Thursday, August 18, 2016
CANFIELD – Last summer, Patsy Daltorio had a hard time keeping his four preliminary drives on the grid and failed to qualify for the finals of the Greatest Golfer Long Drive Championship.
On Thursday at Tippecanoe Country Club, he owned the grid.
Daltorio was the third-place qualifier in the preliminary round with a 305-yard drive. And in the three-person championship round, he foisted a 309-yard drive on his first shot. His first shot proved to be the winner as he bested George Rohan III and Jason Murdock.
“Last year, it was more about being too anxious, wanting to do my best and the nerves just took over. Not placing a drive on the grid was a humbling experience,” Daltorio said. “Being able to get that first drive down and then my other three attempts, and to qualify for the finals was an absolutely great feeling. To win it all was fantastic.”
Daltorio is the head boys basketball, Jr. High track and freshman girls’ volleyball coach at Western Reserve High School.
With a new arrival for him and his wife this past December, son Dante Michael, Daltorio’s golfing time is limited at Reserve Run, which he calls his home course.
“I know a lot of the competitors. But today, it was more about the competition and camaraderie,” he added.
Earning top honors in the women’s division with a 174-yard drive was Katie McDevitt, a 2012 Wilmington College graduate who played softball two years for the Fighting Quakers.
“We needed three people to play, so I had to convince my friend Hannah [Rohrabaugh] in order to have this competition,” McDevitt noted. “It was nerveracking, but a lot of fun.”
Finishing as runner-up with a 166-yard drive was Rohrabaugh, a Boardman native who will graduate Saturday from Kent State University with her degree in hospitality management.