Terry Hertzog of the Country Club of York and Dave Quinn of
Laurel Creek Country Club put themselves in position to earn a trip to next
May’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship with 1-under-par 71s in the third
round of the 31st Senior PGA Professional Championship at the Omni
Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s Fazio Foothills Course in Austin, Texas
Saturday.
The top 35 finishers in the Senior PGA Professional
Championship, presented by Cadillac and supported by The Golf Channel and John
Deere, advance to the Senior PGA Championship, a PGA Tour Champions major that
will be played at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich.
The 54-year-old Hertzog and the 53-year-old Quinn are among
the group tied for 29th place at 3-under 211 after three rounds.
A bogey at the 10th hole dropped Hertzog back to
1-over for his round Saturday, but he made birdies at the 14th and
16th holes to get it back to 1-under for the round and 3-under for
the tournament. Quinn also fell back to 1-over for his round with a bogey at
the ninth hole, but he made birdies at the 12th and 18th
holes to get it to 1-under for the round and 3-under for the tournament.
Hertzog and Quinn are two of six members of the contingent
from the Philadelphia Section PGA that will be teeing it up in Sunday’s final
round of the Senior PGA Professional Championship. After a cut to the low 90s
and ties following Friday’s second round, the field was cut again to the low
70s and ties for Sunday’s final round.
Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club is very much in the hunt
for a second straight trip to the Senior PGA Championship as he was two shots
behind Hertzog and Quinn at 1-under 213 and among the group tied for 39th
place. The 59-year-old Kelly entered the third round at 4-under, but struggled
to a 3-over 75.
Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster and Stu
Ingraham, an instructor at the M Golf Range & Learning Center in Newtown
Square, were tied for 49th place at even-par 214 and both will need
to make something happen in Sunday’s final round to earn a ticket to Harbor
Shores.
Forster, 63 years young, carded his third straight even-par
round, a 72 at the Foothills Course, to get it to 214. The 59-year-old Ingraham, playing in his 38th
PGA of America championship, had played so well in firing a 5-under 65 at the
Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in the opening round. But after a 1-over 73 at
the Foothills Course in Friday’s second round, Ingraham struggled to a 4-over
76 in the third round.
The final member of the Philadelphia Section contingent, Bob
Lennon of Wilmington Country Club, posted a solid 1-under 71 and was among the
group tied for 58th place at 1-over 215. The cut for the final round
fell at 2-over 216.
Frank Bensel Jr., a 51-year-old assistant pro at the Century
Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., will take a one-shot lead into the final round
after an up-and-down 3-under 69 left him atop the leaderboard at 12-under 202.
A three-time winner of the National Car Rental Assistant PGA
Professional Championship, Bensel had seven birdies to offset two bogeys and a
double bogey in Saturday’s third round.
Scott Hebert, a 50-year-old pro at Traverse City Golf &
Country Club in Michigan, surged into contention for the title with a
scintillating 9-under 63 that featured nine birdies and nary a bogey. That left
Hebert alone in second place at 11-under 203, a shot behind Bensel. Hebert won
the PGA Professional Championship in 2008.
Defending champion Bob Sowards of Kinsale Golf & Fitness
Center in Powell, Ohio headed a group of three players tied for third place at
10-under 204. Sowards carded a 1-under 71 to get it to 204.
Chad Sorensen, a pro at the Buena Vista Golf Course in Taft,
Calif., and former PGA Tour pro Omar Uresti, playing a home game in Austin,
joined Sowards at 10-under.
Sorensen had grabbed the lead after two rounds with a
sizzling 7-under 63 in the second round at the Cliffside Course, but fell back
with a 1-over 73 at the Foothills Course Saturday.
Uresti, who defeated Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave
McNabb in a playoff to win the 2017 PGA Professional Championship at Oregon’s
Sunriver Resort, carded a 3-under 69 to join Sowards and Sorensen at 10-under.
Charlie Bolling, the 1978 winner of the Golf Association of
Philadelphia’s Amateur Championship, is in good position to earn a trip to the
Senior PGA Championship after posting a 3-under 69 that left him in the group
tied for 34th place at 2-under 212. Bolling works out of the pro
shop at the Bethpage State Park Golf Course on Long Island.
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