Day One Recap
Reigning Senior Player of the Year, Don Erickson, III, DuBois Country Club
Phoenixville, Pa. – The 8th Senior and Super-Senior Match Play Championship began on a misty, foggy Thursday morning at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve. Twenty-four of the state’s best senior golfers took to the links in an event sponsored by the Allegheny Health Network. Slick greens and the early season thick rough were waiting for players as they did battle in the premier Senior Invitational Match Play event based on the 2013 Pennsylvania Golf Association Senior Point Standings. By the afternoon, the wind kicked up and made the course play even tougher for the second round.
Senior Division Round of 16
Reigning Senior Player of the Year, Don Erickson, of DuBois Country Club, was locked in a dogfight with Kurt Meyers, the local club champion at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve. Erickson parlayed three birdies and a par-par finish on No. 17 (par 3, 168 yards) and No. 18 (par 4, 425 yards) to eventually win the match 1up.
Match two featured John Benson, Punxsutawney Country Club, and Roc Irey, Lookaway Golf Club in what was sure to be a hard fought match. Irey took an early 3-up lead, and then used another birdie late to advance to the elite eight.
Joe Corsi, Hannastown Golf Club, and Chip Lutz, LedgeRock Golf Club, are getting quite familiar with one another. They have now faced each other in two of the last three years in the PA Senior Match Play Championship. The two competitors both started hot as two of the first three holes were halved with birdies. Lutz was the equivalent of 4-under-par, with a double-bogey, when the match ended on No. 14 (par 4, 411 yards) in favor of Lutz, 5&4.
The 2013 Senior Amateur Champion, Robin McCool, Saucon Valley Country Club, took on Michael Vassil, Country Club of Scranton, in round one. Vassil started birdie-birdie to grab an early 1-up lead, and then McCool answered with a par on No. 3 (par 3, 165 yards) to pull All Square. Vassil then went birdie-birdie yet again to go 2-up, only to be outdone by McCool making birdie on three of his next four holes to seize a 1-up lead. Both men played solid down the stretch, but it was McCool who came out on top with a key par on No. 18 for a 1-up victory.
Rick Scott, West Shore Country Club, was up against West Penn stalwart John Rodney, Diamond Run Golf Club, in the first round. It was a well-played match on both sides, as Rodney used birdies on No. 8 (par 4, 403 yards) and No. 10 (par 4, 396 yards), to go ahead 3-up. Scott did not go down without a fight, as he birdied No. 12 (par 4, 357 yards) and No. 15 (par 4, 395 yards) to pull All Square. Rodney played solid down the stretch on the way to a 2&1 win to advance to the elite eight.
Paul Schlachter, The Club at Nevillewood, played 3-under-par golf through 13 holes on Thursday morning. The always steady Michael Dominick, Phoenixville Country Club, had no answer for Schlachter’s birdie barrage, as Schlachter moved on by the margin of 7&5.
Tom Bartolacci, Saucon Valley Country Club, had himself a great Thursday morning much to the chagrin of Gary Daniels, Applebrook Golf Club. Daniels played the Phoenixville track in a very respectable 1-over-par, but it was no match for the red-hot Bartolacci, who was 4-under-par through 14 holes. Bartolacci would move, 5&4, on to face Schlachter in the match of the day.
Elite Eight
Roc Irey, Lookaway Golf Club, defeated Don Erickson, 4&3 to reach the semifinals
Following the lunch break, Don Erickson, playing against Roc Irey, popped-up his drive on No. 1 (par 4, 325 yards) and jokingly asked for a mulligan. None needed, as he proceeded to birdie the hole, as well as No. 2 (par 5, 500 yards) to take a quick 2-up lead in the quarterfinal match. Irey was able to composed himself to play steady golf, and eventually earn a 4&3 victory to move on to the semifinals.
Sam Lewis and Chip Lutz had never met prior to Thursday. Lewis, a native of the northern-most parts of NEPA, is no stranger to competitive golf. Lutz, fresh off of a recent win on the victorious inaugural Concession Cup Team, introduced himself early. Lutz rebounded from an uncharacteristic bogey on No. 2 with birdies on No. 5 (par 3, 151 yards) and No. 6 (par 4, 366 yards) to achieve a 3-up cushion. Lutz would refuse to let down his guard as he played steady on the way to a 7&6 win to punch his ticket to the semifinal match against familiar foe, Roc Irey.
On the other side of the bracket, the Pittsburgh representatives were not ready to go home, as John Rodney played steady and prevailed over Robin McCool, 6&5. In the match of the day, Paul Schlachter and Tom Bartolacci battled to the end. Bartolacci played 3-under-par golf through 13 holes to earn a 2-up advantage. However, Schlachter kept his composure and made key pars down the stretch and then drained a match-clinching 25-foot birdie putt on No. 17 (par 3, 168 yards) to earn the last semifinal spot.
Super-Senior Division
Phil Saylor, Sunnehanna Country Club, took advantage of an uncharacteristic slow start by Lee Lykens, Clearfield-Curwensville Country Club. Saylor was 5-up through seven holes before Lykens mounted his charge. Lykens battled back to just 1-down through 13, but late birdies by Saylor on No. 15 (par 4, 355 yards) and No. 16 (par 5, 516 yards) gave Saylor the nod, 4&2.
Carl Everett, Merion Golf Club, played some steady golf and held on for a 1-up victory over Tom O’Rourke, Chester Valley Golf Club.
The reigning Art Wall, Jr. Memorial Super-Senior Champion, Dave DeNezza, Hannastown Golf Club, withstood an early onslaught from the GAP Super-Senior Player of the Year, Don Donatoni, White Manor Country Club. Donatoni held an early 2-up lead before DeNezza came alive and made four birdies against one bogey in his next 15 holes. DeNezza birdied No. 16 and No. 17 (par 3, 143 yards) to close out the match, 2&1.
Frank Polizzi, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, faced Bill Lawler, Fox Hill Country Club in the first round of the Super-Senior Match Play Championship. Lawler and Polizzi went back-and-forth the first five holes before Polizzi used a solid stretch to gain a 2-up lead through nine holes. Lawler then rode the momentum of three under-par holes to earn a 4&2 victory to advance and face DeNezza in the semifinal.
Super-Senior Final Four
Phil Saylor, Sunnehanna Country Club, defeated Carl Everett, Merion Golf Club, in 20 holes
Carl Everett three-putted the ninth hole to fail to move to 5-up through nine over Phil Saylor in the first semifinal match. Saylor saw that as an opening to work his way back into the mix, as he won five of the next six holes to move to 1-up in the match. Everett battled back with a nice par on No. 17 to get the match back to All Square, but Saylor eventually prevailed in 20 holes to earn his place in the final.
Bill Lawler defeated Dave DeNezza, 2-up, for the right to face Saylor in the Super-Senior finals. The Super-Senior final match has been moved up to begin at 10am in an attempt to avoid any possible weather delays.
Special thanks go out to all of the members and staff at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve for their time and dedicated professionalism. As always, we thank our corporate sponsor, the Allegheny Health Network.