Sheftic's 66 at Northampton gives him a victory in rain-shorrtened Lehigh Valley Open

   Merion Golf Club head of instruction Mark Sheftic played some pretty good golf at Northampton Country Club a year ago, but had to settle for runnerup honors in the Lehigh Valley Open, staged by the Golf Association of Lehigh Valley (GALV).

   Cole Miller, who starred scholastically at Northwestern Lehigh, was coming off one of the great seasons in the history of the Penn State program and captured the title, although Sheftic did collect the top prize that goes to the low professional.

   The event was plagued by rain a year ago, although all 36 holes were played. But the Philadelphia Section PGA was unable to overcome the torrential rains that fell in Easton Tuesday and the event, the eighth Omega Player of the Year points tournament, was shortened to 18 holes.

   The good news for Sheftic was that the sparkling 6-under-par 66 he fired over the 6,560-yard, par-72 Northampton layout Monday held up for the victory and a check for $2,800.

   Sheftic is one of the most consistent players on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit. He regularly represents the Section in the PGA Professional Championship, which he did again last month at the Bayonet and Black Horse Courses on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula. Sheftic missed the 36-hole cut at Bayonet and Black Horse, but three times has finished among the top 20 in the PGA Professional Championship and earned a ticket to the PGA Championship.

   Sheftic is one of the Section’s top instructors, too. I mentioned in a post last week that the fairly meteoric rise of Rolling Green Golf Club 12-year-old Sydney Yermish that saw her tee it up in last week’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship had a little something to do with the coaching of Sheftic.

   Sheftic nearly birdied half the holes at Northampton Monday with eight total. He made birdies at the second, third, sixth, seventh and ninth holes around a bogey at the fourth for a front-nine 4-under 32. He added birdies at 12, 14 and 17 of offset a bogey at the 15^th on the incoming nine.

   Brian Bergstol, an assistant pro at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, earned $2,000 as he finished tied for second at 4-under 68. A couple of amateurs again represented the GALV with strong showings as Carlos Fullerton, a former Emmaus High standout and Jim Maru, who played collegiately at Moravian College, shared second with Bergstol, each matching Bergstol’s 68.

   A third Lehigh Valley amateur, Adam Sutovich, a Parkland High product, was part of a group of five players who finished tied for fifth at 3-under 69. Fullerton and Sutovich play out of Allentown’s Brookside Country and the Brookside head pro, Dave Fields, was also in the group along with Sutovich at 69.

   Also in the group tied for fifth were Whitemarsh Valley Country Club head pro Dave Pagett, coming off a strong showing in last week’s Philadelphia Open at St. Davids Golf Club, Don DeAngelis, out of the Center Square Golf Club pro shop, and Out Door Country Club’s Steve Swartz.

Radley Run Country Club assistant pro Brett Melton, the Section’s reigning Omega Player of the Year, and John Appleget of The Shore Club finished tied for 11^th at 2-under 70.

   Melton was the Section’s top finisher in the PGA Professional Championship, ending up in a tie for 25^th at Bayonet and Black Horse, and lost in a playoff in last week’s Philadelphia Open.

   Five more players – Spring-Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz, the Country Club at Woodloch Springs’ director of golf John Pillar, Michael Little of Lookaway Golf Club, Scott Chisholm of Rolling Green Golf Club and Bethlehem Golf Club assistant pro Alex Knoll – finished tied for 13^th at 1-under 71.

   Appleget topped the senior division with Pillar finishing second. It fell through the cracks on the blog, but Pillar captured the Connelly Cup Head Professional Championship with a 6-under 65 on a sweltering eve of the Fourth of July at Applebrook Golf Club.

   Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster finished third in the senior division with an even-par 72.

   DeAngelis has dominated the new super-senior division and claimed top honors again with his 3-under 69.