2022 CBGC Club Champions

Congrats to Arlene Zamora and Austin Barbin – our 2022 Club Champions!

Chesapeake Bay Golf Club hosted its 53rd Annual Men’s and Ladies’ Club Championship on August 13-14, 2022.  The annual flagship tournament for Chesapeake Bay GC has been Cecil County’s premier golf tournament since 1969, and the latest installment did not fail to showcase the best golf Cecil has to offer.  The Men’s Championship, played from Chesapeake’s daunting 7061 yard tipped out black tees (74.1 rating, 125 slope), featured an extremely talented and accomplished lineup of golfers ranging from high level D1 golfers, to high school state champions, to current and former golf professionals.  The Ladies’ Championship featured two of the most dominant lady golfers in the area in 11-time champ Arlene Zamora and 2-time champ Shelly Pinkerton.

The Men’s Championship was headlined by the Barbin Brother quartet, as well as talented mid-am Jeff Medlar, and Dickinson College standout Brandon Wilson.  The course played firm and fast on Saturday, and the unpredictable wind made first round scores higher than in years past.  Defending club champion and 2020 Philadelphia Amateur Champion Zach Barbin took an early lead, playing steadily under par until he found trouble on the signature road hole #16.  Youngest Barbin brother Evan Barbin had a round of ups and downs, featuring 7 pars, 6 bogeys, 4 birdies, and an eagle to shoot even par 71 to lead brothers Zach and Austin by a stroke.  Austin Barbin, the penultimate brother and standout senior at Liberty University, overcame a slow start and crawled his way back into the mix with his 2-under par back 9.

The second round started radically different from the first.  Evan Barbin birdied 6 of the first 7 holes to take a three-shot lead over brother Austin, who had birdied 4 of the first 7 holes.  Zach Barbin and Andrew Barbin Jr were also 3-under and 2-under through the first 6 holes.  The Barbin birdie barrage was nothing short of spectacular, with 16 total birdies through the first third of the second round and the family sitting at 15-under par on the day.  Evan Barbin was in full control of the day however, on pace to break 30 on the front 9 and on pace for a round for the ages.  Evan had a birdie putt on 9 to shoot 28 on the front 9, but a brutal pin location on the 450 yard 9th hole had other plans for the youngest Barbin brother.  One four-putt later and Evan finished the front 9 with a 4-under score of 31, only one shot better than Austin Barbin who finished the front 9 with a 31 of his own.  Zach Barbin finished with a 33 on the front to sit 3 back going into the final 9.  That is when the decorated six-time club champion Austin Barbin took the reins of the tournament.

Austin Barbin paired his 31 on the front with a two under 34 on the back for a 6-under score of 65, and a tournament score of 5-under 137.  Austin finished 3 shots clear of now runner-up Evan Barbin’s 71-69=140 finish, and 6 shots clear of the incumbent champion Zach Barbin’s 72-71=143 finish.  Austin Barbin’s victory was the 21-year-old’s seventh career club championship title (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022), and his third best to-par finish in the championship (he shot the tournament record 63-65=128 in 2020, and 64-70=134 in 2019).  Austin Barbin already has the second most club championship titles in Chesapeake Bay Golf Club and Chantilly Manor’s 53 year history, coming one short of Jim Debusk’s career total of 8 (amassed over a span from 1972 to 1998).

On the ladies’ side, Arlene Zamora fought off Shelly Pinkerton to claim her record twelfth career title.  Zamora, who is also the reigning Delaware Amateur and Delaware Senior Amateur champion, fired 79-83 for a 162 total en route to her big win.  Denise Medlar shot her career 36-hole total to win the Ladies B flight, and Theresa Anderson also shot her career 36 best to win the Ladies C flight.

On the men’s flighted side, over 25 golfers competed in three flights for their skill-respective club championships.  On the A flight side, Jason Hurlock came from behind with a second-round score of 79 to clinch the A flight club championship over first round leader Mike Fox Sr, and former club professional Eric Walters en route to his first career championship.  The B flight featured another new champion in Paul Hrabec, whose 82-83 finish dethroned back-to-back champion Pete Petersen.  The C flight was a battle of youth, won by Perryville High School star Jared Eldreth who shot a second round 89 to pair with his first round 93 to topple Brandon Cohee who is a recent graduate of Hodgson Vo Tech.

By: Andrew T. Barbin, Jr., PGA – Head Golf Professional at Chesapeake Bay Golf Club