GOLF
Interest in the Commonwealth Cup at Laurel Oaks continues to grow.
The field is up to 76 teams this year for the 36-hole tournament that starts Saturday at Laurel Oaks.
The unique format drives interest for the two-man teams. Holes 1-6 are best ball, 7-12 scramble and 13-18 alternate shot.
Organizers Tyler Lippert and Jake O’Mara put a lot of work in to make the tournament the best experience for all and are excited once again to bring a weekend of fun on the course. On top of some added perks with tee gifts that includes tumblers, golf towels and cozies, they’re awarding a $500 scholarship to an area golfer pursuing a four-year degree in college.
Applications were sent out to the schools, the applicants then emailed their application and transcripts. Lippert and O’Mara then put together a committee, five members came together and chose the winner based on academics, athletics and community involvement.
“Jake and I wanted to find the best way to give back and ultimately thought that this would be the best way for someone who is pursuing a college degree. It was open to seven area schools and their golf teams for who is pursuing a four-year degree,” Lippert said.
The winner of the scholarship will be announced Friday morning on WFTM’s “Sports Talk with Travis Scaggs”, Lippert revealing the winner on the air.
Matt Epperson and Jeremy Martin are the defending champs and are back to defend their title. Epperson played collegiately at Morehead State, Martin at Northern Kentucky University.
Other contenders expected to be there in the mix in Sunday’s championship flight include Lippert, who played at Eastern Kentucky University and his teammate Chandler Clark, Cooper Collins and Matthew Mahle, Collins playing at Morehead and Mahle at College of Charleston, Eric and Evan Schumacher, Evan currently playing at Kentucky Wesleyan, Michael Crabtree and Chandler Morgan, who played at Akron, the NKU pair of Jackson Frame and Ty DeBonis and Tad Barton and Kelby Robinson from London, KY.
The tournament will be broken down into six flights after the first 18 holes of play on Saturday and into Sunday. Winners will receive cash prizes and crystal trophies in each flight.
A Par 3 contest will kick things off on Friday and will be broken into four flights and starts at 6:30 p.m. It’s a nine-hole Par 3, two-man scramble contest in which the top two flights will play on one side of the nine holes, the other two flights playing the other nine.
“We took both nine holes and turned it into a Par 3 basically,” Lippert said.
The 36-hole tournament begins Saturday at 8 a.m.
The weather forecast is expected to be magnificent, highs in the upper 70’s on both days.
“We didn’t change a whole lot. We’ll do live video feeds of tee shots on Facebook, walk-up music to the tee on Saturday. There’s some awesome gifts thanks to our sponsors and some beautiful weather. We’re in our third year and people keep coming back, we maybe have five new teams in the field this year. There’s such high demand to get in,” Lippert said.
