BY JEFF FALK
What makes golf such an unforgiving sport is that its contestants have little or no control over their opponents.
Sometimes when you take care of business, it’s good enough. And sometimes when you take care of business, it isn’t.
Local teams Andy Gibbons-Jim Gardner and Chris Gebhard-Jeff Daniels experienced both extremes of that harsh spectrum during Saturday’s action at the 67th edition of the W.B. Sullivan Better-Ball-of-Partners event, contested on the Lebanon Country Club’s par-72, 6,532-yard layout.
Gibbons and Gardner were on top of their games during their 4&2 triumph over Jamie McCallum and Tim Heinly. For their part, Gebhard and Daniels also played well, but fell 2&1 to red-hot Brady Goodling and Kyle Deisher.
Gardner-Gibbons’ victory earned them a semifinal date with Steve Walton and Marc Poccia, who upended Lance Oberparleiter and Dan Otto. With Gebhard and Daniels eliminated from championship contention, it will be Goodling and Deisher who will take on Brain Golembiewski and Casey Blankebiller, 3&2 winners over Paul Bickford and Steve Passalaqua, in the other semi.
Those semifinal matches will tee off at 8:24 and 8:33 a.m., while the final match of the championship flight is expected to go off around 2 p.m..
“It’s hard when you play a good team, make some good birdies and halve the holes,” said Gebhard, an LCC member. “We didn’t lose. We got beat. That’s for sure.”
“All the partners I play with carry me,” said Gardner, a two-time former Sullivan champion with Jim Calhoun. “But today we both played solid, and we contributed equally.”
After dismissing William Chase and Phil D’Amato 4&3 in their morning opener, Gibbons-Gardner were all square with McCallum-Heinly through five holes in the afternoon. But the Lebanon Countians won four of the next seven holes to open a four-up advantage.
“They almost seemed like they were ready to concede,” said Gardner of McCallum and Heinly. “When you start getting four up, you feel pretty confident. Plus Andy and I were playing well. We always talk about wanting to hit greens together.”
“If we can play like this tomorrow we’ll be OK,” said Gibbons. “We played well. We were probably six or seven-under and I think we only had one bogey all day.”
After losing their first hole at the par-five, 15th, Gibbons and Gardner closed out their afternoon match when the former sank a 20-foot, down-hill birdie at the 372-yard, par-four 16th. Gibbons had jumped-started his duo with a seven-foot birdie at the par-four sixth and a ten-foot eagle at the par-five seventh.
With that two-hole advantage in their back pockets, Gardner and Gibbons won numbers 11 and 12 with pars.
“It’s special to me for obvious reasons,” said Gardner of the Sullivan. “Just being lucky enough to win it twice. It’s one of the bigger ones (tournaments) and being from around here makes it special. But I know when I’m out there playing, I don’t think about representing Lebanon County.”
“It’s very difficult to win,” said Gibbons, who’s in his third year of teaming with Gardner in the Sullivan. “It’s a tournament where you know you’re going to get fields that are better and stronger than most better-balls.
“In the past, we (he and Gardner) would shoot 70 or 71 in qualifying and then win our flight,” Gibbons added. “When you’re in a flight you don’t care as much as you do when you’re in match play. Some players are in it to make the cut, and others are in it to win it.”
At times, Gebhard and Daniels seemed frustrated by the lights-out play of Goodling and Deisher – especially Goodling, a 19-year-old resident of Manheim and LCC member, who recently won the club’s championship. Goodling closed out Gebhard and Daniels on the 306-yard, par-four 17th when he drove the green over some tall menacing trees, and then calmly sank a 35-foot eagle putt.
A hole earlier, Goodling had given his team a one-up lead with a birdie.
“We played really well,” said Gebhard. “And they played really well. And they made a couple of putts.”
Gebhard had squared the match with a ten-foot birdie at the par-five 15th. And it was Gebhard who had given his team an early one-up advantage with a four-foot ‘chicken’ at the par-five second.
But Goodling and Daniels won the 398-yard, par-four fourth with a birdie, and then took a one-up edge when their eagle at the par-five seventh trumped Gebhard and Daniels’ birdie. The teams halved the eighth, ninth and tenth holes with birdies,
“Yeah, there was a lot of stuff going on,” said Gebhard. “We were seven-under for 17 holes.”
But in those same 17 holes, Goodling and Deisher were nine-under par.
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
FIRST ROUND
(16) Dan Ott-Lance Oberparleiter def. (1) Danny McCreesh-Anthony Campanile, 4&3
(15) Brady Goodling-Kyle Deisher def. (2)Bill Cregar-Billy Cregar, 2&1
(3) Brian Golembiewski-Casey Blankenbiller def. (14) Matt Leaman-Jon Bensing, 4&3
(4) Jim Gardner-Andy Gibbons def. (13) William Chase-Phil D’Amato, 4&3
(5) Jamie McCallum-Tim Heinly def. (12) Jared Palubinski-Rod James, 4&3
(6) Paul Bickford-Steve Passalaqua def. (11) Ryan Beck-Mike McComb, 2&1
(7) Chris Gebhard-Jeff Daniels def. (10) Doug Hallman-Shane Behmer, 6&6
(8) Steve Walton-Maro Poccia def. (9 )Joe Russo-Joey Russo, 4&3
QUARTERFINALS
Walton-Poccia def. Ott-Oberparleiter, 1-up
Gardner-Gibbons def. McCallum-Heinly, 4&3
Goodling-Deisher def. Gebhard-Daniels, 2&1
Golembiewski-Blankenbiller def. Bickford-Passalaqua, 3&2
SUNDAY’S SEMFINALS
Walton-Poccia vs. Gardner-Gibbons, 8:24 a.m.
Golembiewski-Blankenbiller vs. Goodling-Deisher, 8:33 a.m.
SUNDAY’S FINALS
Winners tee-off at 2 p.m.
FIRST FLIGHT
Mertz-Kline 70-63-133
Kimbley-Sullivan 71-65-136
Schmidt Jr.-Schmidt 70-68-138
Kline Jr.-Gunkle 71-67-138
Sauder-Farrell 70-69-139
Orcutt-Lukow 70-69-139
Fritz-Sweigart 71-68-139
Clarkson-Turner 69-71-140
Shollenberger-Shollenberger 70-70-140
Meredith-Goserud 70-71-141
Tompos-Goodley 70-71-141
Whitman-Klemmer 70-71-141
Massar Jr.-Hoke 70-71-141
Behney-Deraco 71-70-141
Erney-Vogle 70-72-142
Bolcavage-Haley 70-72-142
Kegerreis-Kegereis 71-71-142
O’Connor-Beittel 69-74-143
Stover-Wortman 70-74-144
Austin-McCullough 70-74-144
DiBiaso-Hanley 71-81-152
SECOND FLIGHT
Schmidt-Etimos 71-64-135
Barbush-Brightbill 71-68-139
Auman-Brown 71-68-139
Troutman-Ulp 72-68-140
Karsnitz-Karsnitz 71-71-142
Schultz-Ward 71-71-142
Demey-Neufeld-Kreider 72-70-142
Weaver-Sweigart 72-70-142
Brown-Kersey 71-72-143
Fizz-Patton 72-71-143
Weaber-Hanford 72-71-143
Gnias-Bernat 72-72-144
Hunter-Heistand 72-72-144
Browne-Krueger 72-72-144
Keller-Farrell 72-74-146
Pusey-Knoll 72-74-146
Mayer-Wildasin 72-75-147
Mease-Hoover 72-75-147
Gillmor-Pechin 71-78-149
Yingst-Kintz 72-78-150
THIRD FLIGHT
Kliewer-Kliewer 73-68-141
Battistelli-Palazzo 73-70-143
Jester-Kowalski 73-70-143
LaBarbera-Gardina 73-70-143
Knox-Garron 73-70-143
Gillespie-Gillespie 73-71-144
Schell-Romanoski 73-71-144
Gingrich-Seidel 73-71-144
Pici-Osborne 73-72-145
Bellew-Chronister 73-72-145
Obert-Weyhausen 74-71-145
Ahern-Hunger 73-74-147
Schneiter-Wolfson 72-76-148
Enders-Charlesworth 73-77-150
Sherk-Wentling 73-79-152
Adams-Arnt 74-78-152
Brown-Katchmore 74-78-152
Majzlic-Hunter 73-80-153
Fake-Fake 74-82-156
FOURTH FLIGHT
Kendig-Erb 74-68-142
Haag-Stoner 74-69-143
Digiacomo-Allwein 75-68-143
Tighe-Cilie 74-72-146
Gress-Firestone 76-71-147
Mull-Knox 76-71-147
Wade II-Stover 75-73-148
Reed-Campanelli 76-72-148
Succi-Meyer 75-74-149
Marshall-O’Shea 75-74-149
Dilks-Capas 75-74-149
Blanck-Krzanowsky 74-76-150
Roberts-Ahern 75-76-151
Howell-Webber 76-75-151
Anspach-Kreiser 76-75-151
DeLong-Staub 76-76-152
Linneman-Glannopoulos 74-79-153
Bebla-Owens 75-79-154
Fuller-Carr 76-78-154
Brown-Miller 76-90-166
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