In the driver’s seat
Enslen seizes second-round lead at Fayette Open
Jeremy Enslen was two-thirds of the way home in his quest for a ninth C. Harper Fayette Open title after Saturday’s second round at Duck Hollow Golf Club.
The three-time defending champion shot a 2-under 70 to tie two other golfers — Logan Voytish and Matt Karpeal — for the low score of the day and sat with an overall total of 142 heading into Sunday’s final round at South Union Township Municipal Golf Course, previously known as Uniontown Country Club.
Enslen (72-70) held a three-stroke lead over Voytish (75-70–145) and a two-stroke advantage over Karpeal (76-70–146) and Mike Revak (72-74–146) with that foursome set to play together in the championship flight.
Bro Tajc (73-75–148) was alone in fifth place in the championship flight and was followed by John Lenkey (76-74–150) and Laurel Highlands senior Kayden (73-77–150) tied for sixth, Ben Sutton (78-73–151) and Chase Richardson (73-78–151) tied for eighth, and Dan Glover (74-78–152), Santino Marchitello (80-72–152) and Grant Samples (75-77–152) tied for 10th.
Enslen was pleased with his round.
“I haven’t played much tournament golf so it feels good to still be able to play at a decent level,” he said. “I hit some good shots and made some putts.
“I thought even-par would’ve been good and I made a couple birdies coming in and shot 2-under. Better than I expected.”
Enslen sank a 12-footer on 18 to chose his round.
“Putting is always my nemesis but I felt comfortable with the putter,” Enslen said. The course played tough because of the bounces. You could hit a good shot and not get rewarded. But I swung it good both days so I’m happy to be even-par after two rounds.”
The key was avoiding a blow-up hole, according to Enslen.
“It’s all about eliminating mistakes, managing the course and I think I do that pretty well,” he said. “Keep the course in front of you. If you make a bogey, it’s fine, you’ve got to eliminate doubles because there are enough birdie holes to offset the bogeys that you make, especially on the tougher holes.
“You’ve got to take advantage of the easier holes and make birdies. The tough ones you try to par, if not, a bogey’s OK. That’s how I look at it.”
Revak, a former Fayette Open champion, struggled early on Saturday but righted the ship in time to put himself in the final foursome.
“I started out with three bogeys on the first three holes,” Revak pointed out. “I came back from that and had it back to even and then I bogeyed 17 and 18.
“Putting dictates a lot. I missed two short putts on the last two holes today, made bogeys on both of them. But still, not a bad round. It comes down to Sunday. I’m glad to be in contention.
“Jeremy, Logan and Matt, all three of them are very good players.”
Unlike Enslen, Revak has played tournament golf recently.
“I played Green Hills in Fairmont and shot 73-78, Tygart Lake I shot 72-72 and Oglebay Park in Wheeling, the Kalkreuth Amateur, I shot 76-79,” Revak revealed. “So I’m OK playing tournament golf. With tournament golf, anything can happen. I’m going to play as hard as I can and see what transpires.”
“I think it’s going to be fun.”
Enslen said he’s comfortable playing at the former UCC course.
“That’s the course I play the most,” he said before explaining his strategy.
“Let everyone come to me. As long as I make pars and bogeys, they’ve got to go low. It’s a good position, being ahead. A lot of they guys chasing haven’t won it before, so there is added pressure. I’ve won it a few times.
“Experience is everything. Once these young kids get over the hurdle, then they’re off to the races. Logan and Kayden, once they win then they’ll be a lot tougher to beat. It was tough to get my first win many moons ago. Once you win, no matter what level it is, it’s confidence.
“With every sport, it’s confidence that plays a big part.”
Voytish came close last year when he lost to Enslen in a playoff.
Getting the final round in could be tricky according to the weather forecast.
“The weather’s the weather,” said Justin Goletz who helps run the tournament along with Glover and Greg Moore. “You can’t control it, you just kind of adapt if we have to.
“We’re planning on starting at eight o’clock. We’re going to play as long as there’s no lightning in the area or puddling on the greens, but if we have to take a delay, we have all day to try to get it in.”
Goletz was happy with the first two days of the tournament.
“It’s going great,” he said. “Everybody is have a great time, great turnout. I wish the golf was a little bit better for some of us,” Goletz added, poking fun at his 81-84–165 score which landed him in the second of five flights.
“It’s nice seeing a bunched leaderboard at the top. It should be a good day tomorrow.”
In the Junior Fayette Open, Connellsville’s Brayden Rockwell followed a 76 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club with an 85 at Duck Hollow for a two-day total of 161 and held an 11-stroke lead over Laurel Highlands’ Ryan Revak, who was followed by Elim Martin of Uniontown (190) and Tyler Felio of Albert Gallatin (195).