Gary Smith plays out of Pine Valley Golf Club and has competed
in amateur golf at a pretty high level, but he had to admit that claiming the
Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Father & Son (Middle) crown Thursday at
Heidelberg Country Club in Bernville with son Cody might be right at the top.
“I’ve been lucky to play in a couple of U.S. Amateur
Championships (1983 and 1991), college golf and a few neat things,” the 58-year-old
Smith told the GAP website. “Two years ago, when we finished second in the
(Pennsylvania Golf Association) Father & Son (Championship), that was the
best day I had on the golf course.
“Today beats that. Playing golf with your son and having a
good round is pretty special.”
The popularity of GAP’s Father & Son series is proof of
just how special so many dads and their sons view playing together as a team.
The Middle tournament is for sons ages 18 to 29. There is also a Father &
Son (Younger) and the original Father & Son (Older). Those fields have historically
filled so quickly that the Middle event was established to give more teams a
chance to play together.
Team Smith was the only pair to break par, carding a
1-under-par 69 over the underrated 6,061-yard, par-70 Heidelberg layout. You
truly need a team effort in the select drive/alternate shot format. It helps
that 23-year-old Cody Smith, a senior at Bryn Athyn College competing as a
Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, had the putter going.
Team Smith started on the back nine and got it into red
figures when Gary Smith wedged his approach at the par-4 12th hole
from 80 yards to eight feet and Cody dropped the birdie putt.
The Smiths gave a shot back with a bogey at the 13th
when their best tee shot left them in a fairway bunker.
Cody Smith converted a tough 12-foot slider for birdie at
the 15th after dad’s approach with a lob wedge.
A three-putt bogey at the par-4 sixth dropped Team Smith
back to even-par for the round.
But then Cody Smith got the team on the par-5 ninth green in
two by drilling a 5-iron from 192 yards away to 30 feet from the pin. Gary
Smith lagged the eagle putt and Cody did the rest, rolling in a three-footer
for a 2-putt birdie that proved to be the winning margin.
The Smiths played in the morning and waited to see if their
1-under total would hold up and indeed it did with two teams sharing second at
even-par 70. Those teams were The Ridge at Back Brook duo of Steve Ebersole and
Greg Ebersole and the Radley Run Country Club pair of Matt Krass and Jim Krass.
The Huntingdon Valley Country Club pair of Andrew Isztwan
and Brian Isztwan, the Inter-Ac League’s best player the last two seasons at
Penn Charter who is headed for Harvard, made a serious run at the Smiths.
I noticed on Twitter at some point Thursday that Team
Isztwan had fired a spectacular 29 for its first nine holes, not sure if that was on the front
or the back at Heidelberg. But the Isztwans fell back on their final nine and
finished among the three teams tied for fourth at 1-over 71.
Buddy Hansen IV, one of the top players in the Catholic
League the last couple of years at La Salle who will join Brian Quinn’s Temple
program later this summer, and his dad, E. Hansen III, playing out of Blue Bell
Country Club, joined the Isztwans at 1-over 71.
Rounding out the three teams tied for fourth was the Penn
Oaks Golf Club tandem of Jeff Fogel and
Ryan Fogel.
The Indian Valley Country Club team of Dwight Dudas and Matt
Dudas finished alone in seventh at 2-over 72.
Another Huntingdon Valley entry, D.J. Pinciotti III and his
dad Daniel Pinciotti Jr, headed a group of three teams tied for eighth at
3-over 73. They were joined at that figure by the Wilmington Country Club duo
of Neal Livitsky and Kevin Levitsky and the Lancaster Country Club pair of John
Barry and Jack Barry.
Former Episcopal Academy standout Trey Croney, coming off a
solid junior season at Lafayette, and his dad, Ken Croney Jr., playing out of
Applebrook Golf Club, headed a group of three more teams that finished tied for
11th at 4-over 74.
Joining them at 74 were another Radley Run entry, Joe Hoban
and Joey Hoban, and the Brookside Country Club of Allentown pair of Jim
Fullerton and Carlos Fullerton.
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