When Stu Ingraham tees it up in the PGA Professional Championship presented by Club Car and Omega at the Bayonet and Black Horse Courses in Seaside, Calif. later this month, it will be the 30th
time he has appeared on a national stage under the auspices of the PGA of
America.
That’s why it was so surprising when the 58-year-old head of
instruction at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square qualified for the U.S. Senior
Open last summer that he would be playing in a United States Golf Association
event for the first time in his life.
And, you know, he kind of liked it. He needed a birdie in
the last three holes when he resumed his weather-delayed second round early on
a Saturday morning at the Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass. to make the cut.
And he did just that on the 448-yard, par-4 ninth at Salem to complete a
1-under 69 that gave him a 1-over 141, the cut line right on the number.
He would finish tied for 49th at 6-over 286,
proving once again that he can compete with any senior professional golfer on
the planet.
Of course, around these parts the fact that he is the
Philadelphia Section PGA’s reigning eight-time Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior
Player of the Year certainly emphasizes that point. And the Philly Section has
to be among the most competitive for over-50 types anywhere in the country.
Ingraham just couldn’t resist taking a shot at a return trip
to the U.S. Senior Open and a 2-under-par 70 at the qualifier administered by
the Golf Association of Philadelphia Monday at Indian Valley Country Club in
Telford assured that he will do just that.
Took medalist honors by two shots over 60-year-old Joey
Sindelar, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour who raved about the 6,850-yard,
par-72 Indian Valley layout.
For much of the day, it looked like the third and final
berth up for grabs at Indian Valley was going to go to another legendary senior
player in this area, Merion Golf Club’s George “Buddy” Marucci, the 2008 U.S.
Senior Amateur champion who posted a 1-over 73 early in the proceedings.
But professional Bobby Gage, a New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
resident who is playing out of Green Woods Country Club in Winstead, Conn.,
caught Marucci with a 73 and then outlasted him on the fourth hole of a playoff
to nab the final ticket to The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo. for the
U.S. Senior Open, which tees off June 28.
Of course, if a spot does open up, at least the USGA will
recognize the name of the first alternate from Indian Valley as the same guy
who captained the U.S. to back-to-back Walker Cup victories in 2007 at Royal
County Down Golf Club in Northern Ireland and in 2009 at his home course,
Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course.
Ingraham was probably a little disappointed he wasn’t in the
field for the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Benton
Harbor, Mich. over the Memorial Day weekend. He finished just outside the top
35 in the Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Mercedes-Benz and
supported by Golf Advisor and John Deere last fall at Desert Mountain in
Scottsdale, Ariz.
But he will get his turn on a major stage at The Broadmoor’s
East Course later this month.
“It was the most fun week of my life in golf,” Ingraham told
the GAP website of his week at Salem Country Club last summer. “I finished in
the top 50 and knocked Nick Faldo out with a putt on the 36th hole
in front of about 800 people. When you get a chance to rub elbows with Fred
Couples, it’s special. It’s a dream come true.”
Two years ago when he finished second in the Philadelphia Section
PGA Championship -- not the Senior version, the one that includes all the young
bombers -- at Philadelphia Cricket Club, Ingraham said he never dreamed that he
would be playing the best golf of his life in his mid-50s.
Well, he seems to still be playing at a pretty high level.
The guy birdied five holes on the front nine Monday, although he admitted the
shot that might have saved the round was a 22-foot putt that saved par on the
second. He said Indian Valley has always been a personal favorite of his in
this area, but come on.
He hit a sand wedge to eight feet at the par-5 third and
dropped that putt, fired an 8-iron to eight feet on the par-3 fourth and made
that for the first of three birdies on Indian Valley’s four par-3s, got a
hybrid to stop 10 feet away on the 207-yard, par-3 sixth and made it, wedged it
to six feet at the par-5 eighth and made that putt and finished off a masterful
outward nine by hitting a wedge to eight feet at the par-4 ninth and holing
that birdie try.
He saved bogey after finding the water with his approach on
the 10th, but got that shot right back with another birdie on a
par-3, hitting the hybrid again to 15 feet at the 211-yard 11th and
making the putt for his sixth birdie of the day. The putter finally cooled off
a little after that, but he got it to house in 2-under, more than good enough
to get the job done.
So the Philadelphia Section PGA will be represented at the
next PGA Tour Champions major and by its best old guy, Stu Ingraham.
Surprising? Not even a little bit.
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