Arthur duo nabs Father & Son (Younger) title

  DOWNINGTON, Pa. – The third time is the charm for Bobby and Bob Arthur as the Tavistock CC tandem grabbed the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 50^th Father & Son (Younger) Championship by one stroke in their final year of eligibility with a 5-under-par 67 at Downingtown GC (par 72, 6,209 yards).

  Bobby, who turns 18 this December, and his father carded six birdies Tuesday en route to their first Father & Son (Younger) victory on the 50^th Anniversary of the event.

 The pair got off to a strong start with birdies on hole Nos. 3 (par 3, 169 yards), 4 (par 4, 300 yards) and 5 (par 4, 338 yards) and finished the front nine at 3-under-par 36.

  “We got off to a good start,” Bob said. “We birdied three in a row, so it was good to play well.”

  But both players seemed to cool off just a little bit on the back with only one birdie on No. 10 (par 4, 314 yards) before getting another one on the par 5 16^th (507 yards). Bobby’s strong drive and solid 20-foot lag putt to within a foot for a tap-in birdie by his father let the partners get to 5 under on the day.

  “It was tough to finish because we knew we had to probably shoot 67 [to win],” Bobby said. “The last couple of holes we had to grind it out, but we did what we had to do.”

  Coming to the par 5 18th (536 yards), the plan was simple; just make par.

 The father and son finished one stroke better than J.R and Bill Fasy of Wilmington CC who earned a bit of redemption from last year’s finish at Father & Son (Younger) at Trenton CC. The duo was assessed a two-stroke penalty under Rule 25-3b because Bill (father) mistakenly made a stroke from a wrong putting green.

  “We made a debacle last year,” said Bill of his mistake. “I got a two-stroke penalty called on us when we were 1 under. I felt that we had to come back [this year] and play well.”

  “We played pretty good but still left some out there,” said J.R., who comes off a second-place finish at the Jock MacKenzie Memorial on Monday at Sandy Run CC. “We’ve got similar games. We don’t hit it far but we are always in the middle with a pretty good short game.”

Junior-Junior Division (Par 71, 5,465 yards)

  Robert M. Wurtz, Jr. of Philadelphia Cricket Club and his son Bobby capture the Junior-Junior Division with an even par 72.

  The pair registered four birdies to win the division by four strokes over fellow Philadelphia Cricket Club members Kevin and Ryan Kelly who shot a 4-over-par 75.

  Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 135 Member Clubs and 60,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The purpose of the Association is simple: To promote, protect and preserve the game of golf in the region.