Armen Dirtadian...still a tough draw for up and coming amateurs

Fifty-six year old Armen Dirtadian is still a tough draw when it comes to matchups in the Arizona Amateur Golf Championships.

On Wednesday it took Anthony Bagneschi of Scottsdale 17 holes before he was able to dispatch Armen, who had qualified for the third round of the 2009 Arizona Amateur after posting a two-day total of 143 (75-68).

Armen was one of 64 golfers to make it to the third round and he was just five strokes out of the lead, going into the Thursday's play at the Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa. Dirtadian, arguably one of the best all-time Tucson amateur golfers to tee up a golf ball (along with... of course, the great Dr. Ed Updegraff), won the Tucson City Amateur four times and is known for his many talents away from the golf course.

Dirtadian, a professional actor and singer, was a member of the cast of the 1950s motion picture, Desert Bloom, which starred John Voight, who portrayed a war veteran who fought off his own personal demons, while desperately holding his family together.