Palm Beach County golf notes: Bear Lake Country Club member inducted into New York State Golf Hall of Fame

John Baldwin, a member at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, was among four inductees into the New York State Golf Hall of Fame in ceremonies last month at the Elmira, N.Y., Country Club.

Baldwin, 74, originally from Port Washington, N.Y., is one of three men to have won all three of the state’s major championships for amateurs – the Men’s State in 1967, the Mid-Amateur in 1991 and the Senior Amateur in 2001.

“Obviously, I am proud of my accomplishments on the golf course,” Baldwin said in his acceptance remarks, “and probably top of the list is sharing those three state titles with Don Allen and Al Foster,” both previous inductees.

Other victories over the years include the Metropolitan Golf Association Amateur, Match Play and Ike Stroke Play; the Long Island Amateur four times; the Irish and Welsh Senior Amateur Opens twice each; and the 2000 British Senior Amateur Open.

Additionally, he qualified for 23 USGA championships; was twice the MGA Player of the Year; served on the USGA mid-amateur committee; helped establish the MGA Foundation, serving as president in 1993-94; and received the MGA Distinguished Service Award in 2004.

In 2013, Baldwin and Dick Hill won the 60-older division of the Palm Beach County Golf Association Senior Four-Ball at Bear Lakes CC.

Also inducted was Joey Sindelar, a past champion on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions, who has a winter home in Boca Raton.

Recent achievements by PBCGA members: Zach Fineberg, North Palm Beach, and Joe Shaktman and Kevin Schaffel, Coral Springs, were age group winners in the Tour Championship presented by Tiger Woods the last weekend of October at Admirals Cove. Fineberg scored 32-73—105 in the Open division; Shaktman, 38-72—118, seniors, 50-59; and Schaffel, 36-66—102, super seniors, 60-older. Rain washed out half the first round, hence the 27-hole scores.

Annual awards were presented following the Club Team Championship Nov. 1 at Mayacoo Lakes. Players of the Year recognized were Scott Turner, Stuart, for the second year in a row; Ryan Howison, Jupiter, Seniors; and Schaffel, Super Seniors. The PBCGA season ends Dec. 6 with the 26th annual Sam Smidt Cup match against Southeast Chapter pros, site to be determined.

Thomas Parker of North Palm Beach won the 23rd annual Tire Kingdom Stroke Play at PGA National at three over 147, scoring 76 on the Champion course and 71 on the adjacent Fazio. Howison had par-4 on the second extra hole to beat Tony Rick of Boca Raton in the senior division, ages 50-59, after they tied at 150. Super seniors 60 and older also tied at 150 with John Sanford, Jupiter, edging Schaffel with par-4 on the fourth playoff hole.

The fifth annual Tommy Belen Better Ball Championship drew 40 teams in three age groups at Jonathan’s Landing GC at Old Trail. The flight winners: Open division, 49-and-younger, Chris Hatfield and Matt Lindahl, Palm Beach Gardens, on Lindahl’s birdie putt on the first extra hole of the Fazio course, 65-65—130; seniors, 50-59, Brian Kennedy, Highland Beach, and Kai Niemi, Tequesta, 62-64—126; and super seniors, 60-older, Ronald Fisher, Delray Beach, and Peter Metzler, Lake Worth, 135.

Tony Panebianco, Jupiter, and Kyle Westhorpe, Wellington, teamed up to win the 23rd annual Junior-Senior at Abacoa GC, scoring 70-61-131. It was the first PBCGA victory for each.

FSGA results: Kevin Hammer of Boynton Beach and Pete Williams of Juno Beach were winners in separate tournaments conducted by the Florida State Golf Association. Hammer and Meghan Stasi of Oakland Park won the Mixed Shootout for the third time since 2014, posting 135 at TPC Treviso Bay in Naples. Williams and Don Whittemore of Temple Terrace won the senior division of the Senior Four-Ball for the second straight year with 65-61—126 at the Indian River Club in Vero Beach.

Club pros: In Global Golf Sales play, Jimmy Buell, CC at Mirasol, edged Danny St. Louis, Breakers Rees Jones, 5-3 in a South Florida PGA Section point quota tournament at Mayacoo Lakes CC, and Will Coleman, Mayacoo Lakes, paced the Southeast Chapter’s version at the Preserve at Ironhorse with 11 Stableford points.

Leonard Carothers of Boca Raton was the only flight winner from Palm Beach County at the seventh annual SFPGA Senior Open at the Naples Beach Hotel & GC. Carothers led 60-69 year old amateurs with a net 210. Guy Boros of Fort Lauderdale, son of the legendary Julius Boros, was the overall winner with 207.

Local notes: Ina Kim Schaad, a member at The Dye Preserve west of Jupiter, won the 33rd annual U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. Schaad beat Talia Campbell 3 and 2 in the finals at Forest Highlands GC in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Eighth-seeded Wes Patterson of Jupiter was beaten by ninth-ranked Mark Costello of Fort Worth, Texas, in the quarterfinals of the 44th World Long Drive Championship at Thackerville, Okla.

Nadia Poncy had a hole-in-one while winning the Junior Club Championship at Tequesta CC. The teenager aced the 175-yard fifth hole with a 4-hybrid en route to an 85 to pace the girls.