A pair of Petes capture Mid-Am, Senior titles

Two guys named Pete — Pete Samborsky and Pete Betzold — had just finished the final round of the combined Miami Valley Metropolitan Mid-Amateur and Senior Championships on Wednesday evening and were turning in their scorecards when a heavy rainstorm sent everyone scurrying for cover at Miami Valley Golf Club.

Betzold, who turned 50 in April, had won the senior (50-and-over) championship by six strokes with a 36-hole score of 140 but he had only tied the 44-yearold Samborsky for the Mid-Amateur title.

Consequently they had to wait for the rain to subside and return to the first tee for a playoff.

It was still raining when they went back to play the 505-yard, par-5 starting hole. Samborsky hit a big drive and landed a 4-iron on the green to set up a 7-foot eagle putt.

After Betzold reached the green in three and missed his birdie putt, Samborsky cautiously lagged his eagle putt near the hole and tapped in for a winning birdie.

“I didn’t want to play (in the rain) anymore,” Samborsky quipped. “That’s why I hit a good shot.”

Samborsky has won the Miami Valley Metro championship against all comers five times but he had never won the Mid-Am, which excludes anyone 25 and under. “It only took me 19 years,” he said.

Of those in the Mid-Amateur flight, Paul Day and Jeff Scohy tied for second with 150 totals. Day shot 72-78 and Scohy shot 70 in the second round after an 80 in the first round when he received a four-stroke penalty for having too many clubs in his bag.

Scohy said his 11-yearold son, C.J., was experimenting with one of his dad’s wedges when they played golf together on Labor Day but was told not to use it anymore because it was too heavy for him. The boy then put the club in Jeff ’s bag but behind the larger clubs.

Although Jeff said it seemed like his bag was heavier than usual when he got it out of the car at Miami Valley on Tuesday, he didn’t notice the extra club until he was on the 11th hole of the first round. Rule 4-4 in “The Rules of Golf ” calls for a two-stroke penalty at each hole after a breach is discovered with a maximum of four strokes (in stroke play). The 15th club, of course, must be removed.

The penalty strokes turned a 76 into an 80, but Scohy was pleased that, instead of withdrawing, he came back from the disappointment the following day with a 1-under-par 70.

There was a discussion with his son Tuesday night. “I told him what happened,” he said, “but I told him it was my fault — my responsibility to make sure I have no more than 14 clubs in my bag.”

Doug Gage turned in a 149 (74-75) to win the flight for players 65-74 and Charlie Gels was second with a 152 total.

In the flight for players 75-and-up, the winner was Tom Lahaise, who posted a score of 159 with rounds of 82 and 77. John Varner was second with 161.

Chip shots

The Southern Ohio PGA pros will be at Country Club of the North on Monday through Wednesday for the SOPGA Individual Match Play Championship.

The City Stroke Play and Senior Stroke Play Championships will be staged Saturday and Sunday at Kittyhawk Golf Center. Quinten Litteral is the reigning stroke play champ and Steve Block has won four of the last five senior stroke play competitions.