Teenagers take Four-Man Team title

  CAPE MAY COURTHOUSE, N.J. – Four teenagers, three of them sons of regional golf professionals, carded a 4-under par 140 Thursday to win the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 10^th Four-Man Team competition at Stone Harbor GC (par 72, 6,433 yards).

  The winners were George Forster Jr., 19, his brother, Greg, 16, of Radnor Valley CC; Tony Perla, 16, of Olde York CC, and Chris Kaspar, 18, of Lu Lu CC.

  The Forster brothers are sons of George Forster Sr., professional at Radnor Valley, and Tony Perla, professional at Olde York.

  Starting on No. 10, they blistered the back for birdies on all but 11 and 12 to post a 5-under par 67 in a two best balls format, then coasted home with a 1-over 73 on the front.

  “It was a real team effort,” George Forster said. “Everyone chipped in. We backed each other up. We had a good day on a course we liked a lot.”

  “We also made a lot of putts,” Perla said. “We really didn’t hit it too close to the hole, but we made the putts we needed.”

  There weren’t any major highlights, Forster added. “We just played good, steady team golf.”

  Although the course was termed “in perfect condition,” the narrow, rolling, water-lined links at Stone Harbor took their toll on most of the field of 200 players. The winning score of 140 was the highest in the 10-year history of the tournament.

  Little Mill CC’s foursome of Jim Bravyak, George Smith, Gary Zalis and Edward Giosa finished second, six strokes back. Playing early in the day, they posted a 2-over 146. It held up most of the long day until the teenagers came home in a setting sun.

  The team of Fred Borden of The Springhaven Club and Bob Hillen, Dick Carroll and Bunky Salerno of Wildwood G&CC took net honors at 21-under par 123.

  The format was two best gross and two best net scores, with handicaps set at 90 percent of individual course handicaps.

**Teams only eligible to place in one division.