Published: September 13, 2009 11:41 pm      

Cumberland keeps the Cup

Blank wins final hole for CCC’s sixth-straight victory

FROSTBURG — Butchy Blank knew he just needed to halve the final hole for Cumberland Country Club to retain the Carroll Boggs Cup with a tie, but the former Fort High High School football standout ended up winning the hole and his match to give his team a 12 1/2 to 11 1/2 victory over host Maplehurst Country Club in the two-day event that concluded with 12 singles matches on Sunday afternoon.

Cumberland had a 6 1/2 to 5 1/2 edge in points after the first day and needed to split the singles for the win.

Going into the final hole the scenario had Cumberland winning for the sixth straight year if Blank won the tough 420-yard par-four, No. 18 hole. Maplehurst could pull out the win if Greg Turner came through in the clutch, or having the match end in a 12-12 tie if they halved the hole.

A very long hitter, Blank blasted his drive about 320 yards down the left side of the fairway to be within 100 yards on the tough two-tiered green. He then put his second shot off the green after 25 feet from the flag after Turner had his roll off into a sand trap on the right. Turner kept his team’s hopes alive when he hit his shot out of the bunker to about eight feet below the hole.

Blank put his putt within inches of the hole to get the par and the win, while Turner had his go left of the hole.

“I knew I needed to halve the hole to keep the cup and I was really trying to get a birdie,” said Blank, who had been up two with only three left after No. 15. “There was a lot of wind and I had the adrenalin. I think that took the drive through the trees. I was up two holes and I was happy I could pull it out on No. 18.”

Also posting wins for Cumberland in singles were captain Jim Donahue over John Blank one up, George Young over Brett Davis 6-and-5, Marc Zanger over Travis Bohrer, 6-and-5 and Andy Halverson over Don Budd, 6-and-5 in a battle of the club pros.

Maplehurst got wins from captain Jim Lauder over Bob Garner, 3-and-2, Barry Knotts over Kevin Yost, 7-and-6, Aaron Stevens over Bucky Butts, 4-and-3, Barry Mazer over John Smythe one up, and Doug Moulden over Chip Harvey, 4-and-3.

Keeping Maplehurst in the running for the cup with comebacks to halve matches and get a half of point each were Mike Sipple and Kevin Robison. Sipple needed to win the final three holes to get the tie with Jim Snodgrass. In a see-saw match Robison won on holes 17 and 18 to split the point with Gus Bell.

“It was an exciting way to finish,” said Halverson, who was in the final group with Blank. “We had to come up here and play on their home course and they have some great golfers. Some of our guys struggled on Saturday, but they hung in there and did what they had to do to win.”

Cumberland’s Young and Maplehurst’s Knotts were the only golfers to be in on winning three points for their teams.

“The golf course was in great shape and everybody played solid golf,” said Young. “I know in our group we were just able to make a few more putts than they did.”

Donahue’s win over John Blank in the first group was pivotal and his great recovery from behind the trees for a par on the par-five No. 14 hole and 15-foot birdie putt for a win over No. 15 proved decisive.

“I putted well today and I think the nice weather helped us,” said the Cumberland captain. “It was tough with the cold and wind on Saturday.”

In the fourball play to open the action on Saturday each team finished with three points.

Young and Smythe defeated Stevens and Robison, while Butchy Blank and Beall downed Moulden and Davis for the Cumberland wins. Knotts and Sipple got a victory over Snodgrass and Yost, while Budd and John Blank beat Halverson and Zanger. Butts and Harvey tied Bohrer and Turner, and Donahue and Garner shared a point with Lauder and Mazer.

Cumberland got a one-point lead in the foursome play. Scoring the wins for the 2009 champions were Young and Zanger over Robison and Stevens, Snodgrass and Bell over Turner and Bohrer and Halverson and Smythe over Budd and Sipple.

The two Maplehurst wins were Knotts and John Blank over Butts and Butchy Blank, and Lauder and Mazer over Yost and Garner. Moulden and Davis tied Harvey and Donahue.

“It came down to Cumberland making a lot of putts on Saturday on No. 18 that put them in position to win today,” said Lauder.

Steve Luse is a sports writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Steve Luse at sluse@times-news.com.