One thing I’ve
discovered since trying to expand the reach of this blog a couple of years ago
is that there is a lot of golf going on out there, more than this humble
blogger can ever get to. And that’s a good thing. I’ve been running around the
last few weeks trying to do some live blogging of some of the postseason high
school championships. Here’s a couple of things I missed …
Brian Bergstol seems pretty comfortable on the course where
the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort assistant pro works.
The Shawnee Open, which has a long and distinguished
history, was played Oct. 7 and 8 and Bergstol, after grabbing the lead with an
opening round of 5-under 67, really turned it on with a spectacular 8-under 64
in the second round to take the Philadelphia Section PGA event by six shots
with a 13-under 131 total.
Bergstol blistered the Shawnee layout with six birdies and
an eagle.
In the process, Bergstol beat probably the hottest assistant
pro in the Section, The ACE Club’s Billy Stewart, who has captured the
Philadelphia Open and his first Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship in
recent months.
Stewart, a product of Malvern Prep and Saint Joseph’s
University, trailed Bergstol by two shots after opening with a 3-under 69. He
added a solid 4-under 68 in the second round, which left him alone in second at
7-under 137.
According to Philadelphia Section PGA website, Stewart is
leading the Omega Player of the Year points standings.
Bergstol and Stewart will head the contingent of assistant
pros representing the Philadelphia Section PGA at the National Car Rental
Assistant PGA Professional Championship next month at the PGA Golf Club’s
Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The senior division winner at Shawnee was Philmont Country
Club’s Dave Quinn, who added a 2-under 70 to his opening-round 69 to finish
fourth overall at 139.
Quinn will be part of the group of senior pros representing
the Philadelphia Section PGA when the Senior PGA Professional Championship,
presented by Mercedes-Benz USA, tees off next week, also at the PGA Golf Club
in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Laushell a winner in IJGT Philly Open
Patrick Laushell of Morrisville bettered par in the second
round with a 1-under 71 to cruise to 14-shot victory in the 19-and-under
division of the IJGT Philly Open at Radley Run Country Club Oct. 6 and 7.
Laushell had opened with a 76 over the 6,394-yard, par-72
Radley Run layout and ended up with a 3-over 147 total. Benny Hagerty of
Manasquan, N.J. improved nine shots from his opening-round 85 with a
second-round 76 to finish second at 161.
Another local player, John Bradbeer of Philadelphia, was
equally dominant in capturing a 15-shot victory in the 16-and-under division.
Bradbeer finished up with a solid 1-over 73 after opening with a 79 for an
8-over 152 total.
Peter Meehan of Fairfield, Conn. was the runnerup as he
added an 84 in the second round to his opening-round 83 for a 167 total.
Strath Haven sophomore Jackson Debusschere was another two
shots behind Meehan in third at 169 after opening with an 865 and adding an 83.
Debusschere’s remarkable recovery from giant cell
myocarditis, an autoimmune attack on the heart muscle that was diagnosed in
November of 2016, was the subject of really nice story by my former Delaware County Daily Times colleague
Matthew DeGeorge last month. Looks like you can still get at it with a Google
search and I can highly recommend it.
Sarah Hendrickson’s trip to West Chester from Bel Air, Md.
for the IJGT Philly Open was well worthwhile as she captured the girls
19-and-under division as she opened with a 94 and added a 99 for a 193 total.
Rebecca Maude of Scarsdale, N.Y. was the runnerup as she
improved 14 shots from her opening-round 107 with a 93 in the second round for
a 200 total.
Semenetz-Wallace pair earn another trip to U.S. Amateur
Four-Ball
Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill Course was the
perfect venue for Sean Semenetz and Jack Wallace to try to earn a ticket to the
U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship for the fourth time in the short, five-year
history of the event.
The 31-year-old Semenetz is a Philadelphia Cricket Club
member and the 34-year-old Wallace was a Cricket Club member before moving on
to Burlington Country Club.
Semenetz of Philadelphia and Wallace of Norristown teamed up
for a 7-under-par 65 over the 7,113-yard, par-72 Militia Hill layout in a
qualifier administered by the Golf Association of Philadelphia Oct. 10 to grab
one of just two available berths to next spring’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
Championship along with co-medalists Andrew Rice and Josh Notes, a couple of
Maryland guys from Parkton and Laurel, respectively.
Notes and Rice, both 34, took a road trip to Whitemarsh
Township because they felt the Militia Hill Course fit their games better than
their home qualifier.
They are such good golf buddies that when Rice earned a
ticket into match play in the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall,
Notes drove up to northwest Chester County and caddied for his pal.
Sementz and Wallace missed a seven-team playoff for the
final six spots in match play by a shot in last spring’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
at the Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Fla.
They’ll give it another shot beginning May 25 at the Bandon
Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.
Bandon Dunes hosted the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur
Four-Ball Championship in 2015 when Brynn Walker, in the middle of an
outstanding scholastic career at Radnor High, and her pal Madelein Herr, a
Council Rock North standout, made it all the way to the semifinals. Walker is a
junior on the North Carolina golf team while Herr is a junior on the Penn State
golf team.
It was the first time I had ever heard of the U.S. Amateur
Four-Ball Championship and Bandon Dunes, which I saw during Fox’s coverage of
the quarterfinal matches. I’ve been a fan of both ever since. The matches were
played on the Tom Doak-designed Pacific Dunes Course and the breathtaking scenery
was evident on the broadcast.
Cory Siegfried, the 2010 Pennsylvania Amateur champion and a
former Haverford School standout, and his partner, Adam Hofmann of Tampa, Fla.
are the first alternates after carding a 6-under 66.
A couple of other Maryland guys, Benjamin Shields and Mike
Filler of Towson, matched the 66 posted by Siegfried and Hofmann and are the
second alternates.
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