VERONA — With some uncertainty heading into their final hole Tuesday, longtime friends Patrick Kelly and Evan Rowane came through in the clutch.
The Erie duo stepped to the tee of Longue Vue Club’s 18th hole with just a one-shot lead in the 72nd Brand Foursomes Championship and quickly removed all doubt as to who would win the prestigious WPGA team championship.
Rowane blistered a tee shot over the crest of the newly renovated and iconic finishing hole, setting Kelly up with a downhill approach shot into the green.
“I mean, Evan put me in position A and there wasn’t much I had to do,” said Kelly, a former Notre Dame golfer. “It was 140 (yards), so I just hit a full wedge.”
Kelly stuck the shot on the top of the slope to the right of the pin, and the ball funneled down to four feet in front of the hole, setting Rowane up for a breaking putt that dropped in.
“It was all set up by the drive,” said Kelly of Rowane's tee shot. “And he sunk the putt. He made a lot of them today.”
Rowane and Kelly’s connection stems some 15-plus years. They grew up together in grade school, competed at Cathedral Prep High School and caddied at The Kahkwa Club, which will host next month’s 126th WPGA Amateur Championship.
“We played tons of golf growing up,” said Kelly. “We’ve just been friends forever. We’ve played together so much that we kind of know what each other’s going to do before it happens. We know each other’s games really, really well.”
Rowane and Kelly entered the second round four shots off of the lead, held by Oakmont Country Club’s Carter Pitcairn and Nathan Piatt. But the duo from Erie shot a championship best score of 66 in the second round, winning the event by three strokes as the only team under par.
“On the second 18, the wind picked up a little bit, which made it difficult,” said Rowane, who played at St. Bonaventure and Mercyhurst, competing there this past year in his final collegiate season. “We did a great job at ball striking. We were never out of position that much. And we made some putts.”
“We’ve been trying to get it done in a team event. We’ve come close almost every single time. Getting it done is pretty awesome.”
Nicholas Haught and Colton Lusk of Nemacolin Country Club surged in the second round with a score of 69, finishing second in the Alternate Shot competition. After shooting 67 in the opening round, Pitcairn and Piatt — who entered their penultimate hole just a stroke off of the lead — posted a double bogey and slipped to third overall.
With the marquee Western Pennsylvania amateur championship returning to their neck of the woods next month, Kelly and Rowane were proud to represent Erie golf a month in advance.
“Tons of pride,” said Kelly. “We both care a lot about being from Erie and from Western Pennsylvania more broadly. I think there’s great competition there.”
Vallecorsa and Lawson claim 31st Semple Foursomes Championship
While Rowane and Kelly brought nearly a lifetime of connection to Longue Vue Club Tuesday, the Semple Foursomes winners have made a quick, yet successful bond on the golf course.
Richard Vallecorsa and Bruce Lawson teamed up to shoot 16-over, taking the 31st Semple Foursomes Championship.
“I met Bruce a couple years ago,” said Vallecorsa. “He moved here from West Virginia, and he joined our golf league in Aliquippa. We became friends after that, and now we play all the time on the weekends together.”
This was the third year that the duo has competed in the Semple Foursomes.
“We wanted to come out and play a different course and enjoy it,” said Lawson. “And see how we do under stress, see what happens.”
The winning team shot a score of 80 in the first round, following by a championship best mark of 76 after lunch.
“We had a couple shots that got a little errant early,” said Lawson. “But thankfully we could recover a little bit.”
Vallecorsa and Lawson carded two birdies during their second round, as well, that ended up making a major difference.
“They really saved our round today,” said Vallecorsa. “We played really good on the back nine. If you can follow a bad hole with a couple good holes, that’s what helps the round go.”
Mike Wickett and Jim DeVita finished second at 20-over, while Jeff Hovanec and Ron Hinish — who led after the first round — were 21-over.
Longue Vue Club, which did not host the Brand and Semple Foursomes Championships due to sweeping tree removal, bunker and green renovations throughout the golf course, welcomed back a talented field this year, less than two weeks after reopening.
“It was pretty interesting,” said Vallecorsa. “All of the trees being gone, that really made a big difference. The course was in good shape. For it to be open just 11 days, it was in really good shape. We enjoyed it.”
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