Father & Son (Younger)

HVCC’s Isztwans ink 66, take Father & Son (Younger)

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — The flashbulbs triggered flashbacks for Andy Isztwan Wednesday.

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It happened once he and son Patrick inked a 31 (4 under) on the front nine at Concord Country Club (par 70, 6,217 yards) during the 63^rd Father & Son (Younger). Andy’s mind immediately travelled to the 2018 Father & Son (Middle), when he and son Brian made the turn in 5 under. The team stumbled on the back nine and finished tied for third that year.

Andy didn’t let a sore spot stay sore. He and Patrick, members of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, finished at 4-under-par 66 to capture the tournament’s Junior Division. Elmhurst Country Club’s William Pabst, Sr. and his son William placed second at 1-under-par 69.

The event’s format is selective drive/alternate shot.

“It [the 2018 Father & Son] was a sore spot and a spot of humor within the house. We were talking about it last night at dinner again, having a few laughs,” Andy, 51, said.

“Brian always brings it up because he always talks about how well dad was playing that day,” Patrick, 17, added. “There’s no sharing the blame on that one.”

A smile and a quick Andy retort.

“It’s all on me. Once we started getting hot, the flashbulbs started, and that got in my head,” Andy said. “I was thinking about that when I saw [a photographer on No. 10] today. I just tried to focus on the fact that I can still get the ball around. I put the past out of my head.”

Pre-round strategy never departed the Isztwan psyche either. If Andy put the team in position off the tee, then Patrick played the approach, regardless of distance differential.

“We had a plan where if I he hit a good tee shot, we were playing it no matter where mine went. He was putting the ball in play, and I was hitting my irons really well,” Patrick, a rising senior at William Penn Charter School, said. “There were a couple times where we were almost tempted, where I would’ve had a wedge in. But we just stuck to our plan.”

“We routinely would give up 60-80 yards on his tee shot just he could play the approach shot,” Andy added.

Patrick, who won the First Flight in the Junior Boys’ Championship last week, set up three of the team’s four birdies at Concord. On No. 4 (par 3, 164 yards), he burnt the edge with a picture-perfect 9-iron. Andy tapped in for 2. Patrick hit a 7-iron 185 yards to 20 feet on the slight dogleg left No. 7 (par 4, 421 yards). A dicey downhiller from Andy dropped. Patrick converted a 10-footer for birdie on the next hole (par 3, 180 yards) after Andy left a sharp 6-iron below the hole location.

The par 4, 395-yard No. 9 enticed the Huntingdon Valley, Pa. residents to stray from the script. Patrick obliterated a drive, leaving Andy with a favorable wedge in. The Isztwan team resisted temptation, and it paid off. Andy sank a seven-footer for birdie following Patrick’s 9-iron approach from 165 yards.

A clean back nine secured leaderboard status. The Isztwan team flirted with 65 after Andy bumped a wedge to four feet on No. 18 (par 5, 523 yards). Patrick narrowly missed the ensuing birdie putt.

Signing for a 66 is much better than signing for a 105. That’s the score Andy projected if he didn’t consult Brian beforehand.

“This was definitely a family effort,” Andy said. “I was playing some of the best golf I’ve ever played until two days ago. I lost with my swing entirely. So, I spent two hours on the driving range with Brian last night. He finally found something for me that I could play with today. If I didn’t have that, we would’ve shot 105.”

“We were in Hershey [for the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Junior Boys’ Championship], and he left early to come home and see Brian,” Patrick said.

Andy, perhaps out of apprehension, didn’t check his phone whatsoever during the round, therefore eliminating the possibility of any texts seeping into his mind and stirring ghosts. Patrick did receive a message from Brian.

“I expect a dedication for this win,” it read.

Granted.

“I will dedicate it to Brian, for sure. It wouldn’t have happened without him,” Andy said.

Junior-Junior Division
Bellewood Country Club’s Greg and Jack O’Connor carded an 8-over-par 78 to claim the tournament’s Junior-Junior (par 70, 5,794 yards) title.

“We got off to a good start. We were probably overachieving the first nine holes. We hit our first eight greens in regulation and were 1 under,” Greg, 45, said. “Things caught up with us a little bit after that.”

The Collegeville, Pa. residents finished the front nine at even before struggling on the back. It’s during the inward tour, however, when the O’Connor team experienced a highlight a la Tiger Woods in the 2005 Masters.

“I had a 60-footer for birdie on No. 11 (par 3, 152 yards). It ended up hanging on the lip,” Jack, 13, a rising eighth grader at Spring-Ford Middle School, said.

NOTE — Play was suspended at 3:21 p.m. due to weather. It resumed at 3:31 p.m.

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.