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Scorecard playoff decides championship in third Miller Lite Greatest Scramble
Scorecard playoff decides championship
in third Miller Lite Greatest Scramble
By Greg Gulas
POLAND
The sixth annual Vindicator Greatest Golfer of the Valley got under way Monday at The Lake Club with 24-teams participating in its third annual Miller Lite Greatest Scramble Championship.
The team of Tim Morrow, Tim Dye, Matt Gurska and Blase Cindric won the low gross title, beating the team of Rob Davies, Don Fleck, Russ Shuttlesworth and Brian Haynam in a scorecard playoff after both teams shot 54. Haynam’s team earned the low net title at 52.
It took a scorecard playoff in order for Morrow’s group to capture low gross honors.
Morrow, a Boardman native, was playing with his group for the very first time in the event after placing second overall in 2013.
He said they won because it was a total team effort.
“We all have our strengths and weaknesses and today we just meshed, putting it all together when we needed to,” Morrow said. “We started slow and were just one under after three holes, but birdied the next 15 holes to finish really strong. It’s a fantastic feeling to win it all.”
All three of Morrow’s teammates hail from Hermitage, Pa., with Matt Gurska, a Robert Morris graduate and 2014 Pete Mollica Open Division champion, set to turn pro this fall.
“It was a calming feeling knowing that if I missed a shot, then my teammates were right there to pick me up,” Gurska said. “This was my first time playing at the Lake Club and I must say that the course was quite a challenge.”
Dye was confident that his team would be there when it was all said and done, admitting that finishing with 15 birdies definitely helped out their cause.
He sank a long putt on No. 8 while Morrow’s near hole-in-one on No. 9 and Gurska’s near ace on No. 11 also helped keep them in the hunt.
“The key today was that we played really well on all of the par-3 holes. We felt like we would be there in the end if we played well as a team and that was exactly the case today,” Dye said.
Cindric said that with Gurska and Morrow putting ahead of him and Dye, they were able to get a good read on all of the greens.
“We had a great opportunity to see the break in the greens and that was really helpful,” Cindric said. “This was our first time together as a team and we played really well as a unit.”
Top net honors went to Davies, Fleck, Shuttlesworth and Haynam with Shuttlesworth winning closest to the pin honors on the club’s initial hole.
“Everyone did their fair share today, making putts when they had to and just hitting a shot when we needed it most,” said Haynam, the team captain. “This was my third year playing in this event but my first with this group. While the course was absolutely beautiful, it was still a challenge for the entire field.”
The team of Greg Strollo, Brian Horne, Josh Zarlenga and Dick Marlowe took team gross runner-up honors with a 56 while a 55.2 by Joe Beeson, John Doughton Jr., John Doughton III and Greg Powell propelled them to earn second-place in net scoring.
Joe McHenry, in his 32nd year with Superior Beverage/Miller Lite, currently serves as the sponsor’s executive vice-president.
“We’ve been there since the beginning and are proud to be a sponsor of the Greatest Golfer in the Valley. With 30 events over the course of the summer, this is just a great tie-in for us,” McHenry said. “It’s our way of giving back to the courses that stock and supply our products. As a sponsor, we’ve played as a team the past three years and while our scores didn’t count, everyone still had a lot of fun. Ed Muransky and his staff at The Lake Club do everything in a first-class manner. He loves to give back to the community and so do we, so needless to say we’re glad to be a part of something so very special.”
The week continues Thursday at Tippecanoe Country Club as 25 of the area’s top hitters compete in the Greatest Long Drive Championship.
The event is free and open to the public and begins at 6 p.m.