Marlin Detweiller of Lancaster Country Club (left)
Mark Leaman of Honeybrook Golf Club
BERNVILLE, Pa, (June 6, 2012) -- Marlin Detweiller of Lancaster Country Club and Mark Leaman of Honeybrook Golf Club attended kindergarten through college together, with the exception of one year. The lifelong friends and Lancaster County residents competed on Ephrata’s golf team in high school, with Heidelberg Country Club serving as a venue for a few tournaments.
Their experience — both as a team and with the Bernville, Pa. golf course — favored Detweiller and Leaman Wednesday. The two fired a 5-under-par 67 to take the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 53rd Senior Four-Ball Stroke Play at Heidelberg (par 70, 6,149 yards).
“He carried us on the front nine, and I carried us on the back nine,” Detweiller, 55, of Akron, Pa., said. “We pair together well. We enjoy playing together. “It was fun. It’s not like we make a living on it.” “This is the first better-ball tournament I’ve ever won,” Leaman, 55, of Lancaster, Pa., added. “It was a great day. I enjoyed it very much.”
Leaman carded two birdies during the team’s opening nine, thanks to superb approach shots. He hit a wedge 80 yards to 15 feet on No. 3 (par 4, 323 yards); 97 yards to 10 feet on No. 9 (par 5, 480 yards). A bogey on the par 4, 413-yard No. 6 put Detweiller and Leaman one stroke under the par boundary at the turn.
Detweiller’s flatstick then caught fire. The Akron, Pa. resident carded four birdies on the team’s inward tour. He attributed his hot putter to an energy boost at the halfway house.
“I was having trouble staying awake, so I went and bought a hot dog,” Detweiller said.
Detweiller executed tap-in birdies on Nos. 12 (par 4, 368 yards) and 14 (par 4, 355 yards) following sand wedge set-ups. He drilled a pitching wedge 105 yards to 15 feet on the par 4, 400-yard 15th hole and executed the downhill birdie putt. Detweiller wasn’t done when he and Leaman arrived at No. 18 (par 5, 523 yards). His pitch shot carried the slope, gradually slid right and settled nine feet from the flagstick. Detweiller drained the right-to-left curler for birdie. Leaman, meanwhile, executed crucial par saves on Nos. 10 (par 4, 393 yards) and 17 (par 4, 370 yards) to ensure a superior back nine score.
Detweiller and Leaman also used momentum to their advantage Wednesday. The two finished at 8 under in a better-ball tournament at Blue Ridge Country Club a few weeks ago.
Tom Borsello of White Clay Creek Country Club and Michael Domenick of Phoenixville Country Club, the tournament’s defending champions, finished tied for second at 3 under.
View results for Philadelphia Senior Four-Ball
ABOUT THE
Philadelphia Senior Four-Ball
Format: 18-hole four-ball gross and net stroke play.
Each player will be allowed 90 percent of his
handicap. If a side has a difference of more than
eight strokes (after allowance) in Course Handicap
an additional 10 percent reduction will be applied to
the Course Handicap of each member of the team.
There will be a Senior flight and a Super-Senior
flight. To be eligible for the Super-Senior flight both
players must be 65 years of age at the time of the
event.
Eligibility: Open to GAP Member Club golfers who
are
55 years of age and over, and who have a handicap
of 18.0 or lower. Partners need not be members of
the same club.
View Complete Tournament Information