Field Club fights back, so does Rohanna
FOX CHAPEL – In Monday’s opening 36 holes of the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational, the leaders took advantage of one of western Pennsylvania’s finest layouts, thanks to soft conditions as a result of last week’s rains.
Seventeen rounds in the 60s were posted, including a pair of 66s by leader Dan McCarthy and a pair of 68s by Eric Cole.
Tuesday was a different day altogether, however, and the Field Club struck back a bit.
A grand total of two rounds in the 60s were produced, one less than the number of scores in the 80s.
“Just like yesterday, I was rolling right along with no bogeys until those last few holes,” said Christo Greyling, the co-leader with Eric Cole. “I had a couple shots I thought were pretty good but the wind tricked us and they ended up in bad places. It was definitely a tougher day with the wind up and the greens definitely being quicker.”
Greyling had one of those sub-par rounds, a 67 that got him into a tie at 5-under par with Cole, who shot 71.
Cole is playing in the event for the fourth time but really hadn’t played all that well until this year. He didn’t have his best game but did what he needed to do.
“I didn’t hit it as well off the tee today,” said Cole, the son of former LPGA Tour star Laura Baugh. “I put myself in positions where I was making good pars to keep my momentum going.”
The other sub-par round Tuesday was authored by Waynesburg’s Robert Rohanna, who put up a two-under par 68 and is four shots behind the leaders at one-under. He shot rounds of 71-70 Monday and was asked what the difference was between the two days.
“Nothing really,” he said. “I probably hit 30 of 36 greens yesterday and probably missed eight putts inside six feet. That total included eagle putts of 15 and eight feet on the 11th and 15th holes.
“They’ve had some pretty tough pins out here and it’s tough to get at them. And then, if you’re lucky enough to find one, it’s tough to make putts inside five or six feet because of all the footprints with the greens being so soft,” Rohanna said.
Rohanna has been on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and has done well enough in Central and South America there to earn some playing time in PGA Tour Canada. He was to start that part of his year this week but chose to play at home.
“This is too good of an event to miss if you’re lucky enough to get an invitation,” Rohanna said. “Plus I get to spend time at home and that’s always good.”
The district’s other two players in the event, Uniontown Country Club’s Tom Bummer and former Geibel Catholic High School star Brian Dunaway, have had tough times at the Field Club.
Bummer has posted rounds of 76-79-80 and those scores have not all been about how he’s played or how difficult the course has been.
“I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot and it is really painful,” Bummer said. “Every time I take a step, it feels like I’m stepping onto a rock. This golf course is just very hard and then you get a day like today where the par 3s are all into the wind.”
For Dunaway, Tuesday’s round of 75 not only felt like a whole lot better than his opening 79-80, but it was.
“I made four birdies on the back nine so I was pretty happy about that,” said Dunaway, the golf professional at Willowbrook Golf Club in Apollo. “I double-bogeyed the first and the 16th, but that’s the thing about this place. If you make a mistake here, it’s easy to put up big numbers in a hurry. I putted a lot better today and just played better overall.”
The final round gets started at 8 a.m. off both tees with the leaders getting off the first tee at 9:21.