Two past champions at the top of the West Penn Open Championship
By Mike Dudurich • June 20, 2023
There were great shots, strange shots, cringeworthy shots.
But as the field in the 120th West Penn Open made its’ way around Edgewood Country Club on Tuesday, two things became apparent.
One, while Edgewood doesn’t have the length other clubs that host major WPGA tournaments do, at 6,537 yards it is a formidable opponent for these players.
And two, playing the angles on tee shots and then second shots become a key in the game plan of these players. Edgewood makes players execute shots, control the ball from uneven lies and do it repeatedly.
In the second round of the Open, Wexford native Mike Van Sickle, 64, and Pittsburgh’s Beau Titsworth, 69, did that the best and as a result, they’re the leaders going into today’s final round.
Titsworth’s round featured three birdies, an eagle and a bogey.
“I made bogey on 18 which is never a good thing,” Titsworth, the 2019 West Penn Open champ said. “Overall, I didn’t putt very well today. I only missed three greens all day.”
Van Sickle got things off to a flying start when he hit the ninth green and his ball rolled through missing the cup by inches for what would have been an ace. The scorecard shows the ninth measuring 307 yards from the blue tees.
“That would have been something,” he chuckled.
Van Sickle made seven birdies and an eagle which would have put him in some elite company with no bogeys on any of the other holes. Unfortunately, he had a bogey and a double bogey to finish at 64.
That’s followed something of an inadvertent pattern for Van Sickle in his West Penn Open appearances.
“I have gotten off to some slow starts in these events,” he said. “But I’ve been better in the second rounds. I don’t know, maybe I just have a better feel for the course. This tournament is absolutely meaningful for me. It’s a hometown event for me. I really enjoy it.”
Van Sickle previously won the Open in 2013 and 2015.
Jimmy Meyers followed up his first-round 67 with a 69 Tuesday.
“I played pretty solid out there today,” Meyers said. “I left a couple out there, but that happens. I’m just going to go out and play golf in the final round. I have a lot of experience here. We’ll see what happens.”
Remember the weird shots mentioned above?
Needing something spectacular to make the cut into the final round, Zander Gibson stepped onto the ninth tee (his 18th hole) and ripped a drive that landed just left of the green on the 307-yard hole.
The ball bounced off the cart path and careened high against the clubhouse, rattled around a few times and then bounced back toward the green. It stopped just off the green and, of course, Gibson chipped it in for eagle.
“I needed an eagle, but the way it happened was bizarre,” he said.
Three players – Chris Tanabe, Gregor Meyer and J.F. Aber are tied for fourth going into the final round. Kevin Shields and Jason Li are in a tie for seventh.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and 34,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.