Irem Temple Country Club sets just below the mountains in Dallas Township and on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the par-72 hole golf course the Nittany Lion “roared.“
It certainly was Penn State Proud as Irem member Jonathan Wilson and partner Austin Green of Chambersburg bested Chris Jones and Tony Bevevino, 2-1, to win the 2019 Potentate, the club’s premier better ball event.
Both winners are Penn State graduates with Wilson being a 2019 graduate of Penn State Wilkes-Barre while partner Green also finished his collegiate career from Penn State Mt. Alto.
This also marks the final of the premier better-ball of partners golf tournaments in the Wyoming Valley., The McCarthy at Wyoming Valley Country Club and John A. Allan at Fox Hill were held in June.
And the 2019 Potentate victors earned the crown with several key victories, including a thrilling three-hole sudden death playoff Saturday afternoon against two-time and defending Potentate champs Tyler McGarry and Mariano Medico.
In the Sunday morning semi-finals against Derek Answini and J.P. Waleski the match ended on the final hole as Green blasted his third shot into the cup from the upper bunker to secure the spot in the finals.
Jones of the famous Jones Pancake House of Harveys Lake and Bevevino were knocking off past Potentate victors Lou Belgio and Scott Francis to move into the finals.
Both teams in the finals finished with par 4s on holes No. 1 and 2. On the second hole Bevevino’s drive landed halfway up on the green of the 266-yard hole but the ball rolled backwards down the steep slope, landing just off the green. From there he failed to make the three-foot slider for the birdie.
Tough 396-yard third hole was halved by the two teams as well as the par-5 500-yard fourth hole with Bevevino, Jones and Green hitting the green in two but all missed eagle putts to tie this hole.
The victors went one-up on the par-4 dogleg fifth hole when Green chipped in for a three.
Jones evened the match with slick medium range downhill putt for a birdie on the short but narrow sixth hole.
Tough par-3 7th hole was tied with pars and the match was squared until the uphill par-4l 362-yard eighth hole when Wilson two-putted from long range for a par while his opponents missed their putts for fours.
The 379-yard ninth hole was tied with pars and Bevevino had a golden opportunity to even the match on the uphill 10th hole measuring 362-yards from the green tees. His second shot with a wedge landed a short distance from the pin but he failed to can the birdie putt.
The 323-yard 12th hole saw Wilson two put for a par to put his team two-up in the finals.
On the 537-yard 13th hole Jones caught a break when his drive found the cart path but careened down the fairway, leaving him with a relatively short iron that found the front of the green. He two-putted from there to draw his team to within one.
The runners-up caught another break on the 378-yard downhill 14th hole as Bevevino’s drive hit two gallery carts and bounded down the cart path to hole high, resting near a stop sign.
After a long discussion with rules official Dennis Corvo, he was allowed to drop just inside out-of-bounds marker near road but his chip shot over the trap went over the green and he failed to get down for a par but Jones saved the hole with two putts to stay one down.
Another golden opportunity to even the score occurred on the dogleg 15th when Bevevino hit a monster drive over the trees to some 30 yards from the green on the 340-yard dogleg hole. He hit a beautiful wedge to within six-feet but failed on the putt.
Both teams parred the 16th hole with the match ending on the par-3 uphill 17th hole when both Bevevino and Jones found the upper sandtrap and had extremely difficult downhill bunker shots and failed to make pars, ending the match with two putts for pars by Wilson and Green.
Ironically, Green and Wilson played against each other for their respective college teams with the former beating Wilson in extra holes in one of their Penn State University Athletic Conference championships.
“That’s the nice part of golf'” said the lefty Green. “We competed hard against each other while becoming good friends. It feels great to win this tournament with Jonathan.
“The three-hour drive down Interstate 81 will be a short one.”
By John Zimich
