Such is the competition level among the players who compete in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Senior Amateur Championship that there had been no repeat winner since Allan Sussel did it in 1985 and 1986.
These days the winner gets the Allan Sussel Memorial Trophy, named for the man who captured the GAP Senior Amateur four other times in addition to his back-to-back wins. And finally, 34 years later there is a repeat champion.
Chris Fieger Sr., a 57-year-old from Denver, Lancaster County and a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, carded the low round of the day, a 2-under-par 69, at Old York Road Country Club Thursday to claim a closer-than-it-looks, three-shot victory over his one-time Temple teammate Paul Rogowicz of Yardley Country Club in the 50th edition of the GAP Senior Amateur Championship.
Fieger, a Delco native who was a scholastic standout at Nether Providence, had lost in a playoff in his GAP Senior Amateur debut two years ago before rolling to a five-shot victory a year ago at Little Mill Country Club.
Fieger also captured last month’s Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Senior Amateur Championship at Stonewall’s North Course and his victory Thursday made him just the fourth player to win both titles in the same year, joining Sussel (1986), John Guenther and the late Overbrook Golf Club legend Ray Thompson (2007).
Fieger had grabbed a one-shot lead over Rogowicz after an opening round of 1-under 70.
Fieger birdied the 335-yard, par-4 second hole when his approach from 98 yards with a 54-degree wedge finished four feet from the hole and he converted the birdie putt. His 58-degree wedge from 80 yards at the 424-yard, par-5 fourth hole left him with just a six-foot birdie try that he made.
When Fieger birdied the 351-yard, par-4 11th hole after firing a gap wedge from 115 yards to eight feet and making the putt, he led Rogowicz by three shots.
Three-putt bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes, both par-3s, left Fieger with just a one-shot lead heading to the 18th tee. Rogowicz had missed a couple of opportunities to cut even deeper into Fieger’s lead, but couldn’t make a couple of good birdie looks on Old York Road’s tricky greens.
But Fieger finished with a flourish, knocking a 54-degree wedge from 99 yards away on the 387-yard, par-4 finishing hole to nine feet and making the birdie putt. His 2-under 69 over the 6,399-yard, par-71 Old York Road layout left him with a 3-under 139 total.
“I hit all 18 greens and (Wednesday) I hit 16 greens,” Fieger told the GAP website. “So, 34 out of 36 greens was my game plan. And if I didn’t pull out wrong clubs, then I would’ve hit 18 greens (Wednesday), too. That’s my strength. I drive it fairly straight, I hit greens.”
Rogowicz carded a second straight even-par 71 to finish three shots behind Fieger in second place at even-par 142. Carlisle Country Club’s Jeff Frazier, who defeated Rogowicz in the final of another GAP senior major, the Brewer Cup, earlier this summer at LedgeRock Golf Club, registered his second straight 1-over 72 to finish two shots behind Rogowicz in third place at 2-over 144.
Joe Roeder of Little Mill matched par with a 71 after opening with a 75 to finish alone in fourth place at 4-over 146. Edward Kelly, playing on his home course at Old York Road, added a 74 to his opening-round 73 to end up in fifth place at 5-over 147.
The Country Club of Scranton’s Michael Vassil, the 2012 GAP Senior Amateur champion, signed for a second straight 2-over 74 to take sixth place at 6-over 148.
LuLu Country Club’s Glenn Smeraglio, the 2017 winner, headed a group of three players tied for seventh place at 8-over 150 after adding a 76 to his opening-round 74.
Gregory Day, another Old York Road guy, had the same splits as Smeraglio to join him at 150. Rounding out the trio at 150 was Running Deer Golf Club’s Joseph Russo, who bounced back from an opening-round 79 with an even-par 71.
Lehigh Country Club had two of the four players tied for 10th place at 9-over 151 and both Bob Beck and Tom Soares rebounded from an opening-round 78 with a solid 2-over 73 in Thursday’s second round.
Robert Harrington of Merion Golf Club and Little Mill’s Tom Hyland also landed on 151 as Harrington added a 78 to his opening-round 73 and Hyland posted a 76 in Thursday’s second round after opening with a 75.
Also up for grabs Thursday was the Senior Silver Cross Award and Little Mill’s Adam Armagost, a looper at two of America’s most iconic courses, Pine Valley and Seminole, carded a 2-over 73 that gave him a four-shot victory over Vassil.
The Senior Silver Cross competition includes scores from the Chapman Cup, in which Armagost was the runnerup with a 2-under 70 at Yardley, the Warner Cup, which Armagost won in a scorecard playoff after 1-under 70 at North Hills Country Club, and the two rounds of the Senior Amateur Championship.
The 57-year-old Armagost of National Park, N.J. struggled with an 81 in Wednesday’s opening round, but his 73 Thursday gave him a 9-over 294 total.
Reigning GAP Senior Player of the Year Oscar Mestre of Overbrook Golf Club had caught Armagost after three rounds in the Senior Silver Cross race, but struggled to an 81 Thursday.
It was a triumphant day for 72-year-old Don Donatoni of White Manor Country Club as the ageless wonder matched his age with a 1-over 72 and claimed the Super-Senior division for the fourth time by four shots with a 3-over 145 total. Donatoni’s previous wins came in 2013, 2016 and 2018.
In the process, Donatoni won the Super-Senior Silver Cross Award for the sixth time in the last eight years with a 299 total. The two wins more than likely wrapped up an eighth straight GAP Super-Senior Player of the Year award for the Malvern resident.
Donatoni had shared the lead following Wednesday’s opening round with Rick Umani of Honeybrook Golf Club and Vince Scarpetta of Nittany Country Club as he carded a 2-over 73.
The only birdie Donatoni recorded in Thursday’s second round came at the 191-yard, par-3 fifth hole where he drew a hybrid to six feet and drained the tough right-to-left breaker.
But after making a bogey at the seventh hole, Donatoni rattled off nine straight pars while the rest of the field fell back. A bogey at the last left Donatoni with a 72 over an Old York Road layout that measured 6,078 yards for the 65-and-over set and his winning 145 total.
“I am getting older and there are a lot of wonderful players that have turned 65, 66, 67,” Donatoni told the GAP website. “I remember when I turned 65, I was more flexible. I could hit the ball a little farther. Mentally I was able to focus a lot more.
“To (possibly) be able to continue that streak is beyond my wildest expectations. (This year) I just wanted to compete and maybe win one major, if I was lucky.”
Gary Daniels of Applebrook Golf Club is one of those tough 66-year-olds Donatoni was talking about and he carded a solid 4-over 75 after opening with a 74 to finish alone in second place with a 7-over 149 total.
Bob Billings of Rolling Green Golf Club and Tom DiCinti, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, finished in a tie for third place at 151, two shots behind Daniels.
Billings added a 75 to his opening-round 76 while DiCinti posted a 77 after opening with a 74. Billings was the runnerup to Donatoni in the Super-Senior Silver Cross Award chase with a 301 total.
Umani struggled to a 79 after his opening-round 73 and shared fifth place with Ed Enoch, playing on his home course at Old York Road. Enoch registered a solid 73 after opening with a 79.
Saucon Valley Country Club’s Robin McCool, the 2006 Senior Amateur champion, finished a shot behind Umani and Enoch in seventh place at 153. McCool carded a 78 after opening with a 75.
Scarpetta struggled with an 81 after his opening-round 73, but finished alone in eighth place at 154.
Donatoni had carded a 76 in the Chapman Cup at Yardley and a 78 in the Warner Cup at North Hills. His 145 total at Old York Road added up to a Super-Senior Silver Cross Award total of 299. He had won the Super-Senior Silver Cross Award four straight times from 2013 to 2016 before adding his fifth Silver Cross last summer.
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