Steinmetz fires 67 to claim two-shot victory in Conestoga Classic

   Rich Steinmetz, the long-time head pro at Spring-Ford Country Club, got it going on the back nine at Conestoga Country Club Monday to pull away from a big field and claim a two-shot victory in the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Conestoga Classic in Lancaster County.

   Steinmetz has been one of the top players in the Section for a long time and his talent was on display as he fired a 3-under-par 67 over the par-70 Conestoga layout to capture the top prize.

Steinmetz birdied the first hole, made a bogey at the second and picked up another birdie at the third hole before closing out the outgoing nine with a bogey at the ninth hole that left him at even-par for the round.

   But birdies at the 12^th, 16^th and 17^th holes enabled Steinmetz to turn in a sparkling back-nine 32 that got him to 3-under.

   Mike Little, the head pro at Lookaway Golf Club, Parks Price, an assistant pro at the Country Club of York and Andrew Turner, an assistant pro at French Creek Golf Club, each carded a 1-under 69 and shared second place.

   Six players, headed by Merion Golf Club’s head of instruction, Mark Sheftic, finished in a tie for fifth place at even-par 70.

   Sheftic was joined at that figure by Dustin Wallis of Dustin Wallis Golf, Michael Tobiason of Deerfield, Christian Sheehan of Lebanon Country Club, Stephen Swartz of West Shore Country Club and Anthony McNamara of the Toftrees Golf Resort.

   Deerwood Country Club’s veteran head pro, Greg Farrow, headed a trio of golfers tied for 11^th place, each posting a 1-over 71. He was joined at 1-over by Curtis Kirkpatrick of Indian Spring Country Club and Jordan Shuey, another player out of the pro shop at West Shore.

   Price defeated Turner in a playoff for the victory in the concurrent Philadelphia Assistants Organization (PAO) event. A birdie on the first playoff hole, the par-5 10^th hole, gave Price the win after each had carded a 1-under 69 in regulation.

   Farrow’s 71 gave him the edge in the Senior Division, as competitive a senior group as you’ll find in any Section in the country. John Brennan of Mountain View Country Club was the runnerup with a 2-over 72.

   Among the seven players tied for third place at 3-over 73 was a trio of guys – Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster and Stu Ingraham, the instructor at the M Golf Range & Golf Center in Newtown Square – who, among them, have played in dozens of PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions major championships.

   The other four players who signed for a 3-over 73 aren’t too shabby either, including Bill Sautter of Philadelphia Cricket Club, Robert Lennon of Wilmington Country Club, Edward Perrino of Eagle Rock Resort and Donald Allan of Burlington Country Club.

   Don DeAngelis, playing out of the Steinmetz-led Spring-Ford pro shop, carded a 1-over 71 and was awarded the win in the Super Senior Division for the guys 60 and older.

   Farrow matched DeAngelis’ 71 as he cashed in just about every category he could at Conestoga.

   Not only is the senior division tough, but many of them are not young seniors. The foursome tied for third place among the Super Seniors included Forster, Lennon, Ingraham and Sautter, each posting a 3-over 73.