EXETER, Pa. — The 76th Men’s Coal Scuttle Championship turned into survival of the feistiest.
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Persistent rains and winds, remnants of a weekend nor’easter, tormented even the heartiest of golf souls. Such conditions required a sound mind at address, a sound body at execution and a sound temperament at result.
Country Club of Scranton, 21 years removed from its last Men’s Coal Scuttle title, rose above the rain — and the rest of the field — Sunday at Fox Hill Country Club (par 71, 6,673 yards). It posted a 39-over-par 611 to triumph by three strokes over Berwick Golf Club.
Cade Kelleher (147), Stephon Draper (154), Brendan Bell (155), Michael Thomas (155) and Sebastian Meyer (163) represented the Country Club of Scranton team.
David Mecca, who calls Scranton home and competed as a past individual champion (2017, 2023), earned medalist honors with a 5-under-par 138.
Country Club of Scranton previously won in 1999, 2000-02 and 2005.
“This feels new,” Draper, 39, of Scranton, Pa., said. “The last time we won, half our team wasn’t even born yet. And I’ve only been a member of the club for 10 years.”
A reference to Scranton’s impactful youth movement. Bell is a junior at Scranton Preparatory School, Meyer a junior at Abington Heights High School. Kelleher is a sophomore at the University of Scranton.
Country Club of Scranton determines its Coal Scuttle team based on that year’s club championship results. Clearly the kids can play.
They, like their elder statesman in Draper and Thomas, 31, can handle Mother Nature’s fury as well. Country Club of Scranton held a two-stroke advantage over Huntsville Golf Club entering the final round.
“Play aggressively disciplined” became the team mindset.
“Playing at Scranton, you get all types of bad conditions more than you would want,” Draper said. “We’re definitely seasoned to all elements of golf up in the mountain. This feels like a typical day.”
And an atypical result for a club that’s spent the last two decades Scuttle searching. The leaderboard fluctuated as the rain flew sideways at Fox Hill, with Berwick and Huntsville in front for a portion. But the Country Club of Scranton, led by Kelleher, literally held water.
Kelleher birdied Nos. 12 (par 5, 494 yards), 14 (par 5, 527 yards) and 16 (par 4, 370 yards) to put any doubt to rest. He knocked a wedge 50 yards to six feet on No. 12. Kelleher reached the 14th green in two with a hybrid from 250 yards. He logged a pair of putts for a 4. On No. 16, playing a tad downwind, Kelleher lifted a wedge 60 yards to three feet for birdie.
Draper closed with a 2-over-par 73 Sunday, capped by an 18-inch putt for birdie on No. 18 (par 4, 379 yards). He beams with pride over the club’s competitive future. The likes of Bell and Meyer make up an internal youth movement that is an external problem for the Scuttle faithful.
“It won’t be two decades again,” Draper said.
Temper the celebration, however. Bell and Meyer have school in the morning.
“I have accounting class at noon,” Kelleher, 19, of Clarks Summit, Pa., added.
By virtue of its victory, Country Club of Scranton will host the 77th Men’s Coal Scuttle Championship in 2027.
The Men’s Coal Scuttle Championship, open to all GAP Member Clubs, is a 36-hole tournament. The low four of five scores count toward the team total.
Established in conjunction with the Anthracite Golf Association’s founding in 1951, the Men’s Coal Scuttle Championship is a cornerstone event in which clubs compete against one another to determine regional supremacy. The inscription on the trophy reads as follows:
Once a year and never more
It is writ’ in ancient lore
Four golfing champs shall gather round
And in this scuttle shall be found
Nectar rare to cost them nil
Save the art to drink their fill
The losers must, without rebuttal,
Pay all the cost to fill the Scuttle.
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 140,000 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.
