Christovich, Exber ready for title defenses at Crane Cup Invitational
Patrick Christovich
In just its third year, the Crane Cup brings
together one of the top mid-amateur
fields of the entire season. In fact, the
invitational, scheduled to tee off Friday
at the Floridian in Palm City, Fla., has quickly
become one of the nation's top
events.
According to organizer and tournament director
Kevin Marsh, who's not a bad
player himself (winner of the 2005 U.S. Mid-
Amateur), this year's field features
the current winners of the U.S. Mid-Amateur,
U.S. Senior Amateur and the British
Senior Amateur.
Not bad for year No. 3.
The event launched in early 2012 with Robert
Funk and Paul Simson winning
titles. This past January, Patrick Christovich
prevailed in a playoff over Todd
Burgan with Brady Exber winning the senior
title.
Indeed, a long list of elite amateurs for such a
new event.
This year's field is equally impressive, boasting
some of the hottest players in the
game. As previously mentioned, major winners
Mike McCoy, Doug Hanzel and
George Zahringer will be in attendance.
Hanzel has remained hot after his U.S. Senior
victory, winning the Society of
Seniors Dale Morey Championship. In the Crane
Cup senior field, he'll be a
favorite and undoubtedly challenged by
contenders Grady Brame, Duke Delcher,
Randy Elliot, Doug Hanzel, Pat Tallent, Rick
Woulfe and Zahringer.
In the Mid-Amateur Division, Christovich will
hope to win for a second straight
time following a stellar season. He'll battle the
likes of Ryan Abbate, Matt
Bianchini, Brett Williams, Jose Maruri, Marsh
and recent winners Gene Elliot, Colby
Harwell, John Veneziano, McCoy and Exber.
Amateurgolf.com will have full coverage of the
event, including recaps and
results.
For a full
view of the field and early-round pairings,
follow this link »
ABOUT THE
Crane Cup
**Will not be held in 2019
54-hole scratch stroke play event
with Mid-Amateur and Senior Divisions, hosted
by
the recently redesigned (Tom Fazio) Floridian
in Palm City, Florida. Tournament Director
Kevin Marsh is a USGA Mid-Amateur
champion and has helped attract a strong
field of committed players for this invitational
tournament.
View Complete Tournament Information