Golf: Loaded field of 100 ready for 43rd Berry Memorial

Five returning Championship Flight 1 winners, accounting for all but two of the titles won since 2009, will be at Ottawa’s Pine Hills and Streator’s Eastwood this weekend for the 43rd playing of the Richard J. Berry Memorial.

They’ll be part of an overall field that as of early Tuesday evening sits at 100 entrants and is expected to add a few more by the time the first golfer tees off early Saturday morning at Pine Hills for the opening day of the two-day, two-course tournament.

The 2022 Berry Memorial continued a run of thrilling finishes, with Baley Lehr claiming his fourth championship with a come-from-behind and then hold-on-for-dear-life one-stroke victory over his father, Brian Lehr. They are two of the past Championship Flight 1 winners in this year’s field – Baley Lehr (2022, 2018, 2017, 2015), Josh Gass (2020, 2019, 2016, 2014), Brian Lehr (2013, 2010, 2009), Jeremy DeBernardi (2021) and Rick Krumscheid (2005) are the others.

Last summer’s top eight finishers in the Berry Memorial’s top flight are all returning for this year’s edition. That includes defending champion Baley Lehr and his runner-up father, third-place DeBernardi, fourth-place Gass, 2022 fifth-place Patrick Guilfoyle, sixth-place finisher and tournament director Tony Muscato, seventh-place Krumscheid and eighth-place finisher Rick Lehr.

Bryer Harris, Drake Kaufman, Dane Lehr and a couple former local Shaw Local golfers of the year – Jonathan Cooper (The Times) and Jake Delaney (NewsTribune/Bureau County Republican) – also are in the Championship Flight 1 field.

Championship Flight 2 includes Paul Snook (second in that flight last year), Joe Cravatta (fourth), Larry Keith (fifth) and 2022 A Flight champion Rod Lowery as early clubhouse favorites. Other flight notables include A Flight’s Eric Arambula (2022 runner-up), Collin VanDuzer (fifth), Josh Eplin (last year’s B Flight champ) and Zac Gayon (2022′s B Flight runner-up).

There also will be B, C and D flights, as well as a Legends Flight featuring closer tees for those older than 65. Defending his Legends Flight title will be Charlie Monroe in a field that includes the return of former Legends champion Bill Mattingly.

Star Ford-Lincoln Rentals and State Farm-Theresa Solon are the 2023 Berry Memorial’s primary sponsors, with OSB Community Bank sponsoring the $10,000 Hole-in-One Challenge at a designated hole at Eastwood and Pine Hills.

Pine Hills was added to replace Twin Creeks when the latter closed in 2017, maintaining the tournament’s traditional three-day, three-course, two-weekend schedule and opening the field from strictly Streator residents/golf club members to extend across The Times coverage area. The relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions allowed the 2020 Berry to take place, albeit later in the year and in a scaled-back form. Streator’s city-owned course, Anderson Fields, was removed, and the tournament was held on consecutive days over one weekend at Pine Hills and The Eastwood.

It is a format that has remained in place ever since.

“I’ve been having a lot of fun with The Times archives and the history,” Muscato said. “We mentioned last year how we’ve settled in [with the two-course, one-weekend format], and I would say that’s for sure.”

As for the Berry’s staying power through all the changes the past four-plus decades have brought to what used to be known as the Streator city tournament, Muscato believes there are many factors.

“I think, first of all, to go 43 years, it’s a really well-run tournament,” he said, “and the guys really get a lot of value for their hundred dollars. They get two practice rounds, play two tournament rounds, we always have a nice gift for them, and we have a banquet afterwards where they can bring their spouse, so it’s become sort of a family thing.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie, and it’s just tradition. People know it’s going to be a well-run tournament, they’re gonna’ get their money’s worth, and they’re gonna’ have a lot of fun.”

Golfers who reside within the tournament’s boundaries – roughly Route 34 to the north, Route 170 to the east, Route 116 to the south and Routes 117/251 to the west – still are eligible to sign up, and can do so by contacting the Eastwood or Pine Hills in the next couple days.

Live scoring and tee times can be found on BlueGolf.com.