Past champions Lee, Inman present challenge
By: Bob Nuse
Don Yarson has grown up as a golfer at the Cherry Valley Country Club. Dave Hambley is a newcomer to the club, but an experienced golfer nevertheless.
Both golfers will have a chance to see where they currently stand among the club’s top players Saturday in the semifinals of the club championship. Yarson and Hambley, who are both seeking their first club championship, will take on players who have already managed to win a title of their own.
Yarson, who will be playing in the semifinals for the third time, faces defending champion Dan Lee. In the other semifinal, Hambley will take on former club champion Mark Inman. The winners will come back Sunday to play in the 36-hole final.
Despite his relative youth, the 21-year-old Yarson is playing in his sixth club championship this year. Saturday, he’ll be taking on one of his best friends in the 20-year-old Lee, who is a junior at Rutgers University.
"It’s been a lot of fun," said Yarson, who made the semis two years ago but was eliminated in the first round last year. "I really like the format with qualifying through stroke play and then playing match play after that. It’s one-on-one and that’s a lot of fun. I don’t get to play match play any other time except for this."
Yarson, who will be a senior at Monmouth University this fall, hasn’t been out on the course playing as much as he would like this year. He has spent most of his time this summer working in the pro shop at Bedens Brook, so he’s just going to go out and give it his best shot Saturday.
"I’ve only played four or five rounds this summer," said Yarson, a Montgomery High graduate and former Group I state champion. "But that’s OK because sometimes I start to feel like if I’ve played too much I start to get burned out. Once I get back to school I’ll be playing every day.
Hambley is in his second year at Cherry Valley, but is no stranger to playing for a club championship. He is also a member at Commonwealth in Horsham, Pa., where he has already been a club champion.
"It should be interesting," said Hambley, who will also be playing a good friend Saturday when he faces Inman. "Golf is a day to day thing and sometimes it’s a real surprise how you play. Mark and I have played a great deal together as teammates representing Cherry Valley and we also play most weekends. So there are no secrets."
Hambley, who made it to the semifinals last year as well, doesn’t play in a lot of tournaments. But he does enjoy playing in an atmosphere like this weekend.
"I’m pretty much a country club player," Hambley said. "The people at Cherry Valley are great people and the players are very competitive."
Both match-play semifinals Saturday figure to be pretty competitive. And both matches will be played among friends, which should make for an interesting day.