Rockwell earns respect at Open
Try this for a final-round Superior Automotive/Fayette County Open foursome: defending champion Bernie Wydo, seven-time winner John Kingora and Pat Calvaresi, who twice earlier in his career nearly won Fayette Opens and who would go on to win this year’s title. But 16-year-old Zach Rockwell?
Less than half the age of his playing partners, Rockwell, 16, held his own with the crafty veterans who after Sunday would hold nine of the 14 Open titles.
After two very solid rounds Thursday and Friday, Rockwell put himself into position for the final two days at Duck Hollow Golf Club and not only did he win over the respect of his playing partners, but he also drew praise from just about anyone he came in contact with.
Rockwell finished in a tie for third place with Steve Superick, 14 shots behind Calvaresi and just two back of Kingora.
“It was a great pleasure to play with three players who have as much experience as they do,” Rockwell said. “I learned a lot by playing with them. I couldn’t have picked three better people to play with.
“I think I held my own with them, but I know playing with them helped me gain valuable experience.”
Rockwell was playing in his first Fayette Open and was fresh off a stop in State College, where he tied for 54th place in the Professional Golfers’ Association Junior Series.
The tournament served as a nice warm-up for the Open, but Rockwell was disappointed with his performance.
“I made a swing change before the tournament and I started off bad,” he said. “I’m just getting used to it. It’s helped me in the long run.”
His maturity was evident throughout the tournament, and noticed by just about everyone.
“It was a tribute to him how well he held his composure,” said Fayette Open director Lenny Franks. “He represented himself and Duck Hollow Golf Club well.”
Not only did Rockwell represent himself well, but young golfers such as Chris Taylor, Brandon Katzeff, Brian Galica and Brian John did also.
“The thing that impresses me is the way teenagers are coming out and mixing and mingling with the older golfers,” Franks said. “The older golfers had nothing but compliments about the way they handled themselves.
“This tournament was like an introduction of the future to next year’s tournament. Even if Zach wouldn’t have finished as strongly as he did, he went from everyone asking, ‘Who’s Zach Rockwell?’ to everybody knowing his name.”
Calvaresi also had nothing but praise for Rockwell.
“He’s a good player, but the one thing that sticks out in my mind is that he is a gentleman,” Calvaresi. “Etiquette and respect are just as important as shooting par. Zach’s definitely an up-and-coming player and he has a good head on his shoulders.”
Putt-Putt
Calvaresi played four rounds of consistent golf, and never let himself get into any hardy jams. But while he was steady off the tee, he said he owes his success to his short game, in particular, putting.
“You can’t make a birdie putt off the tee,” Calvaresi said. “You have to make your putts. I’ve yet to see 20 extra yards off the tee get the ball in the hole any better once it’s on the green. When all the kids were blasting balls when I was young, I was putting.”
That practice has paid dividends, especially in the Fayette Open.
“I don’t think I had a three-putt in 72 holes,” Calvaresi said. “When Tiger Woods won his first Masters, he won by 12 strokes. He never had a three-putt on 72 holes. I’m not comparing Uniontown Country Club, Pleasant Valley Country Club and Duck Hollow Golf Club to Augusta, but it doesn’t happen very often.”
Sweltering success
While this year’s Fayette Open was played in humid, 90-degree-plus temperatures, the event was a huge success, according to Franks.
The criteria for entering the Open was a 12-handicap or better and residency in Fayette County. Special exemptions were made, as was the case for past winners like John Kingora, who resides outside the county.
“In my opinion, 100 percent of this tournament was better than it’s ever been,” Franks said. “I think we had the best players in the county. If somebody thinks they’re better, they need to come out and play. The players we had were very professional and they conducted themselves very professionally under very extreme heat conditions.”
Get in the hole!
Perhaps the best shot of Sunday’s final round belonged to Wydo, who hit his drive about 140 yards from the pin on No. 17. From there, Wydo used an 8-iron to loft a shot towards the green.
The ball bounced just short of the green and then found it’s way into the bottom of the cup for an eagle.
Wydo’s reaction?
“Yes, no putting!”