Weiniger & Manore Of Neshanic Valley Easily Claim Senior Four-ball Title

Dave Weiniger recorded an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole, knocking home a sand wedge from 88 yards, to propel the team of Weiniger and Paul Manore of Neshanic Valley to a seven-under-par 65 and the championship of the 22nd NJSGA Senior Four-Ball event on Thursday Sept. 28, at Colonia Country Club.

Weiniger and Manore, who first teamed in 2014 and got within a stroke of the title that year at Galloway National, won by eight shots over runners-up Neal Shuman and Andy Muhlstock of Alpine, with Steven Boyd of Baltusrol and Adam Kugler of Alpine taking third place at 74 on a match of cards over Ken Martin of Hamilton Farm and Jay Oyer of Fairmount.

In the Net Division, Peter Kelly and Steve Ditzko of Forest Hill took first place by shooting 85-22-63, followed by Charles Killeen and Basil Maher of Essex Fells at 75-8-67, on a match of cards over Larry Iovino and Richard Cupparo of Hendricks Field, at 79-12-67.

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Weinger’s eagle put his team at four-under-par through just six holes, as the pair birdied the par-3 No. 6, on a 20-foot putt by Manore, and the par-four No. 7. They started in the shotgun event on Hole No. 3. For the day, they had six birdies, an eagle and one bogey.

“You kind of feel it’s your day when you make a shot like that from the fairway,” said Weiniger, 61, a resident of Warren who manages a brokerage firm in Manhattan. “I was here Tuesday playing in a corporate outing, so I took some notes. It was a scramble and we lost by a shot.”

Weiniger graduated Blair Academy and played golf at Cornell University. Two years ago, he shot 71 for second place in the first round of the NJSGA Senior Amateur.

“We had some incentive. Six years ago, John Samerjan and Tom Avers, who we play with every weekend at Neshanic, won this. After they won it, we felt we had to try it and we had immediate success. Now, we don’t have to hear it from them anymore,” Weiniger said.

Manore, 59, a retired IBM executive, has enjoyed a fine summer, winning the Somerset County Championship and Spooky Brook club championship.

“I like to hit it from right to left and Dave likes it left to right, so we’ll get a good look on every hole we play,” said Manore, a native of Utica, N.Y., who lives in Bedminster. “It was a good day for us. We liked the golf course. It was in excellent shape.”