Bryan Pendrick of Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, New York, defeated Jonathan Jeter, 4 and 3, in Sunday's final match to capture the 111th Walter J. Travis Invitational at Garden City Golf Club on Long Island, New York.
Pendrick, the No. 3 seed after Friday’s stroke-play qualifying round, never saw the 18th hole in his four matches. He defeated Thomas Birdsey and Daniel Russo by 2-and-1 margins before dispatching of David Morgan, 5 and 4, to reach the final against the No. 1 seed Jeter.
Pendrick played for the University of Florida from 1994-98, overlapping with Brian Gay, Chris Couch, Paul Tesori and Steve Scott. He qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2004 and 2006, and was the 2009 Long Island Golf Association Player of the Year.
In the senior division, Ken Dardis of The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, took home the Dwight D. Eisenhower Cup. Dardis had a narrow path to victory, getting through stroke play as the No. 14 seed before four tight matches. He defeated George Zahringer III, 2 and 1, in the final.
Dardis had lost in the finals of the 2019 Travis, falling to Michael Mercier. This time, Dardis beat Mercier in the semifinals, 1 up.
Winners of other flights in the tournament included Dan Abbondandolo in the Devereux Emmet Cup bracket, Brandon Dalinka in the Charles B. MacDonald Cup bracket, Ryan Chin in the Robert T. Jones Cup bracket and Peter Debusschere in the William H. Taft Cup bracket.
The Travis, typically held the third week of May, was not played in 2020 due to the pandemic and was moved to September this year. It will return to its traditional May date in 2022.
RESULTS
Coming off a victory earlier this year in the Trans-Miss Senior earlier this year, Steve Maddalena of Jackson, Michigan, cruised to another win, this one coming in the Senior Porter Cup on Friday at Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York.
The Michigan Golf Hall of Famer carried a seven-stroke lead into the final round ,and even a closing 2-over 72 still gave him a five-stroke triumph in the 54-hole event. Noted Canadian senior amateur Dave Bunker finished runner-up at 3-over 213.
Maddalena won three Michigan Amateurs (in 1980, 1990 and 1995) and he was the Golf Association of Michigan’s Senior Men’s Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020.
Two-time defending champion Lara Tennant of Eugene, Oregon, and Gigi Higgins of Cape Coral, Florida, shared medalist honors with a 1-under 143 total in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at the Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Alabama.
Tennant, 54, won the tournament in 2018 and 2019, but couldn’t go for a third consecutive victory last year because the event was canceled. She had also earned medalist honors in 2017 but lost in the Round of 64 that year. This time around she defeated Tina Barker in the opening match.
The event continues today in match play and will finish with a championship final on Wednesday.
Scoring
Staff and Wire Reports