Ray Thompson, the Overbrook Golf Club member and Drexel Hill
resident, ran into a buzzsaw in the second round of match play at the U.S.
Senior Amateur at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Calif. Tuesday in a
5 and 4 setback at the hands of Jack Hall of Savannah, Ga.
Thompson, much as he did a year ago in reaching the
quarterfinals of this event before falling to a familiar Golf Association of
Philadelphia rival in Reading’s Chip Lutz, played some very good golf at the
Senior Amateur.
In qualifying Saturday and Sunday, Thompson had rounds of 72
and 69 to finish in a tie for eighth overall at 3-under 141 and easily make the
match-play bracket. Thompson, who made an unlikely run to the Philadelphia
Amateur semifinals at White Manor Country Club earlier this summer, breezed to
a 6 and 4 triumph over Jerry Hudgins of Tyler, Texas in a first-round match
Monday.
But Hall quickly put Thompson in a hole by winning the
second and third holes with birdies and the fourth hole with a par. Hall
increased his lead to 5-up with pars at six and seven before Thompson got a win
at the ninth to head to the back nine 4-down. But Hall restored his five-hole
advantage by winning the 10th with a par and maintained that lead
the rest of the way. Hall played 1-under-par golf for 14 holes.
Hall came back Tuesday afternoon with a 3 and 2 victory over
Lee Sandlin of Dallas and will square off against Randall Lewis of Alma, Mich.
in a quarterfinal match Wednesday morning.
But Thomspon once
again had a strong showing on the national stage, proving that he certainly
belongs among the top 50 senior amateur players in the country.
Moses leads the way at Section Championship
Concord Country Club head pro Mike Moses used his home-course
advantage t
o the fullest in the opening round of the Philadelphia Section PGA
championship Tuesday.
Moses made eagle on the par-5 finishing hole at Concord to
cap a brilliant 6-under 65 that gave him a three-shot lead in event that is
being staged at both Concord and Llanerch Country Club.
Moses will head for Havertown to play his second round at
Llanerch Wednesday. The field will be cut following Wednesday’s second round
with the remainder of the field teeing it up at Llanerch for Thursday’s final
round.
John Spina, the head of instruction at Philadelphia Cricket
Club, had the day’s best score at Llanerch, a 3-under 68 that left him alone in
second place, three shots behind Moses. Spina will be especially motivated to
stay near the top of the leaderboard as the top finishers in this event will
represent the Philadelphia Section at the PGA Professional National
Championship, which will be held at the Cricket Club June 21 to 24 of next
year.
I’m not certain at which course the rest of the players near
the top of the leaderboard played Tuesday, but Mark Sheftic, the head of
instruction of Merion Golf Club, and Aronimink Golf Club assistant pro Nick
Knight were among four players tied for third at 2-under 69. And Aronimink head
of instruction John Bierkan and M Golf Range teaching pro Stu Ingraham were two
of nine players in a tie for seventh at 1-under 70.
Civitella, Kan are Junior Tour winners
Aronimink Golf Club’s Billy Civitella had the day’s best
score, a sparkling 5-over 75, in finishing atop the 13-to-15 age group in a
Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop Sunday at Greate Bay Country Club in
Somers Point, N.J.
A birdie at the second hole got Civitella going on his way
to a strong showing over the 6,417-yard, par-70 Greate Bay layout. He finished
a shot ahead of Nikita Romanov of Wilmington, Del.
Chichester sophomore Caprian Kan, keeping her game sharp in
between high school matches, won the girls 13-to-15 age group with an 80. The
steady round for Kan featured a birdie ast the par-5 15th hole.
William Mitchell of Moorestown, N.J. took top honors in the
boys 16-to-18 division with a 76. Michael Wolf of Drexel Hill finished 11th
with a 94.
Roy Anderson of Chadds Ford topped the field among the
nine-holers with a 44. Billy Civitella’s younger brother Kevin finished third
with a 47 and Hayden Smith of Havertown was another shot back in fourth with a
47.
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