Calvaresi captures first Fayette Open
The monkey that’s been tagging along with Pat Calvaresi and growing in size for the past seven years was served his walking papers Sunday. Make no mistake, King Kong got the boot. Ironically, the words of a seven-year-old may have had as much to do with it as Calvaresi’s dominance.
The Uniontown Country Club pro picked up where he left off Saturday, firing an even-par 72, to finish 12 strokes ahead of seven-time champion John Kingora in the Superior Automotive/Fayette County Open at Duck Hollow Golf Club.
Calvaresi finished with a four-day total of 288, opening with a 72 on his home course, then firing a 73 at Pleasant Valley Country Club. He then opened the first of two rounds at Duck Hollow with a 71.
“I waited seven years for this,” Calvaresi said. “To get close twice in a row … was tough. But this is a great feeling. It will sink in sometime.”
Playing in his first Fayette Open since 1995, Calvaresi led by eight strokes entering Sunday’s final round and became the hunted instead of the hunter, a position he found himself in twice previously.
In 1994, Calvaresi rallied from seven shots back with seven holes remaining and drained a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to force a tie with Bret Shallenberger and send the Open into a playoff. But an eight-foot par attempt rolled around the cup on the first playoff hole and wound up resting on the lip to give Shallenberger the victory.
A year later, Calvaresi forged his way back into a tie with Kingora after entering the final round six shots down. But Kingora made a difficult birdie putt on No. 18 to again deny Calvaresi.
Because of his job as assistant pro at Nemacolin Country Club, Calvaresi then was forced to miss the next seven Opens because he couldn’t get the necessary time off.
“It’s ate at me for seven years,” Calvaresi said. “When I made that birdie putt (in 1994) to force a playoff, it was the greatest feeling in my life to that point. Then, when my putt did a 360 degree roll and came out of the cup on the first playoff hole, it was probably the worst feeling in the world.”
As well as Calvaresi played for four days, he said after the completion of Sunday’s round that something his son Nicholas told him Saturday put his life into perspective.
“We were on No. 17 and he came up to me and said, ‘Daddy, I’m very proud of you,'” Calvaresi said. “That was more important to me than any score. Winning’s a bonus, but kids are a luxury.”
Kingora, who owns half of the titles in the tournament’s 14-year history, came into the final round eight shots back, but couldn’t put anything together Sunday and finished with a round of 76 and four-day total of 300.
“Pat played really well and everybody else did not play their best,” Kingora said. “I have totally lost all my confidence in my game. I haven’t been playing much. You have to play and practice to have your game where you want it.”
Perhaps one of the Open’s biggest surprises was 16-year-old Zach Rockwell, who finished tied for third with Steve Superick with a four-day total of 302. Rockwell found himself only two down after the first two rounds, but finished with a 77-78 at Duck Hollow.
“I had the usual butterflies, but I was feeling pretty confident,” Rockwell said. “I expected to finish somewhere above the middle of the pack, but I did a little better than I expected. The past two days, I hit the ball about as well as I could, but I couldn’t get anything going with my putter. I had a lot of birdie opportunities and I missed a lot of short putts.”
Chris Taylor finished fifth at 304, while defending champion Bernie Wydo and Mike Revak tied for sixth at 305.
Calvaresi went out in 35 Sunday, and came back in 37. He didn’t play a spectacular round, but he did nothing to compromise his lead.
“There was a situation on No. 15 where I was in trouble, but I just chipped out onto the fairway,” Calvaresi said.
“I thought back about all the stupid things I’ve done in my life and just decided to chip out and play it safe because I had the big lead. My game plan was to not take any high numbers and I stuck to that. If I was two shots up or down, I might have done something different.
“After I hit my tee shot on No. 17 and the shot was in play, I realized I was probably going to win. I was pretty solid from start to finish.”
A combination of solid golf with a similar mindset made the difference for Calvaresi.
“I probably don’t have the best swing, and I might not be the most talented golfer, but I’d like to think I have the best mind and the best short game out there.
“Everybody asked me if I could win this tournament and I didn’t make any brass statements, but I didn’t think anybody in the field wanted to win as badly as I did.”