Wilmington’s Davis and Randy Mitchell take Father & Son (Younger)

WAYNE, Pa. — Wilmington Country Club’s Davis and Randy Mitchell look forward to the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Father & Son (Younger) each year, and for good reason. They won the event’s Junior-Junior Division in 2010 and 2011 and finished as runner-up in the Junior ranks a year ago.

  The Mitchell’s impressive run continued Thursday; they fired a 3-under-par 67 to capture the tournament’s 56th edition at a sunny St. Davids Golf Club (par 70, 6,229 yards).

   “It’s always a pleasure playing with him,” Davis, 15, an incoming sophomore at The Tatnall School, said. “This is a big event. Whenever we play, we just try our best and bear down. We seem to play well every year. We just had a good time. It’s nice to spend quality time with him.”

   “There are no other events like this,” Randy, 52, added. “You can’t beat playing golf with your sons. Davis is a competitor. He hit a lot of high quality shots. I was just along for the ride.”

  The Wilmington, Del. residents created scoring chances throughout their tour of the Donald Ross design. On No. 3 (par 4, 338 yards), Randy drilled a wedge 60 yards to 10 feet, and his son cleaned up the birdie putt. Randy stopped a pitching wedge at three feet for a 2 on No. 6 (par 3, 137 yards). Once the Mitchell’s made the turn, Davis’ flatstick caught fire. He executed a 20-footer for birdie on the par 3, 144-yard 10th hole following an 8-iron from his father that settled left of the flagstick. On No. 11 (par 5, 526 yards), Davis smashed a downhill 4-iron 228 yards onto a fairway alcove on the left side. Randy beamed a wedge 40 yards that grabbed the front fringe, and Davis then rolled in a left-to-right breaking 25-footer for birdie.

   “I was trying to make it. I felt pretty confident after making the one on No. 10,” Davis said. “I tried to give it a good stroke, and it was a little slow coming out of the fringe and going up the hill.”

  A pair of par saves courtesy of dad allowed the Mitchell’s to maintain momentum. Randy swept in a downhill 10-footer on the dogleg left, 402-yard 13th hole and a clutch five-footer on No. 15 (par 4, 425 yards). The Mitchell’s lone blemish occurred on the par 4, 427-yard No. 7. Randy’s drive splashed into the water hazard while Davis caught the right fairway bunker with his strike. Randy’s extrication effort from 175 yards left the team short of the putting surface for its third stroke. Davis didn’t fully accelerate on his uphill chip, and Randy missed a 10-footer to save 4.

   “We were fine with it. We knew there were plenty of opportunities out there,” Davis said.

  Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Kevin and Ryan Kelly filed an even-par 70 in the morning to place second.

   “Ryan drove it great today. He put us in a lot of great spots,” Kevin, 47, said. “With him being 17 [years old], it’s the last year we could play, so it’s nice to put a good round together.”

  “We had a lot of fun. Dad had a lot of short irons, and he’s good with them,” Ryan, a recent Hatboro-Horsham High School graduate, said.

Junior-Junior

  Running Deer Golf Club’s Edward and Jacob Hanzel posted a 3-over-par 73 to win the Junior-Junior Division. The Sewell, N.J. residents carded four birdies against seven bogeys on the day.

   “It’s awesome to win with dad,” Jacob, 13, an incoming freshman at Washington Township High School, said.

   “The weather was beautiful, the golf course was great and being with your son playing golf [was the best part],” Edward, 45, said. “We made a couple of bomb putts and didn’t miss any short ones.”

  One of those bomb putts occurred on the par 3, 127-yard 10th hole. Jacob’s pitching wedge landed 50 feet below the hole location, and Edward canned the ensuing birdie try.

  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 143 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.