The YPGA Executive Committee is pleased to welcome everyone Major week! This Sunday, September 19, 2021 will be the second annual Lehigh Valley Classic Presented by Ed Grambo. 2020 was an exciting year as the YPGA expanded its reach north of the Delaware Valley. Despite one quitter mid-round, the tournament was a resounding success and has brought us to another year in the Valley. This time, the YPGA takes to Architects Golf Club, which features a unique layout that honors legendary course designers including Donald Ross, A.W. Tillinghast, and Alistair Mackenzie. Each hole is named after a famous designer, beginning with Old Tom Morris. The opening par 5 pays homage to St. Andrews' designer through the use of the existing features as hazards such as the rock wall and the sloping hillside that the green is deftly carved into. One of the most memorable holes is the 13th, another par 5 that will give you a taste of what it's like to play Augusta. This Alistair Mackenzie-inspired hole offers many risks and rewards. Golfers will face fairways bunkers and a pond on the left and then a creek that runs diagonally in front of the triple-tiered green. The Exec Cup Standings are tight in the top 5 so the Lehigh Valley Classic Presented by Ed Grambo should be intriguing.
Course: Architects Golf Club
Weather: 83 and sunny.
Important Competition Rules/Items:
Gimmes: Holes 1 through 15, gimmes are allowed for a putt inside of a putter’s length. Birdies or better must still be putted – i.e. no gimmes for birdies or better. For holes 16 through 18, all putts must be putted. No gimmes allowed.
Closest to the Pin: Holes #6 and #17. $10 from each person must be venmo-ed to Ed Grambo.
The Grint: If you are over 23 strokes, please edit your handicap to 23 strokes before the round starts. Launi and Nate must also adjust their strokes commensurate with the chart below.
Groupings/Preview:
8:24: Ed Grambo, Nate Kraynak, Billy Kelly, David Carney
The 8:24 Grouping will kick things off with the Tour’s Honorary Starter, Ed Grambo, our host. Ed has put together and up and down year, but with lots of positives. Big girthy drives are the name of his game and his recent country club membership has him logging the rounds this year. Repetition has gotten him to his lowest handicap yet. Once Ed bends the knee to the love that has kept him from competing on Tour this season, sponsorship of the Tournament will pass to fellow Lehigh Valleyian, Billy Kelly. Light on the rounds this year, Billy hopes that he can dig deep into his trophy cabinet and find that winning stroke. Billy can fall anywhere from breaking 80 if he’s stroking it, to 95 if he can’t find his swing. Sunday will be the big reveal. Nathan Kraynak of Club Old York returns to the tournament that has haunted him for the last 365 days. Bowing out mid-round last year to watch the Eagles game didn’t sit well with many on Tour. One anonymous tour member went so far to say “If you don’t want to be here, turn your Tour card in and someone will be glad to take it!,” said Vince Sobocinski. However, Nate has recently been having the last laugh by winning the YPGA Open and the YPGA Cup Individual. With two tour wins this year, Nate comes into this week very lukewarm and ready to contend. David Carney has been swinging a hot stick lately. He has a recent win at Deerfield and then low rounds rolled in from there. Some shaky iron play could hold him back Sunday but we expect another mid-80 round from this counselor.
Winner will be from this group? Confidence level – 7 out of 10
[Yes, there is a random tee time that was already book at 8:36am. Sucks for them.
8:48: Michael Musselman, Michael Patitucci, Andy Kotulka, Michael Sabara
Andy and the Michaels will feature in the second group. Musselman has the game to go low on Sunday with the reachable Par 5s where he can birdie all four of them. We expect a close to par round for Musselman. Anything worse is a bust for Muss. Patitucci, fresh off the IR, will come into the tournament very cold with no rounds logged in on the Grint. He’ll probably just try to have fun by bombing some drives and chunking all his irons. We expect Mike to be hammered by hole 5. Andy Country Club should do well at Architects with his game. Bogey golf will be the name of the game for Andy but the back-9 where things get frisky could be his undoing. 44 front, 50 on the back for Andy. Sabara has been flirting with breaking 100 on a consistent basis now and he now becomes a real threat to finish in the top 8 of the leaderboard on a given week, which is a huge improvement from where he was a year ago. His dedication to the game and improving has been admirable, inspiring, and generational. He’ll shoot a 112.
Winner will be from this group? Confidence level – 2 out of 10
9:00: David King, Chris Meyer, Greg Taglialatela, Paul Koch
The 9am tee time is an eclectic group of tour members where it’s difficult to say where things will go. David King has shown a renewed energy in his game by playing like a scratch golfer on the front 9 at Lederach, only to fizzle out down the stretch. David lacks touch and finesse around the greens that will keep him out of contention at Architects. Greg has also shown immense improvement in his game. Greg has his driver back in the bag this week and it should help him try to edge out Sabara in their ongoing rivalry. Will the real Chris Meyer avail himself this weekend? Chris has been off it lately will some subpar rounds but can the 3-time major winner stay on the sidelines any longer? This is likely to be the tournament where Chris makes a splash on the year like he did in 2020 after a similarly abysmal year but where he wound up winning the Tour Championship. Ah, Paul Koch, the defending champ. Will he defend his title or will a bad mix of substance force Paul into a tailspin of erratic drives, chunky irons and feeble putts leading to another bottom four finish?
Winner will be from this group? Confidence level – 1 out of 10
9:12: Vince Sobocinski, Wayne Zimmer, Jason Torrance, Matt Launi
The Vanguard Crew round out the groupings for the Lehigh Valley Classic Presented by Ed Grambo. Sobocinski has recently reinstalled the SoboSim® in his garage after some recent home renovations and he should be in good form come Sunday. Strong driver and putting will help him break 90. If he mixes in some birdies, he could be atop the leaderboard. Will the birth of the third Sobo distract Vincent III from the task at hand? Wayne’s key to success will be blasting that big stick on the par 5s and getting home for birdies. Sad to say that he’ll likely have to shoot sub-75 to contend. Jason played brilliantly at Lederach shooting a 77 and a personal best. However, only one round on the card since August 15th??? That could be a bogey for Jason come Sunday. The name of the game is repetition and coming in cold and spending the last month wanking to his 77 will set Jay up for failure. Launi will finish in the top 3. You heard it here. No analysis. No insight. No funny jokes. No deep dive into his game. He’ll just finish in the top 3.
Winner will be from this group? Confidence level – 8 out of 10
Architects Strokes
Zimmer - 3
Musselman - 7
Billy - 10
Torrance - 11
Carney - 13
Paul - 14
Vince - 15
Meyer - 15
Launi - 15
Andy - 18
Nate - 18
Ed - 19
Patitucci - 21
King - 23
Tag - 23
Sabara - 23
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