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White Manor CC’s Bernstein, Borowsky take
18th State Better-Ball title

  LITITZ, Pa. – Jason Bernstein, 19, of Paoli., Pa., and Alan Borowsky, 21, of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., longtime friends and golfing buddies from White Manor CC, carded a final-round 65 to finish at 12-under par and captured the 18th Better-Ball Championship by a stroke on Wednesday at Bent Creek CC (par 71, 6,731 yards).

  It was the first state better-ball crown for the duo who entered the second and final round as tri-leaders at 6 under. Chris Gallagher, 25, of West Chester, Pa., and Phil Over, 40, of Malvern, Pa., members at Penn Oaks GC, birdied three of the final four holes to finish alone in second place at 11 under.

George Elias (left) and Tony Kondracki tied
for third place.
  A group of four teams, including fellow first-round tri-leaders George Elias, 61, of Swoyersville, Pa., and Irem Temple CC and Tony Kondracki, 53, of Kingston, Pa., and Fox Hill CC, placed third at 10 under.

  "We’ve been playing together since we were 6 years old," said Bernstein, a sophomore at the University of Delaware. "We felt we had just as good a shot as anyone coming into the tournament."

  This was the first better-ball title of any kind for Bernstein and Borowsky.

  Nine holes into the final round, Elias and Kondracki appeared poised to take the crown. The two made eight straight 3s on the front side thanks to some white-hot putting and a par 5 on the ninth hole (548 yards) to make the turn in 29 and 12-under par. Bernstein and Borowsky, a group behind, posted a 4-under par 31 and were two strokes back with nine holes to go.

  However, a birdie by Bernstein on No. 11 (par 4, 369 yards) tightened the gap and when Elias and Kondracki bogeyed No. 17 (par 4, 310 yards), their first over-par score of the day, the two groups fell into a tie. In the meantime, Gallagher and Over had already posted their final score in the clubhouse.

  Minutes later on No. 17, Bernstein and Borowsky took the lead for good. Bernstein launched his drive into the back greenside bunker while Borowsky played safe and placed his approach shot from 120 yards out to eight feet. Bernstein stayed aggressive and followed his drive up by knocking the bunker shot to two feet. The easy birdie put the two at 12 under with the reachable par 5, 18th (523 yards) left.

  Elias and Kondracki seemingly ran out of steam, however, and made another bogey with errant tee shots on the final hole. Bernstein and Borowsky, knowing a par would win, played conservative. Both recorded fives after leaving themselves with short approach shots.

  "I told Jason we had no control over what anyone else does so we can’t worry about that," said Borowsky, a recent graduate of Lehigh University. "I told him we need to take it one shot a time."

  On the front nine, Bernstein recorded three birdies and Borowsky two. Bernstein sucked a wedge back to two feet on No. 3 (par 4, 431 yards), made a downhill 18-foot slider on No. 8 (par 4, 418 yards) and knocked a 25-foot chip on No. 9 to five feet.

  Borowsky put a sand wedge from 102 yards to eight feet on No. 4 (par 4, 403 yards) and made a tricky downhiller on the driveable 7th hole (par 4, 321 yards) after both he and his partner came up about 10 yards short.

  Gallagher and Over made a stirring push to get close. The two made the turn in 3-under 32 and found themselves in the hunt when Gallagher hit it to a foot on No. 15 (par 3, 235 yards) with a 3-iron; go up-and-down from the right greenside moguls on No. 17 and hit a flop shot from long and right of the 18th green to six feet.

  "I knew we were chasing all day," said Over. Added Gallagher, "I though we would need 62 to win."

  A total of 61 teams competing in the Better-Ball Championship. Heading into the final round, 20 teams were within three strokes of each other at the top of the leaderboard.

Name

Club

Rd. 1

Rd. 2

Total

Bernstein, Jason/Borowsky, Alan

White Manor CC

65

65

130

Over, Phil/Gallagher, Chris

Penn Oaks GC

67

64

131

Cohan, Jason/Cohan, Adam

The ACE Club

66

66

132

Kliewer, Craig S./Gast, Corey

Meadia Heights GC

67

65

132

Elias, George/Kondracki, Anthony G.

Irem Temple CC/Fox Hill CC

65

67

132

Fink, Jr., Artie/Miraglia, John

Sinking Valley C C

68

64

132

Hanford, Stuart/Gebhard, Chris

Lebanon CC

67

66

133

Detweiler, Brandon/Detweiler, Marlin

Lancaster CC

68

65

133

Prowant, Zach/Choate, Warren J.

Williamsport CC

66

68

134

Williams, Eric W./Gardas, James M.

Honesdale GC

67

67

134

Sweeney, John/Campbell, Robert

Lancaster Country Club

70

64

134

Boerner, Stephen J./Griest, Jeffrey L.

PGA Individual/Waynesborough CC

67

67

134

Texter, Jarred/Hostetter, Jerry D.

Lancaster CC

67

68

135

Pugh, Scott/Boyer, Bennett S.

CC of Harrisburg/Blue Ridge CC

67

69

136

Gemmill, Jud/Over, Alan R.

Lancaster Host GC/Bent Creek CC

66

70

136

Mattare, Matthew E./Fardon, David M

Saucon Valley CC

67

70

137

Llewellyn, Tim/Maurer, Matthew

PGA Individual/CC of Harrisburg

68

69

137

Baker, Shawn/Daniels, Jeff

Dauphin Highlands/Lancaster CC

65

72

137

Barry, John/Groff, Brian K.

Lancaster CC/Conestoga CC

66

71

137

Kania, Jr., James/Willcox, Cole

Overbrook GC/Philadelphia CC

67

71

138

Ascolese, Gerard F./Sheva, Gregory A.

North Hills CC

70

68

138

Vassil, Michael/Domanish, Michael J

CC of Harrisburg/Elmhurst CC

71

67

138

Balcavage, Frank P/Lauver, Nat

Bellewood GC/Lost Creek GC

68

71

139

Pheasant, Jay/Destefano, Stephen

Sinking Valley CC

69

70

139

Smith, Benjamin/Albert, Brixton

PGA Individual/Meadia Heights GC

70

69

139

Tait, Charles N./Mayne, Scott

Dauphin Highlands/Hershey CC

69

71

140

Knoll, Edward H./Troutman, George E.

Deer Run GC

74

67

141

Wuerstle, Jeffrey J./Klee, Scott R.

Indian Valley GC

70

71

141

Dietrich, Matt/Simmons, Jim

Whitford CC/Stonewall GC

67

74

141

Filling, Jay J./Leaman, Mark E.

Bent Creek CC/PGA Individual

71

70

141

Barlik, Francis/Gregorczyk, Edward

PGA Individual/Glenmaura National GC

71

71

142

D'Amato, Phil/Adams, Gregory

Deer Run Golf Club/Dauphin Highlands

74

68

142

Fugal, Jack/Smith, William F.

The ACE Club/Chambersburg CC

69

73

142

Wolf, Austin A./Rowe, Ben P.

Bent Creek CC/Conestoga CC

71

72

143

Hope, J. S./Horutz, John

CC of Harrisburg/Glenmaura National GC

72

71

143

O'Sullivan, John/Domenick, Michael

Chester Valley GC/Phoenixville CC

72

71

143

Pompey, Alexander D./Gross, Richard

CC of harrisburg/Glenmaura National GC

70

74

144

Umani, Richard E./Terebesi, Christopher J.

Philadelphia Publinks/Chester Valley GC

69

75

144

Sutherland, Nathan/Ryder, Samuel

Berkshire CC/Aronimink GC

68

77

145

Gambacurta, Chris L./Franks, Ryan M.

Sinking Valley CC/Totteridge GC

75

70

145

Abrams, Andrew C/Rugg, Patrick

Rolling Green GC

74

71

145

Strohl, David/Blichar, David J

Moselem Springs GC/Blue Ridge CC

74

71

145

Gross, Michael J./Hudacek III, Stephen L.

Glenmaura National CC

71

75

146

Weaver, Jason/Brubaker, Erik

Heidelberg CC/Foxchase GC

67

79

146

Farrell, Kevin/Gunnison, Kyle

C C of Harrisburg

77

69

146

Webber, Rich/Brown, Dan

Royal Oaks GC/Pine Meadows GC

75

71

146

Stewart, Bob/Mairone, Thomas

Westmoreland/McCall G&CC

69

78

147

Riley, Fred/Porter, R.J.

Toftrees GC

74

73

147

Corbett, Brian T./Gill, Robert

Huntsville GC/Fox Hill CC

78

70

148

Wolf, Bob/Lefever, Connor

Bent Creek CC/Lancaster CC

74

74

148

Howell, Robert/Cherrix, Vincent

Dauphin Highlands/Monongahela Valley

74

74

148

Sullivan, Patrick/Welsh, Matthew

Philadelphia Publinks/St. Davids GC

73

75

148

Callaghan, Jim/Lavin, Jon E.

Rolling Green GC

70

78

148

Maguire, Bo/Brown, Jason

Brookside CC/Huntsville GC

72

77

149

Strickler, Ryan W./Strickler, Ed

Huntingdon CC

78

72

150

Mesko, Jason A./Mesko, Jr., John P

CC of Scranton

75

75

150

Fogarty, James James/Eckert, Gerald C.

Bent Creek CC

74

77

151

Smedley, Mark A./Bell, Andrew

Bellewood GC

77

74

151

Rolli, William J./Berry, David

PGA Individual

76

76

152

Kowalski, Jason/Kowalski, Robert C.

PGA Individual/Philadelphia Publinks

76

77

153

Connors, Chris/Connors, Dan J

Sewickley Heights GC/Pilgrims Oak GC

77

77

154

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