Making Moves at Mannitto
Pittsburgh Junior Golf Challenge
New Alexandria, PA August 16th, 2021 — BJGT held its first ever tournament at Mannitto Golf Course in New Alexandria, PA this weekend. A typical rolling hills Pittsburgh course, Mannitto played different from each and every hole this weekend. This made for an extremely fun Leaderboard as it was changing constantly and allowed a lot of players the chance at the Championship flags this weekend. Let’s see who was able to pull off the Win’s in this week’s Press Release.
Round 1 – Saturday, August 14th — It was hot and humid at Mannitto this weekend even with early morning tee times the recent rain brought on some muggy conditions.
The Boys 15-19 were having the most trouble with the extreme dog-leg 13th-hole in Round 1. Only listed as the 9th-handicap this hole had some surprising challenges in Round 1. A 250-yard drive is needed into the dog-leg to have a clear shot at the green. A hard feat to ask of any player as they entered the Back-9 stretch run. The green us guarded by a large bunker on the front left-side so a shot into the extremely narrow middle of the green is really your only option. No Birdies were found on the hole but 40% of the field was able to get a Par. The Boys found their easiest hole of the day to be sitting just a couple holes away, playing the 330-Yard 16th-hole the best in Round 1. Another dog-leg enters the picture but not as drastic as hole-13. With its short distance most of the players were able to clear the only troubles on this hole by simply clearing the large sand trap on the left side of the fairway and digging a drive right into the middle of the green. Blake Bertolo from Gibsonia, PA and our winner out at the Pittsburgh Junior Golf Shootout back in May along with Matthew Karpeal from Smithfield, PA both found some much needed Birdies to put a good capper on Round 1. Jonah Schollaert from Ambridge, PA and our youngest competitor in the Division along with Patrick Bush carrying another great Round 1 with him led their division with +4 (75’s). Patrick and Jonah were followed closely behind by Collin Chen from Potomac, MD.
The Boys 10-14 found one of the easiest holes on the course to be the toughest in Round 1, the 341-yard 11th-hole. This is a tight hole. You have to keep the ball in the fairway as no forgiveness lines the entire length of the hole. There is a large 30-yard wide creek that sits right before this extremely small green. Going into the creek is most certainly trouble. Sebastian Waugaman from Saltsburg, PA led the division simply by having a Double Bogey. The Boys started off the round in excellent fashion playing Hole-1 the best in Round 1. What a great way to start the tournament! This hole is fairly easy until the green. Straight and narrow just follow the fairway up. Once you get close to the green your precision has to be point. Anything off the green can make for an extremely tough up-and-down. Sebastian once again led the division with a Birdie! Dylan Callaway from Monongahela, PA, younger brother of top BJGT player Seth Callaway, led the division in Round 1 with an 89. Sebastian Waugaman was not far behind with a 95.
Round 2 – Sunday, August 15th – Once again it was a hot and humid day out in Pittsburgh, but hey no rain so who can complain.
The Boys 15-19 were having the most trouble with one of the hardest holes on the course in Round 2, the dreaded 8th-hole. Sitting at 440-yards for a Par-4 this long stretching hole offers up trouble the entire left side. With woods and a huge bunker sitting on the left staying in the fairway or maybe slightly off to the right is the only option here. Mixed in with the distance and a small green there’s no wonder this is the 3rd hardest hole out at Mannitto. Blake Bertolo and Collin Chen continued their strong performances leading the Division on the 8th with Pars. The Boys 15-19 started the Back-9 off right playing the 10th-hole the best in Round 2. This hole is no cake walk as it once again features a slight dog-leg. The hardest part about this hole, however, is the 12-yard deep and 12-yard wide Bunker that sits right in front of the green. If you don’t clear this monster you are going to need a nice Sand Save to reach Par. 30% of the field snagged Birdies on this one. Blake Bertolo started making his charge on the 7th-hole in Round 2 and never looked back. Blake led the tournament with 7 Birdies, scoring one on almost 20% of the holes in the tournament. Blake had his drive working as he was able to take advantage of the long Par-5’s leading his division with a -2 on them in the tournament. Blake’s Bogey Free Streak of 8-holes, from holes 7-14 in Round 2, propelled him to victory as he was able to charge up the leaderboard and take home his 2nd Champion Flag of the 2021 Season. Great Job Blake! Collin Chen was the Division Runner-Up. Collin had a remarkable 24 Pars in 36 Holes to lead the group. Collin threw in a Birdie for good measure to end with 25 Pars or Better. Great Job Collin!
Hole-7 the second easiest hole on the golf course was playing the toughest for the Boys 10-14 in Round 2. This relatively short Par-5 sitting at 450-yards was getting the better of the Boys from the Buckeye-White Tees. This hole is surrounded on either side by lateral hazard. Staying on the fairway and biting off as much of the dog-leg as you can is needed for a good score. The Boys 10-14 once again dominated the first hole, playing it the best in Round 2. Dylan Callaway came in as the Division Champion! Dylan was super consistent in the tournament Parring 33% of the holes throughout the event. Dylan was also crushing it off the tee playing the Par-5’s the best for his division. Great job on carrying on Seth’s legacy Dylan and getting your first win on BJGT! Sebastian Waugaman came in as the Division Runner-Up. Sebastian led the Boys 10-14 in Birdies. Great job in your first BJGT tournament Sebastian!
It was great to see Pittsburgh again after a couple of months off from a tour stop there. The Buckeye Cup teams are starting to come together and this tournament is going to be so much fun. We will be playing foursomes, fourball and singles match play in a BJGT one of a kind event. Current team standings will be updated from now until mid-September, which is when we will be sending out team invites. Check our website to see the latest team info. Thank you to the great staff at Mannitto, our parents/spectators and of course our great players for another great weekend in Pittsburgh!
Comments are closed.