Greater Altoona set to tee off this weekend

Local golf

The 49th annual Greater Altoona tournament is scheduled to take place this weekend.

The best golfers in our area will open with 18 holes of stroke play at Sinking Valley on Saturday and finish with a final round at Iron Masters Country Club on Sunday.

First played in 1978, the Greater Altoona tournament has featured the top four golfers (both men and women) from Park Hills, Scotch Valley, Sinking Valley, Summit and Iron Masters Country Club competing in both individual and team formats (with the top three of four scores counting for each team, both days).

The event has been unique in that it has always brought together the finest local golfers in hopes of determining the best of the best.

On the men's side, it's not surprising to find that Sinking Valley's Artie Fink Jr. has collected the most individual titles in the tournament's history with a grand total of eight.

Local standout Anthony DeGol has five Greater Altoona trophies himself, while close friend Sean Brannan will be looking for his third victory this year after winning the individual title in each of the last two years.

The last time the Greater Altoona's final round was held at Iron Masters, in 2021, the men's competition witnessed a particularly memorable finish. After finishing regulation play in a tie for first, Summit's Quintin Dziabo and Park Hills' Todd Homan teed it up on Iron Master's first hole for a sudden death playoff.

Following Homan's tee shot on the 352-yard, par-four, first hole, Dziabo decided to go for broke and attempted a shot over the left trees on a direct line to the green.

His booming tee shot ended up rolling right past the pin and finished just two feet over the green. A short chip shot and tap-in putt followed to secure the 2021 Greater Altoona title for Dziabo.

Everything is pointing toward another great finish this year. Over the past few Greater Altoona events, a high number of our local, standout golfers have had a chance to win coming into the final nine holes on Sunday. This year should be no different.

While the men's format this year remains the same, the women's competition will be quite different.

Looking to bolster participation, a decision was made to alter this year's women's tournament to compete as a scramble format. Each local club will be able to form a team of four members who will turn in an 18-hole scramble score both Saturday and Sunday.

Anyone looking to watch some high-level, local competition should plan to take in some of the action this weekend. Tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. both days, at Sinking Valley on Saturday and Iron Masters Country Club on Sunday.