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“No” to withdrawals due to injury. “No” to forgetting golf clubs. “Yes” to a team victory for Ryan Orcutt and Kevin Rossi.
The Green Pond Country Club members carded a 4-under-par 68 to take the 6th AGA/GAP Carlyle Robinson Fall Four-Ball Oct. 14 at Elkview Country Club (par 72, 6,575 yards). They bested Towanda Country Club’s Matt Lee and Ryan Knolles, as well as Elmhurst Country Club’s Marc Cloruri and Michael Bonavoglia, by a stroke.
Orcutt and Rossi, friends since meeting at Green Pond in 2012, started playing — better yet trying to play — in better-ball events two years ago.
“He threw out his back and couldn’t play in one. I threw my back out and couldn’t play in one. He showed up at Elkview last year [for the AGA/GAP George Montgomery Fall Four-Ball] and forgot to bring his golf clubs, so he had to borrow clubs from Elkview,” Rossi, 43, of Scranton, Pa., said. “Weird occurrences have happened when we’ve tried to pair up, but we finally put one together.”
They did, albeit among gusty winds, fast greens and a vigilant field. The Orcutt and Rossi team made its hay during a four-hole stretch on the back nine. Orcutt, a Philadelphia Publinks GA member, carded consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 (par 5, 468 yards) and 15 (par 4, 403 yards): a two-putt following a strong 6-iron on the former, a sand wedge 118 yards to 30 feet on the latter.
“It was straight downhill. If it didn’t hit the middle of the hole, then he was still away,” Rossi, a Scranton Municipal Golf Course member, said. “It was an impossible putt, and it went right in the middle. It was perfect.”
After racing in that downhiller on the 15th hole, the Orcutt and Rossi team accelerated up the leaderboard at 3 under.
The par 3, 185-yard 16th hole, however, halted newfound momentum. A three-putt bogey there made red conversions necessary on the final two. Orcutt answered the call with an eagle on No. 17 (par 5, 489 yards). He hammered a 3-hybrid 247 yards to six feet.
“It came out hot and was online the entire way,” Orcutt, 41, of Bethlehem, Pa., said.
Prior to their victory at Elkview, Orcutt and Rossi attempted to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Chambersburg Country Club. They missed the cut at 3 over.
A trophy says brighter results await.
“Kevin’s an extremely consistent player. I have a lot of confidence in his ability to grind out pars and make a couple of birdies,” Orcutt said. “I’m kind of the opposite type of player. I make a lot of birdies and a lot of eagles. if I don’t have one those days where I’m making birdies and eagles to cancel out some wild shots, then I tend to perhaps to not play so well from a gross-score perspective.
“Kevin is the perfect fit. I think we’ll continue to do good things going forward.”
Rossi wasn’t the only Scranton Municipal member to strike gold at Elkview. Robin Bonda and Steve Mazur captured the event’s Super-Senior title with a 5-under-par 67. Robert Andrejko teamed with Elkview’s Kenneth Bolcavage to post the Senior Division’s lone subpar score: a 3-under-par 69.
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.
