Published: August 17, 2008 11:41 pm      

Moot's 10-under shatters Greater Johnstown mark

It was only fitting that Matt Moot should shoot under par in winning his second consecutive Greater Johnstown golf championship.

Playing an extremely hard and fast Sunnehanna layout on Sunday made that more than a daunting task.

On a day that the field’s average score was 82, Moot converted two birdies on the back nine to offset a single bogey at No. 3 to post a 1-under 69 and win by an astounding 14-shot margin over runner-up Paul Berezansky.

“The day was difficult,” Moot said. “The greens were firm and fast. No matter how well you hit the ball (Sunday), you were going to have to grind. I was very pleased with shooting one under.”

Berezansky shot 74 – the second lowest score of the day – to finish at 4-over 289, a comfortable 10 shots ahead of Chris Cascino and Kevin Berkley, who tied for third at 299.

Berezansky had been on a birdie barrage the previous 54 holes of the tournament but was shutout at Sunnehanna. Following the round, he put into perspective the difficulty of a course that only yielded a total of 10 birdies to the field.

“Playing on the back tees (Sunday) at Sunnehanna with these conditions, everyone got a taste of what the Sunnehanna Amateur is,” Berezansky said. “You find out really quick just how good those players are.”

Moot’s 72-hole total of 10-under 275 shatters the scoring record of 4-under 281 set by Dan Thompson in 2006.

In the gallery to watch Moot make history was three-time Greater Johnstown champion Bill Crooks, who held the Greater Johnstown scoring record of 289 for 26 years before Al Hromulak (284) dethroned him in 1996. Crooks is also the father of Tim Crooks – Moot’s golf coach at Campbell (N.C.) University. The elder Crooks was quite impressed with Moot’s performance and hinted Moot might be ready to make an impact at the next level.

“That is just an incredible score, 10-under par,” Crooks said. “Matt is becoming a very good player. It was fun to watch. As far as the Sunnehanna Amateur next year, who knows? He is definitely coming along.”

The always humble Moot was quick to downplay his performance in respect to past champions.

“My record takes nothing away from the past performances of guys like Bill Crooks and Dan Thompson,” Moot said. “It is an honor to hold the record and be mentioned in the same breath as people like Mr. Crooks and Dan Thompson.”

Windber Country Club captured the team trophy with an 1,187 total. Berkley Hills finished second at 1,225. Sunnehanna Country Club was third with 1,249. North Fork Golf and Tennis Club finished fourth at 1,306.