I covered the 2015 Pennsylvania Open at Rolling Green Golf
Club, unaware that I was in my final months in the employ of the Delaware County Daily Times.
So I was paying more attention to the ultimate winner, Billy
Stewart, who was a product of the Llanerch Country Club junior program, and Stu
Ingraham, who was the head of instruction at the M Golf Range in Newtown
Square. So, you know, Delco guys.
I vaguely recalled that a pro from the Harrisburg area,
Kevin Kraft, was one of the contenders and yeah, I got a kick out of the name
of the place where he was an instructor, the Bumble Bee Hollow Golf Center.
What I did not know was that Kraft was making a comeback
from seven years when he didn’t play competitive golf due to anxiety issues. He
finished fourth at Rolling Green and felt like the tools he was using to deal
with his anxiety were at least allowing him to play golf again.
Flash forward to Tuesday and the second round of the
Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 102nd Open Championship, presented
by LECOM, at Lancaster Country Club, another William Flynn design like Rolling
Green. Kraft had opened Monday with a 68 that was about the worst he could have
shot with the 32 putts he took.
But the Kevin Kraft of old, the pre-anxiety guy who was
competitive on the Web.com Tour -- the Triple-A of professional golf, one step
away from the PGA Tour, the big leagues -- showed up in Tuesday’s second round.
After opening with a bogey at the first, Kraft, needing just
24 putts, rattled off seven birdies in the final 17 holes to set the
competitive course record at Lancaster with a 6-under-par 64. Combined with
Monday’s 68, it left him at 8-under 132 and with a four-shot lead over Ingraham
heading into Wednesday’s final round.
“I didn’t make anything (Monday),” the 47-year-old Kraft told
the PAGA website. “But the greens were better today, a tiny bit faster and that
suits me. I just had really good reads on everything.”
After dropping a shot at the first hole, Kraft ripped off three
straight birdies at three, four and five. A birdie at 11 got him to 3-under for
his round and 5-under for the tournament. He trailed his playing partner
Ingraham by a shot as they arrived at the 14th tee.
But Kraft knocked a 9-iron to seven feet and converted the
birdie putt and Ingraham made double bogey. The three-shot swing meant that Kraft
went from one behind to two ahead.
After a birdie at 17, Kraft put the icing on his masterful
round by holing a 25-footer for birdie at the 18th.
It’s nice to see that a guy like Kraft can enjoy his obvious
talent for the game and let a day like Tuesday happen.
The 58-year-old Ingraham, who had opened with a 3-under 67,
still posted a 1-under 69, despite the lapse at 14, and is alone in second
place, four shots behind Kraft at 4-under 136. He won this championship in
1998, 20 years ago, and he is very much in contention in a field with a ton of
talented amateurs and professionals from every corner of Pennsylvania.
Penn State senior J.D. Hughes of Carlisle is alone in third
at 3-under 137, a shot behind Ingraham after adding a 2-under 68 to his
opening-round 69. The winner of the 2017 Pennsylvania Amateur at White Manor
Country Club, Hughes is the low amateur in the field after two rounds.
Heading a group of four players tied for fourth at 2-under
138 is Craig Hornberger, the 2012 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at
Manheim Township playing on a Lancaster track that was his home course growing
up.
Hornberger had matched the competitive course record with
his opening-round 65 – before Kraft lowered it Tuesday – but struggled a little
with a 3-over 73 to land at 138. Hornberger is playing professionally on the
PGA Tour Latinoamerica, but couldn’t resist sneaking a Pennsylvania Open on his
home course into his schedule.
Also in the group at 138 is former Drexel standout Chris
Crawford, who qualified for the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 2016 and at Erin Hills in
2017 as an amateur the hard way, through local and sectional qualifying.
Crawford added a 1-over 71 to his opening-round 67.
Another amateur, Zachary Barbin, a Liberty sophomore and the
oldest of a group of golfing brothers from Elkton, Md., is also in the group at
2-under after also adding a 1-over 71 to an opening-round 67. Lancaster seemed
to play a little tougher in the second round than it did in the first round
with the notable exception of Kraft.
Rounding out the foursome at 138 was Cole Willcox, who fired
a second straight 69. I know Willcox has been a pro for a while, but I can never
forget the kid who was going into his senior year at Malvern Prep and qualified
for the 2005 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course. Looks
like he can still play a little.
Former Penn State standout Travis – formerly known as T.J. –
Howe and Ben Boyle of Boiling Springs are tied for eighth at 1-under 139. Both
pros carded a 2-over 72 Tuesday after opening up with a 3-under 67.
There was the seemingly mandatory weather delay, but Round 2
was completed and the cut fell at 4-over 144.
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