Kraft holds on for a meaningful Pennsylvania Open victory at Lancaster

   Nobody had to explain the significance of his victory Wednesday in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 102^nd 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 15^th 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 15^th, 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 10^th 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.