Scott Stultz, who passed away in 2018, was known to many in the community as one of the best golfers the area has ever produced.
A dominant player, Stultz won multiple championships at Blairmont, Park Hills and Scotch Valley through the years, and though his golfing prowess is what many may remember, Stultz’s biggest legacy may just lie with what he accomplished off the course.
Around the year 2000, Stultz became involved in developing what would become the Northeast Junior Golf Tour, a junior golf organization that conducted a series of well-run youth competitions throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
As director of the tour, Stultz would make sure that tournaments were held to a high standard, allowing participants to enjoy the benefits of competing in high-quality events. For more than a decade, young golfers flocked to the NEGT.
Many of the best golfers in our area today benefitted from the hard work of Stultz, including the likes of Jimmy Ferguson, Mike Macionsky, Wes Elder, Anthony DeGol, Jimmy Gillam, Samantha Formeck and Sean Brannan (Stultz’s grandson), to name a few.
Later in his life, I had the opportunity on a couple occasions to just sit and talk with Stultz about the sport he loved — wonderful memories for me.
Stultz had a significant impact on many people who met him, not the least of which were the numerous youths he mentored through the Northeast Junior Tour.
US Ryder Cup
The biggest news in the world of golf this week was the selection of golfers to fill out this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup Team.
The semi-annual event will be held Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black Golf Course just outside of New York City and is expected to be a fierce competition with some of the loudest crowds in golf history.
Hollidaysburg’s Eric Glunt will be right in the middle of this wild Ryder Cup action, as the veteran Pennsylvania State Trooper was selected to work as a volunteer at the event (as a member of the competition’s concession committee).
Glunt will be on duty for just a portion of the scheduled competition and will be able to enjoy full Ryder Cup access for the balance of the week.
PA senior best-ball
The Sinking Valley team of Greg Ferguson Sr. and Artie Fink Jr. posted a strong finish at this week’s Pennsylvania Best-Ball Championship at Bellewood Country Club in Pottstown.
Ferguson and Fink scored rounds of 69 and 67 to finish in a tie for third place, just two shots behind the winning team of Bob Crnjarich and Rob Stoops.
WPGA senior event
On Wednesday, Iron Masters’ Ron Hinish captured the super-senior division of the West Penn Golf Association’s event at Montour Heights Country Club. Hinish finished at even-par 72, three shots clear of his closest competitor.
Scotch Valley women
There was some extremely impressive play in this year’s women’s championship at Scotch Valley.
Northern Cambria’s Samantha Formeck scored rounds of 76 and 69 to edge out Crosby Denis (a junior at Hollidaysburg Area High School this year) by four strokes.
50 years ago
During the last week in August of 1975, the Altoona Mirror featured a discount coupon for greens fees at Pine Ridge Golf Course (located along Rt. 22, west of Duncansville).
The coupon was good for 50 cents off the greens fee rate of $2.50 at Pine Ridge, a nine-hole course that played to a par of 30.
Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at GLTR777@atlanticbb.net.
