Deer Run Wins 48th Best-ball-of-four At Trump-colts Neck
Louis Oberti drained a 30-foot winding putt on the final hole for a birdie and a net eagle to spark the team from Deer Run to the championship of the NJSGA 48th Best-Ball-of-Four Championship at the par-72, 6,330-yard Trump National Golf Club in Colts Neck on Wednesday, September 10.
Deer Run’s foursome of Oberti, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Anthony Abad and John Danckwerth posted a round of 15-under par 28-29-57 to defeat the defending champions from North Jersey (Paul Samanchik, Charlie Kohut, Rich Forlenza and Erv Allaghi) by one shot (30-28-58).
In third place at 29-30-59 was Old York (Vince Totka, Ted Jiggetts, John Cacciatore and Carmine Faola), followed by fourth-place Toms River (Paul Rhine, Bruce Himelman, Dennis Kane and John Ernst) at 30-30-60 (match of cards) and fifth-place Fiddler’s Elbow (Fred Stinner, Jeff Brooks, Pat Driscoll and James Cutler) at 29-31-60.
Deer Run’s round included 11 birdies and two net eagles, both recorded by Oberti, a 48-year-old banker who is a nine-handicapper. On the par-4 first hole, Deer Run’s 10th hole of the day, Oberti hit his approach shot to four feet. Then he saved his best shot, the 30-foot sidewinding putt, for the team’s final hole, the par-4 ninth hole.
“We’re a good bunch of friends who met at Deer Run,” said Oberti of the nine-hole complex in Wayne. “It was our first time in this event, although we did play together here in a pro-am in April. That day the wind was blowing so it was a different course.”
“We ham-and-egged very well today,” said Fitzpatrick, 27, a police officer in Lincoln Park. A 6-handcapper, he shot 75 on his own ball. “We never had any worries. We had somebody in birdie position on every hole.”
One of the round’s highlights came on the par-4 fourth hole when Danckwerth hit a 310-yard drive to the back of the green and ended up with a birdie.
“It was one of my best days driving the ball. I was bombing it off the tee. It seemed one every hole I was 100 to 120 yards from the pin,” said Danckwerth, who works at the Titleist Performance Center at Packanack Lake.
“This was a beautiful course. We really enjoyed it today. Kevin organized our group to play in this. We had a great day,” said Abad, 35, an IT specialist and eight-handicapper who lives in Lincoln Park.
