Anthony Yacovazzi of Hudson posted six birdies in 14 holes at Sharon Golf Club to cruise to a 4 and 2 finals win over Randy Skorman, winning the 2008 Akron District Golf Association Match Play Championship.
But it wasn’t an easy march to get to the finals for the 21-year old Yacovazzi, as he had to face down some veteran ADGA players over his final two matches.
The two semi-final matches, played at Good Park, pitted Skorman against Larry Horner, and Dave Oates against Yacovazzi.
In the first semi-final match, Skorman used some great long iron play to post two eagles and a birdie in his round, ending the ‘giant-killer’ march of Horner, who had beaten the qualifier medalist and some talented young players to reach the semis. Skorman defeated Horner going away.
In the second semi-final match, Oates jumped out to an early 2-up lead after two holes, but the steady Yacovazzi kept plugging along and tied the match after six holes. Oates had trouble driving the ball in play much of the day and it finally caught up to him on the tenth, as Yacovazzi won that hole to go 1-up. But there was no quit in Oates, as he birdied the 12th to square the match. The match remained square until Oates three-putted the 16th, which ended up as the decisive margin in Yacovazzi’s 1-up win in the semis.
The Match Play win is Yacovazzi’s first individual title in the ADGA. Complete results of all the 2008 matches can be found here.
The ADGA’s next event is the Lazor Memorial 2-Man Better Ball Match Play event. The qualifier for that event will be held at Chippewa GC in Doylestown on Saturday, July 12. Complete details and registration information can be found on the ADGA website.
— Tim Davis and Allen Freeman
