Lutz comes up short of U.S. Senior Amateur final; Knapp will get shot at a repeat

   Chip Lutz, the Reading native who plays out of LedgeRock Golf Club, came up just short of making it an all-Pennsylvania final in the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship a couple thousand miles away from the Keystone State at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

   The 63-year-old Lutz, trying to add a second U.S. Senior Am title to the one he won in 2015 at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., couldn’t make an early 2-up lead hold up as he fell to co-medalist Jeff Wilson of Fairfield, Calif., 2 and 1, in Wednesday afternoon’s semifinals.

   One of western Pennsylvania’s longtime senior standouts, Sean Knapp, meanwhile, will get a shot to become the first repeat winner of the U.S. Senior Amateur since the legendary William C. Campbell did it in 1979 and 1980. Knapp, who captured the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Senior Amateur title earlier this month at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill Course, knocked off Michael McCoy of Des Moines, Iowa, 2 and 1, in the other semifinal.

   Lutz, the reigning eight-time Golf Association of Philadelphia Senior Player of the Year, rallied from 1-down with five holes to play to pull out a 1-up decision over Craig Davis of Chula Vista, Calif. in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals.

   Lutz then jumped out to a 2-up lead over Wilson by winning the second and fourth holes at the 6,867-yard, par-72 Eugene layout with pars. He would not win another hole.

   Wilson, bidding to become the first qualifying medalist to capture a U.S. Senior Amateur title in 31 years, was particularly dominant on the par-5s in getting past Lutz. After cutting his deficit in half by winning the fifth hole with a birdie, Wilson won the par-5 eighth with a birdie to draw even and the par-5 13^th and the par-5 16^th to pull ahead of Lutz and stay ahead.

   Wilson was the low amateur at the U.S. Senior Open this summer at The Broadmoor’s East Course in Colorado Springs, Colo., becoming just the second player in USGA history to have low-am finishes at both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open.

   Lutz was coming off a tie for fourth in The Seniors Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, an event he has won three times. In a difficult year in which he lost younger brother Wedge (very nice read on a tough year for the Lutz family authored by Joey Flyntz on the USGA website), Lutz surprised himself a little with his run to the U.S. Senior Amateur semifinals.

   “Well, it was a great tournament for me,” Lutz told the USGA website. “To get this far was kind of miraculous. I was pleased with that. I gave Jeff a good match today and really didn’t have my best stuff.

   “He was really hitting it great and played solid and I’m really happy for him. It’ll be a good match to watch, he and Sean (Thursday). I’m sorry I’m not in it, but I’m really thrilled to have gotten this far.”

   Wilson cruised to a 6 and 4 decision over Ned Zachar of Bedford, N.Y. in his quarterfinal match Wednesday morning.

   Knapp, who captured his first USGA championship in his 41^st USGA event last summer at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, rolled to a 6 and 4 victory over 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur champion Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Ga. in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals.

   Knapp got the early advantage over McCoy, the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, by winning the sixth with a birdie and the ninth with a par and took a 2-up lead to the back nine. McCoy cut the deficit in half by making eagle at the par-5 16^th, but Knapp answered with a birdie at the 17^th to close out the match.

   McCoy reached the semifinals with a 3 and 2 victory over Jerry Rose of Sarasota, Fla. in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals.

   So, we didn’t get the Pennsylvania final I was rooting for. No Reading vs. Pittsburgh. But the next time I feel compelled to mention that the old guys who play golf in this neck of the woods don’t take a backseat to the old guys anywhere else, well, I can refer to a week in Eugene, Ore. to prove my point.