Either way, Zipkin is a winner

Before the final round of match play begins Sunday, the engraver can go out on a limb and and etch "Zipkin" on the plaque for the club championship at the Lawrence Yacht and Golf Club. Zipkin is guaranteed to win: either Gerry, a nine-time winner, or his son, Adam.

Zipkin, who also won four club titles at Woodmere, cannot recall ever hearing about a father and son playing against each other for a championship.

"It's a mixed-emotions kind of thing," Gerry said on Friday night, before the first round yesterday. "I'm just hoping we both play well. I guess I'd be OK if I lost on 18 the second day."

"Golf always was incredibly big in my house, my kids knew that," he said. He recalled having Adam, now 33, and his brother Todd as youngsters in a golf cart, watching him while he played in title matches at Woodmere. "I told them they had to be quiet.

"Every time we went on vacation, my two sons and I would go out and play. They watched me and they learned about course management, hitting low cuts and low draws," Gerry said, calling Todd "the best golfer in the country who never plays . . . he'll play four times a year and go out and shoot 83."

Lawrence head pro Peter Procops said Gerry's game "glorifies the old days of golf with his straight ball flight and low running shots." He said that Adam's game reflects the new dynamic of power golf. He is only 5-feet-8 but can hit drives 300 yards. He's a dynamo," the pro said.

New handicap site

Golf Digest will launch a new, free handicapping system Monday, citing the fact that only 20 percent of golfers have established handicaps. Anyone can start the process by visiting handicap.golfdigest.com, and entering where they played, when they played and what they shot.

Dean Knuth, former senior director of the U.S. Golf Association's handicapping department and now a Golf Digest contributing editor, developed a new course rating system. A spokesman said most U.S. courses have been included. The new system will be tied into Golf Digest's instructional series, so golfers with certain scores will receive tips that might help someone at their level.

The USGA still is encouraging golfers to sign up for its own Golf Handicap Information Network, administered locally by the Metropolitan Golf Association. The USGA announced this week that through July, 5,933,620 rounds were posted on the GHIN.

Competition

Steve Silverstein of Deepdale Golf Club won the Keith Cerrato Memorial Caddie Tournament at the Cherry Valley Club in Garden City Monday. He was the best in a field of 111 caddies with a 75 . . . Prescott Butler of Old Westbury went 4-2 for the U.S. in the International Junior Golf Tour's Euro Junior Golf Cup in St. Andrews, Scotland last week.