Philadelphia Section PGA Senior champion Stu Ingraham, the
head of instruction at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, and The Country Club of York's Terry Hertzog headed the local
contingent Thursday, each posting a 2-under-par 70 at the PGA Golf Club’s Ryder Course
in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in the opening round of the Senior PGA Professional
Championship, presented by GolfAdvisor and Mercedes-Benz USA.
Ingraham, who recently claimed the Omega Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year Award in the Philadelphia Section for the seventh straight year, and Hertzog are in a group tied for 26th, four shots back of co-leaders Brad Lardon of The Club at Las Campanas in New Mexico and Lee Houtteman, the head pro at Manitou Passage Golf Club in Michigan, both of whom carded a 6-under 66 on the Ryder Course.
Ingraham, who recently claimed the Omega Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year Award in the Philadelphia Section for the seventh straight year, and Hertzog are in a group tied for 26th, four shots back of co-leaders Brad Lardon of The Club at Las Campanas in New Mexico and Lee Houtteman, the head pro at Manitou Passage Golf Club in Michigan, both of whom carded a 6-under 66 on the Ryder Course.
The field of 264 of the best senior club professionals from
all over the country are competing for a total purse of $300,000. The top 35
finishers will earn a spot in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, a PGA Tour
Champions major, next May at Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Va. The
56-year-old Ingraham earned a trip to the 2016 Senior PGA at The Golf Club at
Harbor Springs in Benton Harbor, Mich. and played all four rounds.
Ingraham started on the back nine at the Ryder Course
Thursday and made three bogeys against one birdie to make the turn at 2-over.
But he got it going on the outgoing nine at the Ryder, making birdies at two,
four, six and nine for a sparkling 32 that enabled him to finish at 2-under for
the day.
Hertzog started on the front nine at the Ryder Course and had a steady even-par round going before making an eagle at the par-5 13th hole that got him to 2-under for his round.
Hertzog started on the front nine at the Ryder Course and had a steady even-par round going before making an eagle at the par-5 13th hole that got him to 2-under for his round.
Lardon made hay on the par-5s at the Ryder with three
birdies and an eagle in his round of 66. Houtteman, playing his first
competitive round in two months, had seven birdies against one bogey. Both,
like Ingraham, started on the back nine.
Leading a group of three players tied for third at 5-under
was Gene Fieger, who dominated the Philadelphia Section as an assistant under
Ingraham at Overbrook Golf Club in the 1990s. The 56-year-old Fieger, an
assistant pro at The Club Pelican Bay in Naples, Fla., carded a 67 at the
Wanamaker Course.
Fieger finished tied for 12th in the National Car
Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship last month, also at the
Wanamaker Course.
“I always look forward to playing here, having won this
championship in 2013 and having played four rounds two weeks ago in the
Assistant PGA Professional Championship,” Fieger, a product of the old Nether
Providence High School, told the PGA of America website. “This is a big event
for us and it’s something that you want to play well in because it gets you
recognized by your peers and gets you into the Senior PGA Championship.”
Fieger was joined at 5-under by Buddy Harston of the
Vanderbilt Legends Club in Tennessee, who matched Fieger’s 67 at the Wanamaker
Course, and Brent Murray of Oswego Lake Country Club in Oregon, who fashioned a
67 on the Ryder Course.
Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster, playing
in the Senior Club Pro for the 11th straight year, is a shot back of
Ingraham in a tie for 41st following a 1-under 71 at the Ryder Course. He was
joined at that figure by Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, who also
posted a 71 at the Ryder Course.
Also representing Applebrook is Rick Flesher, who is tied
for 70th after matching par with a 72 at the Ryder Course.
John Appleget of Wildwood Golf & Country Club is tied
for 130th after a 2-over 74 at the Wanamaker Course. Huntingdon
Valley Country Club assistant pro John Allen, who had a 3-over 75 at the Ryder
Course, and Bucknell Golf Club’s Brian Kelly, who had a 3-over 75 at the
Wanamaker Course, are in a group tied for 161st.
Jack Brennan of Moutainview Country Club had a 6-over 78 at
the Ryder Course and is tied for 231st and Philadelphia Cricket Club
assistant pro Bill Sautter had a 7-over 79 at the Wanamaker Course and is tied
for 245th.
The field will switch courses for Friday’s second round,
after which there will be a cut to the low 70 finishers and ties. The final 36
holes will all be played at the Wanamaker Course.
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