Week 21 Power Rankings: Northeast Penn. Classic

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Editor's note: Adam Wallace is a media assistant for the Nationwide Tour. Each week, Wallace will size up the field and provide his top five players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc.

This week is the 10th Northeast Pennsylvania Classic in Moscow, Penn. Though this is only the second year the event will be hosted at Elmhurst Golf Club, the Donald Ross course has a rich history dating back to the year it was designed in 1914.

Elmhurst Golf Club was originally designed to appeal to golfers of all skill levels. The short yardage (6,810 yards) combined with the large fairways have withstood the test of time. It's still the same yardage; however, the fairways have narrowed substantially over the years. With only two par 5s, the scoring has to be done on the par 4s.

Last year, it was the fifth shortest course on Tour, yet it was the 17th most difficult of the 33 courses played. Scott Piercy ran away from the field in 2008 with a final-round 64, two strokes clear of Brendon de Jonge and Cameron Percy.

Despite the now narrowed fairways, Elmhurst won't punish an errant tee shot. Piercy only managed to hit 53.57 percent of the fairways, finishing 64th in driving accuracy. What he lacked in accuracy off the tee, he made up for in driving distance and greens hit in regulation. He finished first in driving distance for the week, averaging 319.9 yards, and tied for second in greens in regulation, averaging 79.17 percent.

Power Rankings: Northeast Pennsylvania Classic

Rank Player   Comment Won Joon LEE Lee is first in driving distance on the Nationwide Tour, averaging 312.8 yards off the tee. Since it's not punishing to miss the fairways at Elmhurst GC, it's not difficult to pick a guy who is going to have a lot of wedges in his hand. Tom GILLIS Gillis is first in scoring (68.67) and first in birdie average (4.83). Most importantly, he's first in par-4 scoring, averaging birdie or better 24 percent of the time. Josh TEATER Teater had his career-best finish (second) last week at the Christmas In October Classic in Overland Park, Kan. He moved up to 25th on the Nationwide Tour money list. Teater is seventh in par-4 scoring, averaging birdie or better 21.1 percent of the time. Derek LAMELY He has made five consecutive cuts, including a win and a tie for second. Lamely is sixth in driving distance, averaging 305.2 yards, and eleventh in the All-Around ranking. He's tied for third in par-3 scoring average, 2.96, and T21 in par-4 scoring average, 3.99. Justin BOLLI Bolli has some good memories from this area, winning the event back in 2007. More recently, he won the Price Cutter Charity Championship two weeks ago. He is tied for sixth in both par-3 scoring average (2.98) and par 4 scoring average (3.95).