Month: July 2018

Merion’s Sheftic Wins Rain-Shortened GALV Lehigh Valley Open

EASTON, Pa. – In an unfortunate trend, weather once again plagued the GALV Lehigh Valley for the third consecutive year. However, unlike the previous two events, this year’s tournament had to be shortened to an 18-hole event after heavy rains made the course unplayable half-way through the second round.

With play reverting back to the tournament’s first round scores it was Mark Sheftic (Merion Golf Club) who came away with the victory in the season’s eighth Omega Player of the Year points event. Sheftic played a near perfect round of golf on Monday at Northampton Country Club posting a tournament best eight birdies against only two bogeys. Sheftic had five birdies and one bogey on the outward nine to make the turn at 4-under. As he played his way back to the clubhouse, Sheftic had three additional birdies and one more bogey to finish at 6-under (66) which in the end was good enough for a two shot victory.

Finishing just behind Sheftic in a tie for second place at 4-under (68) was a trio of players including two Lehigh Valley amateurs. The first of the group to reach 4-under was amateur Carlos Fullerton, who after an early bogey on the par3 4th hole went on to post five birdies to finish just two shots shy of Sheftic’s number. Although Fullerton did not claim the tournament’s overall top spot he did share the amateur division title with Jim Maura. Maura played a flawless round of golf adding four birdies along the way to join Fullerton at 4-under.

Rounding out the group of players at 4-under was PGA Professional Brian Bergstol (Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort). Bergstol carded five birdies, which included a stretch of four in five holes, helping him to overcome a bogey on the par4 12th hole to finish tied for second place.

In the tournaments senior division John Appleget (The Shore Club) took home the top spot after posting a 2-under (70) in the tournament’s opening round. After carding two birdies and two bogeys over his opening nine holes, Appleget made the turn at even par. As he made his way around Northampton’s inward nine, Appleget posted three additional birdies against only one bogey to finish two shots clear of second place finisher John Pillar (Country Club of Woodloch Springs) who finished day one at 1-under (71). Rounding out the podium in the senior division was George Forster (Radnor Valley Country Club) who finished with an even par (72).

Leading the way in the newly formed super senior division was Don DeAngelis (Center Square Golf Club). DeAngelis played a phenomenal round to open the tournament playing bogey-free golf while adding three birdies to finish at 3-under (69).

The Section would like to thank our title sponsor, the Golf Association of Lehigh Valley and Mr. Karl Gilbert as well as the entire staff and membership of Northampton Country Club for their hospitality.

There won’t be much of a break in action as the Philadelphia PGA will resume tournament play on Friday, July 27 for the Doylestown Open held annually at Doylestown Country Club. For complete coverage of the Philadelphia PGA follow on social media: FacebookTwitterInstagram.

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Pillar Captures Win at Connelly Cup – Head Professional Championship

Malvern, Pa. –The heat wave continued on Tuesday afternoon, July 3, 2018 but the Philadelphia PGA was still able to hold their annual Connelly Cup- Head Professional Championship at Applebrook Golf Club, on a walking only course. The Connelly Cup is named in honor of Jack Connelly a past President of both the Philadelphia PGA and the PGA of America. This year’s event at Applebrook Golf Club brought together 50 of the Section’s Head Professionals. Play today began with shotgun start allowing all players to start their rounds at the same time.

The build-up of heat as the day progressed produced a fifteen minute delay with a heavy downpour and thunder. The sweltering heat continued following the delay as the players finished in sauna-like conditions. As the scorecards started to come in it was the host Head Professional, Dave McNabb, who took the early lead with a 3-under par, 68. Dave’s lead would not last long as past Section President John Pillar (Country Club of Woodloch Springs) topped the leaderboard with a score of 65, 6-under par. Pillar had 7 birdies and 1 bogey on his scorecard despite the weather conditions.  Out of the five par threes Pillar birdied three of them adding two more on par fives and two on par fours. Unfortunately the day ended with a much longer weather delay causing five people to be unable to finish.

The Philadelphia Section would like to thank the Applebrook staff for helping make this a great event as well as our presenting sponsors Bushnell, Country Club Editions, Earth Networks, Pukka, and the PGA Tour.

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Team Llanerch Wins at Pro-Junior Championship

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The Philadelphia PGA’s annual Pro-Junior Championship was held on Monday, July 11 at Applecross Country Club. The championship pairs one PGA Professional with one junior partner, boy or girl age 18 or younger, in a better ball of partners event featuring both a NET and GROSS division with juniors receiving 80% of their current handicap. In addition to being a competitive event that allows the junior golfer to experience a Philadelphia PGA Professional tournament, the Championship is also about camaraderie between PGA Professionals and the junior participants.

With scores coming in fast and furious after the championship’s 12pm shotgun it was tough to get a grasp as to who was pulling away from the field. However, in the end it was the team from Llanerch Country Club featuring Jared Murosky, PGA and his partner Riley Quartermain who walked away as champions. Murosky and Quartermain shot a combined 12-under (60) in the tournament’s net division to finish four shots ahead of second place finishers John Pillar, PGA and his partner and son Alex who finished with a score of 8-under (64). Rounding out the top three was the team from Sunnybrook Golf Club featuring PGA Professional Branden Allen and his partner TJ Robertson.

Despite finishing runner-up in the tournament’s net division, John and Alex Pillar did manage to claim the top spot in the tournament’s gross division. The Pillar’s shot a combined gross score of 7-under (65) to finish three shots ahead of four teams who all finished at 4-under (68). The group at 4-under featured Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) and his partner Ryan McCabe, Robert Kleckner (Linfield National Golf Club) and his partner Joshua Ryan, the father/son team of Rich and Drew Steinmetz of Spring Ford Country Club and the tournament’s net division champions Jared Murosky and Riley Quartermain.

The Philadelphia PGA thanks the staff and membership of Applecross Country Club for their support of our tournament program. We also thank our tournament partner Adidas and local representative Tom Kelly, PGA for their contributions to today’s event. The next event on the Philadelphia PGA’s schedule is the Rolling Green Team Stableford on Tuesday, July 17 at Rolling Green Country Club in Springfield, Pa.

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Greg Matthias of Tavistock Country Club Wins the 2018 William Hyndman III Memorial Classic on the Third Playoff Hole

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HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. – The 2018 edition of the William Hyndman III Memorial Classic was played on Monday, July 9 at perennial host course Huntingdon Valley Country Club. This year’s tournament brought together 140 Philadelphia PGA professionals to compete in the Section’s seventh Omega Player of the Year points event presented by the Haverford Trust Company. The event also served as a points event for the Section’s Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO). The PAO event featured 50 players most of which were also competing in the main event.

Three players in the tournament’s morning wave set the early pace as each carded a score of 2-under (68) to share the lead. The first player to reach the number was Eric Kennedy (Overbrook Golf Club). Kennedy got off to a hot start with birdies on three of his first four holes. After a bogey on the par-3 5th hole, Kennedy quickly recovered and posted consecutive red numbers on holes 6 & 7. With a second bogey on the tough par-4 8th hole, Kennedy made the turn at 3-under. As he played his way back to the clubhouse, Kennedy found one additional birdie but bogeys on holes 12 & 18 dropped Kennedy back to 2-under for the day.

The first player to join Kennedy with a score of 2-under (68) was Michael Little (Lookaway Golf Club). Like Kennedy, Little got his tournament started on Huntingdon Valley’s first hole. As he played the outward nine, Little traded two birdies and two bogeys to make the turn at even par. However, as he played the back nine, Little played great golf managing to card two additional birdies joining Kennedy at the top of the leaderboard.

The final player to post a score of 2-under (68) in the morning wave was Alex Knoll (Bethlehem Golf Club). Unlike Kennedy and Little, Knoll got his tournament underway on the 10th hole at Huntingdon Valley. Despite a quick start with two early birdies, Knoll made the turn at even par after bogeys on holes 15 & 17. As Knoll played the course’s front nine, his back nine, he once again got off to a quick start and found himself 3-under for the tournament with only two holes to play. Unfortunately for Knoll a bogey on the par-4 8th hole dropped him back to 2-under and into a first play tie.

With the morning wave in the house, the players in the afternoon now knew the number to beat. However, as groups finished no one was able to best the players at 2-under but two additional players did manage to join the group. Playing in the first group off the 10th hole in the afternoon, Zac Oakley (Waynesborough Country Club) was the next player to finish with a 2-under (68). After a bogey on his second hole of the day, Oakley quickly recovered with three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15th hole to make the turn at 4-under. Unfortunately for Oakley that is where his luck ran out as he bogeyed two of his final three holes to finish at 2-under becoming the fourth player to tie for the lead.

The fifth and final player to finish at 2-under (68) was Greg Matthias (Tavistock Country Club). Matthis, also starting on the 10th hole, paired one birdie and one bogey to make the turn at even par. As his played Huntingdon Valley’s outward nine, Matthias birdie holes 2, 3, and 5 to jump out to a one shot lead. However an untimely bogey on the par-5 7th hole dropped Matthias back to 2-under which is where he finished to become the last to join the leaders.

With no other players finishing at 2-under or better, the five players, Kennedy, Little, Knoll, Oakley, and Matthias headed out to Huntingdon Valley’s 18th hole for the first of hole of sudden death. On the first playoff hole Knoll, Matthias, and Oakley all carded pars and moved on to the second playoff hole (hole #1). With all three players nearly driving the green, it was Matthias and Oakley who walked away with birdies and moved on to the third playoff hole (hole #17). With neither player finding the green on the difficult par-3 it was Matthias who managed to get up and down for par crowning him champion of the 2018 William Hyndman III Memorial Classic, his second consecutive points victory,

“Getting my first win at Conestoga definitely gave me a lot of confidence” said Matthias. “We have so many good players in our Section so to walk away with consecutive wins is a great experience. The playoff had so many great players so it means a lot to be able to walk away the winner. I want to thank all of our sponsors today as well as the membership and staff of Huntingdon Valley Country Club for their support.”

In the tournament’s senior division Dave McNabb (Applebrook Golf Club) walked away with the top spot. Although McNabb finished one shot off the lead in the tournament’s main division his score of 1-under (69) was good enough for a two shot senior win. Finishing in solo second place was George Forster (Radnor Valley Country Club) who posted a 1-over (71). Rounding out the top three was Greg Farrow (Deerwood Country Club) was finished with a score of 2-over (72).

Don DeAngelis (Center Square Golf Club) walked away as the tournament’s super senior champion. DeAngelis carded a 3-over (73) for a six shot victory in the division.

Matthis was a dual champion as his first place finish in the tournament’s main event also gave him the top spot in today’s PAO tournament. With the exception of Eric Kennedy the other members of the tournament playoff were also members of the PAO meaning Alex Knoll, Michael Little, and Zac Oakley will share the runner-up spot.

The Section would like to thank our tournament sponsors The Hyndman Family, Jack Jolly & Son, Golf Pride and Levelwear. The Philadelphia PGA returns to action on Wednesday, July 11 at Applecross Country Club for the Pro-Junior Championship.

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