George Forster, the veteran head pro at Radnor Valley C.C., was one of three players a shot back at 69 and he too teed it up at St. Davids Tuesday. Rich Steinmetz, the head pro at Spring-Ford C.C., matched Forster's 69 at St. Davids and Bill Sautter of Philadelphia Cricket Club rounded out the trio at 69. Sautter fashioned his round at White Manor and that was the best round of the day there by two shots.
The field will switch courses for today's second round. After a 36-hole cut, the tournament will conclude at White Manor Thursday.
Mark Sheftic, the director of instruction at Merion G.C., had one of the better rounds of the day at White Manor and his 71 left him three shots out of the lead. Sheftic is fresh off of helping the U.S. team win the PGA Cup in California over the weekend. The post previous to this one details Sheftic's showing in the PGA Cup.
Stu Ingraham, the teaching pro at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, carded a 72 at White Manor. Concord C.C. head pro Mike Moses is in the hunt after a 73 at St. Davids.
Forster's son, George Forster Jr. is working in the pro shop at Merion and he posted a 74 at White Manor. Another shot back after a 75 at White Manor is Overbrook G.C. head pro Scott Hunter and Patrick Clark out of the Aronimink G.C. pro shop who carded his 75 at St. Davids.
The top finishers from the Section Championship earn berths in the PGA National Professional Championship and a high finish there can send you to the PGA Championship. Ingraham has taken that route to six PGA Championship appearances. Sheftic earned trips to pro golf's final major of the year in 2009 and 2010 and Steinmetz has twice advanced to the PGA Championship field.
Osberg bows out
When we last left Llanerch C.C.'s Jeff Osberg he was 2-down with seven holes to play in his first-round match with Matthew Smith of Lubbock, Texas at the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship at Shadow Hawk G.C. in Richmond, Texas.Osberg was unable to mount a charge and Smith claimed a 3 and 2 victory early Tuesday.
It was another Smith, though, Nathan Smith of Pittsburgh who continues to make the big news at the U.S. Mid-Am.
Smith won two more matches Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals as he tries to win this championship for a third straight time and an unprecedented fourth time overall. With three Mid-Am titles, Smith is in the company of another Pennsylvania great, Aronimink G.C.'s Jay Sigel, who won U.S. Mid-Am titles in 1983, '85 and '87 before turning pro and becoming a winner on the Champions Tour.
Smith birdied six of the last seven holes he played in finishing off Billy Jackson of The Woodlands, Texas, 5 and 4 in a second-round match Tuesday morning. Then he claimed a 2 and 1 victotry over Nicholas Biesecker of Staunton, Va. in the afternoon. That win extended Smith's U.S. Mid-Am record of match victories to 15.
Time for LPGA to welcome Thompson
When 16-year-old Lexi Thompson won the Navistar Classic Sunday by five shots, it was difficult to explain to casual golf followers why she is not yet a member of the LPGA.
Thompson unfortunately is a victim of some of the previous teen queens who looked like the next big thing only to flame out -- sometimes badly.
The LPGA put some age limits on its organization and Thompson had to petition to join the tour after turning pro at age 15 in 2010. Her petition was denied. so Thompson put her nose to the grindstone, kept her mouth shut and entered the tournaments she could, whether by sponsor's exemptions or in the case of tournametns like the U.S. Open -- which is run by the USGA, not the LPGA -- open qualifying.
She won a first-stage LPGA Q-School event by 10 shots this summer and is headed for stage two next week unless her latest petition, expected to be filed in the wake of her victory over the weekend, is accepted this time.
Thompson is different than some of the youngsters who weren't ready to play professional golf. For one thing, her parents are very involved in her life without being overbearing. That was a proud dad on the bag as her caddie Sunday in Alabama.
A little common sense ought to be applied here. And if you want some common sense, just consult one of your greatest players, seven-time major champion and, from all reports, darn fine mom, Juli Inkster.
"I think they should give her her full (membership)," Inkster told The Associated Press. "It's kind of silly, isn't it? I think it makes us (the LPGA) look bad, too. Now, you have to go to qualifying school? To me, that's silly."
The good news here: Thompson has won nearly a half-million dollars in her limited opportunities in the last year-plus and golf fans will get to enjoy her powerful game for years to come.
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