ZDGA Fuller's Cup: Philo's Rob Preston and Jay Smith felt right at home chasing glory.

PLEASANT GROVE — Rob Preston and Jay Smith took a look at the field for the Zanesville District Golf Association’s first Fuller’s Cup and knew they weren’t exactly favorites.

Among the contenders were the pairing of two-time defending Amateur champion Blake Hartford and his father-in-law, Rich Bubenchik, himself no stranger to success as a ZDGA Hall of Famer.

“Honestly I thought Blake could shoot 6-or-8-under (par) by himself,” Preston said of Hartford, who played at Texas A&M-Commerce.

More: Texas Tough: Blake Hartford felt right at home in the heat. So did his golf game.

More: Final scores from the ZDGA Amateur are in. See how players fared.

Maybe they should have been. Preston and Smith had one thing the rest of the field didn’t — a wealth of local knowledge at Fuller’s Fairways.

Preston’s first career hole-in-one highlighted a fast start that proved to be the difference in a 6-under-par 64 that was good for first place among 29 teams. Players participated in nine holes of scramble, nine holes of alternate shot and nine holes of best ball.

Preston and Smith, both Philo grads who regularly play in leagues at Fuller’s, were 9-under through 13 holes. Even with a double bogey on the par-3 18th, it was good enough to earn a one-shot win over Dave Durst and Dan Quilla and Brian Pierce and Dan Matheney, who shot 65s.

Tyler Baughman and Ben Ferguson were fourth (67) and Corey Hull and Justin Adair fifth (67) as just nine teams shot in the 60s.

Preston’s ace came on the par-3 sixth, which played at 146 yards. They were playing with Durst and Quilla.

“(Smith) told me to hit a 9-iron and I got it within three feet of the hole,” Preston said. “It spun back and all of a sudden it just disappeared. It was pretty cool. He was more excited than I was.”

As Smith put it, “I gave him a big ol’ bear hug.”

It was the highlight of a 6-under showing in the scramble portion of the competition, which undoubtedly gave them critical momentum with the more difficult alternate shot and better ball coming around the mountain.

They managed two more birdies, on the par-4 seventh and ninth, to close at 27. It was two shots better than Pierce and Matheney, as only two teams broke 30.

It proved to be crucial breathing room after a bogey on the demanding par-5 14th triggered a 3-over finish. They made a double bogey on the par-3 18th, which played to a front left pin with two ponds guarding the green.

Just one birdie, from Dave Sheppard and Ryan Sheppard, was made there.

“We really gave it away, honestly — at least we thought we did,” Preston said. “We caught a couple of good breaks and a couple of bad breaks on 14 and 18. It is what it is.”

Smith discussed strategy during their league round on how to approach the final six holes, where alternate shots came into play. Specifically, they pondered who would tee off on the odd and even holes, respectively.

They admitted they didn’t exactly stick to the plan.

“This is the first year we have played in this,” Preston said. “We had never played in alternate shot. It was fun.”

Preston was the former Philo golf coach and Smith a top player at Fuller’s for several years who recently played in the ZDGA Amateur. That course knowledge no doubt came into focus on holes where pin placements required strategic approaches.

The two nines at Fuller’s are far different, with the front side being open and the back requiring more accuracy.

“Obviously, we are Philo guys and we've been here for 30 years,” Preston said. "We know where to put yourself and where not to put yourself. That's a big part of it."

Preston was happy for the Fuller family, especially David Fuller, for hosting the year's biggest event in terms of participation. The event went from 10 teams to 29 in one year, and the Fuller family has been a key contributor to the ZDGA junior programs in recent years.

There is a junior clinic, hosted by ZDGA Governing Board members, set there for Wednesday on the driving range. The annual ZDGA Junior Amateur, held annually since 1977, is set for July 23-24 at Vista and EagleSticks, respectively.

"I coached David in high school, so it means a lot to us," Preston said. "He was one of our kids and I was close to his dad (Bob). It's really good."

sblackbu@gannett.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: ZDGA Fuller's Cup: Philo's Rob Preston and Jay Smith felt right at home chasing glory.