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I was so pleased to hear the recent announcement that Artie Fink Jr. will be inducted into the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame. Fittingly, Fink will be the first local golfer to be inducted (he is also being honored for his impressive bowling exploits).
I'm a little older than Fink, so I've had the pleasure of seeing many of the championship trophies he's racked up over the years.
Early in his golfing career, it was clear that he was the longest hitter in the area. Over time, I became even more impressed by the effort he put into becoming one of the most accurate ball-strikers the area's ever seen.
I can remember competing against him and thinking, "There's no way I can beat that."
Over the past three decades, there have been few who could. Fink is a few years past 50 now, but he's still performing at the highest level.
Congratulations, Artie. Well deserved.
Tour talk
The 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs concludes this week with the season-ending Tour Championship held at East Lake Golf Club, in Georgia.
Thirty PGA Tour stars will be competing for the top prize -- a whopping $18 million.
Last week, I mentioned I was rooting for Lucas Glover for the duration of the playoffs. Glover has seen a recent resurgence in his game after switching to a long putter, and I was surprised by the number of people who messaged me, mentioning their similar sentiments for Glover.
Overcoming the putting woes can be one of the most difficult challenges in the world of golf, and seeing Glover do it this year has been particularly inspiring.
I'm going to enjoy rooting for him again this week.
Part 2
For the second weekend in a row, several local clubs were able to conclude their annual club championships.
At Iron Masters, the women's championship was won by Anita Jo Petrusky, her third at the Roaring Spring club (to go along with more than 20 titles at Summit Country Club). Petrusky's win ended Gwen Paden's streak of nine consecutive Iron Masters' titles.
Wes Elder captured the Iron Masters men's trophy. Elder scored four impressive rounds of 66-69-74-74, for a 72-hole total of 283, a tournament record.
Rounding out the weekend's action was the conclusion of the Sinking Valley men's championship, where Artie Fink Jr. posted a four-stroke victory over Andrew Ferguson.
Fink's four-day total of 286 enabled him to capture his 19th Sinking Valley title.
55 years ago
During the fourth week of August in 1968, Scott Stultz captured the first annual Blair County Golf Championship. Stultz scored a four-round total of 307 en route to an impressive 11-shot victory.
The event was played over four days and rotated among Blairmont, Park Hills, Iron Masters and Sinking Valley Country Clubs.
Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at GLTR777@atlanticbb.net.