King of the course at Montco Amateur
Robinson sweeps junior and adult divisions at Montco Amateur
ORELAND » Ron Robinson is on a roll.
Heading to Monmouth in a few weeks to begin his college golf career, Robinson is going there playing some of the best golf of his life, especially demonstrated by his last four days. Sunday, on a LuLu Country Club course that was playing tough, Robinson stayed within himself.
Robinson shot even, which was more than enough for him to capture the Montgomery County Amateur Golf Championship.
“It definitely means a lot,” Robinson said. “It felt great to just play good golf and have people see that I am a good player. It’s going to propel me to big things at Monmouth and hopefully I can keep this kind of play up.”
For the second year in a row, the men’s championship winner was also the junior championship winner, which Robinson won with a record-breaking 66 at Plymouth CC on Friday. That followed a win at his home course in Commonwealth National’s club championship on Thursday.
The North Penn graduate has another event lined up Monday, when he will compete at the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Jock Mackenzie Memorial at Sandy Run Country Club.
“My putting has been really good the past couple weeks, which is big, and I’ve been making a lot of putts and hitting for a lot of birdies,” Robinson said. “I just try to play my game. I’ve been doing that and it’s been working.”
Robinson took a one-shot lead into Sunday’s championship round with three players trailing him in a tie for second. LuLu did not prove kind to Buddy Hansen and Dan Furman, who played in Robinson’s group while Rodney Anders posted a 73 to finish second with an overall score of 141.
Furman shot a 77 to finish third with an overall score of 148 while Hansen , a rising senior at La Salle College High School, posted a two-day total of 150 for a fourth-place finish. Curtis Geiger, playing out of Raven’s Claw, finished third with
an overall 149 after shooting a 76 on Sunday.
Corey Betham, a rising senior on Millersville’s golf team, posted the day’s second-best round with a 72 and finished in a tie for second with LuLu’s Caleb Ryan with an overall 152.
A couple of storms rolled through the Oreland/Dresher area Saturday night and another light shower hit during the round, setting up the course to play difficult.
“Overall it was pretty wet from the rains yesterday and the greens were playing a little slow,” Robinson said. “It came down to shooting as many putts as possible. I kept myself around par all day, I had a lot of birdie opportunities where I could either get a birdie on a putt or get a tap-in for par.”
Robinson said he had success hitting his driver on Sunday, striking for both
distance and keeping the flight of the ball straight. He also noted a late hole where he was able to recover from a bad tee shot while holding a three-shot lead without losing any strokes.
“It was fun playing with Dan and Buddy, they’re both really good players,” Robinson said. “I knew it was going to be a battle all day.”
One thing Isabella DiLisio doesn’t always do well is get off to a good start in her rounds. She didn’t have to worry about that on Sunday.
DiLisio, a rising junior at Notre Dame and Hatfield resident, picked up seven birdies in her first nine holes, shot a 30 on the course’s back nine and posted an overall 68 to win her second straight women’s championship title.
“My putter got hot a little bit,” DiLisio said. “I shot a 30 on the back nine, which was my first nine. I stuck a lot in there close and kind of just had everything going.”
Because of ongoing construction at LuLu, the players had to start play on the course’s back nine holes but it didn’t seem to affect DiLisio.
“The eagle to finish yesterday definitely carried into today,” DiLisio said. “It was just like starting on the front hole for me.”
One of DiLisio’s biggest strengths is her power off the tee. Sunday, she continued to use her driver to its best, hitting the ball far and accurate. DiLisio, who plays out of Indian Valley, said she was able to take advantage on LuLu’s par-5 holes which led to a number of her biridies and brought down her round score.
DiLisio feels like her game is coming around in total and is hoping for big things when she gets back to South Bend to begin the fall college season.
Between her college career and other tournaments she plays in throughout the year, DiLisio does a lot of travel for golf. But she’s continued to make time to play in the Montco Amateur over the years.
“I like that it’s the Montgomery County amateur, it’s close to home and it’s a nice win for my hometown,” DiLisio said. “My other stuff, I’m usually traveling pretty far and staying in hotels and all that. This tournament, I can stay at home, my family gets to come out and watch.”