June 21, 2001

STATE COLLEGE, PA — Toftrees is a shotmaker's dream. The course features heavy rough and fast undulating greens, thus giving the edge to those who can maneuver the ball.  As with the Big Cats, The Cohen Invitational will be a test of survival this weekend in State College, Pennsylvania. Also, look for other players around the country to get out and establish a spot on the Summer Open leaderboard.

As expected, the Cohen Invitational has attracted a good field, with the added bonus of Robby Fustich in it?s first year.  ?Wonderful course.  Great field.  What else can I say when players like Hoffert and Hevy Jo are in town??  Robby Thompson has been playing nice sound golf as of late.  With an average 16-over par, he looks to open a can of ?whoop ass? on Pokey.

Robby was asked about his chances to win.  ?I am just going out to have fun.  If I win, so be it?, said Fustich.  ?This weekend is about Cohen.  I just hope he plays well this all the pressure he has.?

This week's field includes:

Nine of the Top 32 on the latest Official Carl Spackler Golf Rankings, with two being the 2001 Open Champion (Slick) and 2001 Spring Open Champion (Jim).  Even Hevy Joesph has signed a letter of intent.  Other players include Andy Cohen, Chad Long, Chris Black, Chris Goss, and Matt Davis.  Jamie Myers, Jason Watson, and Chris Lashley will be playing in other charity events.

Best Bets:

Matt Davis Pokey has been playing the best golf of his career on some very tough courses, so I don't see that stopping this week on yet another difficult course. Hopefully he will rebound from his final-round disappointment in 2001 Spackler Open.

Kevin Long This course is right up Hevy's alley -- plays his best on tough courses and right now he is playing well.  Look for a great performance out of him this week.

Andy Cohen
Cohen doesn't have good memories of any golf outing.  In 1998 he lost 12 balls and shot 134.  However, he was a different player then and is looking to tie more than a knot to the golf ball this week.  Look for him to contend this week, with a good chance of victory.

Glenn Hoffert
Toftrees is tailor-made for Hoffert's game. If he gets hot with his putter, look for him near the top of the leaderboard.  Things have been going his way since his win at the 2001 Spring Open Championship, but look for his game to take another step forward.

Greg Long
Beware of Slick. When you least expect it, he will pop up and win. Toftrees is the type of course that suits his game and his record reflects his good play there.

Chris Black
I just don't know about this Huge White Dude, and less about what happened to his game. He has been very inconsistent this year, unable to put together four decent rounds. Who knows, maybe returning to the scene of past glory (Penn State University) will shake him up a bit.

Chris Goss
Gossy is my sleeper of the week, who is due for a good run at Toftrees.