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Friday, September 7, 2018

Clauson shows he can stand the heat in GAP Senior Amateur victory at Riverton


   Christopher Clauson of LuLu Country Club beat the heat and a typically contentious field of Golf Association of Philadelphia senior standouts to capture the 48th Senior Amateur Championship, which concluded Wednesday at Riverton Country Club in Cinnaminson, N.J.
   The 62-year-old Clauson, a Philadelphia resident, was good enough to earn a trip to the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis a year ago. But he has had a hard time making much headway on the GAP circuit, primarily due to the talent level among the old guys in this area.
   It didn’t help that he had to fight off a senior rookie in Christopher Fieger Sr., a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, to capture the title. Fieger is the younger brother of Gene Fieger, the former Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro who dominated the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit in the 1990s and is a formidable senior PGA club pro from his base at Club Pelican Bay in Naples, Fla.
   Chris Fieger Sr. was a very good high school golfer at Strath Haven when I was covering high school golf at The Mercury in Pottstown 30 or so years ago and the Denver, Lancaster County resident has been making some noise on the GAP circuit this summer.
   Clauson and Fieger shared the lead after an opening round played in brutal heat Tuesday, each carding a 3-under-par 68 over the 6,386-yard, par-71 Riverton layout.
   The unrelenting heat did not let up Wednesday, but Clauson had enough left to card a 1-over 72 and hold off Fieger and Joseph Russo of Running Deer Golf Club by a shot with his 2-under 140 total. Fieger added a 2-over 73 to his opening-round 68 for a 1-under 141 total.
   Russo closed with a couple of late birdies as he added a 1-over 72 to his opening round of 2-under 69. Russo did not go home empty-handed as his performance at Riverton enabled him to nail down the Senior Silver Cross Award, a 72-hole stroke-play championship that includes results from the Francis B. Warner Cup (Gross) at Concord Country Club and the Frank H. Chapman Cup (Gross) at Commonwealth National Golf Club earlier this season.
   It was an adventurous day for Clauson that included some big saves that preserved his advantage over Fieger, the first one on the eighth hole after Clauson’s approach left him short.
   Clauson’s 8-iron shot from 155 yards away at the 12th hole finished six feet away and he made the putt to build a two-shot lead over Fieger. Clauson dropped in a bomb from 30 feet for birdie at the 14th, a putt that loomed even larger when Fieger dropped his 25-footer for birdie right on top of Clauson, who retained his two-shot edge.
   Clauson’s tee shot on the par-3 16th hole left him short-sided in a bunker. It was all he could do just to make bogey. After his bunker shot rolled off the green, Clauson got it up-and-down for the bogey save that gave him a one-shot lead.
   Clauson faced another bunker shot after nearly reaching the par-5 17th in two and he blasted it to six feet and made the birdie putt. That enabled him to carry a one-shot lead to the final hole when Fieger’s 30-footer stayed on the high side.
   Clauson gave Fieger one more chance when he three-putted the 18th, but Fieger missed a three-footer for a par that would have forced a playoff, giving Clauson a hard-won victory.
   Brian Rothaus of Philmont Country Club had Wednesday’s best round, a 3-under 68, to finish alone in fourth at even-par 144. Rothaus opened with a 3-over 74 Tuesday.
   Rand Mendez of Fieldstone Golf Club moved up the leaderboard with his 2-under 69 in Wednesday’s final round after also opening with a 74 to share fifth place with Thomas Hyland of Little Mill Country Club at 1-over 143. Hyland opened with a 1-over 72 before finishing up by matching par with a 71.
   Kenneth Phillips of Lancaster Country Club had a pair of 72s to get a share of seventh place with Jeffrey Allen of Wild Quail Golf & Country Club at 2-over 144. Allen matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 73.
   Clauson’s LuLu clubmate Glenn Smeraglio, the defending GAP Senior Amateur champion, finished alone in ninth at 2-over 145 after adding a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 73.
   Rounding out the top 10 was Michael Quinn, a Philadelphia Publinks entry who came on strong with a 1-under 70 in the final round after opening with a 76.
   To give you an idea of how tough the competition is among the GAP seniors, David West, also a Philadelphia Publinks entry, finished tied for 11th at 5-over 147 after adding a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 75.
   Last week, West earned a berth in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Eugene Country Club.
   Oh yeah, and the reigning eight-time GAP Senior Player of the Year, LedgeRock Golf Club’s Chip Lutz, reached the semifinals in Eugene before bowing out and he didn’t even tee it up at Riverton after a typically busy summer that included his annual foray across the pond for The Senior Open Championship and The Seniors Amateur Championship.
   Joining West in the foursome tied for 11th at 147 were Overbrook Golf Club’s Oscar Mestre (76-71), Sandy Run Country Club’s Duke Delcher (75-72), who counts the Philadelphia area as one of several bases of operation, and Lookaway Golf Club’s Mark Hutchinson (74-73).
   The 60-year-old Russo, who spent 25 years in law enforcement, earned the Senior Silver Cross with a 287 total that included a 72 in the Warner Cup at Concord and a 74 in the Chapman Cup at Commonwealth National before posting rounds of 69 and 72 at Riverton.
   Little Mill’s Hyland and LuLu’s Smeraglio shared second place in the Senior Silver Cross standings, three shots behind Russo at 290.
   As tough, if not tougher, is the Super Senior division. White Manor Country Club’s Don Donatoni, the reigning five-time GAP Super Senior Player of the Year, emerged as the Super Senior Amateur winner at Riverton after an epic playoff victory over Saucon Valley Country Club’s Robin McCool.
   The 70-year-old Donatoni, a Malvern resident, was at The Minikahda Club for last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur and made match play. He reached the second round of match play where he ran into Lutz. He wasn’t going to take Lutz by surprise because Lutz knew all too well he was facing a formidable opponent.
   Donatoni added a 1-under 70 to his opening-round 71 for a 1-under 141 total over as Riverton layout that measured 5,992 yards for the super seniors.
   It looked like he might waltz to his third GAP Super Senior Amateur title when he took a three-shot lead to the 17th hole in Wednesday’s final round. The 67-year-old McCool, a Center Valley resident, had other ideas.
   McCool knocked his approach to the par-5 17th hole to five feet and drained the birdie try while Donatoni left his wedge shot short and couldn’t get it up and down. Donatoni’s lead going to the last hole was suddenly just one shot.
   McCool then turned the heat up by firing a pitching wedge to five feet again at the last and sinking the birdie putt to force a playoff. The birdie at the 18th enabled McCool to match Donatoni’s 1-under 70 for the day and equal his 1-under 141 total.
   Both players had their chances early in the playoff, Donatoni missing a seven-foot birdie putt on the first hole and McCool failing to get a three-foot slider to fall on the third playoff hole.
   On the fourth playoff hole, Donatoni launched what he would later call “the best wedge shot I’ve ever hit,” from 118 yards away to five feet, although McCool had already stuck his 9-iron shot to five feet as well.
   It was deemed Donatoni was away and he knocked his birdie putt in while McCool could not get his to fall.
   McCool did, however, get a trophy for his troubles as his effort at Riverton enabled him to nail down the Super Senior Silver Cross. McCool had a 78 in the Warner Cup at Concord and a 73 in the Chapman Cup at Commonwealth National. Combined with his 141 total at Riverton, it gave him a 72-hole total of 292.
   Lookaway Golf Club’s Roc Irey, another member of a stalwart GAP super-senior contingent, was the runnerup to McCool at 295.
   Commonwealth National’s Alan Van Horn finished alone in third at Riverton at 1-over 143, two shots out of the playoff. He opened with a 72 and matched par in the final round with a 71.
   Kennett Square Golf & Country Club’s Michael Moser had a pair of 72s to finish alone in fourth at 2-over 144. Craig Aronchick of Rolling Green Golf Club was four shots behind Moser in fifth at 148 after adding a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 76.
   Tom DiCinti of Mercer Oaks Golf Course and Thomas Humphrey of Wilmington Country Club shared sixth place, a shot behind Aronchick at 149. DiCinti added a 73 to an opening-round 76 while Humphrey opened with a 75 before finishing up with a 74.




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