Radley Run’s Jim and Matt Krass win Father & Son (Middle)

  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.