Wyoming Valley Country Club captured its first AGA/GAP Women’s Coal Scuttle Championship presented by Erickson, Hudacek, & Leibman Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Wednesday at Fox Hill Country Club (par 73, 5,319 yards).
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“[Winning our first Coal Scuttle] in and off itself was a huge victory for us as a team,” Molly Gorman, who led Wyoming Valley with 32 stableford points, said. “I just think that when we first thought about going into the Coal Scuttle, we put our heads together and knew we could definitely do this. “As long as we stayed within ourselves, within on our game and within our mind, we could bring it home.”
That they did. Wyoming Valley amassed 85 points — seven clear of four-time reigning champion Huntsville Golf Club.
The top three of four Stableford points count toward the team total. That scoring format began 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.
Huntsville’s Kyleen McCance earned individual medalist honors with 35 points. However, three of the next four leaderboard spots belonged to Wyoming Valley.
Gorman finished second, Nicole Sennett (28 points) third and Kathy Goeringer (25) fifth. Karen Hazelton, a longtime competitor on the Pennsylvania circuit, rounded out the Wyoming Valley team with 18 points.
Back-to-back birdies buoyed Gorman at Fox Hill. On No. 11 (par 3, 90 yards), she knocked a pitching wedge to 25 feet.
“I was proud of myself for reading it right and trusting my line. I was happy it went in,” Gorman, 33, of Forty Fort, Pa., said. “Fox Hill has very tough greens. I personally had a tough time transitioning to the greens at Fox Hill because Wyoming Valley had just aerated its greens.”
On No. 12 (par 5, 387 yards), Gorman, a kindergarten teacher at State Street Elementary School, pulled a 3-wood from 175 yards greenside left. A friendly lie provided a straightforward chip, which she executed into tap-in birdie territory.
“I just played consistent from tee to green,” Gorman, who played collegiate golf at Towson University, said.
Gorman grew up at Wyoming Valley as a Junior member. She returned to the club two years ago and immediately assimilated with the club’s friendly and fiery women’s contingent.
“We’ve been together for a long time. We’ve been competitive,” Gorman said. “We all have that competitive spirit.”
Timing is everything when it comes to showcasing said spirit. Wyoming Valley’s Women’s Coal Scuttle victory occurred in between the opening rounds of its women’s club championship.
The final round is set for Tuesday, Aug. 25. Gorman, Goeringer, Hazleton and Sennett are all in the field. Gorman leads by 10 strokes.
“Anything can happen on Tuesday. I’m definitely not counting my chickens,” Gorman 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 288 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.
