Golf: Brown, Gibbons running away with SVCC event
May 18, 2008
By Todd Hummel
As Reported In The Daily Item
SELINSGROVE—Dan Brown and Andy Gibbons took a little bit of good natured ribbing on Saturday afternoon in the clubhouse of the Susquehanna Valley Country Club after their second round at this weekend's 25th anniversary of the Susquehanna Valley Country Club Invitational.
The duo from Lebanon is looking to claim their fourth consecutive title at the tournament and, after blistering the course with 65-66 in the first two rounds this weekend, their lunch mates chanted "The Dan and Andy Show" when this reporter and a club official came looking for them.
With good reason, as in brutal weather conditions on Friday, the pair shot a 65 and didn't make a bogey on the day.
"We both make a lot of combined birdies," Gibbons said. "We try only making a bogey or two in each round, but we were really surprised we didn't make one (on Friday)."
With rain in the forecast for a couple days before Friday, both were prepared to play in Friday's weather conditions.
"We kept the clubs and cart pretty well covered. That's part of the team work, keeping each other's clubs dry with the umbrella," Brown said. "We talked before the round and thought 73 would be par in the weather, so we were really happy with our score."
Saturday's round of 66 put them 15 shots ahead of the four teams tied for second with two-day totals of 146. The teams in second are Al Kline Sr. and Al Kline Jr., who will play with Brown and Gibbons in the final group. Jim Calhoun-Jim Gardner, Shawn Felty-Tim Felty and Bill Brennan-John Brennan Jr. round out the teams with two-day totals of 146.
The Invitational field will be flighted into six flights before today's final-round play. The final group is expected to tee off at about 2:10 p.m.
Brown and Gibbons have been playing together for 10 years, meeting at the Lebanon Valley Golf Association, but that was as much as the two remember about the first time they played together.
"I think one of us asked the other to play in a tournament and we won and it went from there," Brown said.
"We've had a good winning percentage since we've teamed up; we win about 50 percent of their tournaments."
The success on the local tournament scene isn't because of above average skills; both say it's just two average golfers that practice a lot.
"We both practice a fair amount for these tournaments," Brown said.
The more interesting part of the tournament might come in determining flight championships. At least two teams are tied for the lead at the top of each flight heading into today.