Ingraham two shots out of the lead after opening round of Senior PGA Professional Championship

   To hear Stu Ingraham, the 59-year-old instructor at the M Golf Range & Learning Center in Newtown Square, tell it, he was just feeling it.

   Ingraham fired an efficient 5-under-par 65 over the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas and was part of a three-way tie for third place Thursday after the opening round of the 31^st Senior PGA Professional Championship, supported by The Golf Channel and John Deere.

   Ingraham, playing in his 38^th PGA of America championship (I’ve been shorting him six in some of my recent posts) made birdies at the first, seventh, ninth, 12^th and 14^th holes with nary a bogey on his card over the par-70 Cliffside Course.

   “I think golf’s about knowledge, relaxation and feel,” Ingraham, playing in his ninth Senior PGA Professional Championship, told the PGA of America website. “And I had it today. I had to feel, I had to flow. Something about today, I had a neat feel. I wasn’t ever close to a bogey.”

   Ingraham was the first alternate out of the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship at Applebrook Golf Club in August. But he got in and he’s making the most of the opportunity.

   Ingraham will play his second round Friday at the par-72 Fazio Foothills Course and looks like a pretty good bet to survive the cut to the low 90 and ties. There will be another cut to the low 70 and ties following the third round.

   The top 35 finishers will earn a berth in next May’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich. The Senior PGA, a major on the PGA Tour Champions, is the oldest national senior professional event. It was staged long before the advent of the PGA Tour Champions in the early 1980s.

   The lead following the opening round of the Senior PGA Professional Championship belongs to Met Section veteran Frank Bensel Jr., an assistant pro at Century Country Club in Purchase, N.Y. and a three-time winner of the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship.

   Bensel fired a wild 7-under 65 at the Foothills Course to take a one-shot lead over John Aber, the head pro at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley, Pa. Aber’s 6-under 64 was the best score of the day at the Cliffside Course.

   Bensel, starting on the back nine at the Foothills Course, opened his round with bogeys at the 10^th and 11^th holes. After seeming to right the ship with a birdie at the 12^th hole, Bensel made another bogey at the 13^th hole.

   But then he drilled a 4-iron to 12 feet at the par-5 15^th hole and made the putt for eagle. Boom, even-par. And then he drew a 6-iron at the par-3 17^th hole and the ball found the bottom of the cup for a hole-in-one and his second eagle in a three-hole span. Boom, 2-under.

   Bensel proceeded to birdie five of his last six holes, the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth, on the Foothills Course’s outgoing nine to get it to 7-under.

   Joining Ingraham at 3-under were Jeff Whitfield of The Quarry at Crystal Springs Golf Club in Maryland Heights, Mo. and Gus Ulrich Jr. of Pinewilds Country Club in Pinehurst in North Carolina, both of whom carded a 5-under 67 at the Foothills Course.

   Another member of the contingent representing the Philadelphia Section PGA, the Country Club of York’s Terry Hertzog, also got off to a good start with a 3-under 69 at the Foothills Course. That left him in the group tied for 13^th place.

   Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club and Dave Quinn of Laurel Creek Country Club each posted a 1-under 71 at the Foothills Course and both are among the group tied for 39^th place. Kelly earned a trip to last spring’s Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course in Pittsford, N.Y. as an alternate out of last year’s Senior PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

   George Forster, the 63-years young head pro at Radnor Valley Country Club, carded an even-par 72 at the Foothills Course that left him in the group tied for 57^th place. Forster hit the jackpot when he won the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic and its $100,000 top prize the day after Labor Day at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

   Eddie Perrino of the Eagle Lodge Resort carded a 74 at the Foothills Course and Bob Lennon of Wilmington Country Club posted a 72 at the Cliffside Course and both are among a group of players tied for 107^th place at 2-under.

   It was a tough day for John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs and the winner of the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship at Applebrook. Pillar signed for a 6-over 78 at the Foothills Course that left him among the group tied for 210^th place.