Local golf: Father-son Dietz duo capture Match-Play crowns
Jim Dietz Jr., left, and Jim Dietz Sr. pose with championship trophies after winning their respective divisions Sunday at the 34th annual Schuylkill County Amateur Golf Match-Play Championships at Hidden Valley Golf Course (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
FRIEDENSBURG — There are moments fathers and sons have together that become memories that last a lifetime.
Sunday was one of those moments for Jim Dietz Sr. and his son, Jim Jr.
Jim Dietz Jr. repeated as the winner of the Championship Flight and Jim Dietz Sr. took top honors in the Senior Division at the 34th annual Schuylkill County Amateur Golf Match-Play Championships at Hidden Valley Golf Course.
Dietz Jr. edged Albe Evans 1-up to win his second straight overall title while Jim Dietz Sr. downed Bill Kaczmarczyk 5 & 4 to win his first major county title.
“It’s awesome,” Jim Dietz Sr. said of winning a title the same day as his son. “I said to him before, it’s like a dream come true. … I said it would be nice for both of us to win at the same time.
“He’s well-deserved. He’s been playing phenomenal golf for the last couple of years. I just tried to bump my game up to try and get a championship with him.”
Seeded fifth, the 58-year-old Dietz Sr. ousted two former champions to reach the finals of the eight-golfer Senior Division (age 55 and over), beating Mike Muncy 5 & 4 in the quarterfinals and defending champion Brian Paul 2 & 1 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Dietz Sr. shot a 37 on the front nine to build a three-hole lead, then won No. 10, 12 and 13 to end the match after 14 holes.
“I shot a 67 my first round and I was 1-under my second round,” Dietz Sr. said. “I was really pleased. It’s probably the best two rounds I’ve put together back-to-back in a long, long time. I struck it well. I putted phenomenally. Everything was clicking.
“A lot of credit goes to (Dietz Jr.) because he’s been really working with me on my swing.”
The finals of the Championship Flight was a rematch of 2024, when Dietz Jr. topped Evans 2-up. This year, Evans shot a 2-under 34 on the front nine and led by two holes at the turn before Dietz Jr. rallied.
Dietz Jr., 30, birdied the par-3 No. 11 to slice the deficit to one hole, then birdied three straight holes — Nos. 13, 14, 15 — to take a one-hole lead.
On No. 15, Dietz Jr.’s drive landed in the sand trap to the left of the green. He was able to chip out to within 2-3 feet and halve the hole, keeping his one-hole lead.
“On 15, Albe went first. He was in the grass above and he chipped it to gimme range,” Dietz Jr. said. “I knew I had to pull off a shot. I got pretty aggressive. I opened up a 60-degree a little bit and caught it perfectly. It had nice spin and ended up sitting there 2 feet.”
Dietz Jr. delivered the shot of the Championship Flight on No. 16 after his drive was plugged in the creek hazard. After taking a penalty stroke drop, Dietz Jr. launched an 8-iron within 8-10 feet of the cup on the green.
“Even though I ended up with a par on that hole, that felt like that was the best hole of the day for me,” Dietz Jr. said. “I really was really convinced to make birdie even after that bad break in the creek.
“I hit a beautiful 8-iron. … I gave it my all there. That hole gave me some good confidence there.”
Evans had three chances to even the score or take the lead, missing putts that would have won 16, 17 and 18. The pair halved 16, 17 and 18, with Dietz Jr. sinking a par putt on No. 18 to win the championship.
“Golf for me is very momentum-based,” Dietz Jr. “When I start feeling good over shots and putts, it just keeps coming. Those three birds in a row, two of them I got awful breaks and was in a bunker. With the bunkers being wet, it wasn’t easy. And I pulled off incredible shots in two of them. I was feeling good, making the putts and putting the pressure on (Evans).”
Bryan Ott won the 1st Flight, defeating Zig Kuczynski 2 & 1 in the finals. Karson Felty captured the 2nd Flight, beating Justin Snyder 8 & 6 in the finals.
For Dietz Jr., he became the first back-to-back match-play winner since Evans won it in 2020-21. To get to the finals, Dietz Jr. edged No. 16 Brent Jones 1-up, downed No. 9 Austin Boyer 3 & 2, then beat 2022 match-play champion Jason Troutman 3 & 2 in the semifinals. Evans defeated Bailey Sophy 6 & 5 in the other semifinal Sunday morning.
“Winning two in a row is awesome,” Dietz Jr. said. “I felt the pressure of having to do well this weekend. My first match was one of my hardest grinds, to be honest. I couldn’t believe it.
“Today was obviously a grind as well. None of them were easy. Going back-to-back with this feels amazing. The pressure was there, but I love it.”
