Forster beats Ingraham in a playoff to take Philadelphia Section PGA title

   A couple of old guys who can really play, Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster and M Golf Range head of instruction Stu Ingraham, were the only two players left standing after the regulation 54 holes of the Philadelphia Section PGA championship Thursday at Llanerch Country Club.

   It took three more holes and a birdie by Forster to finally decide the issue in Forster’s favor, but there is no doubt that these two guys have to be among the most talented over-50 club pros in the country.

   Forster competed in the Senior PGA Championship for the sixth time two years ago at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich. and earned a spot in the U.S. Senior Open at Omaha Country Club in 2013. Ingraham was 52 two years ago when the defeated Greg Farrow in a playoff to win the Section PGA championship and clinch Player of the Year honors in the section for the second straight year.

   And there they were Thursday, showing all the youngsters how it’s done.

   Forster, who was three back of a trio of co-leaders coming into the final round, carded a 1-under 70 at Llanerch for a 1-over 214 total. Ingraham, who was only one back at the beginning of the day, posted a 1-over 72 to match Forster at 214.

   Both players will lead a sizable Delco contingent that will tee it up in the PGA Professional National Championship in 2015 and they won’t have far to go to play in that event. The National Club Pro – the old-school name of the event – will be staged at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s two great courses – the classic A.J. Tillinghast-designed Wissahickon Course and the new Militia Hill Course – June 28 to July 1. Those dates are a week later than what I’ve been reporting this week, but there’s a little time to work on that discrepancy.

   When Ingraham qualified for the 2013 National Club Pro with his victory in the 2012 Philadelphia Section tourney, he told me he it was his 23^rd national PGA championship, fifth best in the history of the PGA, so his appearance at the Cricket Club will make it 24. The top 20 finishers at the Cricket Club will earn berths in the 2015 PGA Championship, professional golf’s final major of the year which returns to Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.

   Six times in his career Ingraham has qualified for the PGA out of the National Club Pro.

Also earning spots in the field at the Cricket Club next year with high finishes Thursday were: Aronimink Golf Club assistant pro Patrick Clark, whose 1-under 70 matched Forster for the low round of the day and gave him a share of fifth place at 3-over 216; Merion Golf Club assistant pro Robby Bruns, who had a 73 to finish in a tie for eighth at 4-over 217; Concord Country Club head pro Mike Moses, who had a 76 and also finished in that tie for eighth at 217; and Merion director of instruction Mark Sheftic, who had a 75 and nabbed the 13^th and final berth at 5-over 218.

   Sheftic has advanced out of the National Club Pro to the PGA Championship three times in the last five years.

   Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, who began the day tied at the top with Moses and Colonial Golf Club’s Rob Shuey, had a 75 and was in that group at 5-over with Aronimink’s Clark. McNabb will be seeking a third straight PGA Championship berth when he tees it up at the Cricket Club next summer.

   Aronimink head of instruction John Bierkan finished just outside that top 13. He had a final-round 74 to finish in a tie for 15^th at 6-over 219.