The senior amateurs in the Philadelphia area, in this case
Lu Lu Country Club’s Glenn Smeraglio and White Manor Country Club’s Don
Donatoni, just keep on keeping on.
Smeraglio and Donatoni headed west last week and came away
with championship trophies in the senior and super-senior divisions,
respectively, in the Pennsylvania Senior Amateur Championship, presented by LECOM, which concluded,
in dramatic fashion, Tuesday at St. Clair Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh.
Smerglio’s victory, in particular, was pretty spectacular. A
two-shot swing on the 16th hole enabled Smerglio to catch David
Brown of Champion Lakes Golf Club, who’s having a really good summer on the
golf course, at 2-under 142 and force a playoff.
The two players returned to the 18th tee for
another crack at the 542-yard, par-5 finishing hole that each had nearly eagled
a few moments earlier.
Smeraglio caught the slope with his drive and had just a
9-iron in his hand for his second shot into the par-5 hole. Brown missed the
fairway and was forced to lay up. His approach left him a 10-footer for birdie.
He never got a chance to try that putt. Smeraglio’s approach
left him 25 feet for eagle, a putt he promptly holed to claim the victory.
The quality of the runnerup only adds to Smeraglio’s
victory. Brown has something Smeraglio would love to have, a ticket to the U.S.
Senior Amateur, which tees off Aug. 26 at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis. He
was the co-medalist in the qualifier at LedgeRock Golf Club a couple of weeks
ago with a 2-under 70.
A couple of weeks before that Brown was the runnerup to
Nathan Smith in the R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at The Country Club of
Scranton.
The state Senior Amateur started Monday with players
battling weather delays. Smerglio carded a 1-over 73 and Brown posted a 2-over
74.
But round 2 quickly developed into a head-to-head battle
between the two with Brown holding a two-shot lead heading into the 16th
hole. Smeraglio made birdie and Brown a bogey and they were tied at 2-under.
Smeraglio finished with a 3-under 69 while Brown had the low
round of the championship, a 4-under 68.
Jim Markovitz Sr. of The Club at Nevillewood added a 1-under
71 to his opening-round 73 to finish third at even-par 144. Ed Podufal of The
Kahiwa Club was alone in fourth at 1-over 145. Podufal had grabbed the
opening-round lead with an even-par 72 and added a 73 in the second round.
Sean Knapp, who’s been one of the top amateur players in
western Pennsylvania forever, shared fifth place with Scott Mayne of Deer Run
Golf Club at 3-over 147. Knapp added a 74 to his opening-round 73. Mayne,
winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Brewer Cup earlier this
summer, added an even-par 72 to his opening-round 75.
By the way, Knapp and Mayne will also be representing
Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senior Amateur at The Minikhada Club.
Doug Fedoryshyn of Applebrook Golf Club had a pair of 74s to
finish alone in seventh at 4-over 148.
Donatoni, 69 years young, has really been on a roll of late.
He added a 2-under 70 at St. Clair to his opening-round 71 to take top spot in
the super-senior division with a 3-under 141 total. The final leaderboard read
that Donatoni finished four shots ahead of Robin McCool of Saucon Valley
Country Club and Thomas Bartolacci Jr. of Huntingdon Valley Country.
But the reality was that he was locked in a tight battle
with McCool for much of the final round.
Donatoni finally put a nose in front when he holed a 20-foot
birdie putt on the 17th hole. Trailing by one, McCool had no choice
but to try to reach the par-5 finishing hole in two from the rough and ended up
dumping it in the water.
Donatoni ended up with a two-putt birdie after reaching the
green in two while McCool finished with a double bogey.
McCool, who had opened with a 1-under 71, added a 74 while
Bartolacci added an even-par 72 to his opening-round 73 as the two shared
second place at 1-over 145.
Ed Chylinski of Chester Valley Golf Club also opened with a
1-under 71, but fell back a little with
a 76 that left him alone in fourth at 3-over 147.
Donatoni, GAP’s reigning four-time super-senior Player of
the Year, will be joining Brown, Mayne and Knapp at Minikhada in a couple of
weeks as he too earned a trip to the U.S. Senior Amateur with a 1-under 71 in
the qualifier at LedgeRock. In the interim he teamed with his old friend Carl
Everett to capture the super-senior division in GAP’s Senior Four-Ball Stroke
Play at Laurel Creek Country Club.
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