Little makes it two straight Omega points wins with one-shot victory in TaylorMade Classic at White Manor

    Mike Little’s 4-under-par 67 at White Manor Country Club in Willistown Township Monday held up for a one-shot victory in the TaylorMade Classic, the second straight win in a Philadelphia Section PGA Omega Player of the Year points tournament for the Lookaway Golf Club head pro.

   Little, the Philadelphia Section’s Omega Player of the Year in 2016, won the William Hyndman III Memorial Classic in a playoff at Huntingdon Valley Country Club last week.

   Little made birdies at the second, third and eighth holes to make the turn at the par-71 White Manor layout in 3-under 32.

   A bogey at the 12^th hole briefly slowed Little’s momentum, but he then ripped off three more birdies at the 14^th, 16^th and 17^th holes before closing with a bogey at the 18^th.

   “It feels great to win two in a row,” Little told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “I’ve been spending some time on my game and it’s been paying off.”

   Bidermann Golf Club teaching pro Zac Oakley, who also won back-to-back Philadelphia Section Omega Player of the Year points tournament earlier this summer, led a group of four players who finished in a tie for second place at 3-under 68.

   Two of the Section’s talented Senior players, Bob Lennon of Wilmington Country Club and Dave Quinn of Laurel Creek Country Club, were also at 3-under. Rounding out the foursome tied for second place was Sunnybrook Golf Club assistant pro Brett Walker.

   Two more of those talented Philadelphia Section seniors, Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club and Mark Pederson of St. Davids Golf Club, headed a trio of players tied for sixth place at 1-under 70. Mike Furey, an assistant pro at Saucon Valley Country Club, rounded out the group tied for sixth place.

   Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, who lost to Little in the playoff in the William Hyndman III Memorial Classic last week, headed a group of 10 players tied for ninth place with an even-par 71.

   One of McNabb’s fellow senior standouts, Terry Hertzog, who joined Scott Nye’s team in the Merion Golf Club pro shop this summer, was also in the group at even-par.

   Overbrook Golf Club’s Ashley Grier, the Section’s top female player, also joined the group tied for ninth place with an even-par 71.

   Also coming in at 71 were Michael VanDerLaan, another assistant pro out of the Sunnybrook pro shop, Bidermann assistant pro Braden Shattuck, Noah Firestone of Galloway National Golf Club, Brian Creghan of Rolling Green Golf Club, Dustin Wallis of Dustin Wallis Golf, Chris Miller of the Scranton Golf Center and Chris Krueger of Kings Creek Country Club.

   Wilmington Country Club’s Lennon and Laurel Creek’s Quinn landed atop the leaderboard in the Senior division with their 3-under 68s with Quinn claiming the top prize since Lennon also bested the Super-Senior division field.

   Bucknell’s Kelly and St. Davids’ Anderson shared third place, each coming in at 1-under 70, with Applebrook’s McNabb and Merion’s Hertzog finishing a tie for fifth at even-par 71.

   Kelly was the runnerup to Lennon in the Super-Senior division. Don DeAngelis of Spring Ford Country Club, Bill Sautter of Philadelphia Cricket Club and Greg Farrow, the veteran head pro at Deerwood Country Club, shared third place in the Super-Senior division, each registering a 3-over 74.

   Sunnybrook’s Walker took top honors in the concurrent Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO) event with his 3-under 68. Bidermann’s Oakley was a shot behind him in second place at 69 with Saucon Valley’s Furey in third at 1-under 70.

   Walker’s Sunnybrook colleague VanDerLaan and Oakley’s fellow Bidermann pro shop representative Shattuck as well as Overbrook’s Grier and Galloway National’s Firestone were in a tie for fourth place as each matched par with a 71.

   Oakley also landed on the PAO Skins board with his birdie at the 16^th hole. Pine Valley Golf Club’s Steve Sanderson earned a skin with his birdie at the 10^th hole, Fieldstone Golf Club’s Matt DiEleuterio birdied the 18^th for a skin and Glen Brook Golf Club instructor Alex Knoll, the Section’s reigning Omega Player of the Year, had a skin with his birdie at the 13^th.

   Lennon’s strong showing was fueled by a pair of skins on back-to-back holes in the Senior division as he was the only player to record birdies at both the fourth and fifth holes. George Frake of the Moorestown Field Club had a skin with a birdie at the 15^th hole and Paul Galczyk of Westover Golf Club earned a skin with a birdie at the 12^th hole.

   Oakley nearly aced the 12^th hole as his tee shot at the par-3 12^th hole finished a half-inch from the cup, giving him closest-to-the-pin honors.

   The closests at the other par-3s included University of Pennsylvania men’s golf coach Jason Calhoun, whose tee shot at the third hole ended up eight feet, 10 inches from the cup, Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz, who also hit it to eight feet, 10 inches at the eighth, and Overbrook’s Steve Frederick, who knocked it 14 feet, eight inches away at the 14^th.

   In addition to title sponsor, the TaylorMade Golf Company, the event was supported by Kevin McClellan Golf Sales, Jani-King, the PGA Tour, Scott Hutchinson, Conrad SS Radcliffe, Esq. and the BagBoy Company.