Team Mitchell cruises to four-shot victory in Father & Son (Middle) at Schuylkill

    The Wilmington Country Club pair of Randy Mitchell and his son Davis Mitchell don’t just enjoy playing in one of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Father & Son Championships, they enjoy winning them.

   When they were teeing it up in the Father & Son (Younger) at the beginning of the last decade, they rattled off victories in the Junior-Junior Division in 2010 and 2011 and then in the Junior Division in 2013 and 2014.

   Well, Davis Mitchell is all grown up now. The 22-year-old earned a degree in business administration from North Carolina State last spring. Somewhere along the line, though, the joy of playing golf had gone away for him. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. Davis Mitchell got the sticks out again and rediscovered his love for the game.

   So, when the Father & Son (Middle) popped up the GAP schedule, Team Mitchell was in. And, not surprisingly, Randy Mitchell, 59 years young, and Davis Mitchell, playing out of Wilmington Country Club, as always, rolled to a four-shot victory. Some things change, some things remain the same and sometimes both happen at the same time.

   Team Mitchell, finishing with a flourish, made birdies on the last three holes at Schuylkill Country Club, an underrated layout in Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County, last Thursday to post a 4-under-par 68 and claim its fifth GAP Father & Son victory.

   “We signed up with the intention of winning,” Davis Mitchell told the GAP website. “I said, ‘I’m not coming home just to play. I’m coming home to win.’ That’s really what it was about. I was looking forward to this date. This event is something I wanted to win. This event is special to me. My dad is very special to me.”

   That last reference is why the Father & Son events are an important and popular part of the GAP calendar each year.

   The Aronimink Golf Club pair of Dan Bernard, who starred scholastically at Malvern Prep and collegiately at Bucknell, and his dad, Charles Bernard, and the Hershey’s Mill Golf Club duo of Geoff Rice and Kevin Rice shared second place, each carding an even-par 72. Pretty sure that’s the same Geoff Rice who lost in a playoff to Holy Ghost Prep’s Steve Cerbara for the 2015 PIAA Class AAA Championship when Geoff Rice was a senior at Great Valley.

   But nobody in the field was a match for Team Mitchell in the select-drive/alternate-shot format over the 6,482-yard, par-72 Schuylkill Country Club layout. The Mitchells offset three front-nine bogeys with three birdies to make the turn at even-par and then they went off.

   The long-hitting Davis Mitchell drove the green on the 332-yard, par-4 12^th hole. Randy Mitchell’s 15-footer for eagle finished a roll short, but Team Mitchell was back in red figures. After a bogey at the 13^th hole again dropped Team Mitchell back to even-par, Randy Mitchell’s wedge into the 473-yard, par-5 left Davis Mitchell with a tap-in for birdie.

   Then came the big finish. Randy Mitchell’s 9-iron into the 129-yard, par-3 16^th hole finished four feet from the hole and Davis Mitchell converted the birdie opportunity.

   Davis Mitchell only needed an 8-iron to reach the green at the 520-yard, par-5 17^th hole in two. Randy Mitchell’s 12-foot bid for an eagle came up just short and Davis Mitchell tapped in for birdie.

   Coming to the tee at the 342-yard, par-4 18^th hole at 3-under, Davis Mitchell bombed his drive, leaving dad with just 66 yards into the green. Randy Mitchell knocked his approach to 10 feet and Davis Mitchell completed Team Mitchell’s remarkable tour of Schuylkill’s back nine by draining the birdie putt.

   The Philadelphia Cricket Club pair of Kevin Kelly and Ryan Kelly and Robert Cooper and Timothy Cooper of The Links at Gettysburg shared fourth place, each signing for a 1-over 74, a shot behind Team Bernard and Team Rice.

   One of GAP’s top Super-Senior performers, Robin McCool, and his son, Gary McCool, finished alone in sixth place with a 3-over 75.

   Ryan Tall, the 2018 GAP Junior Boys’ champion and a junior at Lafayette, and his dad John Tall, finished in a tie for seventh place with the LedgeRock Golf Club pair of George Audi and Dylan Audi, each registering a 5-over 77. Ryan Tall plays out of Spring Ford Country Club and John Tall plays out of the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve.

   The White Deer Golf Course duo of Bruce Hoover and Bryan Hoover finished alone in ninth place with a 6-over 78.

   Rounding out the top 10 were two teams that finished in a tie for 10^th place with 79s. They were the Brookside Country Club pair of Michael Ruyak and Conner Ruyak and Gary Smith of Pine Valley Golf Club and Cody Smith, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry.

   Dave Waldmann of the YCAGA Players Club and Chad Waldmann of French Creek Golf Club and the Huntingdon Valley Country Club of Rob Galbreath and Daniel Galbreath shared 12^th place, each signing for an 80.