August means club golf championship time in the area
Area golf
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After several weeks of local best-ball competition, area clubs will be gearing up for club-championship play during the month of August, and if this season is anything like last year there will be plenty of familiar faces hoisting trophies.
When last year's competition came to a close, all but one of the eventual winners were past club champions. Only Iron Masters' Connie Bolger broke through as a first-time winner after scoring rounds of 89 and 81 to defeat perennial club champ Gwen Paden by five shots.
It will be interesting to see if that trend continues, and as area golfers prepare for their upcoming club championships the following is a recap of some of last year's winning play:
Park Hills: Last year's champion at Park Hills was Altoona's Todd Homan. Homan, already a 13-time winner, needed a strong final round last August after an opening score of 75 left him three shots behind leader Joe Petta. Scoring a final round of 74 was eventually good enough for Homan to post 149 for a four-stroke victory. Park Hills will crown its 2026 champion this weekend.
Summit: Last year's club championship at Summit saw Cresson's Quintin Dziabo open with a terrific score of 3-under par 69. By the end of Sunday's final round, however, Dziabo was caught by Hunter Duriez and eventually needed a playoff to secure the Summit title, his seventh overall.
On the women's side, Lauren Michina captured her third consecutive women's title after carding scores of 84 and 92. Like Park Hills, Summit will decide its 2026 champions this weekend.
Iron Masters: Near the southern border of Blair County, Iron Masters Country Club will begin its men's championship play this Saturday and will continue through next weekend. Hollidaysburg's Wes Elder scored a victory in last year's event with rounds of 68, 70, 76 and 72. As mentioned earlier, Connie Bolger won last year's women's title after a hard-fought battle with 35-time champion Gwen Paden.
Sinking Valley: Also played over 72 holes, the Sinking Valley men's championship doesn't begin until mid-August. Last year's competition came down to the final few holes before Artie Fink Jr. fended off the competition to win his record 19th Sinking Valley title. Fink outlasted Dan Solomon and Nick Helsley who tied for second place, four shots back.
The women's title at Sinking Valley was won by the young standout golfer Cassidy Miksich, who defended her previous year's title with rounds of 78 and 71.
Scotch Valley: The final Greater Altoona area club to determine its champions will be Hollidaysburg's Scotch Valley Country Club.
Some of the area's finest championship play was seen at Scotch Valley last August when Sean Brannan posted rounds of 65 and 72 for a 7-under par total of 137. Brannan edged out area standout Anthony DeGol, who finished his 36 holes at 1-under par.
Scotch Valley's women's competition was equally impressive as Samantha Formeck turned in scores of 76 and 69 to finish on top at 145. Hollidaysburg's Crosby Denis finished in second at 149, four shots back.