Times Observer Photo by Scott Kindberg Eric Trusso, manager at South Hills CC, says the best time to pick up strokes Sunday will be on the front nine.

BUSTI — After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Jim Riggs Memorial Champions will tee off Sunday morning at South Hills Country Club.

The stroke-play golf tournament will include the men’s scratch club champions — in both 2019 and 2020 — from all of the regulation 18- and nine-hole courses in the circulation areas of The Post-Journal, the OBSERVER and the Times Observer. Past champions also received invites, bringing the total number of confirmed entries to 27.

The Riggs Memorial Champions, now in its 31st year, was the brainchild of the late Jim Riggs, sports editor at The Post-Journal from 1979-2015.

“There’s nothing anything like it in the three-county area right now,” said tournament director Nolan Swanson, co-owner of Pinehurst Golf Club in Westfield. “This is the only individual golf tournament without handicap. It’s fun. It’s just a great time.”

Below are the players in the tournament field and the time they will be teeing off: Dan Smith, Patrick Swanson and Jordan Marsh (9 a.m); Casey Vincent, Mike Botticello, Chad Swan and Anthony Pelligrino (9:10 a.m.); Nate Sandberg, Sam Marek, John Wortman and Andrew Gignac (9:20 a.m.); Nolan Ditcher, Matt Moonan, John Woodfield and Kevin Kaszuba (9:30 a.m.); Scott Jagoda, Marcus Lutgen, Josh Harrington, and Brenton Wilcox (9:40 a.m.); PJ Gronquist, Mike Bancroft, Bob Paterniti and Nolan Swanson (9:50 a.m.); and Scott Crist, Taylor Beaver, Greg Winter and Marty Stockwell (10 a.m.).

According to South Hills CC manager Eric Trusso, the best time to pick up some strokes is on the front nine, which measures 3,095 yards from the blue tees.

“Judging by the fact these are all better golfers, I would say a lot of the holes are fairly easy on the front nine,” he said. “There is a short par 4 — No. 2 — that is kind of risk-reward. Trees are on the right, but it’s shorter and you can take a short cut. … The short cut is only 230-240 yards. It measures over 300 if you go up and around.”

Where it gets interesting, Trusso said, is on the back nine (3,145 yards), beginning on No. 11 and continuing through 14, a series of holes that includes two par 4s, a par 3 and a par 5.

“They are harder, tighter and you have a tough par 3 over water,” Trusso said. “Everybody thinks, ‘Geez if I make it through those three holes even par’ you probably pick up one or two shots, even on a better field.

“Off the tee on 17, you have a pond you have to worry about for better players. It’s in the 250-260 range. … Other than that, it’s pretty straight forward, I’d say, and the course should be in pretty good shape.

The 2019 Jim Riggs Memorial Champions was Crist, who shot a 73 at Cable Hollow Golf Course, one shot better than Kaszuba, the runner-up.