

British Open news

British Open officials announced two new events that will occur during their tournament week beginning next year.

In 2026, the Open will hold a last-chance qualifying event on Monday that will include 12 golfers competing for one final spot into the championship.

On the following Tuesday, there will be a Heroes Classic that features an abbreviated competition among past championships and special guests.

Both events sound like they’ll be extremely interesting to watch and will only add to the enjoyment of golf’s oldest championship.

95 years ago

During the second week of July in 1930, the Altoona Driving Range opened for business.

Located adjacent to Altoona’s Driving Park (the site of today’s Pleasant Valley Shopping Center), the new golf facility was run by local golf pro Dave Kirkaldy.

An exciting feature of this driving range was the installation of numerous flood lights which allowed the range to be open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., daily.

The cost for a bucket of balls was 50 cents.

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