Thompson falls; Moses leads; Civitella, Kan are winners

   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 10^th 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 15^th 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.