Former champs return to Eagle Amateur
SUMMIT TWP — Some familiar names — and former champions — have registered for the 28th annual Butler Eagle County Amateur golf tournament Aug. 7 at Hiland Golf Course.
Two-time defending champion Geoff Patterson will be among the field, as will 2014 champ Mike Marron, 1995 and 2002 champion Mark Young, and 2007 and 2016 champion Rob Voltz.
“We have 97 golfers registered so far (through last weekend),” Eagle Amateur committee member Voltz said Wednesday. “Naturally, I wish it was more and I’m always nervous about the numbers a week or so before the event. But I’ll get a lot of texts and emails in that final week every year.
“I’m confident we’ll approach a full field (of 144 golfers), but I never know until it happens.”
Patterson’s score was 1-under-par at last year’s Eagle Amateur, hosted by Slippery Rock Golf Club, and it was good enough to win. He won in a playoff over Jeremy Plaisted at Lake Arthur in 2020.
“I won’t be the favorite this year,” Patterson said. “I might have played nine holes at Hiland with my son over in the last two years. I’m hoping to get a practice round or two in before the tournament, but I just haven’t played there.
“I'm one of the older golfers (52) to have won it and I am playing some of the better golf in my life right now. But there’s so many good golfers in the field every year and anybody can win it. I feel very fortunate — and very proud — to have won this tournament the past two years.”
Young, 57, hasn’t played in the Eagle Amateur in more than 10 years. He used to play in it annually with his father, Chuck Young, who was superintendent at Hiland for more than 50 years.
Chuck Young won the tournament in 2001.
“I think Dad is still the oldest golfer to ever win the Amateur,” Young said. “My nephew, Conner Gray, is playing in it this year and we decided to play together. We were playing a round together a few weeks ago and started talking about it.
“I grew up at Hiland as a kid. I played there forever. I have a lot of fond memories and I’m looking forward to this.”
Hiland owner Sarah Zediker said the course is relatively dry right now, though 10,000 gallons of water have been sprinkled on it daily.
“June is usually a wet month for us, but it was unusually dry this year,” Zediker said. “July has been extremely hot. The course is dry, but it’s still in good shape.
“I love having this tournament here. I enjoy talking to all of the golfers and watching the level of play out there. It’s phenomenal.”
Plaisted has never won the Eagle Amateur, but he’s come close. Besides losing that 2020 playoff to Patterson, he was only two or three strokes off the pace last year.
Plaisted has been playing ion the Eagle Amateur for approximately 20 years.
“I look forward to this tournament every year,” he said. “There’s so many good players at multiple skill levels. It’s unique in that it’s a one-day stroke-play tournament. You don’t see many of those and unless you’re in the Tri-State PGA, there aren’t many opportunities to play in something like this.
“This event is great for Butler County. It’s all county people playing. This area needs something like this.”
Defending women’s champion Paige Scott will not be playing in this year’s event. She is playing in the PGA Junior Championship Tuesday through Friday of this coming week at Cog Hill Country Club in Palos Park, Ill.
Voltz said Mary Twentier, Janet Gray, Karen Aloi and Rebecca Gilson are among the women to register for this year’s Eagle Amateur thus far.
There are 45 golfers signed up for the morning session, 52 for the afternoon. Tee times are at 7:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., respectively.
“We have some younger players, too, and I’d like to see more of them to go with the familiar names we get each year,” Voltz said. “Jacob Wolak (of Slippery Rock) has signed up and so has Tucker Skerbetz, an outstanding golfer from Cranberry Highlands.”
Hiland is hosting the Eagle Amateur for the first time since 2019, when Brent Rodgers of Cranberry Township won the event.
