Kept hearing on sports-talk radio last week that it was the slowest week of the year in sports with baseball’s All-Star break. Whew, sounds like somebody forgot to check the local golf schedule. The only thing hotter than the temperatures last week was the local golf scene. Did manage to get in a couple of posts on the Philadelphia Open at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course and one from the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Jock MacKenzie Memorial for junior boys at Sandy Run Country Club. I’ll get to Merion Golf Club instructor Joanna Coe winning the second Women’s Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at Whitford Country Club and to Meghan Stasi coming home to where it all began at Tavistock Country Club to claim the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Match Play Championship for the ninth time. Penn State senior Pat Sheehan will be teeing it up in the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. for the second straight year after punching his ticket in a GAP-administered qualifier at Chambersburg Country Club Thursday. Not sure if I’ll ever get to the run to the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship final by the pride of Warren, Ohio, just over the Pennsylvania border – she lives in Florida these days – 14-year-old Gianna Clemente at The Club at Olde Stone in steamy Bowling Green, Ken., but we certainly haven’t heard the last of this phenom. First, though, I have to go back a couple of weeks to start catching up on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit …
Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz has been one of the best players on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit for years, but since turning 50 late last year and joining the Section’s talented stable of senior talent, he seems to be better than ever.
Coming off a victory in his first opportunity to tee it up in the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship last month at Medford Village Country Club, Steinmetz found the winner’s circle again in the Golf Association of Lehigh Valley (GALV) Lehigh Valley Open, which wrapped up July 12 at Brookside Country Club in Macungie.
The GALV Lehigh Valley Open was a Rolex/Haverford Trust Player of the Year points event.
Steinmetz grabbed a three-shot lead with an opening round of 3-under 68 July 11 and then matched par in the final round the next day with a 71 for a 3-under 139 total. Alex Knoll, an instructor at Glen Brook Golf Club, added a 3-under 68 to his opening-round 74 to claim runnerup honors with an even-par 142 total.
After making a bogey at the fourth hole in his opening round, Steinmetz rattled off birdies at six, eight, 10 and 18. He offset three bogeys in the second round with three birdies and was never really threatened.
Steinmetz credited some improved putting with his recent string of success.
“I recently figured something out with my putting, which helped me with my round yesterday,” Steinmetz told the Philadelphia Section PGA website, referring to his opening-round 68. “I had the same game plan as (in the first round), even with a three-stroke lead, keep calm and keep it going.”
Jake Haberstumpf, who starred scholastically at Bethlehem’s Freedom High, won low-amateur honors and shared third place overall with Doylestown Country Club’s veteran pro, Travis Deibert, each landing on 1-over 143, a shot behind Knoll.
Haberstumpf, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2020 as a senior at Freedom, matched par in the final round with a 71 after opening with a 1-over 72 as claimed the top spot in the Amateur division. Deibert had matched par in the opening round with a 71 before adding a 1-over 72.
Braden Shattuck, an instructor at Rolling Green Golf Club, and Alex Willey of Burlington Country Club finished in a tie for fifth place, each ending up with a 2-over 144 total.
Shattuck matched par with a 71 in the second round after opening with a 2-over 73. Shattuck carried that form into the Philadelphia Open at the Cricket Club a week later, finishing in a tie for second place and getting a share of low-pro honors.
Willey matched par in the opening round with a 71 before adding a 2-over 73 in the second round.
Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, who represented the Philadelphia Section in both the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at the Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Mich. in May and in the U.S. Senior Open, also in the Lehigh Valley at Saucon Valley Country Club last month, headed a group of three players tied for seventh place at 3-over 145.
McNabb added a 1-over 72 in the second round to his opening-round 73.
Brian Bergstol of the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 3-under 68 in the second round to join McNabb at 3-over.
Rounding out the trio at 145 was Radnor Valley Country Club’s ageless George Forster, who added a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 73.
McNabb and Forster shared runnerup honors behind Steinmetz in the Senior division as their 145 totals left them six shots behind the overall winner.
John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, and Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club shared fourth place in the Senior division as each landed on 5-over 147. Pillar added a 2-over 73 to his opening-round 74.
Bill Sautter of Philadelphia Cricket Club claimed top honors in the Super Senior division as he added a 76 in the second round to his opening round of 3-over 74 for an 8-over 150 total.
Forster and Kelly are also Super Seniors, but were displaced by their high finishes in the Senior division.
Merion Golf Club instructor Joanna Coe was the lone entry in the Women’s division. She added a 5-over 76 to her opening-round 78 for a 12-over 154 total. Turned out to be a good tuneup for Coe, who came back a little over a week later to capture the Philadelphia Women’s PGA Professional Championship at Whitford Country Club.
Michael Ashcroft of Freemansburg was the runnerup to Haberstumpf in the Amateur division as he added a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 74 to end up three shots behind Haberstumpf with a 4-over 146 total.
A couple of scholastic standouts of recent vintage, William Mirams, the PIAA Class AA champion in 2018 as a junior at Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg, and David Hurly, a member of a couple of Inter-Ac League championship teams at The Haverford School, finished in a tie for third place in the Amateur division, each signing for a 6-over 148 total.
Mirams matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 6-over 77. Hurly, a senior at Lehigh, finished strong with a 1-under 70 after opening with a 7-over 78.
The GALV Lehigh Valley Open was supported by the Golf Association of the Lehigh Valley, Jani-King and the PGA Tour.
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