LITITZ, Penn. (May 30, 2007)-- Jason Bernstein, 19, of Paoli., Pa., and Alan Borowsky, 21, of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., longtime friends and golfing buddies from White Manor CC, carded a final-round 65 to finish at 12-under par and captured the 18th Better-Ball Championship by a stroke on Wednesday at Bent Creek CC (par 71, 6,731 yards).
It was the first state better-ball crown for the duo who entered the second and final round as tri-leaders at 6 under. Chris Gallagher, 25, of West Chester, Pa., and Phil Over, 40, of Malvern, Pa., members at Penn Oaks GC, birdied three of the final four holes to finish alone in second place at 11 under.
A group of four teams, including fellow first-round tri-leaders George Elias, 61, of Swoyersville, Pa., and Irem Temple CC and Tony Kondracki, 53, of Kingston, Pa., and Fox Hill CC, placed third at 10 under.
"We’ve been playing together since we were 6 years old," said Bernstein, a sophomore at the University of Delaware. "We felt we had just as good a shot as anyone coming into the tournament."
This was the first better-ball title of any kind for Bernstein and Borowsky.
Nine holes into the final round, Elias and Kondracki appeared poised to take the crown. The two made eight straight 3s on the front side thanks to some white-hot putting and a par 5 on the ninth hole (548 yards) to make the turn in 29 and 12-under par. Bernstein and Borowsky, a group behind, posted a 4-under par 31 and were two strokes back with nine holes to go.
However, a birdie by Bernstein on No. 11 (par 4, 369 yards) tightened the gap and when Elias and Kondracki bogeyed No. 17 (par 4, 310 yards), their first over-par score of the day, the two groups fell into a tie. In the meantime, Gallagher and Over had already posted their final score in the clubhouse.
Minutes later on No. 17, Bernstein and Borowsky took the lead for good. Bernstein launched his drive into the back greenside bunker while Borowsky played safe and placed his approach shot from 120 yards out to eight feet. Bernstein stayed aggressive and followed his drive up by knocking the bunker shot to two feet. The easy birdie put the two at 12 under with the reachable par 5, 18th (523 yards) left.
Elias and Kondracki seemingly ran out of steam, however, and made another bogey with errant tee shots on the final hole. Bernstein and Borowsky, knowing a par would win, played conservative. Both recorded fives after leaving themselves with short approach shots.
"I told Jason we had no control over what anyone else does so we can’t worry about that," said Borowsky, a recent graduate of Lehigh University. "I told him we need to take it one shot a time."
On the front nine, Bernstein recorded three birdies and Borowsky two. Bernstein sucked a wedge back to two feet on No. 3 (par 4, 431 yards), made a downhill 18-foot slider on No. 8 (par 4, 418 yards) and knocked a 25-foot chip on No. 9 to five feet.
Borowsky put a sand wedge from 102 yards to eight feet on No. 4 (par 4, 403 yards) and made a tricky downhiller on the driveable 7th hole (par 4, 321 yards) after both he and his partner came up about 10 yards short.
Gallagher and Over made a stirring push to get close. The two made the turn in 3-under 32 and found themselves in the hunt when Gallagher hit it to a foot on No. 15 (par 3, 235 yards) with a 3-iron; go up-and-down from the right greenside moguls on No. 17 and hit a flop shot from long and right of the 18th green to six feet.
"I knew we were chasing all day," said Over. Added Gallagher, "I though we would need 62 to win."
A total of 61 teams competing in the Better-Ball Championship. Heading into the final round, 20 teams were within three strokes of each other at the top of the leaderboard.
| Name |
Club |
Rd. 1 |
Rd. 2 |
Tot. |
| Bernstein, Jason/Borowsky, Alan |
White Manor CC |
65 |
65 |
130 |
| Over, Phil/Gallagher, Chris |
Penn Oaks GC |
67 |
64 |
131 |
| Cohan, Jason/Cohan, Adam |
The ACE Club |
66 |
66 |
132 |
| Kliewer, Craig S./Gast, Corey |
Meadia Heights GC |
67 |
65 |
132 |
| Elias, George/Kondracki, Anthony G. |
Irem Temple CC/Fox Hill CC |
65 |
67 |
132 |
| Fink, Jr., Artie/Miraglia, John |
Sinking Valley C C |
68 |
64 |
132 |
| Hanford, Stuart/Gebhard, Chris |
Lebanon CC |
67 |
66 |
133 |
| Detweiler, Brandon/Detweiler, Marlin |
Lancaster CC |
68 |
65 |
133 |
| Prowant, Zach/Choate, Warren J. |
Williamsport CC |
66 |
68 |
134 |
| Williams, Eric W./Gardas, James M. |
Honesdale GC |
67 |
67 |
134 |
| Sweeney, John/Campbell, Robert |
Lancaster Country Club |
70 |
64 |
134 |
| Boerner, Stephen J./Griest, Jeffrey L. |
PGA Individual/Waynesborough CC |
67 |
67 |
134 |
| Texter, Jarred/Hostetter, Jerry D. |
Lancaster CC |
67 |
68 |
135 |
| Pugh, Scott/Boyer, Bennett S. |
CC of Harrisburg/Blue Ridge CC |
67 |
69 |
136 |
| Gemmill, Jud/Over, Alan R. |
Lancaster Host GC/Bent Creek CC |
66 |
70 |
136 |
| Mattare, Matthew E./Fardon, David M |
Saucon Valley CC |
67 |
70 |
137 |
| Llewellyn, Tim/Maurer, Matthew |
PGA Individual/CC of Harrisburg |
68 |
69 |
137 |
| Baker, Shawn/Daniels, Jeff |
Dauphin Highlands/Lancaster CC |
65 |
72 |
137 |
| Barry, John/Groff, Brian K. |
Lancaster CC/Conestoga CC |
66 |
71 |
137 |
| Kania, Jr., James/Willcox, Cole |
Overbrook GC/Philadelphia CC |
67 |
71 |
138 |
| Ascolese, Gerard F./Sheva, Gregory A. |
North Hills CC |
70 |
68 |
138 |
| Vassil, Michael/Domanish, Michael J |
CC of Harrisburg/Elmhurst CC |
71 |
67 |
138 |
| Balcavage, Frank P/Lauver, Nat |
Bellewood GC/Lost Creek GC |
68 |
71 |
139 |
| Pheasant, Jay/Destefano, Stephen |
Sinking Valley CC |
69 |
70 |
139 |
| Smith, Benjamin/Albert, Brixton |
PGA Individual/Meadia Heights GC |
70 |
69 |
139 |
| Tait, Charles N./Mayne, Scott |
Dauphin Highlands/Hershey CC |
69 |
71 |
140 |
| Knoll, Edward H./Troutman, George E. |
Deer Run GC |
74 |
67 |
141 |
| Wuerstle, Jeffrey J./Klee, Scott R. |
Indian Valley GC |
70 |
71 |
141 |
| Dietrich, Matt/Simmons, Jim |
Whitford CC/Stonewall GC |
67 |
74 |
141 |
| Filling, Jay J./Leaman, Mark E. |
Bent Creek CC/PGA Individual |
71 |
70 |
141 |
| Barlik, Francis/Gregorczyk, Edward |
PGA Individual/Glenmaura National GC |
71 |
71 |
142 |
| D'Amato, Phil/Adams, Gregory |
Deer Run Golf Club/Dauphin Highlands |
74 |
68 |
142 |
| Fugal, Jack/Smith, William F. |
The ACE Club/Chambersburg CC |
69 |
73 |
142 |
| Wolf, Austin A./Rowe, Ben P. |
Bent Creek CC/Conestoga CC |
71 |
72 |
143 |
| Hope, J. S./Horutz, John |
CC of Harrisburg/Glenmaura National GC |
72 |
71 |
143 |
| O'Sullivan, John/Domenick, Michael |
Chester Valley GC/Phoenixville CC |
72 |
71 |
143 |
| Pompey, Alexander D./Gross, Richard |
CC of harrisburg/Glenmaura National GC |
70 |
74 |
144 |
| Umani, Richard E./Terebesi, Christopher J. |
Philadelphia Publinks/Chester Valley GC |
69 |
75 |
144 |
| Sutherland, Nathan/Ryder, Samuel |
Berkshire CC/Aronimink GC |
68 |
77 |
145 |
| Gambacurta, Chris L./Franks, Ryan M. |
Sinking Valley CC/Totteridge GC |
75 |
70 |
145 |
| Abrams, Andrew C/Rugg, Patrick |
Rolling Green GC |
74 |
71 |
145 |
| Strohl, David/Blichar, David J |
Moselem Springs GC/Blue Ridge CC |
74 |
71 |
145 |
| Gross, Michael J./Hudacek III, Stephen L. |
Glenmaura National CC |
71 |
75 |
146 |
| Weaver, Jason/Brubaker, Erik |
Heidelberg CC/Foxchase GC |
67 |
79 |
146 |
| Farrell, Kevin/Gunnison, Kyle |
C C of Harrisburg |
77 |
69 |
146 |
| Webber, Rich/Brown, Dan |
Royal Oaks GC/Pine Meadows GC |
75 |
71 |
146 |
| Stewart, Bob/Mairone, Thomas |
Westmoreland/McCall G&CC |
69 |
78 |
147 |
| Riley, Fred/Porter, R.J. |
Toftrees GC |
74 |
73 |
147 |
| Corbett, Brian T./Gill, Robert |
Huntsville GC/Fox Hill CC |
78 |
70 |
148 |
| Wolf, Bob/Lefever, Connor |
Bent Creek CC/Lancaster CC |
74 |
74 |
148 |
| Howell, Robert/Cherrix, Vincent |
Dauphin Highlands/Monongahela Valley |
74 |
74 |
148 |
| Sullivan, Patrick/Welsh, Matthew |
Philadelphia Publinks/St. Davids GC |
73 |
75 |
148 |
| Callaghan, Jim/Lavin, Jon E. |
Rolling Green GC |
70 |
78 |
148 |
| Maguire, Bo/Brown, Jason |
Brookside CC/Huntsville GC |
72 |
77 |
149 |
| Strickler, Ryan W./Strickler, Ed |
Huntingdon CC |
78 |
72 |
150 |
| Mesko, Jason A./Mesko, Jr., John P |
CC of Scranton |
75 |
75 |
150 |
| Fogarty, James James/Eckert, Gerald C. |
Bent Creek CC |
74 |
77 |
151 |
| Smedley, Mark A./Bell, Andrew |
Bellewood GC |
77 |
74 |
151 |
| Rolli, William J./Berry, David |
PGA Individual |
76 |
76 |
152 |
| Kowalski, Jason/Kowalski, Robert C. |
PGA Individual/Philadelphia Publinks |
76 |
77 |
153 |
| Connors, Chris/Connors, Dan J |
Sewickley Heights GC/Pilgrims Oak GC |
77 |
77 |
154 |