Mike Little, the head pro at Lookaway Golf Club, defeated Dave McNabb, the head man at Applebrook Golf Club, on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to capture the title in the Philadelphia Section PGA’s William Hyndman III Memorial Classic Tuesday at Hyndman’s home course, the William Flynn design at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.
Two of the top players in the Philadelphia Section, Little and McNabb were the only two players to better par on the challenging par-70 Huntingdon Valley layout as each finished regulation with a 1-under-par 69.
A par by Little on the first hole of the playoff was good enough to give the Section’s 2016 Omega Player of the Year the victory over McNabb, who made a bogey, in the Omega Player of the Year points race event.
Little had lost in playoffs in the William Hyndman III Memorial Classic in 2013 and 2018, so it was particularly gratifying to him to finish the job this time.
Little really got it going on the front nine at Huntingdon Valley, making birdies at the third, fifth, sixth and seventh holes to get it to 4-under at the turn. A double bogey at the 11th hole and a bogey at the 14th dropped him back to 1-under.
Huntingdon Valley seems to be a good fit for McNabb. He fired a 4-under 66 in the opening round of last year’s Philadelphia Open to grab the lead before ending up in a tie for third.
McNabb, who lost in a playoff in last week’s Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship at Concord Country Club, also got it going early at Huntingdon Valley. Birdies at the second, fourth and fifth holes got him to 3-under before a bogey at the seventh slowed his momentum a little.
McNabb made bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes to fall back to even-par before making a birdie at the 15th to finish in red figures and earn his place in the playoff with Little.
Three of the Philadelphia Section’s assistant pros, competing in the concurrent Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO) event, were among six players who finished in a tie for third at even-par 70.
Brett Walker of Sunnybrook Golf Club birdied the first hole of a playoff to capture the top spot in the PAO scoring over Andrew Turner of French Creek Golf Club and Ross Seaman of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club.
Joining the trio of assistants in the tie for third in the overall scoring were Merion Golf Club’s Terry Hertzog, Dustin Wallis of Dustin Wallis Golf and Jaime Gylan of the Royal Manchester Golf Links.
Four more players rounded out the top 10 in a tie for ninth place at 1-over 71, led by Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Trevor Bensel, who was coming off a victory in last week’s Delaware Valley Open with a spectacular 9-under 61 at Concord.
Joining Bensel at 1-over were Concord head pro Mike Moses, Joseph Kogelman of GolfTec Moorestown and Robert Lennon of Wilmington Country Club.
Spring-Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz headed a group of five players who finished in a tie for 13th place at 2-over 72.
Rounding out the group at 72 were Billy Stewart of The ACE Club, Greg Matthias of Tavistock Country Club, Brian Bergstol of the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort and Steve Sieracki of Woodcrest Country Club.
McNabb’s solid effort did land him alone atop a typically strong Philadelphia Section Senior field at Huntingdon Valley. Hertzog, at even-par, was the runnerup in the Senior division and Moses and Lennon finished in a tie for third at 1-over.
John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, and Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club finished in a tie for fifth place in the Senior division, each signing for a 3-over 73. Pillar defeated McNabb in a playoff last week at Concord to capture the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship for the second straight year.
Lennon’s 1-over 71 gave him top honors in the Super Senior division for the 60-and-older set. Kelly was the runnerup in the division.
Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster took third place with a 4-over 74 followed by Deerwood Country Club’s veteran head man Greg Farrow in fourth with a 75.
Bensel finished fourth in the PAO chase, his 1-over 71 a shot behind the trio involved in the playoff for the top spot.
Skins were up for grabs in the Senior division and in the PAO competition.
John Cooper of Green Valley Country Club picked up a pair of skins in the Senior division with birdies at the sixth and 16th holes. McNabb claimed a skin with his birdie at the fifth hole and John Spina, out of the Philadelphia Cricket Club pro shop, won a skin with his birdie at the ninth.
Jordan Shuey won a skin against his fellow assistant pros with a birdie at the 13th hole and Jeffrey Herb of Waynesborough Country Club earned a skin at the sixth hole with a birdie in the PAO competition.
The tournament’s namesake is one of the great amateur players the Philadelphia region has ever produced. Among his 51 appearances in USGA competition, Bill Hyndman won a pair of U.S. Senior Amateur Championships 10 years apart.
The William Hyndman III Memorial Classic was supported by the Hyndman family, Jock Jolly & Son, Inc., Kevin McCellan Golf Sales, the PGA Tour, Scott Hutchinson and Conrad JJ Radcliffe, Esq.
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