Fox Hill wins seventh straight Supers Coal Scuttle
Seven-for-seven.
Fox Hill Country Club remained perfect in the Super-Senior Coal Scuttle Championship. It won its seventh-straight title in the seventh year of the event. The victory meant a little bit more this time with the recent passing of clubmate and team member Bill Lawler in late July.
Fox Hill finished at 10-over 220 on its home course (par 70, 5,483 yards) Wednesday, four shots clear of runner-up Emanon Country Club. The format is individual stroke play with the top three-of-four scores counting toward a team’s total. There is also an individual competition. The defending team champion is the host venue.
“A win is a win, and when you’re playing tournaments at 65 and older, you never know when your last tournament is going to be,” Jim Hoover, 67, of Dallas, Pa., said. “It’s always good to win as a team and we played very well.
“Billy Lawler was one of our players last year. He passed away recently. He’s always been great about helping the AGA and is dearly missed.”
Last year’s individual medalist, Hoover, came up two shots short of a repeat. Emanon’s Gene Ghivacci took home that hardware title with a 1-over-par 71.
Hoover, Ed Hennigan, Berry Richard and James Devers comprised Team Fox Hill. Hoover and Richard both led the way for Fox Hill by carding birdies on No. 3 (Par 3, 151 yards). Then on No. 7 (par 3, 160 yards), Hoover carded the lone birdie for the group after knocking a pitching wedge to three feet and jarred the putt..
“Par 3s were good to me yesterday,” Hoover said. “It’s always an advantage when a team gets to play at their home course because you know the breaks of the greens better and feel a lot more comfortable when playing.”
Hoover delivered again late in his round, finishing with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 17 (par 3, 115 yards) and 18 (par 4, 363 yards).
“I wasn’t playing too great up until that point, especially on the back nine,” Hoover said. “It’s always a good feeling to have a strong finish and put our team in a position to win.”
Only Hoover and Hennigan represented Team Fox Hill a year ago. And in different conditions.
“You never know when you have new guys on the team and how they’re going to play,” Hoover said. “However, the heat was a lot more intense than last year, and at that point, it was about who’s going to survive the weather, and our guys ultimately survived that test.”
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 300 Member Clubs and 80,000 individual members are spread across the Eastern half of Pennsylvania and parts of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
