Louis Kelly, an assistant pro at Gulph Hills, was returning to one of the previous stops on his journey as a club pro for the 37th Burlington Classic Pro-Am, presented by WSFS Bank, Monday at Burlington Country Club in Westampton, N.J.
And Kelly’s local knowledge came in handy as he prevailed with a birdie on the fourth hole of a playoff with Rolling Green Golf Club assistant pro Anthony Sebastianelli to capture the title and the Mike Mack Cup, named for Kelly’s old boss and the longtime head pro at Burlington.
Kelly and Sebastianelli both landed at 1-under-par 139 at the end of the regulation 36 holes, forcing the title to be decided in a playoff.
The Burlington Classic Pro-Am was the brainchild of Mack and others in the Burlington Country Club community and remains one of the most popular stops on the Philadelphia Section PGA schedule each year.
Sebastianelli, a Northeast Pennsylvania guy who starred scholastically at Abington Heights and collegiately at Central Connecticut State, grabbed a share of the lead with Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz as each carded a sparkling 4-under-par 66 in Sunday’s opening round.
Sebastianelli’s flawless opening round featured four birdies and nary a bogey.
Kelly had matched par in the opening round with a solid 70. After making a double bogey at third hole to open Monday’s second round, Kelly bounced right back with an eagle at the par-5 fourth hole, the second day in a row he made eagle at four.
Kelly got it to 2-under with birdies at the fifth and seventh holes, but fell back to even-par for the round with bogeys at 11 and 12. A birdie at the 17th hole enabled Kelly to post a 1-under 69 in the second round and a 1-under total for the championship.
Sebastianelli got his second round off to a slow start with back-to-back bogeys at the first two holes. After a birdie at the fourth hole, Sebastianelli gave two more shots back with bogeys at seven and nine. A birdie on the 10th hole got Sebastianelli to 2-over for the round, but it looked like a double bogey at 17 was going to knock him out of the chase for the championship.
But Sebastianelli made a clutch birdie at the finishing hole that gave him a 3-over 73 and a spot in the playoff with Kelly.
The best round of the day in Monday’s second round belonged to Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort who carded a 2-under 68 to get a share of third place with Steinmetz and Cedarbrook Country Club pro Andrew Cornish at even-par 140.
Bergstol, who had opened with a 2-over 72 in Sunday’s first round, was coming off a victory in the lucrative Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic the day after Memorial Day at Sunnybrook Golf Club, which pays off a whopping $150,000 to the winner, the largest prize offered in any PGA Section tournament in the country.
Steinmetz, the Philadelphia Section’s reigning Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year, added a 4-over 74 to his opening-round 66 to earn a share of third place. Cornish added a 1-over 71 in Monday’s second after a solid opening round of 1-under 69 to get it to even for the tournament.
Two of the Philadelphia Section’s super seniors (as in 65 and over), George Forster of Radnor Valley Country Club, and Brian Kelly, who recently retired as the head pro at Bucknell Golf Club, were among three players who finished in a tie for sixth place at 2-over 142.
Forster recorded a 2-over 72 in Monday’s second round after matching par in the opening round with a 70. Kelly was only two shots out of the lead after opening with a 2-under 68 before adding a 4-over 74 in Monday’s second round.
Forster and Kelly were joined in the trio at 2-over by Brendon Post, the associate head coach and director of player development for the men’s and women’s golf teams at Delaware. Post opened with a solid 1-under 69 before adding a 3-over 73 in Monday’s second round.
I’m playing a little catch-up on the Philadelphia Section schedule with this post and Post got his season off to a strong start with a victory in the TaylorMade Classic May 15th at Green Valley Country Club.
Post had to hustle back from Delaware to Lafayette Hill to make a four-man playoff for the title and, with no time to warm up, birdied the first hole of the playoff to take the title.
The TaylorMade Classic was the first Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year points race tournament of the season.
It was also the first of the four Silvercrest Cup qualifiers. The Silvercrest Cup was an addition to the Philadelphia Section schedule last year with four qualifiers leading up to the event, which this year will be held Sept. 5th at Applebrook Golf Club.
Winners of Silvercrest Cup qualifiers get an extra $2,500 from a bonus pool on top of the first-place prize. The Silvercrest Cup has a total purse of $30,000, making it one of the most lucrative events on the Philadelphia Section calendar.
Seven players finished in a tie for 10th place at 3-over 143 in the Burlington Classic Pro-Am, including Mark Sheftic, an instructor at Sunnybrook Golf Club, Michael Little of Clubhouse 54, Ross Brown of Fox Hill Country Club, John Lynch of Bidermann Golf Club, Mike Caldwell of DuPont Country Club, Alex Willey of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club and another of the Philadelphia Section’s senior standouts, Terry Hatch, playing out of Royal Oaks Golf Course.
Sheftic added a 1-over 71 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 72. Little, who has been the Philadelphia Section’s Rolex/Haverford Trust Player of the Year a couple of times, closed with a 2-over 72 in Monday’s second round after opening with a 71.
Brown, Lynch and Caldwell each opened with a solid 1-under 69 before finishing up with a 4-over 74. Willey and Hatch were both very much in the hunt for the title after opening with a 3-under 67 before backing off in Monday’s second round, each registering a 6-over 76.
Steinmetz, coming off an appearance in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, a major on the PGA Tour Champions, at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the new PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas, captured the top spot in the Senior division with his even-par 140 total.
Forster, Kelly and Post shared second place among the seniors with their 2-over 142 totals. Hatch finished in fifth place with his 3-over 143 total.
Forster and Kelly headed the Super Senior division with Greg Farrow, the longtime head pro at Deerwood Country Club finishing in third place as he added a 4-over 74 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 71 for a 5-over 145 total.
Joanna Coe, the director of instruction at Merion Golf Club, claimed the Women’s division title as she added an 8-over 78 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 74 for a 12-over 152 total.
Coe will represent the Philadelphia Section in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, one of the LPGA Tour’s major championships, later this month at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course in Springfield, N.J.
Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Kelly Sanderson rounded out a short women’s field as she was the runnerup with a 173 total, opening with a solid 81 before struggling to a 92 in Monday’s second round.
Corey Katzen emerged from a tight battle among three Burlington members with the Marotto Medal that goes to the winner of the Amateur division.
Katzen opened with a 2-over 72 and led by Burlington clubmates Josh Feldschnieder and Pete D’Angelo by a shot.
Katzen closed with an 8-over 78 to pull away from Feldschnieder and D’Angelo and claim the Marotto Medal with a 10-over 150 total. Feldschnieder carded an 84 in the second round to earn runnerup honors by a shot over D’Angelo, who finished up with an 85, with a 157 total.
In addition to Burlington Country Club and WSFS Bank, the Burlington Classic Pro-Am was supported by Jani-King.
The second Silvercrest Cup qualifier was the Delaware Valley Open, held May 22nd at Radley Run Country Club near West Chester, and was won by Zach Barbin, an assistant pro at Chesapeake Bay Golf Club in Rising Sun, Md., with a 4-under 68.
Barbin is coming off a solid college career at Liberty and won a pair of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships in the pandemic summer of 2020, taking the BMW Philadelphia Amateur crown at Lancaster Country Club and the Patterson Cup at The 1912 Club.
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