Fieger wins GAP Senior Amateur Championship for a third time at the Steel Club

    Chris Fieger Sr. really looks forward to the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Senior Amateur Championship. With his track record in one of GAP’s major championships for senior players, it’s easy to see why.

   Fieger had to wait an extra month when the GAP Senior Amateur, originally scheduled for the week after Labor Day at the Steel Club, was postponed due to threatening weather and pushed back to this week.

   For the third time in four years, the 59-year-old Fieger, a native of Wallingford, Delaware County who now resides in Denver, Lancaster County, captured the title, winning the 52^nd GAP Senior Amateur, which wrapped up Wednesday at the Donald Ross gem in Hellertown, by two shots.

   Fieger won the GAP Senior Amateur in 2019 and 2020 and has been a runnerup two other times, including last year when he finished second to Chip Lutz, who has been one of the top senior amateur players in the world for more than a decade.

   That’s the kind of competition Fieger knows he’s going to face when he tees it up in a GAP Senior Amateur and he relishes it.

   “This is fantastic, I really look forward to (this event every year),” Fieger told the GAP website following his victory. “It’s a very important tournament for me. What happens is I’m playing a lot of golf later in the year and I’m starting to hit my stride (as the Senior Amateur approaches).

   "(This tournament is important because) this is where all the best seniors in Philadelphia play. You know if you win, you are playing well. You are not going to back door it. What a way to end the season.”

   Fieger, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association representative, had grabbed a one-shot lead over Dan Brown of Manada Golf Club, with a 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s opening round.

   Brown caught Fieger on the back nine of Wednesday’s second round and headed for the 13^th tee still tied as Fieger managed to save par on the 12^th hole with a tremendous recovery shot out of the woods after an errant drive.

   Then Fieger unleashed a run of three straight birdies to put the championship away.

   Fieger rolled in a 20-foot birdie try after knocking it on the 158-yard, par-3 13^th hole with a 7-iron. He smashed a 3-wood from 235 yards away at the 523-yard, par-5 14^th hole to the front of the green, but was still 60 feet from the hole. His first putt left him a tricky six-footer for birdie that he coaxed into the cup. Then Fieger stiffed his approach to four feet at the 489-yard, par-4 15^th hole and made the putt.

   Fieger went on to record a second straight 70 for a 4-under 140 total. Brown posted a second straight 1-under 71 to finish alone in second place with a 2-under 142 total.

   Merion Golf Club’s Joe Roeder surged into contention with four birdies on his first 12 holes of Wednesday’s final round on his way to a 3-under 69 as he finished two shots behind Brown in third place with an even-par 144 total. Roeder had opened with a 3-over 75.

   One of the three players tied for fourth place, Carlisle Country Club’s Jeff Frazier, is proof of the kind of talent you’re facing when you go up against the best senior players in GAP.

   Playing in his first U.S. Senior Amateur in late August at The Kittansett Club on Buzzards Bay in eastern Massachusetts, Frazier reached the semifinals before falling, 1-up, to Doug Hanzell of Savannah, Ga., something of a legend on the national senior amateur scene.

   Frazier added a 1-under 71 in Wednesday’s second round at the Steel Club after opening with a 3-over 75 for a 2-over 146 total.

   Joining Frazier at 2-over were Rich Pruchnik of Downingtown Country Club and P. Chet Walsh of Philadelphia Country Club. Pruchnik came on strong with a 3-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round after opening with a 5-over 77. Walsh matched Frazier’s splits, adding a 1-under 71 in Wednesday’s second round to his opening-round 75.

   Glenn Smeraglio of LuLu Country Club shared seventh place with Chris Storck of LedgeRock Golf Club, each landing on 3-over 147. Smeraglio matched par in the opening round with a 72 before finishing up with a 3-over 75. Storck opened with a 3-over 75 before matching par in Wednesday’s final round with a 72.

   That 72 was big for Storck because it enabled him to nail down GAP’s Senior Silver Cross with a 291 total. The Senior Silver Cross combines a player’s scores from the Francis B. Warner Cup at The 1912 Club in May, the Frank H. Chapman Cup at Indian Valley Country Club in June and the two rounds of the Senior Amateur Championship.

   The 56-year-old Storck had carded a 70 in the Warner Cup at The 1912 Club and a 74 in the Chapman Cup at Indian Valley. His opening-round 75 at the Steel Club left him tied with Bill Burke of Galloway National Golf Club and David West, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, going into the second round of the Senior Amateur.

   Storck’s final-round 72 gave him the Senior Silver Cross by two shots over Frazier, who had carded a 76 in the Warner Cup at Indian Valley and won the Chapman Cup with a 71 at the 1912 Club.

   LuLu’s Roc Irey, who has been a fixture on the GAP senior scene for years, matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish alone in ninth place in the Senior Amateur with a 5-over 149 total. Irey had opened with a 77.

   Rounding out the top 10 at the Steel Club were Lehigh Country Club’s Bob Beck and Olde Homestead Golf Club’s Jeff Hudson as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each landing on 6-over 150.

   Beck trailed Fieger by just two shots after matching par with a 72 in the opening round before struggling a little with a 78 in Wednesday’s final round. Hudson added a 76 in Wednesday’s second round after opening with a 2-over 74.