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Kraft Wins GALV Lehigh Valley Open on Second Playoff Hole

EASTON, Pa. – After severe thunderstorms abruptly suspended Monday’s opening round, the 2016 edition of the GALV Lehigh Valley Open resumed play on Tuesday, July 26 at Northampton Country Club.

Play got underway at 8:00 am with competitors having anywhere from one putt to eleven holes to complete before the first round could be put in the books. At the conclusion of the first round players were re-paired and sent out as a shotgun at 11:00 am.

Leading the way after the first round was John Appleget (Wildwood Golf & Country Club) who had to return in the morning to finish putting out on the 18th hole. Appleget finished round one with a 5-under-par (67) and a two shot lead.

With the second round of the tournament played as a shotgun it was difficult to gauge where each competitor was in relation to the top of the leaderboard. However, with scores coming in fast and furious at the conclusion of the round two players were able to separate themselves from the field. First round leader Appleget dropped one shot to finish the 36-hole event at 4-under-par (140). Appleget was matched at the top by Kevin Kraft (Bumble Bee Hollow) who carded a pair of 2-under-par (70s) to finish at 4-under-par (140).

With two players tied for the lead a playoff was needed to determine a champion. This was the first time since 2011, when Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) bested Dave Quinn (Links Golf Club), that a playoff was needed to determine a winner at the GALV Lehigh Valley Open.

On the first playoff hole both Appleget and Kraft found a fairway bunker leaving them a tough 100 yard shot into the 18th hole. After both players found the green with their second shots neither was able to make their birdie putt and had to settle for par meaning a second playoff would be needed.

With a gallery full of Northampton Country Club members and fellow PGA Professionals both Appleget and Kraft headed back to the 18th tee to begin the second sudden death playoff hole. Unlike the first time around both players found the fairway and were able to hit their approach shots on the green.

With about a 30 foot putt for birdie, Kraft was the first player to play. After finding trouble earlier in the tournament, Kraft managed to sink the long putt forcing Appleget to make birdie as well. Unfortunately for Appleget it wasn’t in the cards as his birdie lipped out of the hole giving Kraft the win.

“I did fight my golf swing today but was able to make it work when I needed during the round,” said GALV Lehigh Valley Open Champion Kraft. “I attribute that to the confidence I have built up in my game over the last month. Hopefully I can continue to play well as I have a lot of big events coming up.”

The win was Kraft’s first as a Philadelphia PGA professional with his previous best finish coming at the Delaware Valley Open when he finished tied for 6th.

In the amateur division Evan Notaro carded a second round 2-under-par (70), matching the low round of any amateur during the tournament, to finish with a 36-hole total of 3-under-par (141). Notaro finished four shots ahead of second place finisher Robin McCool.

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.

The Philadelphia PGA will continue tournament play this Friday, July 29 at Doylestown Country Club for the annual Doylestown Open. For complete coverage of the Philadelphia PGA be sure to follow us online Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

GALV Lehigh Valley Open

Jul 25 – Jul 26, 2016
36 Hole; Stroke Play Media Results

 1    Kevin Kraft         Bumble Bee Hollow          70-70--140 -4  
 2    John Appleget       Wildwood Golf & CC         67-73--140 -4  
 T3   George Forster      Radnor Valley CC           69-72--141 -3  
 T3   Evan Notaro (a)                                71-70--141 -3  
 5    Corey McAlarney     Sunnybrook GC              71-71--142 -2  
 T6   Andrew Turner       Whitford CC                69-74--143 -1  
 T6   Steve Swartz        CC of Harrisburg           72-71--143 -1  
 T6   Bill Sautter        Philadelphia Cricket Club  75-68--143 -1  
 9    Terry Hatch         Hidden Valley GC           71-73--144 E   
 T10  Robin McCool (a)                               71-74--145 +1  
 T10  Bob Hennefer        Indian Springs GC          73-72--145 +1  
 T10  Terry Hertzog       CC of York                 76-69--145 +1  
 T13  Andy Fisher         Philly PGA                 71-75--146 +2  
 T13  Dave Quinn          Links GC                   72-74--146 +2  
 T13  Eddie Perrino       Eagle Rock Resort          73-73--146 +2  
 T13  Jordan Gibbs        Gulph Mills GC             72-74--146 +2  
 T13  John Pillar         CC at Woodloch Springs     73-73--146 +2  
 T13  Chris Gray          Wild Quail G & CC          74-72--146 +2  
 T13  Zac Oakley          Heritage Shores GC         74-72--146 +2  
 T13  Dave Pagett         Whitemarsh Valley CC       76-70--146 +2  
 T21  Greg Farrow         Deerwood CC                71-76--147 +3  
 T21  Matt Episcopo       Pine Valley GC             73-74--147 +3  
 T21  Jakob Gerney        Trump National GC- Philly  73-74--147 +3  
 T24  Eric McNamee        Golf Galaxy - Montgomery   71-77--148 +4  
 T24  Michael Little      Lookaway GC                72-76--148 +4  
 T24  Rick Flesher        Applebrook GC              73-75--148 +4  
 T24  Wayne Phillips      Lehigh CC                  74-74--148 +4  
 T24  Dave Blichar (a)                               74-74--148 +4  
 T29  Justin Tresslar (a)                            70-79--149 +5  
 T29  Anthony Napoletano  GolfTEC-KoP                73-76--149 +5  
 T29  Rich Steinmetz      Spring Ford CC             74-75--149 +5  
 T29  Curtis Kirkpatrick  Indian Springs GC          73-76--149 +5  
 T29  Mike Meisenzahl     Shore Gate CC              73-76--149 +5  
 T29  Alex Knoll          Bethlehem GC- Monacacy     74-75--149 +5  
 T29  Don Allan           Burlington CC              75-74--149 +5  
 T29  Kevin Scherr (a)                               76-73--149 +5  
 T37  Eric Schultz        Sunnybrook GC              72-78--150 +6  
 T37  Eric Kennedy        Overbrook GC               73-77--150 +6  
 T37  Mark Sheftic        Merion GC                  73-77--150 +6  
 T37  Rick LeBeau         Gulph Mills GC             75-75--150 +6  
 T37  Stephen Sieracki    Indian Springs GC          77-73--150 +6  
 T42  John Spina          Philadelphia Cricket Club  74-77--151 +7  
 T42  Dave Fields         Brookside CC               74-77--151 +7  
 T42  Nick Maff (a)                                  75-76--151 +7  
 T42  Grant Schumaker (a)                            75-76--151 +7  
 T42  Barry Dear          Twisted Dune               76-75--151 +7  
 T42  Rob Rohrbach        Foxchase GC                77-74--151 +7  
 T48  Joe Kogelman        GolfTEC Moorestown         75-77--152 +8  
 T48  Mark Parson         Twisted Dune               75-77--152 +8  
 T48  Gary Hardin         Northampton CC             76-76--152 +8  
 T48  John DiMarco        Laurel Creek CC            76-76--152 +8  
 T48  Dan Joseph (a)                                 76-76--152 +8  
 T48  Steve Kluemper (a)                             77-75--152 +8  
 T48  Bill Smith          Mahoning Valley CC         78-74--152 +8  
 T48  Jeff Fick           Chapel Hill GC             79-73--152 +8  
 T48  J.T. Barker (a)                                81-71--152 +8  
 T57  Hugo Mazzalupi      Patriots Glen National GC  74-79--153 +9  
 T57  John Allen          Huntingdon Valley CC       75-78--153 +9  
 T57  Carson Solien       Aronimink GC               75-78--153 +9  
 T57  Mike Paukovits      St. Davids GC              75-78--153 +9  
 T57  Brad Nelson         Saucon Valley CC           77-76--153 +9  
 T57  Kevin Edwards       Woodstone CC               77-76--153 +9  
 T57  Jim Maru (a)                                   77-76--153 +9  
 T64  Adam DeRaymond (a)                             75-79--154 +10 
 T64  George Frake        Little Mill                76-78--154 +10 
 T64  Mark Anderson       Philadelphia Cricket Club  77-77--154 +10 
 T64  Mike Furey          Mahoning Valley CC         78-76--154 +10 
 T64  Luke Smith (a)                                 81-73--154 +10 
 T69  Tyler Smith (a)                                76-79--155 +11 
 T69  Jason Calhoun       LaSalle University         77-78--155 +11 
 T69  Dustin McCormick    Glen Brook GC              77-78--155 +11 
 T69  Riley Hogan (a)                                79-76--155 +11 
 T69  Tom Moore           Applecross CC              80-75--155 +11 
 T74  Peter Lovenguth     Silver Creek CC            75-81--156 +12 
 T74  Steve Kiefner       Northampton CC             81-75--156 +12 
 T76  Joe Jasinski (a)                               77-81--158 +14 
 T76  Nick Lukow (a)                                 85-73--158 +14 
 T78  Collin Seip (a)                                76-83--159 +15 
 T78  Eric Figueroa       McCall Golf & CC           79-80--159 +15 
 T78  Dave Roberts        Cedarbrook CC              80-79--159 +15 
 81   Tony Shields        ACE Club                   81-79--160 +16 
 82   Kevin Rossi (a)                                79-83--162 +18 
 T83  Jared Cottell       Elkview CC                 75-88--163 +19 
 T83  James Boburka (a)                              82-81--163 +19 
 T83  Mike Mack           Burlington CC              84-79--163 +19 
 T86  Victor Tavares (a)                             81-83--164 +20 
 T86  Steve Gonzales (a)                             85-79--164 +20 
 88   Joe Ambrose         Paupack Hills G & CC       83-82--165 +21 
 89   Mike Wood           Saucon Valley CC           89-78--167 +23 
 90   Jeremy Mangine      Glen Brook GC              88-80--168 +24 
 91   Andy Lykon (a)                                 87-85--172 +28 
 92   Gary Strausser      Riverview CC               87-87--174 +30 
 93   Thomas Coakley (a)                             92-90--182 +38