MACUNGIE, Pa. — Jim Krass and his son Matt, both of Radley Run Country Club, defeated James and his son Alex Blickle of LedgeRock Golf Club in a sudden-death playoff to capture the Father & Son (Middle) at a pleasant Brookside Country Club of Allentown (par 71, 6,208 yards) Thursday. Both teams, as well as the Depauls, Tony and Tony, Jr. of North Hills Country Club, and Johnsons, Michael and Jim of Talamore Country Club, finished regulation at 1-over-par 72. The Depauls and Johnsons, the tournament’s defending champions, were unable to return for the playoff.
“I’ve gone through some tough times in my life and have always had my dad for me,” Matt, 23, said. “I’m more happy for him; he stuck by me when everything was bad, and now we have this moment to share forever.”
In the playoff, Matt, playing his dad’s drive out of the left rough on No. 1 (par 4, 389 yards), the first playoff hole, whacked a 54-degree wedge 87 yards to nine feet flag-high right. The Blickles, of Reading, Pa., elected to use Alex’s drive, which found the fairway — some 70 yards from a front left hole location. James nuked a lob wedge over the green. Alex then lofted a chip that landed on the green, tracked toward the hole, skirted the left edge and stopped on the front collar. His dad’s putt to save par drifted left of the cup. With the Blickles in for bogey, the Krass team, of Unionville, Pa., executed a safe two-putt for victory. Tears overcame Jim as he embraced Matt afterward.
“I remember the day he was born and I just had this bubble of emotion built up inside me. I had that moment again,” Jim, 54, said. “You just don’t have those moments a lot. We’ve been playing together since he was 5 years old. It’s a special bond. I don’t feel like father and son. I feel like he’s my best friend. To share a moment like that with your best friend is a moment we’ll remember forever.”
The Blickles, playing in the event’s second group, bogeyed their final two holes in regulation to fall into the 1 over bind. Both James and Alex missed the No. 17 (par 3, 166 yards) green. James guided a chip onto the putting surface; Alex missed the par putt. Alex also missed the No. 18 (par 4, 396 yards) green right with an 8-iron from 149 yards. James left his ensuing chip 10 feet short. Alex’s par effort dove right of the jar.
Prior to the tough closing, the Blickles fired a birdie on the par 4, 420-yard 14th hole to move to 1 under overall. Alex hammered a 5-iron 186 yards to 12 feet right of the flagstick, and James cleaned up the birdie putt.
“It was a lot of fun playing — definitely our best showing in a tournament together,” Alex,19, a sophomore at Kenyon College, said. “It was a great time.”
“It’s always fun to play with him,” James, 53, added. “It’s changed because he’s now definitely the better golfer as opposed to when we started playing together. We had a lot of fun together today.”
In regulation, the Krass team carded two birdies against three bogeys. After Jim’s approach on No. 7 (par 4, 362 yards) settled on the left collar, Matt cozied the birdie attempt to four feet. His dad didn’t finish off the par putt. The Krass team, though, bounced back with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 9 (par 4, 278 yards) and 10 (par 4, 406 yards). Matt drove the tempting yet attainable par 4 and his dad lagged the eagle effort to a foot. Jim also set up the No. 10 birdie, hitting a gap wedge 105 yards to 25 feet below the flagstick. Matt canned the uphill, right-to-left breaker.
Bogeys on Nos. 14 (par 4, 420 yards) and 16 (par 4, 380 yards) essentially tossed the Krass team into the playoff. Jim powered a 5-iron 183 yards to 25 feet on the first. Matt ran a 15-footer for birdie four feet by, and dad missed the comebacker. Standing 132 yards from the No. 16 flagstick, Matt left his 9-iron 10 yards from the front of the green. Jim propelled a putt up the slope to seven feet, but Matt couldn’t convert the par try.
“We’ve played together so long that we know exactly what the other person needs,” Matt said. “When one person hit a bad shot, the other person stepped up and made it happen.”
“We write little things on our golf balls that have sayings that mean something to us,” Jim added. “He always is telling me, ‘commit to your shot.’ [The key today] was believing that the next shot was going to be great and forgetting about the bad stuff.”
The Father & Son (Middle) tournament is for those father and son teams with sons ranging in ages from 18 to 29. The event was conceived in 2008 because of the high demand for participation in both the Father & Son (Younger), which celebrates its 55th anniversary this year, and the Older tournament, an event in its 101st year.
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 145 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
Gross Division
Name, club
Score
*Jim Krass/Matt Krass, Radley Run Country Club
72
*Alex Blickle/James Blickle, LedgeRock Golf Club
72
*Jim Johnson/Michael Johnson, Unaffiliated/Talamore Country Club
72
*Tony DePaul/Tony DePaul, Jr., North Hills Country Club
72
Jonathan Heydt/William Heydt, Moselem Springs Golf Club
73
Phillip Villari, Jr./Phillip Villari, Sr., Riverton Country Club
73
Brian Rothaus/Zachary Rothaus, Five Ponds Golf Club/Philmont Country Club
74
Jay Deakins/Scott Deakins, St. Davids Golf Club
75
Evan McGrain/Kevin McGrain, Old York Country Club at Chesterfield
75
Jeff Klagholz/Martin Klagholz, Applebrook Golf Club/Aronimink Golf Club
76
Charles Bernard/Dan Bernard, Aronimink Golf Club
76
Michael Moran/Tom Moran, Overbrook Golf Club
76
James Arsenault/Zach Arsenault, Little Mill Country Club
76
Christopher Fuga/Mark Fuga, Phoenixville Country Club
76
Doug Roberts/Bradley Roberts, Gillette Ridge Golf Club/Wedgwood Country Club
77
Joseph Dulka, Jr./Joseph Dulka, Bellewood Golf Club/DuPont Country Club
77
Steve Scarpetta/Vincent Scarpetta, Jr., Glenmaura National Golf Club
77
Joseph Seufer/Trevor Seufer, Stonewall
78
David West/Kyle West, Whitford Country Club
78
Dave O’Brien/Kevin O’Brien, Cedarbrook Country Club
78
Harris Pogust/Zachary Pogust, The ACE Club
78
Gary Yeager/Royce Yeager, Philadelphia Cricket Club
78
Thomas C. Brennan/Thomas Brennan, Blue Bell Country Club/Five Ponds Golf Club
79
Drew Templin/Joseph Templin, LedgeRock Golf Club
79
Bobby Wurtz/Robert Wurtz, Jr., Philadelphia Cricket Club
79
Bob Fair/Daniel Lee, Golden Oaks Golf Club
80
David MacGregor/Scott MacGregor, Merion Golf Club
80
Joe Montgomery/Patrick Montgomery, Riverton Country Club
81
Jef Fogel/Ryan H. Fogel, Penn Oaks Golf Club
81
Hayes Clark/Jeff Clark, Lookaway Golf Club
81
John Fasy/William Fasy, Wilmington Country Club
82
Brian Ginty/Kyle Ginty, Talamore Country Club
83
Cole Quigley/Mark Quigley, Lu Lu Country Club
84
Bryan Quigley/Mark Quigley, Lu Lu Country Club
84
Brian Powell, Jr./Brian Powell, Burlington Country Club
84
Gene Carroll/Ryan Carroll, Chester Valley Golf Club
84
Joe Horvath/Peter Horvath, Honeybrook Golf Club
84
Kenneth Oster/Zachary Oster, Brookside C.C. of Allentown
84
Daniel Minger/Tom Minger, Brookside Country Club
88
Edward Bader/Keith Bader, Links Golf Club/Medford Lakes Country Club
88
Del Markward/Dutch Markward, North Hills Country Club
89
John Leighton, Jr./John Leighton, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
89
Clifford Cohn/Matt Cohn, Radnor Valley Country Club
90
John Marshalek/Stephen Marshalek, Whitford Country Club
91
James Ryan/Jimmy Ryan, Waynesborough Country Club
93
Kevin Zipf/Mark Zipf, Philadelphia Country Club
93
Mark Carnevale/Mark Carnevale, Golden Oaks Golf Club
NC
Luke Liddell/Tom Liddell, Torresdale-Frankford Country Club
DQ
Net Division
Name, club
Score
Tony DePaul/Tony DePaul, Jr., North Hills Country Club
67
Jim Krass/Matt Krass, Radley Run Country Club
68
Jim Johnson/Michael Johnson, Unaffiliated/Talamore Country Club
68
Phillip Villari, Jr./Phillip Villari, Sr., Riverton Country Club
68
Christopher Fuga/Mark Fuga, Phoenixville Country Club
68
Alex Blickle/James Blickle, LedgeRock Golf Club
70
Joseph Seufer/Trevor Seufer, Stonewall
70
Brian Rothaus/Zachary Rothaus, Five Ponds Golf Club/Philmont Country Club
71
Thomas C. Brennan/Thomas Brennan, Blue Bell Country Club/Five Ponds Golf Club
71
Drew Templin/Joseph Templin, LedgeRock Golf Club
71
Joe Montgomery/Patrick Montgomery, Riverton Country Club
71
Jay Deakins/Scott Deakins, St. Davids Golf Club
72
Doug Roberts/Bradley Roberts, Gillette Ridge Golf Club/Wedgwood Country Club
72
Jonathan Heydt/William Heydt, Moselem Springs Golf Club
73
Evan McGrain/Kevin McGrain, Old York Country Club at Chesterfield
73
Jeff Klagholz/Martin Klagholz, Applebrook Golf Club/Aronimink Golf Club
73
Gary Yeager/Royce Yeager, Philadelphia Cricket Club
73
Michael Moran/Tom Moran, Overbrook Golf Club
74
Joseph Dulka, Jr./Joseph Dulka, Bellewood Golf Club/DuPont Country Club
74
Hayes Clark/Jeff Clark, Lookaway Golf Club
74
Brian Powell, Jr./Brian Powell, Burlington Country Club
74
Kenneth Oster/Zachary Oster, Brookside C.C. of Allentown
74
Edward Bader/Keith Bader, Links Golf Club/Medford Lakes Country Club
74
Charles Bernard/Dan Bernard, Aronimink Golf Club
75
David West/Kyle West, Whitford Country Club
75
Bob Fair/Daniel Lee, Golden Oaks Golf Club
75
Brian Ginty/Kyle Ginty, Talamore Country Club
75
Joe Horvath/Peter Horvath, Honeybrook Golf Club
75
James Arsenault/Zach Arsenault, Little Mill Country Club
76
David MacGregor/Scott MacGregor, Merion Golf Club
76
Gene Carroll/Ryan Carroll, Chester Valley Golf Club
76
Steve Scarpetta/Vincent Scarpetta, Jr., Glenmaura National Golf Club
77
Harris Pogust/Zachary Pogust, The ACE Club
77
Bobby Wurtz/Robert Wurtz, Jr., Philadelphia Cricket Club
77
Dave O’Brien/Kevin O’Brien, Cedarbrook Country Club
78
Clifford Cohn/Matt Cohn, Radnor Valley Country Club
78
John Leighton, Jr./John Leighton, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
79
Jef Fogel/Ryan H. Fogel, Penn Oaks Golf Club
80
John Fasy/William Fasy, Wilmington Country Club
80
Daniel Minger/Tom Minger, Brookside Country Club
81
Del Markward/Dutch Markward, North Hills Country Club
83
John Marshalek/Stephen Marshalek, Whitford Country Club
83
Cole Quigley/Mark Quigley, Lu Lu Country Club
84
Bryan Quigley/Mark Quigley, Lu Lu Country Club
84
Kevin Zipf/Mark Zipf, Philadelphia Country Club
85
James Ryan/Jimmy Ryan, Waynesborough Country Club
88
Luke Liddell/Tom Liddell, Torresdale-Frankford Country Club
DQ
Mark Carnevale/Mark Carnevale, Golden Oaks Golf Club
NC
