Allshouse and Zachetti Win Super-Senior Four-Ball
CANONSBURG, Pa. – Robert Allshouse and Vince Zachetti rallied from a one-shot deficit after the opening round to force a playoff and eventually win the Super-Senior division of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 28th Senior Four-Ball Championship at Southpointe Golf Club. Allshouse and Zachetti won on the fourth sudden death playoff hole over PAGA stalwarts Lee Lykens and Don Erickson, III to capture the championship, which was presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
In Tuesday’s second round, Allshouse and Zachetti fired the lowest round of any of the teams in the Super Senior competition with a 4-under par 68, and it was just enough to squeak into a tie with Lykens and Erickson at 140 (-4) for the championship.
The playoff started on the par-4 ninth hole, where Erickson had a 12-footer for birdie but couldn’t convert. The teams moved to No. 1, where Allshouse then missed an 8-footer after an excellent approach. At No. 2, the third playoff hole, Zachetti had a chance to win but his eight-foot putt down the hill just lipped out.
That brought the teams to the par-3 fourth hole, where Zachetti’s tee shot was right on line, about 18 feet short of the flag. Allshouse and Erickson were over the hump over 30 feet from the hole, while Lykens was on the green short right. Zachetti then promptly rolled in the birdie to win the championship.
To force the playoff, Zachetti, the 1989 Pennsylvania Amateur champ who plays out of Hannastown Golf Club, got his team off to a good start with a birdie on the par-3 fifth hole. Allshouse, also a Hannastown member and a past winner of this event (in 2014), then added birdies on No. 8 and No. 9. After Zachetti rolled in a clutch par putt on the tenth hole, the team liked their chances.
“We thought that put us in a really good position,” Zachetti said.
Both teams found themselves at 5-under heading into the 18th hole after Zachetti made a rainbow 20-footer for birdie on the 17th. After an errant drive by Zachetti, Allshouse hit a nice tee shot with 172 yards to the flag. He flushed an iron shot over the green into the back bunker, however, giving an opening to Erickson. But Erickson could not convert an eight-foot putt that would’ve won the championship, putting the teams in the playoff.
Paul Schlachter and Todd Kennedy, the 2017 champions of the Super-Senior division, finished in third place at 142 (-2), two shots back.
The Pennsylvania Golf Association would like to thank the staff and membership of Southpointe Golf Club for the hospitality in hosting the championship. Thanks as well to DICK’S Sporting Goods for sponsorship of the championship.