By Lynn Saternow
Herald Sports Editor
LEN CLARKE was a long-time golf and basketball coach at Grove City High School. His grandson Lucas Clarke apparently doesn’t need much of his proud grandpa’s coaching on the links.
Lucas, who was one of the top scorers on the basketball team at Mercer last season, is a junior at Heidelberg (Germany) High School where he is expected to start on the hoops team this coming season. But he is already making a mark on the golf courses.
Lucas this fall won the DODDS-Europe Golf Tournament in Wiesbaden, Ger. It was a two-day tourney using modified Stableford scoring.
But while he has obviously acquired some of grandpa’s golf skills, he is following in the footsteps of his dad Tom, a lieutenant colonel stationed in strategic command in Germany. Tom held the hoops scoring records at Grove City High for 13 years before it was broken by Mike Johnson.
Tom, who is married to the former Julie Erb of Mercer (also a standout athlete) graduated from West Point in 1985 and has continued a brilliant career in the military. He performs highly classified work in Germany.
Lucas’s sister MacKenzie, a sophomore who played basketball at Mercer last year, will compete on the girls team as well in Germany. Younger brother Logan is a top football player in middle school.
They are the grandchildren of local residents Len and Joyce Clarke and Jim and Jan Erb.
ä Oak Tree Country Club pro Tom Roskos had another great year in long-drive competitions.
Roskos, former Sharpsville High athletic standout, competed in his 8th Re/Max World Long Drive Finals recently. He placed 9th out of 144 competitors from 30 countries.
His longest drive was 396 yards in Round 11. His 9th- place finish left him one place out of the final 8 for the ESPN telecast on Dec. 20. However, Tom did several interviews and he was filmed competing, so he may get some air time on the telecast.
Last year Tom also did a 45-second commercial for the new driver produced by Adams, his sponsor.
The 9th-place finish earned Tom an exemption for the 2010 world finals.
“My wife Leah and my parents have been huge supporters the past few years as well as Denny Dolci,” said Tom. ”I have received great support from Oak Tree Country Club, Dr. Mike Namey, Kurt Gramley, Harry Toscano and Chris Carfangia.”
He competed in about 30 power golf shows this past year as well as two other competitions. He finished 3rd in the RE/MAX of Texas Shootout in June, hitting the longest drive in tournament history, 450 yards. He also tied for 5th in August at the Duel in the Desert at Mesquite, Nev., with a long drive of 421.
Those finishes helped Tom move into 6th on the all-time money list in Long Drivers of America history. He continued a streak of placing in the top 8 for 15 tournaments in a row in the LDA Tour events.
Tom took over as head golf pro at Oak Tree in April and gave Oak Tree General Manager Bob Collins credit for working with him and allowing him to compete at a high level. “My staff did a great job helping me out while I was traveling some 80 days this past year,” said Tom. “I’d like to thank them as well — Mike Zaborowski, Mike Waechter, Eli Deflin, Duncan Wingard, Ronnie Gaines, Jared Daley, Diane Pressnar, Jim Dunkerly, Lou Mastrian, Rob Curry, Ryan Spear, Josh Vass, Kyle Gregorich, Hanna Gaines, Ryan Shugarts and John Dyll.”
ä The annual Penn-New York Cup event was played at the Greens of Greenville this year. It is a competition that involves scramble, best-ball and singles competitions.
The Triple Creek Golf Club of Nunda, N.Y., edged the local team this year, 9-7.
The Greens jumped to a 3-1 lead in scramble matches, with the duos of Scot Wells-Steve Surano, Bo Artman-Bob Uber and Fred Graham-Josh Castiglione grabbing victories.
In best-ball, Wells-Surano notched a win, while Graham-Castiglione earned a tie.
Local singles winners were Kirt Gasaway and Artman, while Surano earned a tie. Club pros Dan McMillen of Greenville and Brian Tolnar of Turtle Creek also competed.
