There was a lot of junior golf going on last week, but I
didn’t want to forget the local club pro scene.
Golf season is upon us and means John Pillar, the director
of golf at The Country Club of Woodloch Springs, is busy pretty much all the
time.
Which is why he might have been the most surprised guy in
the field Monday when he blitzed Conestoga Country Club with a 6-under-par 64
to capture the Conestoga Classic, a Haverford Trust points event on the
Philadelphia Section PGA schedule, in Lancaster.
Pillar made birdies at the second, third, seventh and ninth
holes around his lone bogey of the day at the fifth hole to make the turn at
3-under. Three more birdies on the incoming nine at the 12th, 14th
and 15th holes enabled him to go 3-under on the back nine for a
sparkling 6-under total over the 6,450-yard, par-70 Conestoga layout.
“I came into this event with no expectations,” Pillar told
the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “Having a busy week left me with little
time to focus on the state of my game. My game plan was to just keep the ball
in front of me and hit fairways.”
Pillar finished two shots ahead of Overbrook Golf Club head
pro Eric Kennedy and Tavistock Country Club head man Pat Butkus, both of whom
shared second place at 4-under 66.
Kennedy got his round off to a fast start with an eagle at
the first hole. He made three other birdies and one bogey. Butkus made three of
his four birdies after a brief downpour softened the Conestoga layout.
Brian Kelly, the head pro at Bucknell Golf Club, shared
fourth place with Radley Run Country Club assistant pro Brett Melton, each
posting a 3-under 67.
Kelly, who represented the Philadelphia Section in last
month’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club’s East
Course in Pittsford, N.Y., was playing in the same group with Pillar and chased
him home for runnerup honors in the Senior division.
Third place in the Senior division went to Stu Ingraham, the
head of instruction at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square who carded a solid
2-under 68 that left him among a group of four players tied for sixth in the
overall scoring.
Alex Knoll, the head pro at the Blue Shamrock Golf Club, was
also in the group tied for sixth at 68. Knoll was the top finisher from among
the Philadelphia Section’s contingent at the PGA Professional Championship this
spring at Belfair in Bluffton, S.C. as he ended up tied for 33rd.
Rounding out the foursome at 68 were Sunnybrook Golf Club
assistant pro Andrew Turner and Patty Post, the Director of Golf Programs at
the University of Delaware.
It turned out that 1-under 69 was a pretty popular landing
spot as 13 players finished in a tie for 10th at that figure,
including the two players who battled it out for the top spot in the
simultaneous Philadelphia Assistants Organization (PAO) competition at
Conestoga.
Brian Bergstol, an assistant at the Shawnee Inn & Golf
Resort, outlasted Parks Price of The Country Club of York on the third hole of
sudden death to take the top spot among the PAO entries after they finished in
that bulky group at 1-under 69.
Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club,
was coming off a Philadelphia Section PGA win in the Burlington County Classic
earlier this month and he was among the group at 69.
Rounding out the group at 1-under were: Mike Tobiason of
Deerfield Golf Club; John Cooper of Green Valley Country Club, Michael Ferguson
of the Philadelphia Cricket Club staff; Spring-Ford Country Club head pro Rich
Steinmetz; Michael Little of Lookaway Golf Club; Braden Shattuck, who is
working in the Concord Country Club pro shop; Trevor Bensel, one of Kennedy’s
assistants at Overbrook; Chris Miller of the Scranton Golf Center; Greg
Matthias, who works under Butkus in the Tavistock pro shop; and Rob Shuey, a
Philadelphia PGA entry.
The Cricket Club’s Bill Sautter topped the Super-Senior
division with a 1-over 71. Don DeAngelis of Spring-Ford Country Club was the
runnerup with a 73 and Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster and
Gary Hardin of Northampton Country Club shared third place, each carding a
4-over 74.
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