Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb had several major moments in 2017.
In one of his first years of senior eligibility, McNabb earned spots in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and the U.S. Senior Open, both PGA Tour Champions major championships. In the middle of all that McNabb nearly captured the PGA Professional Championship, falling in a playoff to former PGA Tour performer Omar Uresti. That runnerup finish, however, gave McNabb a spot in the PGA Championship, one of professional golf’s four major championships, at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.
It was a dream season for a club pro. McNabb hasn’t quite reached those lofty heights since, but, at age 54, he remains one of the Philadelphia area’s best players, professional or amateur, old or young and every age group in between.
McNabb surged into contention in the second round of the Senior PGA Professional Championship, supported by The Golf Channel and John Deere, Friday, firing a 4-under-par 68 at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Combined with the opening round of 1-under 70 McNabb posted Thursday at the Ryder Course, it gave McNabb a 36-hole total of 5-under 138.
It appears that some of the late finishers were unable to complete the second round, so it’s not entirely clear where McNabb stands overall, but his 5-under total left him in a tie for sixth place among the players who completed their rounds Friday.
McNabb was four shots behind the leader in the clubhouse, Jeffrey Schmid, an instructor at the Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville, Iowa. Schmid added a 4-under 67 at the par-71 Ryder Course layout Friday to the 5-under 67 he registered at the par-72 Wanamaker Course in Thursday’s opening round for a 9-under 134 total.
McNabb is certainly in a good position to end up among the top 35 finishers in the Senior PGA Professional Championship who punch their tickets to next spring’s Senior PGA Championship, which will be played at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Starting on the back nine on the Ryder Course, McNabb had birdies at the 12th and 13th holes before a bogey at the 14th stalled his momentum, but not for long. McNabb responded with back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes and headed for the front nine at 3-under.
Birdies at the first and sixth holes got McNabb to 5-under for the round before his second bogey of the day at the seventh hole left him at 4-under for the round and 5-under for the championship.
McNabb earned his trip to the Senior PGA Professional Championship with a runnerup finish in the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship as he lost in a playoff to John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, at Concord Country Club in August.
Dave Quinn of Laurel Creek Country Club got off to fast start with a 2-under 70 at the Wanamaker Course in Thursday’s opening round. He was scheduled to play the Ryder Course Friday, but there is no indication where he stood when play was halted.
The projected 36-hole cut when play was halted was at 1-over 144.
Among the Philadelphia Section PGA pros who it appeared would not survive the cut was Radnor Valley Country Club head pro George Forster. The 64-year-old Forster matched par with a 71 at the Ryder Course Friday after opening with a 3-over 75 at the Wanamaker Course and finished with a 3-over 146 total.
Terry Hatch, who plays out of the Royal Oaks Golf Course pro shop, fired a solid 2-under 69 at the Ryder Course. But it wasn’t enough to enable the 52-year-old Hatch to bounce back from an opening-round 80 at the Wanamaker Course.
Brian Kelly of the Bucknell Golf Club couldn’t get it going at the PGA Golf Club. The 60-year-old Kelly added a 4-over 75 at the Ryder Course to his opening-round 80 at the Wanamker Course for a 155 total.
Kelly finished in a tie for 22nd place in last year’s Senior PGA Professional Championship, but was denied an opportunity to compete in this year’s Senior PGA Championship, scheduled to be held at the Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Mich., when the event was cancelled duo to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hugo Mazzalupi, who plays out of the Patriots’ Glen National Golf Club pro shop, added a 78 at the Wanamaker Course to the opening-round 81 he posted at the Ryder Course for a 159 total.
Charlie Bolling, winner of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur in 1978 while playing out of Gulph Mills Golf Club, added a 2-over 74 at the Wanamaker Course to the opening-round 74 he signed for at the Ryder Course for a 5-over 148 total. The 62-year-old Bolling plays out of the Salem Golf Club pro shop in North Salem, N.Y.
Schmid started on the 11th hole at the Ryder Course Friday and, after a birdie at the 13th hole, made bogeys at the 15th and 18th and headed for the front nine at 1-over for the round. But Schmid blitzed the front nine with birdies at the third, fourth, sixth and ninth holes before finishing up with another birdie at the 10th hole to get it 9-under for the championship.
Frank Bensel, who plays out of the Century Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., was a shot behind Schmid at 8-under 135. Bensel, who contended for the title in the Senior PGA Professional Championship a year ago at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas before finishing in a tie for second place, fired a sparkling 7-under 65 at the Wanamaker Course after opening with a 1-under 70 at the Ryder Course.
Walt Chapman, playing out of the Fairways and Greens Golf Center in Knoxville, Tenn., carded a 6-under 65 at the Ryder Course after opening with a 1-under 71 at the Wanamaker Course and was in third place at 7-under 136.
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