Rothaus duo tops inaugural Father-Son (Middle)

 POTTSTOWN, Pa. – Brian and Zach Rothaus of Philmont CC took the inaugural Father & Son Middle tournament at Bellewood GC (par 71, 6,420 yards) Wednesday after battling through the rough west-bound Pennsylvania Turnpike traffic and a 126-player field to card a 3-under-par 68.

   “Just making it in time to be able to play was enough for us,” said Brian, 52, after he and his son barely made their 8:40 a.m. tee time. “The fact that we got here just in time made the golf a lot easier.”

  Added Zach, “We thought we had no chance of making it.”

  After setting down from their early-morning race to the tee box, the Philmont CC pair got off to an even-keel start finishing the front side at even par. But the two of a kind quickly turned it on with a birdie on No. 11 (par 4, 401 yards) after Zach, a 19-year-old from Huntingdon Valley, Pa., sank a right-to-left breaking, 35-footer from the right fringe.

  The Rothaus team got back into red figures in almost the same fashion four holes later after Brian sent in a downhill 35-footer of his own for birdie on No. 15 (par 4, 387 yards).

  Zach then helped his father add another birdie on No. 17 (par 3, 176 yards) when his smooth 5-iron landed just six feet left of the hole where Brian then cleaned up the putt.

  “We’ve always been in the hunt for the [Father-Son (Younger)] events, so it’s nice to finally win one,” Zach said. “It’s a pretty cool feeling.”

  When asked what it meant for them to win the inaugural edition of the Father-Son (Middle) Brian put it simply saying, “We’re just happy to play after the drive we had to just get here on time.”

  For the Detweilers, who finished in a tie for second place with 2007 Father-Son (Younger) champs Bob and Bobby Arthur with an even-par 71, it was a different start all together. The Detweiler team began their day with a pair of double bogeys on hole Nos. 10 (par 5, 557 yards) and 11 that helped bring them to 6-over par after their 8^th hole (No. 17) of the day. A fact that didn’t seem that bad at the time for Brandon, 20.

  “We were on [No. 18] and I said to my dad, ‘No big deal, all we have to do is make a couple birdies and we’ll get it back to even,’ ” said a mistaken Brandon to his father. “He then looked at me, paused and said, ‘Brandon, we’re 6-over.’ I responded to him saying, ‘OK, that might be a problem then.’ “

  Problem or not, the Detweiler pair proceed to fire in back-to-back-to-back birdies on holes No. 18 (par 5, 5151 yards), 1 (par 4, 365 yards) and 2 (par 5, 511 yards).

  “It was fun,” said Marlin, 51, of their birdie tear. “It’s always nice to bring it back.”

  When it was all said and done, Brandon and Marlin finished their back side (the actual front nine) in 5-under par to finish in a tie for second.

  “We played well but it was really nice to play with our friends, Ron and Doug Cusick,” said Bob, 50, of his long-time Tavistock CC buddies. “I think we were the only ones that had the fathers riding in one cart while the sons rode in the other. It was fun to play alongside them in this tournament.”

  Net Division
  James and James, III, Rocks finished with a 2-under-par 68 to take the net division of the event.

  The inaugural Father-Son Middle tournament is for those father and son teams with sons ranging in ages from 18 to 29. The event was conceived because of the high demand for participation in both the Father-Son Younger, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2007, and the Older tournament, an event in its 97th year.

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  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 136 Member Clubs and 56,000 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.