Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pa. – The historic Shawnee Open returned to a 36-hole event and was played over two days in late September. The opening round was played at the Shawnee Resort’s Great Bear Golf Club before players moved to the course at the Shawnee Inn & Resort for the second and final round. The Shawnee Open has been in existence since 1912, although not always run by the Philadelphia PGA.

Heading into today’s final round Corey McAlarney (Sunnybrook Golf Club) held a slim one shot lead over the field. McAlarney carded an opening round 3-under (68) but sitting just behind him were five players tied for second at 2-under (69). That group included Michael Little (Lookaway Golf Club), Michael Rushin (Bear Trap Dunes Golf Club), Zac Oakley (Heritage Shores Golf Club), Bill Sautter (Philadelphia Cricket Club), and 2002 champion Rich Steinmetz (Spring Ford Country Club).

Early in the day players were treated to bright blue skies and near perfect fall weather, however as the day went on clouds blocked out the sun and winds rolled in making conditions in the afternoon very difficult.

As scores started to get posted the first player to make a move was Andrew Turner (Whitford Country Club). Turner carded an opening round 2-over (73) meaning he was five shots back of the leader heading into the final round. Turner quickly got things underway on day two with three birdies on his opening nine holes before his lone bogey on the tough par4 10^th hole. Turner would recover with an eagle on the par5 15^th bring his second round total to 4-under (68) and moving him to the top of the leaderboard with a 36-hole total of 2-under (141).

Unfortunately for Turner his lead would not last long. Playing a few groups behind him was George Forster (Radnor Valley Country Club). Forster came into the second round at 1-under after an opening round (70.). Like Turner, Forster got off to a quick start with three birdies through nine holes but a couple of untimely bogeys brought Forster back down. Forster was able to right the ship and added a birdie on the par5 15^th which gave him a one shot lead over Turner.

The leaderboard carousel would take another turn just one group later as Michael Little would jump into the first place position. As one of the players just one shot off the lead heading into today’s round, Little found himself in the penultimate pairing. Little got off to a dream start and found himself 5-under after five holes. Although the frantic pace would not last for Little the great start would help him finish tied with Turner for the best round of the day at 4-under (68) and brought his two-day total to 6-under (137).

Needing to wait just one group to find out his fate it would prove to be worthwhile. No one in the tournament’s final group was able to make a move meaning Little would go on for the win, his second of the 2016 season (DVO).

“I had been playing well for the last few weeks and my performance at last week’s Championship gave me a lot of confidence”, said Little on his win. “I made one small adjustment in my putting and that proved to be the difference today. I want to thank the membership and staff at Lookaway for their support as well as the teams at both Great Bear and Shawnee for an amazing venue.”

All was not lost for George Forster who managed to walk away with the senior division title finishing 2-shots ahead of second place finisher Don Allan.

The Section would like to thank the staffs of both Great Bear Golf Club and Shawnee Inn and Resort for their support of the event as well as our event sponsors Golf Cart Specialties.

 1   Michael Little     Lookaway GC               69-68-137 -6  
 T2  George Forster     Radnor Valley CC          70-70-140 -3  
 T2  Corey McAlarney    Sunnybrook GC             68-72-140 -3  
 T4  Andrew Turner      Whitford CC               73-68-141 -2  
 T4  John Pillar        CC at Woodloch Springs    70-71-141 -2  
 T4  Zac Oakley         Heritage Shores GC        69-72-141 -2  
 T7  Don Allan          Burlington CC             71-71-142 -1  
 T7  Rich Steinmetz     Spring Ford CC            69-73-142 -1  
 9   Stu Ingraham       M Golf Range              72-71-143 E   
 10  Bill Sautter       Philadelphia Cricket Club 69-75-144 +1  
 T11 Dave Quinn         Links GC                  75-70-145 +2  
 T11 John Spina         Philadelphia Cricket Club 71-74-145 +2  
 T13 Hugo Mazzalupi     Patriots Glen National GC 75-71-146 +3  
 T13 Rick Flesher       Applebrook GC             72-74-146 +3  
 T13 Mike Meisenzahl    Shore Gate CC             71-75-146 +3  
 T16 Brian Kelly        Bucknell GC               77-72-149 +6  
 T16 Ryan Shaughnessy   Wedgewood Golf Course     75-74-149 +6  
 T18 Gregg Gipp         Phoenixville CC           79-71-150 +7  
 T18 Alex Knoll         Bethlehem GC- Monacacy    77-73-150 +7  
 T18 Mike Paukovits     St. Davids GC             72-78-150 +7  
 21  Andrew Pierson     Camden County GA          76-75-151 +8  
 22  Michael Rushin     Bear Trap Dunes Golf Club 69-83-152 +9  
 23  Bill Walker        Riverton CC               78-75-153 +10 
 T24 John Roche         Elmhurst CC               79-75-154 +11 
 T24 Kevin Edwards      Woodstone CC              77-77-154 +11 
 T24 John Appleget      Wildwood Golf & CC        72-82-154 +11 
 T27 Joe Kogelman       GolfTEC Moorestown        82-74-156 +13 
 T27 Curtis Kirkpatrick Indian Springs GC         80-76-156 +13 
 T27 Mike Furey         Mahoning Valley CC        81-75-156 +13 
 T27 Harvey Williams    Philly PGA                76-80-156 +13 
 T31 Greyson Rossi      Bayside Resort            85-72-157 +14 
 T31 Dustin McCormick   Glen Brook GC             77-80-157 +14 
 T33 Bill Smith         Mahoning Valley CC        80-80-160 +17 
 T33 Joe Manley         Great Bear GC             79-81-160 +17 
 35  Jeremy Mangine     Glen Brook GC             78-83-161 +18 
 T36 Tom Moore          Applecross CC             82-83-165 +22 
 T36 Joe Ambrose        Paupack Hills G & CC      85-80-165 +22