Most of last week’s golf activity was centered around the McGregor Links Country Club where lots of exciting things were happening.

First and foremost was the climax of the two-weekend match play championship.

Joe Lanci, 18, a senior on the Saratoga Springs High School golf team and the No. 1 player on the golf team, is the new match play champion.

Playing in his first ever match play tourney, he faced the best players that McGregor had to offer and he beat each one, as is required by a match play format. To gain the crown, none of his matches reached the 18th hole.

Lanci also finished third earlier in the season in the stroke play championship.

On his way to the coveted trophy, Lanci defeated veteran match play players Scott Duffy and Eric Tarantino.

Match Play Championship

1st place - Joe Lanci; 2nd - Scott Duffy; Tied for 3rd - Nick Carroll, Eric Tarantino.

1st flight - 1, John Danison; 2, Russ Terpening. 2nd flight - 1, Rock Kirkpatrick; 2, Bill Kufs. 3rd flight -  1, Pat Morin; 2, Terry Loftus. 4th flight - 1, Mike Garzone; 2, E.J. Harkins. 5th flight - 1, Ron Proler; 2, Ken May. 6th flight - 1, Al Lewis; 2, Al Chieco. 7th flight - 1, Tom Crowley; 2, Angelos Tzelepis. 8th flight - 1, Marshall Swift; 2, Jeremy Jones.

Father Paul Bondi tourney: Through the generosity of Mike and Jeanie Dennis, who donated the use of their McGregor Links Country Club, the Father Paul Bondi tournament was a huge success.

More than 80 golfers gathered at McGregor to honor Father Bondi, former pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Ballston Spa, and to raise much needed funds for the extraordinary expenses that incur over the school year at Saratoga Central Catholic High School.

There would be no Catholic school in Saratoga County if it were not for Father Bondi, who founded the school and has been its watchdog for many years. He is a great humanitarian, who deserves to honored.

It almost appeared to be a political convention with former Saratoga mayor J. Michael O’Connell, former assemblyman Bobby D’Andrea, Wilton Town engineer Keith Manz and senator Joseph Bruno counting among the fold honoring the good Father.

There were a number of awards presented at the close of play. First gross went to the scramble team of D’Andrea, Manz, O’Connell and Skip Carlson with a score of 59.

In the runner-up spot was a team of ladies - Carol Catone, Sharon Morris, Kelly Peluso and current New York State seniors champion (60-65 division) Gail Brophy had a gross score of 60.

In the net division with a score of 58 was the winning team of Michael Bradt, Steve Nutting, Phil Klein and Brian Fredette. Finishing in second net was the team of Al Mottau, Bill Juron, Al Passinello and Doug Joseph with a net of 58.5.

In the special events category: Longest drive men - Rich Hynes;  Longest drive ladies - Nicole Ryan; Closest to pin on No. 18 - Men - Tim Brown (6’3”); Women - Gail Brophy (4’2”).

The McGregor Ladies Association held a tourney where scores are not really important, but the purpose of the tournament is.

Their annual “Rally for a Cure” tourney helps to raise funds for the Susan G. Kimen Foundation to support the mission of helping to fund a cure for cancer, particularly breast cancer - a woman’s worst enemy.

While there were winners in the tourney, the real winner was the foundation.

Rally for a Cure

Flight 1: 1st gross - Ann Twyman and Carol Giacchetta; 1st net (tie) - Chris DeNew and Sue Charbonneau; Linda Bibby and Pam O’Brien. 2nd flight: 1st gross - Kathy Nygard and Yvonne Manso; 1st net (tie) - Jen Strobel and Sharon Wright; Mary Esposito and Irene Crowley. 3rd flight: 1st gross - Nancy Platt and Gail Barclay; 1st net - Ann Mitchell and Paula Barclay; 2nd net - Donna Buckley and Nancy Indiano.  

Fairway Feats: Scoring a hole-in-one on a par 3 is significant for any golfer. But getting a hole-in-one on a par 4 as McGregor Links member Kirk Emmons did, is spectacular.

Playing from the back tees on McGregor’s 326-yard, par 4, ninth hole, the long-hitting Emmon cleared the hill going towards the green that is not visible from the tee. Suddenly, he heard screaming and thought he had hit someone.

It seems that one of the golfers in the foursome ahead of him was putting for a birdie.

Simultaneously as he missed his putt, Emmon’s ball rolled directly by him and into the hole. No wonder they screamed - it was a wonder to behold.

According to USGA records, there have only been 10 hole-in-ones over 300 yards recorded. Excuse me. Make that 11, courtesy of Kirk Emmons.

Golf tournaments: The second annual Bob Cox Memorial Golf Tournament is set for Sept. 22 at Brookhaven Golf Club with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. and registration at 10 a.m. The cost is $100 per player with the proceeds to benefit the family of Bob Cox.

Bob Cox passed away last year and didn’t have a lot of life insurance for the wife and kids.

The tournament is a 4-person scramble with trophies awarded to the top three teams and cash prizes for closest to pin, long drive and longest putt.

There will be lunch and beer on the turn and a lasagna dinner served after the outing.

To sign up, call John Winnek at 695-4672 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Call the Brookhaven Golf Course Pro Shop at 893-7458. Get your buddies together and team up for a great cause brought to you Bob’s Thursday Night Golf League Friends.

One of the area’s most popular tourney’s is back for fall.

Airway Meadows Golf Course will hold its ninth annual Oktoberfest Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 9:30 a.m.

The format will be an 18-hole, four-player scramble. The price is $89 per person, which includes continental breakfast, lunch at the turn and steak and chicken dinner with numerous salads, dessert, beer wine and soda from noon on.

Lots of prizes plus putting and pitching contests for free Gold memberships for the 2008 season. The tournament is open to the public. Call 792-4144 for more details.

Mechanicville Golf Club

Frog Island League

Low gross - Michael Serbalik, 39; Laurie Phelps, 39; Rich Duda, 39. Low net - Dave Lefco, 22; Annie Sadowski, 31; Dave Morency, 31. Women’s low gross - Laurie Phelps, 39; Annie Sadowski, 41.

Airway Meadows

Friday Night Scramble

1st - Jeff Sellis, Dave Stewart, Denny Bouck and Todd McShane (-5).

2nd - Ray Schultz, Janet Tucker, Pat Agostino, Meredith Hartman (-5).

Closest to the Pin #3 - Tammy Crawford (23’7”)