10th Super-Senior Coal Scuttle Championship

StoneHedge stuns at Elkview, earns first title

CARBONDALE, Pa. — Seated inside the clubhouse at Elkview Country Club, Robin Bonda made the call. Not the definitive call. That call came 20 minutes later when the 10^th Super-Senior Coal Scuttle Championship (par 72, 5,515 yards) concluded.

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Bonda made a phone call to StoneHedge Golf Course teammate David Amori.

“We’re going to win this thing or we’re in a playoff. I’m serious. We moved up to second place already. There’s a shot,” Bonda said. “Keep an eye on it. I’m telling you. We have a shot.”

A shot became a success Wednesday. StoneHedge stunned the Scuttle landscape. It posted a 10-over-par 226 total to best eight-time titleholder Fox Hill Country Club (2015-22) and Country Club of Scranton by three strokes.

The top three of four scores count toward the team total.

Bob Andrejko, in his championship debut, carried the StoneHedge torch with a 3-under-par 69, a score that granted individual medalist honors as well. Amori, Bonda and Steve Mazur rounded out the StoneHedge contingent.

“Nobody expected it,” Bonda said. “We didn’t, but we have a good team. I thought we could do well. The greens here are a lot faster than what we’re used to, and the rough was tough today.”

Andrejko, on the other hand, held out hope.

“I thought we had a real good chance,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of rounds [at Elkview]. I’ve played in the Member-Guest for about 30 years. I know the course well.”

That acumen proved apparent when Andrejko went 5 under in a four-hole stretch. On No. 7 (par 3, 142 yards), he hit an 8-iron to 15 feet for birdie. Andrejko eagled the par 5, 402-yard 8^th hole after mashing a 3-wood 225 yards to 35 feet. He drained a double breaker from the back of the green. Next came back-to-back birdies: a 9-iron to six feet on No. 9 (par 3, 125 yards), a wedge 57 yards to 30 inches on No. 10 (par 4, 315 yards).

A red bender rid Andrejko of early cobwebs.  

“I knocked it over the green on No. 6 from 100 yards. I thought I hit a good shot, and it just flew out of the rough. I hit a good chip and missed the putt. That was my third bogey, and that’s when I went on a little roll,” Andrejko, the 2019 GAP/AGA Senior Player of the Year, said. “I wasn’t too concerned. I settled in and was fine. I’ve been doing it long enough.”

Longevity is a theme among the StoneHedge team. Andrejko, Bonda and Mazur, friends of 30 years. The trio formed a kinship with Amori upon joining StoneHedge in 2020. The Scuttle, coincidentally, plays a role here.

In 2019, Andrejko and Bonda represented the victorious Scranton Municipal Golf Course team in the Senior Coal Scuttle Championship. They eagerly anticipated a title defense at home, spoils awarded to the Scuttle victor, the following year. Scranton Municipal spoiled their plans; it closed in 2020.

Enter StoneHedge, which became the collective’s new golf home.

“It’s a great group up there, a very competitive group,” Andrejko, 65, of Jessup, Pa., said.

“We still have a core group. We still play golf together,” Bonda, 70, of Peckville, Pa., added.

The groupthink surfaced as the StoneHedge team awaited its Super-Senior Scuttle fate. Andrejko, spectacles edging the brim of his nose, constantly glanced at his phone. Three teams — Elkview, Emanon Country Club and Fox Hill — threatened to swing the pendulum following a one-hour rain delay in the afternoon.

“The pressure is killing me. If we win this thing, that would be awesome,” Andrejko said. “They said it couldn’t be done.”

“Could you imagine? We’ve been in for three hours, and we’re exhausted,” Bonda added.

Mazur, who owns Frank T. Mazur Funeral Home, temporarily dampens the mood.

“I think we just have visions of sugarplums,” Mazur, 71, of Dickson City, Pa., said.

A sugarplum tastes sweet. Just like victory.

But Mazur will celebrate by munching on some wings with his grandson, Frankie, Jr., tonight. Unsure of the destination, he solicits Andrejko and Bonda for suggestions.

“You know who has good wings? StoneHedge,” Bonda said. “Get the sweet chili.”

Good wings and Super-Senior Scuttle Champions.

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 110,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.