Golf: Brown, Gibbons cruise to win at Susquehanna Valley
Country Club
May 19, 2008
By Todd Hummel
As Reported In The Daily Item
SELINSGROVE—With their fourth consecutive Susquehanna Valley Country Club Invitational title wrapped up, Dan Brown and Andy Gibbons could let out a little secret.
There was a reason the two raced out to a 14-stroke lead on the field through the first two rounds. The team's first try at a fourth consecutive title, at last year's Lebanon County better ball tournament, well, that wasn't so successful.
"We tried to win the Lebanon County better ball for a fourth time in a row last year and it was hard," Gibbons said. "That's why we wanted to come out of the gates so fast."
That made Sunday's final round anticlimactic as Brown and Gibbons carded a final-round 74 for a three-day total of 205, beating the second-place team of Bill Brennan and John Brennan Jr. by 11 strokes.
"We did discuss winning a fourth one in a row a little bit before the tournament because of what happened last year," Brown said.
The two weren't sure they would be playing the final round on Sunday. They traveled from Lebanon through pouring rain in the morning for their 2:10 p.m. tee time.
"We didn't think we would play. We had a bet on the way up on whether or not there would be golf carts on the course when we pulled in," Brown said.
There were carts on the course. The sky cleared by the time the two teed off and, other than some windy conditions on the back nine, it was a pretty good day of golf.
The duo complimented the staff at Susquehanna Valley for keeping the course playable through an all-day rain Friday and showers of varying intensity throughout the weekend.
"(Susquehanna Valley Country Club professional) Greg (Felty) and his staff do such a nice job with the tournament and the course," Brown said. "The people inside the clubhouse are so nice. We love this tournament."
Brown and Gibbons didn't need to play their best with such a big lead on Sunday to win the title.
"It was kind of like a round for recreation," Brown said. "We didn't have to focus on every shot."
"It was like a victory lap," Gibbons said.
But they also had to walk a fine line and not be too loose to blow the lead.
"It was hard to focus at times. If it would have been closer we would have had a much different mindset," Brown said. "I'm not complaining, though. I'd certainly take that lead on the final day of any tournament."
Brown and Gibbons are now one title away from tying the record of five invitational championships, held by the teams of Jim Cotner and Ben Cook and Randy McHenry and Carl Stackhouse. The shot of the day came from Steve Bobiak, of Frackville. He had a hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole.