Hinckley makes Philadelphia Open his first professional victory at the Country Club of York

    There was no shortage of talent lined up behind Billy Stewart, an instructor at Union League Liberty Hill, and Blake Hinckley, a young player out of the Wilmington Country Club pro shop, the co-leaders following Tuesday’s opening round of the 117^th Golf Association of Philadelphia Open Championship at the Country Club of York.

   The Philly Open always brings together Philadelphia Section PGA pros at like Stewart and Hinckley and amateur standouts from the GAP circuit, veterans and, of course, the young turks, the college kids, and some who aren’t even in college yet, who seem to get bigger and stronger every year.

   But Wednesday it was Hinckley, the 24-year-old from Greenville, Del., who beat them all. And nobody seemed more surprised about the outcome than Hinckley himself.

   “I’ve played a lot of these events,” Hinckley told the GAP website after he added a 1-under-par 69 to his opening-round 66 for a 5-under 135 total that gave him a one-shot victory. “I’ve been around GAP since I started playing golf and haven’t made any noise. The fact I could win one of the biggest tournaments and my name is going to be on the (John J. McDermott Open Trophy) means a lot to me.”

   It is a testament to the depth of talent in this region that a guy like Hinckley, a Delaware kid, is out there with enough talent and grit to survive two days of heat, humidity and unrelenting pressure from his competitors and win this thing and the $6,000 top prize that goes with it. Never heard of him? Well, you have now.

   It was a pretty good spot for Hinckley, who turned pro in 2019, to record his first win as a professional.

   Hinckley trailed one of those typical GAP veterans, Little Mill Country Club’s Troy Vannucci, by two shots heading to the back nine of the 6,610-yard, par-70 Donald Ross classic at the Country Club of York. Vannucci seems to have gained a jolt of confidence from the run he and fellow Maple Shade, N.J. resident Vince Kwon made to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon in the spring of 2019.

   Stewart, winner of the 2018 Philadelphia Open at another Donald Ross gem, St. Davids Golf Club, knows what it’s like to be one of those hotshot college kids because he was one of them when he starred at Saint Joseph’s in the middle of the first decade of the 2000s.

   But it was Hinckley who seized control of the tournament, beginning right about the time he watched his sand wedge approach from 87 yards away at the 426-yard, par-4 11^th hole disappear into the cup for an eagle 2. Just like that Hinckley went from 2-under for the tournament to 4-under.

   Hinckley backed up the eagle with back-to-back birdies at the next two holes, draining a 20-foot birdie putt – a big breaker – at the 308-yard, par-4 13^th hole and reaching the 525-yard, par-5 14^th in two and two-putting for a birdie that got him to 6-under.

   Turned out, Hinckley’s closest pursuer would be 22-year Ron Robinson, one of those big, strong kids playing out of LuLu Country Club. Always a presence on GAP leaderboards in the junior ranks, Robinson was a scholastic standout at North Penn and just completed a solid college career at Monmouth.

   Robinson, who had opened with a 1-under 69, also birdied the 13^th and 14^th holes back-to-back to get it 5-under for the tournament before a closing bogey dropped him back to 4-under. Robinson settled for a solid 3-under 67 that left him a shot behind Hinckley with a 136 total.

   Hinckley took a two-shot lead to the 387-yard, par-4 18^th hole and played it carefully after missing the fairway along the tree line on the right side of the hole. A closing bogey left him at 5-under.

   Vannucci lost his momentum on the Country Club of York’s back nine, matching par with a 70 after opening with a 3-under 67 and fell into a four-way tie for third place at 3-under 137. Stewart carded a 1-over 71 in Wednesday’s second round to also join the group at 3-under.

   The Philadelphia Section guys will tell you that it’s August and September that matter most to them on their circuit. Stewart seems to have found something at just the right time.

   Two of the youngsters I had the chance to watch compete for District One and PIAA crowns the last few years, The 1912 Club’s Josh Ryan and Talamore Country Club’s Patrick Sheehan, rounded out the group tied for third place at 137.

   Ryan was home-schooled by Commonwealth Connections Academy and represented Norristown High on the golf course during a tremendous scholastic career that saw him win the District One Class AAA title in 2019 and qualify for the PIAA Class AAA Championships three times. It took a global pandemic to prevent Ryan from becoming a four-time state qualifier, that’s how certain I am that he would have made it to the state tournament last fall if he had been given the opportunity to try.

   Funny how things work out sometimes. Ryan took a stab at the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship in the pandemic summer of 2020 at the Country Club of York and beat his elders to capture the title. Clearly comfortable at the Country Club of York, Ryan matched the low round of the day Wednesday with a 3-under 67 after matching par in the opening round with a 70 to finish at 3-under.

   Look for more good things when Ryan joins the program at Division I power Liberty next month.

   I saw Sheehan capture the 2018 District One Class AAA crown and finish in a tie for third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Central Bucks East. The pandemic definitely slowed Sheehan’s progress at Penn State, but he started coming on strong as a sophomore this spring. Sheehan added a 2-under 68 to his opening-round 69 to round out the foursome tied for third place.

   Philadelphia Cricket Club amateur Mark Miller, the 2007 Philadelphia Open champion, and Chris Krueger, who works out of the Kings Creek Country Club pro shop, shared seventh place, each landing on 2-under 138. Miller carded a second straight 1-under 69 while Krueger, who plays very few bad rounds on the Philadelphia Section circuit, added a 2-under 68 to his opening-round 70.

   Two of the Philadelphia Section’s top senior players, Dave Quinn, an instructor at Laurel Creek Country Club, and John Pillar Sr., the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, headed a trio of players tied for ninth place at 1-under 139.

   Quinn, coming off an appearance in last week’s U.S. Senior Open at Omaha Country Club in Omaha, Neb., added a 1-under 69 to his opening-round 70. Pillar, the two-time reigning Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship winner, had opened with a 2-under 68, but fell back with a final-round 71. Quinn and Pillar both represented the Philadelphia Section in another PGA Tour Champions major championship, the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. at the end of May.

   Rounding out the trio at 1-under was Five Ponds Golf Club amateur Jalen Griffin, who starred scholastically at Wissahickon and collegiately at San Francisco. Like Quinn, Griffin added a 1-under 69 to his opening-round 70.

   Two of the Philadelphia Section’s talented young players, Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Trevor Bensel and Bidermann Golf Club instructor Braden Shattuck, headed a group of four players tied for 12^th place at even-par 140.

   Bensel matched the low round of the day with his 3-under 67 after opening with a 73 while Shattuck, who had opened with a 1-under 69, closed with a 71.

   Merion Golf Club’s Peter Bradbeer, who hinted he might be considering a shot at the pro ranks after winning qualifying medalist honors in last month’s BMW Philadelphia Amateur, finished up with a solid 2-under 68 after opening with a 72 to join the group at even-par. Bradbeer was a four-year standout at Bucknell before spending this past spring at Temple with the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the pandemic.

   Rounding out the quartet tied for 12^th place was one of the Country Club of York’s own, amateur Brandon Knaub, a five-time Country Club of York club champion who added a 2-under 68 to his opening-round 72.