The Sinking Valley Two-Man Invitational tournament will be decided this weekend with the Bedford duo of Adam Ritchey and Josh Leibfried back to defend their title from last year.

This Sinking Valley best-ball event was first held in 1969, and few may know that the event’s initial monicker was actually the Bud Wilson Jr. Memorial Tournament.

In fact, if you search hard enough, you’ll find the original tournament plaque hanging on a wall inside the Sinking Valley clubhouse with Bud Wilson’s name proudly displayed along the top line, followed underneath by the names of each year’s winning teammates.

So, who exactly was Bud Wilson?

Longtime residents of Tyrone will remember the Wilson name as a prominent family who owned a successful chemical company in the community.

During the early 1900s, the company grew rapidly as it produced its popular “Cloverine Salve,” which was sold throughout the country. Additional successful products like Cloverine dental cream, Cloverine soap and Cloverine talcum powder followed, all produced at the Tyrone plant.

George “Bud” Wilson Jr. was born into the Wilson family in 1908, at a time when his father George Sr. was overseeing a rapid growth in the family business.

Through his early years, Bud became a standout athlete in the Tyrone area. After college, he focused on golf and began to dominate the local scene, winning multiple club championships at both Tyrone and Blairmont country clubs from the late 1920s through the early 1940s.

In his honor

Wilson would also earn trophies in two of the region’s biggest tourneys of the time — both the 1931 Central Counties championship and the 1931 Altoona Cricket Invitational.

Active in his work at the chemical plant, Wilson would tragically suffer an early death, succumbing to a heart attack in 1951 at the age of 43.

A year later, the Tyrone community presented its first George “Bud” Wilson award to the senior athlete who has demonstrated athletic excellence, good academic standing and leadership. The award is still awarded on an annual basis to this day.

Golfers competing in this week’s Sinking Valley Invitational will be able to see a small token of remembrance to Bud Wilson if they’re able to locate the original winner’s plaque inside the Sinking Valley clubhouse.

How about that tree

I don’t often write about tournaments I’ve played in, but I had such a funny experience in one recent event, I feel compelled to share it.

Playing in Summit’s recent Senior Invitational tournament, my partner and I came to the final hole one shot out of the lead. Teeing off the 18th hole from the senior markers, I proceeded to pull my tee shot left. The ball quickly hit the one, large spruce tree, which guards that area and fell directly next to the trunk. My partner, Ed Smith, teed off and hit the same tree.

Just as Ed’s ball contacted that darned spruce, one of our opponents, long-time Summit member John Dziabo, dryly quipped, “Hey, I planted that tree 60 years ago.”

My partner and I thought he was joking at first, but he was serious. While we’d usually be upset for being in such a lousy position, my partner and I couldn’t stop laughing while Dziabo recounted how he and a young Paul Calandra planted dozens of trees across the Summit course when they worked at there as kids — including that very spruce tree that just got in our way.

We ended up scrambling for a par on that final hole but still lost to Dziabo and his partner Tony Mignogna who were deserved winners in our 60-year-old division. Congrats to them (and every time I play Summit’s 18th hole from now on, I’ll remember who planted that tree).

45 years ago

During the second week of July in 1981, Ben DelBaggio Jr. and Patsy DelBaggio captured the championship trophy in the Sinking Valley Two-Man Invitational.

Played as a match-play event that year, the DelBaggio brothers beat the team of Jeff Moran and Dan Lawruk in the semifinals before defeating Scott Kline and Mark Coho in the championship match.

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