Rich Steinmetz, the head pro at Spring Ford Country Club, continues to thrive in his second life as a senior player.
The reigning Philadelphia Section PGA Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year, Steinmetz repeated as the winner of the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship, presented by Cadillac, which was shortened by rain last week at LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Berks County.
Steinmetz was a senior “rookie” a year ago when he captured the Philadelphia Senior PGA Championship. He finished in a tie for 24th place in the Senior PGA Professional Championship last fall at Santa Ana Golf Club and Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., which earned him a spot in last month’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, a major on the PGA Tour Champions, at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America’s new headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
Steinmetz failed to make the cut at Field Ranch East with a pair of 79s for a 158 total, but his victory last week at LedgeRock will put him on the same path toward another trip to the Senior PGA Championship.
Steinmetz shared the lead with Rob Shuey of the Colonial Golf & Tennis Club following the opening round of the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship June 13th as each carded a solid 2-under 70 over the challenging LedgeRock layout.
Steinmetz got it under par early in the opening round with birdies at the third and sixth holes. He dropped back to even-par with back-to-back bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes, but recovered with birdies at 12 and 14 to get it in at 2-under.
Shuey finished strong with four birdies in his last five holes to join Steinmetz at the top of the leaderboard at 2-under.
A couple of rounds of heavy rain with some lightning and thunder around shortened the second round June 14th to nine holes. Steinmetz matched par on the outgoing nine at LedgeRock with a 36 to finish a shot clear of Shuey and Hugo Mazzalupi of Linfield National Golf Club with a 2-under 106 total.
After making back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes, Steinmetz stumbled with consecutive bogeys at five, six and seven. A birdie at the eighth, though, got him back to even for the round and, ultimately, accounted for his one-shot edge over Shuey.
Shuey added a 1-over 37 to his opening-round 70 to settle for a share of runnerup honors with Mazzalupi, each landing on 1-over 107. Mazzalupi had opened with a 1-under 71 before matching par in the rain-shortened second round with a 36.
“Winning any event two times in a row is really special,” Steinmetz told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “There is a little more added pressure on you as defending champion and you feel like all the eyes are on you. It’s nice to be able to perform and get the job done.”
Steinmetz, Shuey and Mazzalupi will head a contingent of at least seven players who will represent the Philadelphia Section in the Senior PGA Professional Championship, also presented by Cadillac, which will tee off Oct. 24th at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The top 35 finishers at the PGA Golf Club in October will punch their ticket in next spring’s Senior PGA Championship, which will return to one of its familiar haunts, the Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich.
John Allen of Squires Golf Club earned a trip to the PGA Golf Club in October with a solid fourth-place finish as he ended up two shots behind Shuey and Mazzalupi with a 1-over 109 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Allen registered a 1-over 37 in the second round.
Dave McNabb, the head pro at Applebrook Golf Club, had already secured a trip to the Senior PGA Professional Championship by making the cut and playing four rounds in last month’s Senior PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East. McNabb finished in a tie for 63rd place with an 8-over 296 total at Fields Ranch East.
McNabb was one of six players who finished in a tie for fifth place at 2-over 110 at LedgeRock as he bounced back from an opening round of 3-over 75 with a 1-under 35 in the second round.
Two more players, Stu Ingraham, an instructor at the MGolf Range & Learning Center in Newtown Square, and Terry Hertzog of Bent Creek Country Club, were in the group at 2-over and punched their tickets to the Senior PGA Professional Championship. Three other players tied at 110 headed the list of alternates.
Good to see Ingraham playing well again. The last time Ingraham played in the Senior PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas in the fall of 2019, it was, by my unofficial count, the 38th time he had teed it up in PGA of America national event, including six appearances in the PGA Championship.
Ingraham matched McNabb’s splits at LedgeRock, adding a solid 1-under 35 in the second round to his opening round of 3-over 75. Pretty sure this will be Ingraham’s 10th trip to the Senior PGA Professional Championship.
Hertzog joined the gang of six at 2-over with a 2-under 34 in the second round after he had opened with a 4-over 76.
John Cooper of Green Valley Country Club matched par in the second round with a 36 after opening with a 2-over 74 and is the first alternate from the Philadelphia Section. Seems like most years at least a couple of the alternates from the Philadelphia Section make the field for the national Senior Club Pro.
The second alternate is Radnor Valley Country Club’s George Forster, who has made at least a dozen appearances in the Senior PGA Professional Championship. Forster matched Cooper’s splits, matching par in the second round with a 36 after opening with a 2-over 74.
Rounding out the group at 2-over was Terry Hatch of Royal Oaks Golf Course and he is the third alternate. Hatch matched par with a solid 72 in the opening round before finishing up with a 2-over 38.
Chris Krueger of Kings Creek Country Club and Overbrook Golf Club head pro Eric Kennedy finished in a tie for 11th place, each landing on 3-over 111.
Krueger, who is the fourth alternate to the Senior PGA Professional Championship, matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 3-over 38. Kennedy, who is the fifth alternate, added a 1-over 37 to his opening round of 2-over 74.
The Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship was supported by The Golf Channel and the PGA Tour.
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