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Huntsville Golf Club captured its fourth-straight Women’s Coal Scuttle Championship Sept. 10.
It collected 89 points at home (par 72, 5,141 yards) to claim the event’s 27th edition. Wyoming Valley Country Club finished second with 79 points.
The top three of four Stableford points count toward the team total. Such a scoring format started in 2018. The Women’s Coal Scuttle Championship previously featured 18 holes of stroke play, with three of four scores counting toward the team total.
“It’s huge for us,” Barbara Pagana, a Huntsville member of 15 years, said. “It’s a very competitive field. I was a little surprised that we didn’t have a better turnout club-wise, but a win is a win. We were thrilled.”
As the event’s defending champion, Huntsville served as host site. Home-course knowledge, on paper at least, proved pivotal.
Huntsville’s Danielle Dalessandro, 24 earned low individual honors for the second consecutive year. She posted 32 points. Pagana placed third with 29 points. Bernadette McHugh (25 points) and Mary Guyette (19 points) rounded out the Huntsville team.
“It’s awesome to win as a team and keep it at the club,” Dalessandro, 24, of Moosic, Pa., said. “It’s definitely become a point of pride, especially going up against all of these good teams. It’s great competition that brings out the best in everybody.”
With a team mindset intact, Dalessandro didn’t surrender shots Tuesday. Back-to-back birdies highlight her scorecard. After chipping in on No. 9 (par 5, 454 yards), Dalessandro, a four-year starter at Fairfield University, hit a 7-iron 140 yards to seven feet on No. 10 (par 4, 303 yards).
“It was probably my most solid round this year with some well-hit shots, great up-and-downs and solid putts. It was one of those rounds were I actually put it all together, which was awesome,” she said. “Those are the rounds that you play for.”
With an accomplished veteran in Pagana complimented by a skillful youth in Dalessandro, Huntsville appears poised to continue its Women’s Coal Scuttle success.
“We have a nice bunch of competitive ladies. It’s nice to see the ladies really care about it,” Pagana, 70, of Sellinsgrove, Pa., said.
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 Association’s 274 Full Member Clubs and 75,000 individual members are spread across the Eastern half of Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
