Local amateur golf events don’t post leader boards, so competitors are never quite sure where they stand in relation to one another. Players don’t know if they have ground to make up, or if they’re actually leading.

On Friday at the 28th annual Lebanon County Senior Amateur tournament, contested on Royal Oaks’ 6,153-yard, par-71 layout, 53-year-old Dave Brown thought he had lost the championship when he missed a five-foot birdie putt on the par-four 17th. But in reality, Brown had won it a few holes earlier with a string of three birdies in-a-row.

Brown’s birdies on Royal Oaks’ 12th, 13th and 14th holes proved to the difference, as he fired an even-par 71 to score a one-shot victory over defending champ Kerry Wentling, former champion Bill Massar, Jr. and playing partner Greg Adams. It was Brown’s first individual triumph in his competitive golfing career.

Brown rolled in a four-foot bird on the 393-yard, par-four 12th green. He tapped in for birdie at the par-five 13th hole, after missing a 15-foot eagle putt. And Brown drilled a 20-foot birdie roll at the 405-yard, par-four 14th.

Instantly, Brown went from two-over par to one-under par. He finished his round as the only competitor in the 40-player field who wasn’t over par.

– Jeff Falk