Two Local Junior Standouts Place Fourth in Rolex Tournament of Champions

Nicole Morales, a 17-year-old from South Salem who plays out of GlenArbor GC, landed in a tie for fourth place in the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions at Lancaster (PA) CC this week. She finished with a 5-over total of 285, nine strokes behind Alison Lee, a UCLA-bound youngster who has won all three AJGA events she entered this year.

Morales had won the AJGA's prestigious Thunderbird International earlier this year at Grayhawk GC in Scottsdale (AZ).

Theo Humphrey, Greenwich (CT), also tied for fourth in the boys' division. He had entered the final round in the lead, but posted a final round 72. Humphrey plays out of Sleepy Hollow CC.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Amazing Wedge Puts Rob Labritz in PGA Championship

In one of the most exciting finishes of his career, GlenArbor Director of Golf Rob Labritz holed out a 95-yard wedge in the second playoff hole to earn a spot in the field for the PGA Championship. The video shows this amazing shot


Labrtiz had edged into the playoff at the PGA Professional National Championship at Sunriver Resort in Oregon with a one-over 288. He was one of six vying for three spots in the major to be played at Oak Hill in Rochester this August. Danny Balin, of Burning Tree in Greenwich, made the playoff as well. Balin dropped a birdie putt on the first playoff hole, as did Bob Gaus, leaving four contenders for the last spot in the major.

On the second playoff hole, the 457-yard par four eleventh on the Crosswater Club course, Labritz had pulled his tee shot into an ugly bunker where he was left with a difficult lie. He gouged it out into the fairway while the other three players put their second shots on or close to the green.

Left with 95 yards, Labritz called on hours spent working on wedge shots with his swing coach Tom Willson, head pro at Bonnie Briar, and took dead aim with a 52-degree wedge for the uphill shot to a pin placed precariously on the upper tier. His hope was to get close enough for a one-putt par to stay in the playoff. The video shows what happened instead.

Standing ready for the post-shot interview was Labritz compatriot at GlenArbor Brian Crowell, head pro at the Bedford club, who was providing on-course commentary for the Golf Channel coverage of the event.

This will be the fourth PGA Championship for Labritz, who was the low club pro at Whistling Straits in 2010.  Oak Hill may be a particularly memorable tournament for another big reason: Labritz and his wife Kerry are expecting a baby girl to be born about that time.

Two other Met Section pros made the cut in the tournament, but finished just outside the line for the championship. St. Andrew's Greg Bisconti was tied for 24th. Metropolis assistant John Guyton finished in a tie for 59th.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

GlenArbor Celebrates Ten Years With Gary Player Visit

Gary Player

GlenArbor Golf Club, a premier Westchester club located in Bedford Hills, NY, celebrated its tenth anniversary recently with a special visitor--golf legend Gary Player. Members, staff, and a few select guests had the opportunity to play and chat with the Black Knight for two memorable days.

Player designed the course, which was built on a spectacular site with a perfect mix of elevation changes, water, and tremendous vistas. He said he recognized the potential for a beautiful golf course the first time he walked the property.

At the reception that topped off Player's visit, he had nothing but good things to say about the GlenArbor staff, who, he said, "Always greet you with a smile." The club also earned his highest praise for its dedication to the game. "This club knows and demonstrates how important the traditions of golf are to the growth and well-being of the game."

Player said he was particularly pleased to see the GlenArbor learning center, which he said he recommended when the course was first built. GlenArbor not only has a practice range (double-ended), but a fully-equipped year-round teaching center with heated hitting bays as well. The real gem is the short game area, which features four practice greens, three target greens, five teeing areas, and every kind of sand trap, grass bunker, long rough, short rough, and greenside fringe the devilish designers could imagine.

In addition to the regular cups, the practice greens also have nine red-flagged holes.  These correspond to numbered “tees” arranged off the greens.  Together, they make up a nine-hole “course” that is re-routed every day but typically includes two bunker shots, two pitches out of rough, two tight lies, a lag putt, and other tests of your ability to get up and down.  There’s a par-18 scorecard, too, and a nearby computer terminal to enter your scores so you can track your progress.

The Gary Player Center, named to honor the course designer, has five teeing grounds surrounding three dedicated greens, each of which has three pin positions, so the player has nine targets at various distances from ten to a hundred yards away.  There’s a fairway bunker to practice the scariest shot in golf, as well as a sod-faced bunker to get you ready for St. Andrews.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf