Nobody had to explain the significance of his victory
Wednesday in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 102nd Open
Championship, presented by LECOM, to Kevin Kraft.
The 47-year-old head of instruction at the Bumble Bee Hollow
Golf Center in Harrisburg carded a 2-over 72 over the William Flynn design at
Lancaster Country Club to hold on for a one-shot victory with a 54-hole total
of 6-under 204.
“This is really big and means a lot to me,” Kraft, who
pocketed the top prize of $8,000 out of a professional purse of $40,000, told
the PAGA website. “I grew up in Ohio playing in the state Open there, but to
win something like this at the state level has been one of my life-long goals.”
It means a lot because Kraft knows how many great players
there are in Pennsylvania, old guys like his playing partner all three days,
Stu Ingraham, the head of instruction at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square,
and younger guys like runnerup Cole Willcox, a Malvern Prep and Saint Joseph’s
product who plays the professional mini-tours.
Kraft had taken a four-shot lead into the final round after
firing a competitive course record of 6-under 64 at Lancaster in Tuesday’s
second round.
By the time Kraft reached the 15th tee, the
58-year-old Ingraham, the Philadelphia Section PGA’s reigning eight-time Robert
“Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year, had crept within a shot of Kraft’s
lead.
But Kraft calmly hammered a 3-wood into the fairway at the
par-4 15th, then muscled a pitching wedge to four-and-a-half feet
and made the birdie putt to give him some cushion.
Turned out it was Willcox, playing ahead of Kraft, who made
the biggest move of the day as he birdied five of the last eight holes to match
the low round of the day, a 3-under 67, to finish second at 5-under 205.
Ingraham matched par with a 70 to end up another shot behind
Willcox in third at 4-under 206. As Ingraham mentioned when he finished tied
for second in the 2015 Pennsylvania Open at Rolling Green Golf Club, this is
the time of the year when he wants to be playing well, with the Section’s
Senior PGA Professional Championship and PGA Professional Championship and
maybe a trip to the PGA Senior PGA Professional Championship coming up on the
schedule.
Former Drexel standout Chris Crawford headed a group of five
players tied for fourth at 1-under 209 after a final round of 1-over 71.
Crawford, a scholastic standout at Holy Ghost Prep, earned a trip to both the
2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont and the 2017 National Open at Erin Hills through local and sectional qualifying as an
amateur before turning pro.
Joining Crawford at 209 were Mark Sheftic, the head of
instruction at Merion Golf Club who was one of the three players who closed
with a 3-under 67, Kyle Wambold, a product of Emmaus and Binghamton who fired a
final-round 68, former Penn State standout Travis Howe, who matched par in the
final round with a 70, and veteran Butler Country Club head pro Patrick
McClellan, who posted his second straight 1-under 69.
The third 67 carded Wednesday was authored by Daniel
Obremski, a scholastic standout at Penn-Trafford who played collegiately at
Coastal Carolina and has achieved some success on various mini-tours. The
final-round 67 enabled Obremski to finish alone in ninth at even-par 210.
Three players who shared low-amateur honors were among five
players who finished tied for 10th at 1-over 211. The trio of
amateurs included Penn State senior J.D. Hughes, the 2017 Pennsylvania Amateur
champion from Carlisle, Zachary Barbin, a sophomore at Liberty from the golfing
Barbin family of Elkton, Md., and Evan Long, a sophomore at Minnesota, who was
a third-place finisher in the 2016 PIAA Class AA Championship as a senior at
Laurel.
Hughes, a part of the last two Penn State teams that have
earned invitations to an NCAA regional, had a final-round 74, Barbin carded a
3-over 73 and Long moved up the leaderboard by matching par in the final round
with a 70.
Two pros also ended up at 211, including former Temple
standout Patrick Ross, who carded a 2-under 68 in the final round, and another
western Pennsylvania veteran, Kevin Shields, the head of instruction at The
Club at Nevillewood who finished up with a solid 1-under 69.
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