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Armeni strong-arms Greatest Driver field
Gallery
POLAND
Jim Armeni doesn’t look particularly overpowering in stature.
That is, until you put a driver in his hands.
The top qualifier in the men’s division for the inaugural Greatest Driver of the Valley came away the championship on Monday with a drive of 339 yards on The Lake Club’s No. 8 hole.
“When I first stepped up, I noticed that the fairway’s slopped hard right to left, so looking at that, it’s kind of hard to hit a draw into it,” said Armeni. “If you catch it with a little top spin, it’s going to roll off the fairway.
“My play tonight was to hit a cut into it and hopefully that deadens it, and once it hits, it just trickles out a little left. I was able to catch one and have it stay in play.”
In the qualifier at Tippecanoe on Saturday, Armeni drilled his first drive 330 yards, allowing him to swing freely on his other three shots. On Monday, it wasn’t until his third shot that Armeni got a ball to stay in the fairway.
“First off, it’s just an honor to be here and be able to come out and swing the driver,” said Armeni. “Everyone’s having fun, it’s a nice a event that The Vindicator put on, and I didn’t really feel any pressure.”
Armeni’s family was in the crowd cheering him on Monday evening, including his mom at the tee box and dad 350 yards down the fairway.
“My dad said before it started, ‘Hey, you don’t need me, you know what to do,’” said Armeni. “But my mom helps me keep calm under situations like that, so having her there was real nice. Having the support was great and I was real surprised to see so many faces.”
Jason Murdock finished second with a long drive of 326 yards, while Monday qualifier Mark Olbrych placed third.
In the ladies division, Pam Porter won with the mentality of “stick to what you know.”
She went to the range on Sunday with three different drivers to test each of them out. After a few hours, she left with the same driver she came with.
“I couldn’t leave my old driver behind,” said Porter, who won with a 240-yarder. “I’m usually about 225 on that hole and it’s uphill and hard to keep on the fairway. But I surprised myself a little bit.”
PGA Tour member, and Warren JFK graduate, Jason Kokrak also made an appearance to see how the Valley’s best stack up against one of the tour’s longest hitters. After having played 18 holes of golf in the Greatest Scramble, and hitting his first tee shot on No. 8 344 yards, Kokrak was only able to nudge out Armeni by one yard.
He did, however, hit one of his four balls 350-plus yards before it rolled into the rough.
“Seeing someone I watch on TV out here interacting with the community is really nice,” said Armeni. “He makes it look too easy. It’s just like cutting hot butter, but it just looks beautiful.”