42nd Senior Coal Scuttle Championship

Fox Hill edges Olde Homestead in playoff

SHAVERTOWN, Pa. — Fox Hill Country Club defeated Olde Homestead Golf Club in a sudden-death playoff to win the 42^nd Senior Coal Scuttle Championship Thursday at Huntsville Golf Club (par 72, 6,304 yards).

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Both teams finished regulation tied at 24-over-par 312. The low four of five scores count toward the team total.

Mark Jones executed a sand save on No. 11 (par 4, 404 yards), the second playoff hole, to give Fox Hill the decisive stroke. Fox Hill totaled 16 (even), Olde Homestead 17 (1 over) on the hole. Each team representative competed in the playoff, with the low four of five scores counting.

Also in a sudden-death playoff, Wyoming Valley Country Club’s Joseph Weiscarger defeated Pocono Farms Country Club’s Mark Bartkowski to earn the event’s individual honor. Both carded respective even-par 72s.

Fox Hill now holds a record 14 Senior Coal Scuttle titles. It previously won back-to-back trophies in 2020-21. Don Crossin (77), Bob Gill (77), Mark Answini (79), Randy Marcotte (79) and Mark Jones (86) represented the Fox Hill team Thursday.

“It feels great. You’re playing with Bob Gill and Donny Crossin, and these guys are a couple of the best players at our club. They’re great friends,” Answini, 58, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said. “It’s a great group. We’re all friends. We all still love to compete.”

“I couldn’t be happier. I love playing for Fox Hill. I’ve been a member there for almost 50 years, and we have a great bunch of guys,” Gill added. “It’s fun to represent the club.”

The playoff started on No. 10 (par 4, 394 yards). As in regulation, the low four of five scores counted toward the team total.

Answini first donned the Scuttle cape for Fox Hill. Albeit after a scuff — his words. He scuffed a gap wedge from 117 yards to 30 feet above the hole location on No. 10.

“Looking from below, I had a good line on it. It just came down the hill and started drifting to the right. Good speed and lucky enough it went in,” Answini said. “The course was great, and the greens were beautiful. Kudos to the grounds team here.”

Answini’s conversion allowed Fox Hill to essentially halve Olde Homestead. Dominic Carr converted an eight-footer for birdie. Teammate David Blichar’s birdie attempt for the win stopped a revolution short.

Onto No. 11, where Jones hooked his approach from 145 yards into the left greenside bunker.

“It was a deep bunker, but luckily it sat up pretty nice and was uphill. In the traps, you can swing pretty hard and get spin on it, and that’s what I did,” Jones, 59, of Laflin, Pa., said.

His extrication hit the hole and came to rest 10 feet past. A pressure-packed par putt for the win ensued.

“I knew as long as I kept my head down and putted through it, as long as it made it to the hole, it was going in,” Jones, a Fox Hill member of eight years, said. “To be honest with you, I thought we were going to tie or lose. I didn’t realize [Olde Homestead] didn’t play as well as it looked from our perspective in the fairway. That’s why I said, ‘Did we win?’ It’s always great to be the winning putt.”

Thursday marked Jones’ Senior Coal Scuttle debut. He missed the reschedule date a year ago because of a vacation to Mexico. Jones made this year’s Fox Hill team by virtue of a Top 5 finish in the club’s senior championship.

“I think everybody at Fox Hill is friends. When it comes to a team event like this, we all come together and play as one. I think you saw that today,” Jones said. “I’m all about legacy, and there’s a lot of legacy at Fox Hill. It means a lot to everybody there for us to win.”

Huntsville’s closer (par 4, 409 yards) sealed the playoff fate for both teams. Blichar, the final Olde Homestead team member on the course, whizzed a 4-hybrid from 183 yards to 18 inches. The conversion capped a sensational rally. Blichar inked 4 under on the back nine to inject life into his team. The reigning Senior Coal Scuttle medalist also birdied Nos. 12 (par 5, 471 yards), 15 (par 3, 183 yards) and 16 (par 4, 366 yards). A pair of 15-footers, punctuated by an eight-footer on the 16^th following a wedge from 105 yards.

An about-face to Blichar’s outward 43 (7 over).

“I found a rhythm. After that triple bogey on No. 4, I said, ‘Let’s get down to the basics,’” Blichar, 61, of Allentown, Pa., said. “[Playing partner] Joe [Weiscarger] played well today. We just kind of fed off each other.”

Gill, twitched by a three-putt bogey from 12 feet on No. 17 (par 3, 161 yards), exited the 18^th hole with a double bogey. He flailed a hybrid into the right trees and exhausted three strokes to reach the putting surface. A three-shot cushion for Fox Hill suddenly evaporated.

Two hours later, Gill held the Scuttle trophy amid flashbulbs.

“The lows and highs of golf, right? When I three-putted No. 17 and double bogeyed No. 18, I knew I kind of screwed up, not just my own score but for the team. I felt terrible,” Gill, 65, of Shavertown, Pa., said. “As it turned out, it was a great playoff. I loved to see Mark Jones make the great up-and-down he made for the win. That’s a good story to tell.”

Told.

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.