Hertzog comes on strong to beat Oakley in a playoff and capture the Pro-Am for Wishes

   The Country Club of York’s Terry Hertzog, one of the Philadelphia Section PGA’s talented group of senior players, rallied with a 4-under-par 67 in the second round and then defeated Zac Oakley of Bidermann Golf Club in a playoff to capture the 12^th Pro-Am for Wishes last week at Penn Oaks Golf Club, where Chester County meets Delaware County south of West Chester.

   Oakley, who was the low pro in the Philadelphia Open earlier this summer at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 4-under 67 Aug. 25.

   But Hertzog, coming off a tie for third in the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship at Applebrook Golf Club, got it going in round 2 last Monday right from the start, making a birdie at the first hole.

   Hertzog, who had opened with a 1-over 72, made a birdie at the eighth hole to make the turn at 2-under for the day and 1-under for the championship. He added three more birdies on the incoming nine, including a critical one at the 18^th hole, to offset his lone bogey of the day to finish 4-under for the day. That gave him a 3-under 139 total for the championship.

   It looked like Oakley was going to run away with the title when he had a couple of birdies and an eagle around a bogey early in his second round to reach 7-under for the championship. But he made a couple of bogeys coming home and then made a double bogey at the finishing hole to card a 1-over 72 and fall into a tie with Hertzog at 3-under.

   Hertzog then hit his approach close at the first hole at Penn Oaks and converted the birdie try to put a quick end to the playoff.

   John Appleget, a teaching pro at The Shore Club and another of the Section’s senior standouts, was the only other player under par in round 2, firing a 2-under 69. Combined with his opening-round 72, it enabled Appleget to finish alone in third place at 1-under 141, two shots behind the top two.

   Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz and Lookaway Golf Club assistant pro Michael Little shared fourth place, each landing on even-par 142. Steinmetz added a 1-over 72 to his opening round of 1-under 70. Little was among the leaders after an opening-round 69 before adding a 2-over 73 in round 2.

   Dustin Willis of Dustin Willis Golf was another player on the leaderboard after opening with a 2-under 69 before adding a 3-over 74 to finish in a tie for sixth place with Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club, at 1-over 143. Sheftic matched par in round 2 with a 71 after opening with a 72.

   Billy Stewart, a teaching pro at The ACE Club and the reigning Philadelphia Section PGA Omega Player of the Year, shared eighth place with Radley Run Country Club assistant pro Brett Melton and Dave Quinn of Laurel Creek Country Club at 2-over 144.

   Stewart and Melton each added a 2-over 73 to an opening-round 71 while Quinn opened with a 1-under 70 before adding a 3-over 74 in round 2.

   Four more players, including Greg Farrow, the head pro at Deerwood Country Club, Matthew Cocco, an assistant pro at Overbrook Golf Club, Michael Tobiason of Deerfield Country Club and Parks Price out of the Country Club of York pro shop, finished in a tie for 11^th place at 3-over 145.

   Farrow opened with a 1-under 70 before posting a 4-over 75 in round 2, Price was on the leaderboard with an opening-round 69 before carding a 5-over 76 in round 2, Cocco matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 74 and Tobiason added a 73 to his opening-round 72.

   Hertzog made it a sweep for the day as he topped the senior division. Appleget was the runnerup and Laurel Creek’s Quinn finished third among the senior pros.

   The Philadelphia Section PGA’s pros will be chasing the biggest prize for a Section PGA event in the country Tuesday in the rescheduled Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

   The event, sponsored by the Haverford Trust Company, offers a top prize of $100,000. The Haverford Trust Company also sponsors the season-long points race that ultimately decides the Omega Player of the Year.

   The Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic is traditionally played the day after Memorial Day, but severe weather forced the postponement of the event, which was then rescheduled for the day after Labor Day.

Ryan finishes fourth in KJ Choi Foundation Junior Championship at Fiddler's Elbow

   Caleb Ryan’s time as a junior golfer is coming to a close, but the three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier for Norristown Area High School had a big effort in finishing fourth in the American Junior Golf Association’s KJ Choi Foundation Junior Championship by SK Telecom, which concluded Aug. 22 at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club’s River Course in Bedminster Township, N.J.

   Ryan was home-schooled through Commonwealth Connections Academy, but represented Norristown on the golf course.

   Ryan matched par in the opening round at the 6,974-yard, par-72 River Course with a 72 and his 2-under 70 in the second round left him in a three-way tie for the lead heading into the final round at 2-under 142.

   Huon Joon Yoo of South Korea had opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 before adding a 3-over 75 that gave him a share of the lead with Ryan. The third member of the trio tied for the top spot at 2-under was Shady Side Academy junior Adam Lauer, who had registered a pair of 1-under 71s.

   But Gaven Lane of Argyle, Texas closed with a flourish, carding a 4-under 68 to leave everybody in the dust with a 5-under 211 total that gave him a four-shot victory. Lane is entering his freshman year of high school, but, according to the AJGA website, has verbally committed to join the powerhouse Oklahoma State program. It was Lane’s first AJGA victory.

   Yoo closed with a solid 1-over 73 to get a share of second place with Jack Irons of Naples, Fla. at 1-under 215, four shots behind Lane. Irons, who was showing up on Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards in the spring, matched par in the final round with a 72 to join Yoo at 1-under.

   Caleb Ryan finished up with a 2-over 74 to finish alone in fourth at even-par 216, a really solid showing against a top-notch AJGA field.

   William Huang of Exeter, N.H., who sandwiched a second-round 77 with a pair of 2-under 70s, finished in a tie for fifth place with Matthew Doyle of Madison, Conn. at 1-over 217. After a pair of even-par 72s, Doyle closed with a 1-over 73.

   Shady Side’s Lauer finished up with a 4-over 76 to end up alone in seventh place at 2-over 218.

Another player rounding out his junior career, Liam Hart, who captured the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep in 2017, finished in a tie for 11^th place at 5-over 221. Hart, who will join Ben Feld’s Drexel program, had opened with an even-par72 and added a 1-over 73 in the second round.

   Norristown junior Joshua Ryan, who joined brother Caleb at the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of his first two years of high school golf, finished up with a 1-under 71 to finish in a tie for 16^th at 7-over 223. Joshua Ryan figures to be one of the top players in District One this fall.

   Charlie Baker, who has helped The Haverford School claim the last two Inter-Ac League crowns, also closed with a 1-under 71 to end up in a tie for 18^th place at 8-over 224. Baker, a senior, will be one of the Inter-Ac’s top players this fall.

   La Salle senior Steve Lorenzo, the District 12 Class AAA champion last fall and one of the Catholic League’s top returning players, sandwiched a 78 in the second round with a pair of 75s to end up among the group tied for 26^th at 228.

   Matthew Lafond of Blue Bell finished up with a 79 to end up in the group tied for 41^st at 232.

   Conestoga junior Morgan Lofland and recent Radnor graduate David Colleran, who shared the Central League title last fall, also teed it up at Fiddler’s Elbow.

   Lofland finished in a tie for 49^th place at 235 after closing with a 77. Lofland is a two-time Class AAA East Regional qualifier and reached the state tournament as a freshman in 2017. Pretty sure the plan for Lofland is to get back to the Heritage Hills Golf Resort and the PIAA Class AAA Championship this fall.

   Colleran, who, like Holy Ghost’s Hart, will join the Drexel program, finished up with an 83 to end up in a tie for 53^rd at 239.

   On the girls side at Fiddler’s Elbow, South Korea’s Karbin Choi made a pretty impressive American debut as she rode a sizzling opening round of 8-under 64 on a River Course that measured 5,911 yards for the girls to a four-shot victory.

   Choi followed up that spectacular 64 with a 1-under 71 in the second round and a 1-over 73 in the final round for an 8-under 208 total and a four-shot victory, her first AJGA win.

   Xiaowen Yin of China claimed runnerup honors with a 4-under 212 total. After opening with a 1-over 73, Yin fired rounds of 3-under 69 and 2-under 70 to get it to 4-under.

   Brooke Rivers of Canada was another shot behind Yin in third place at 3-under 213. Rivers fired a 4-under 68 in the opening round and was only four shots behind Choi. Rivers added a 1-over 73 in the second round before closing with an even-par 72.

   Sophia Bae of Norwood, N.J. was another five shots behind Rivers in fourth place at 2-over 218 after posting three consecutive 1-over 73s. Bae reached the second round of match in this summer’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.

   Heading the local contingent at Fiddler’s Elbow was Pennsbury junior Jade Gu, who captured the Class AAA East Regional title a week after sharing second place at the District One Championship. Gu finished in a tie for 18^th at 228 after closing with a 77.

   Padua Academy senior Haley Quickel bounced back from a pair of 85s with a final-round 76 to finish alone in 34^th place at 246.

Tennant repeats as U.S. Senior Women's Amateur champion; Royak claims U.S. Senior Amateur crown

   When Lara Tennant had completed back-to-back victories in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship with a 3 and 2 victory over Sue Wooster in Thursday’s final at Cedar Rapids Country Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it wasn’t so much the historic nature of the win that struck her as much as just how tough it is to win a USGA championship.

   By winning the 58th U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, the 52-year-old Tennant became the ninth player to capture the title in consecutive years and the first to accomplish the feat since Ellen Port of St. Louis did it in 2012 and 2013.

   But in Tennant’s way of remembering, she will always think of the player she conquered in the final both times, the 57-year-old Australian Wooster, who fell by the same score to Tennant as she did in October of last year at the Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club in Vero Beach, Fla.

   Only Wooster can relate to how tough it was just to get to the title match and only Wooster felt the same kind of pressure Tennant was feeling on every shot as they vied for the top prize in women’s senior amateur golf for the second time in less than a year.

   “You know what? Sue is a tough competitor and a fabulous golfer,” Tennant told the USGA website. “Last year I honestly apologized to Sue for beating her because at this point in the game, when you’ve played 10 rounds in eight days, you’re both exhausted, you both worked hard, you both played well.

   “I really had to not be distracted and just focus on my game. You don’t get many opportunities to be in the finals of a USGA championship.”

   That, in a nutshell, is the kind of approach you have to bring in order to win a USGA match-play event. The challenge, as both Tennant and Wooster know, is as much mental as it is physical.

   Wooster actually drew first blood in the match, winning the second hole with a par. But Tennant quickly answered by getting even with a par at the fourth hole.

   Tennant then grabbed a hold of the match by winning the eighth, 10^th and 11^th holes with pars to take a suddenly commanding 3-up advantage.

   Wooster cut into her deficit by winning the 13^th hole with a par and it looked like she might get even closer when Tennant was 45 feet away from the hole on the 14^th hole. A three-putt on a typically tricky Donald Ross green complex was a real possibility.

   Tennant’s putt steamed toward the hole and looked like it was going to go by when it struck the flagstick and stopped inches from the cup, leaving Tennant with a tap-in for par and a half. She was still 2-up.

   Two holes later, Wooster drove it poorly and faced an eight-footer for par while Tennant was on in regulation and two-putted for a par. When Wooster’s par putt refused to fall, it was over.

   Tennant again got to enjoy the victory with her dad, 79-year-old George Mack Sr., on the bag.

   Two years ago, Tennant made her U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur debut on her home course at Waverley Country Club. After comfortably qualifying for match play, Tennant promptly lost her opening-round match. She hasn’t lost a U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur match since.

   Tennant and Wooster are both exempt into next summer’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn.

   Both will, of course, be exempt into next year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in September at Lakewood Golf Club in Port Clear, Ala. They couldn’t possibly meet for the title for a third in a row, could they? You just can never tell what those golf gods will serve up next, do you?

   Meanwhile, at the 65^th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C., Bob Royak, playing in his fourth U.S. Senior Amateur and 16^th USGA championship, pulled out a 1-up victory over Roger Newsom to hoist the Frederick L. Dold Trophy.

   And the enormity of capturing the title was not lost on the 57-year-old Royak of Alpharetta, Ga. and a native of the Albany area in upstate New York.

   “To be a USGA champion, to think that your name is going up on that wall (in the Hall of Champions) in Far Hills (N.J., at the USGA Museum) with the other champions for 2019, that’s kind of beyond belief,” Royak, who didn’t make a birdie in the final, told the USGA website. “I don’t know when they put (the plaque) up, but I’ll go up there sometime next year, maybe I am in New York and get over there and see it.”

   The 55-year-old Newsom, an ophthalmologist from Virginia Beach, Va., certainly didn’t go down without a fight.

   Newsom won the ninth and 10^th holes with birdies to take a 1-up lead before Royak answered by winning the 12^th and 13^th holes with pars to take a 1-up lead. When Royak three-putted the 17^th hole for a bogey, Newsom took advantage to win the hole with a par and even the match heading to the Old Chatham’s 18^th hole.

   Royak fired his 19-degree hybrid from 226 yards away just to the left of the green at the downhill 470-yard, par-4 finishing hole. Newson, however, caught his 5-iron a little heavy and was short and left of the green in some gnarly Bermuda rough.

   Newsom just got his chip on the green, 34 feet from the hole, while Royak used his 50-degree wedge for a masterful chip-and-run to five feet. After Newsome missed his long try for par, Royak calmly rolled in his par putt and the celebration was under way.

   Royak is one of those guys who likes to map out his season of golf around the various USGA qualifiers. But he doesn’t have to worry about the qualifiers in 2020 for the U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I. or the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes.

   Royak lost in a playoff in a local qualifier for next month’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo. But he made up for that little mis-step this week at Old Chatham because he’s now exempt into this year’s U.S. Mid-Am, too.

   And the U.S. Senior Amateur? He’s good for that for the next 10 years. Royak will defend his title next summer at the Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.