Belmont Hills Country Club’s annual Snowbird Scramble was held last weekend. Winning the title with a score of 63 was the foursome of Bryan Woodford, Gary Young, Dean Miller and Andy Yanok. They prevailed when Yanok chipped in for birdie on a sudden-death playoff hole.

Also firing a 63 was Jason Balcar, Kelvin Girty, Sonny Jacobs and Dave Humphreys.

The third-place prize went to the team of Clay Bethel, J.C. Thrash, Jeff Bohus and Michelle Anderson. That team shot a 64.

The closest to the pin prize went to Dave Diosi.

WHEELING CC RESULTS

It took a day longer than expected, the club’s annual Good Friday Open was staged last weekend, utilizing a Stableford Scoring system.

Winning the event with 91 points was the team of Mark Stanley, Eric Stakem, Ron Stephens and Mike Carl. Finishing tied for second with an 86 was Jay Adams, Ray Byrd, Jeff Shultz and Ron Johnson along with Justin Ferrell, Brett Andrews, Bryan Myers and Mike Ferrell.

The longest putt made, which came on the 18th, was sank by Mark Stanley. The closest to the pin on No. 6 for players with a handicap of 13 and under was Brett Clough and the closest to the pin on No. 3 with a 14 and over handicap was won by Shultz.

Speaking of Wheeling Country Club, Jason Martin – who has been the club’s chief golf professional – has been named the general manager of the club. He began his dual-role on Friday.

ACE

GRANT VAN LAAR – a former Wheeling Nailer – recorded an ace at Oglebay Park’s Crispin Course on Easter Sunday. He aced the 165-yard seventh hole with a 6-iron. His shot was witnessed by Larry Swisher.

SCRAMBLES

(If you’re having a scramble and want it included in the listing, please email the info to the address below)

The fifth annual Alane Skramstad Memorial four-man golf scramble will be held on May 14 at BecWood Hills, beginning with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. The cost is $60 per player, which includes food, beverages and skill contests. Money raised will be donated to cancer scholarships and John Marshall baseball. There will be two flights. The first flight will pay top three places, while the second flight will pay the top two places. For more information, or to enter, please contact Tony Stacklask (304) 639-3372 or Chad Lucas (304) 281-9489. Hole sponsorships are also available for $100.

TEE IS BACK

Because of the relative mild winter, golf balls have been teed up for weeks.

However, the unofficial start of the golf season is this week. First and foremost, it’s Masters week. Secondly, the return of ‘Off the Tee.’

The Times Leader’s weekly golf roundup of results, aces, scrambles, etc. Anything related to local golf can be found here.

If you have a tournament, submit the results. If you make an ace, submit the information.

The column will run each Sunday throughout the spring and summer.

Let’s tee it up!

MASTERS

It’s that time again. Major championship golf returns this weekend. It just so happens to be a ‘Tradition unlike that of any other.’

There are so many good players and a lot of guys who’ve been playing well already this season that it’s tough to pinpoint a favorite. Obviously, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy are the top choices. Spieth only won by four shots over Phil Mickelson, but he led wire-to-wire en route to his first green jacket.

Day claimed his first major at the PGA Championship and just won the Match Play event last weekend. McIlroy is simply in the hunt, basically, at every major, and I don’t expect that to be any different this weekend.

One safe prediction I’ll make for this week is the course and the Azaleas will be in full bloom.

OK. The time has come for the first of my wrong predictions of the season. Along with the four majors, I will also be picking an Olympic gold medalist in this space in August.

Sunday evening, inside Butler Cabin, look for Bubba Watson to slip on his third green jacket.

If you have golf information, results, scrambles, etc. feel free to submit the information to sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com