CUMBERLAND — Billy Hofmann, of Vienna, Va., found the Cumberland Country Club course to his liking in his first trip to Cumberland and shot a four-under par 67 to tie three-time former champion Dirk Schultz of Hagerstown for the championship in the 43rd annual Carroll Boggs Railey Realty Middle-Atlantic PGA Pro-Am on Friday.
The two co-champions both hit drives over 300 yards, but are a contrast in size. Schultz, a former basketball center at Hagerstown Junior College, is 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds, and uses that size to pound the ball. Hofmann is under 6-foot tall and probably weighs 100 pounds less than Schultz. He shows that with a proper swing you don’t have to be big to hit the ball.
Hofmann, a 27-year-old assistant pro at the Westwood Golf Club in Vienna, had an eagle on the par 5, No. 4 hole and had three birdies en route to his 67.
Schultz put his second shot on his final hole inside of two feet from the pin on No. 9 and sank the putt for his sixth birdie. The 44-year-old head pro from Beaver Creek Country Club in Hagerstown started on the back nine and was four-under par with a 31 at the turn.
One stroke back of the winners with a 68 was Bob Affelder of Ocean City. Former Cumberland resident Jon Carney, a head pro at Pine Valley Country Club in Wilmington N.C., shot a 69. Another former champion, Dennis Winters of Ocean City, finished with 70.
“I never played this course before and I was hitting the ball well,” said Hofmann, who was the 2008 Middle-Atlantic Assistant Pro of the year. “I usually hit the ball far and I was bombing my drives and hitting the fairways. I thought the Mountains behind some of the holes were awesome and I love the stream running through the course.”
Hofmann reached the 475-yard No. 4 hole with a 320-yard drive over the water and a seven iron. He had a 12-foot putt for the eagle. The three-year pro had birdies on holes 2, 11 and 17.
Schultz was ranked as one of longest hitters in the country in the 1980s and once finished third in the Remax National Long Drive Contest. The former Middle-Atlantic PGA Player of the Year used only drives to help set up his seven birdies but credited a new putter with being a key to success.
In his strong start on the back nine, Schultz had birdies on 11, 13, 16, 17 and 18. The four-time champion slipped a little for back-to-back bogies on holes 1 and 2 before bouncing back for birdies on 4 and 9.
“I felt good at the start and had 31 on the back nine,” and Schultz. “I just got a new putter (a 34-inch upright Taylor Made) out of the pro shop and I was making some putts. But getting birdies on all but one of the par 5s was certainly a key.”
Frostburg’s John “Slug” Armstrong, a Cumberland CC member, was the low amateur in the 88-golfer field with a one-under par 70 with 35s on each nine. Hofmann’s teammate, Glen Peterson from Westwood, fired a 72 to tie Tracey Vallandingham of Breton Bay in Maryland for second place. Ken Lampard of Beaver Creek and Roy Lorshbaugh of Hagerstown shot 74s.
Cumberland’s Harold Appel had a 65 for the low net score after shooting a 75 on his home course. Ken Stonebreaker of the Black Rock Course in Hagerstown was second with a 67. Cumberland’s Gus Bell, Joe Eaton of Baltimore and Armstrong had 68s.
Schultz teamed with Lampard, Ken Winfield and Ty Bordner for the low gross team score with a 12-under par 130. Affelder joined Jack Abell, Evan Hileman and Jim Donahue to tie the team of Winters, Buzz Shipley, Rick Shipley and Gary Hanna for second with 134s.
Pro Steve Wenpetran of the Sterling (Va.) Country Club joined Harold and Brian Appel of Cumberland and Gary Alexander of the Woodmore Country Club in Mitchellsville to take the team low net category with a 121. The Winters team was runner-up with 125.
Steve Luse is a retired Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. Contact Steve Luse at sluse@times-news.com.
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Steve Bittner
Hofmann, Schultz win Boggs PGA Pro-Am
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