EXETER — The 70th playing of the John A. Allan Invitational kicked off on Friday and runs through Sunday.
Three teams tied after the first round and 24 different teams advanced to the championship flight, which will play a match play format on Saturday, ending with a shootout on Sunday for the title.
The championship flight’s round of 16 and the quarterfinals will be played on Saturday with the semifinals and finals on Sunday.
The teams of Don and Ryan Crossin, William Burke and Christian Davis, and William Gill and Todd Vonderheid each shot 67 in the two-man format.
The tournament is named after a former president of Fox Hill Country Club, John A. Allan. In 1924, the club expanded to 18 holes and a tournament was formed in 1929. Originally, the tournament was called the Fox Hill Invitational. Later, the name changed in honor of Allan picking up much of the club’s financial burden when the country was in its Great Depression.
The tournament was not played in 1943-45 because of World War II. But since then, it’s been 70 straight years of invitational play. The tournament has been a 2-person format since 1956.
The tournament is considered one of the premier golf tournaments in the area and has seen several highly talented players walk off the tee.
In 1949, Art Wall of Honesdale won the tournament when it was a single-person format. Ten years later, Wall was the 1959 Masters champion. He won 14 times on the PGA Tour.
Play continues Saturday and Sunday from Fox Hill. The championship flight will play on Sunday to crown a champion.
