Twice as Nice for Manufacturers’ Peter Clarke at The TaylorMade Classic
Concordville, Pa. – The Philadelphia PGA returned to tournament play on Monday, May 8 for the 2017 TaylorMade Classic. The event featured nearly 130 players and was a combined event with the Section’s Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO).
Although the calendar said May 8, the weather for today’s tournament felt more in line with an early Spring event as players battled brisk temperatures and cool winds. Early in the day Mike Little (Lookaway Golf Club) channeled some goods memories from his 2016 win at Concord Country Club. Little carded three birdies and only one bogey to post a 2-under (69). Playing early in the day and knowing that conditions were tough Little would spend the rest of his day closely watching the leaderboard to see if his score would hold up.
As group after group finished players came close to Little’s 2-under number but no one was able to match his score. That was until Peter Clarke (Manufacturers Golf & Country Club) posted his score. Playing more than five hours after Little began his day; Clarke played a flawless round of golf adding two birdies along the way to finish tied for first at 2-under (69).
With no other players able to match the duo, Clarke and Little headed to the par-5 18th for the start of a sudden death playoff. Both Clarke and Little found the green in three shots giving each player a chance at birdie. With Clarke first to putt he managed to drain a 35’ putt for his birdie forcing Little to make his downhill putt. Despite his best effort, Little’s putt slid over the right edge giving Clarke the title.
“I’ve put in a lot of hard work this off-season and it feels incredible to have the hard work pay off,” said Clarke on his first tournament win. “Coming into the year it was definitely a goal of mine to win an event. I hope that I can carry this momentum with me throughout the year. I want to thank Bob Fritz and membership at Manufacturers for allowing me to compete as well as my parents for their continued support throughout the year.”
Today was Clarke’s first Philadelphia PGA tournament victory and was twice as nice as his playoff win also gave him the top spot in the PAO TaylorMade Classic event.
In the tournament’s senior division two players finished tied for first. Both Brian Kelly (Bucknell Golf Club) and Greg Farrow (Deerwood Country Club) finished at 1-over (73) and will share the first place prize.
The Section would like to thank our tournament sponsors TaylorMade Golf and our Section representatives Mark Krahe and Jay Junkin as well as Tom Kelly, PGA representing Adidas. Special thank you to Evolve golf for their added support in today’s event.
Tournament play will continue on Wednesday, May 10 when the Section heads to Applebrook Golf Club for the Club Car, LLC / Golf Cars Inc. Pro-Official.
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