Perla earns first Section PGA win

   (There was more golf news than could fit on a page of newsprint for Saturday's Golf Notebook in the Daily Times, so here's what didn't get in, which is one of the reasons this blog exists in the first place).

   Radnor Valley C.C. assistant pro Tony Perla earned his first Philadelphia Section PGA victory June 18 as he prevailed in a playoff over veteran Greg Farrow of Deerwood C.C. to take the Conestoga Classic at Conestoga C.C.
   Perla, whose father Tony Sr. has been a very good player in the Section for longer than he or I care to remember,  had six birdies against a bogey on his way to a 5-under 65 that matched  Farrow’s round and forced the playoff.
   Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Merion G.C., shared third place with Terry Hatch of Hidden Valley G.C. as each posted 4-under 66s.
   The Philadelphia PGA pros visited the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort June 15 for the Shawnee Open, an event that had been a PGA Tour event in the 1950s.
   Radnor Valley C.C. head pro George Forster and M Golf Range instructor Stu Ingraham, both senior players, both contended with 2-under 70s.
   Forster and Ingraham settled for a tie for fourth, three shots back of Farrow, who took the title with a 5-under 67.
   The top Section pros were at Whitemarsh Valley C.C. for the Variety Tournament of Champions event June 12 and 13 and Hidden Valley’s Hatch claimed a one-shot victory with rounds of 68 and 74 for a 2-under 144 total.

U.S. Senior Open qualifying

  Ingram and Forster had teed it up in the first Champions Tour major of 2012, the Senior PGA Championship, but their bids to make it into the U.S. Senior Open field came up short in qualifying June 19 at Laurel Creek C.C.
   Only three spots were available in a contentious field trying to get to the U.S. Senior Open, which will be played July 12 to 15 at Indianwood G.&C.C. in Lake Orion, Mich.
   They went to amateurs Peter DeTemple of Callaway, Md. and David Nocar of Millersville, Md. and Bob Lennon, a teaching pro at Wilmington C.C. DeTemple and Nocar shared medalist honors with 68s and Lennon had a 69 over the 6,794-yard, par-71 Laurel Creek layout.
   Ingraham had a 1-over 72 and Forster was at 3-over 74. Amateur Mike Owsik, who owns the M Golf Range where Ingraham teaches, had a 76. Another shot back at 77 was George “Buddy” Marucci, two-time winning Walker Cup captain, including a successful Cup defense at his home course, Merion East, in 2009.