Ingraham fires 67 to take Skee Riegel Senior Open

   As recently as 2012, Stu Ingraham, the golf instructor at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, was the best player in the Philadelphia Section PGA, regardless of age.

   So when Ingraham tees it up with his fellow senior pros, as he did Thursday in the Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Open at Radnor Valley Country Club, he can be tough to beat.

   Ingraham carded six birdies, including three in a row on 11, 12 and 13 at the 6,300-yard, par-70 Radnor Valley layout for a 3-under 67 that gave him  a one-shot victory over Rob Shuey and Don DeAngelis of Center Square Golf Club.

   The event is named in honor of Riegel, whom the Daily Times named Delco’s golfer of the millennium in a series looking back at the great sports figures of the 20^th century in 1999.

    Radnor Valley head pro George Forster, one of only two club pros to make the cut at the 2013 U.S. Senior Open at the Omaha Country Club, used a little home-course advantage to earn a share of fourth at even-par 70 with Greg Farrow of Deerwood C.C.

   Concord Country Club head pro Mike Moses and John Allen of the Main Line GolfTEC were among five players tied for 10^th at 2-over 72. Linwood native Ed Dougherty, who owns two Champions Tour titles and who won more then $6 million on the senior circuit, finished 15^th with a 3-over 73.

   Craig Susalka of Edgmont Country Club finished in a tie for 22^nd at 76 and Frank Palumbo of Rolling Green Golf Club finished 29^th at 78.

Kania passes U.S. Open qualifying test

   Michael Kania, a two-time Haverford School All-Delco and a year removed from an outstanding career on the Villanova golf team, took the first step toward a possible appearance in the U.S. Open next month at the famed No. 2 course at the Pinehurst Resort.

   Kania fired a 1-over 73 in windy conditions over the 7,009-yard, par-72 Hidden Creek Golf Club layout Monday to earn one of just six coveted tickets to golf’s longest day June 2, U.S. Open sectional qualifying at sites all around the country.

   Kania, part of the deep pool of talent at Overbrook Golf Club, survived a four-man playoff for the final three available berths after finishing in a tie for third.

   Alexander Hicks, runnerup to Michael McDermott in the Philadelphia Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club last summer, shared medalist honors with Jose Garrido, coach of Columbia’s national team. Both fired 2-under rounds of 70. A little shore golf didn’t bother Hicks, coming off his junior season at William & Mary, as he is based at Wildwood Golf & Country Club.

   Third place went to Michael Johnson, who just completed his senior campaign on the La Salle golf team. Johnson, who lost out in playoff in local qualifying at Applebrook Golf Club a year ago, matched par with a 72.

   I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m guessing Michael Kania might be among the Overbrook players teeing it up Saturday as the title in the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) Team Matches is decided.

   Overbrook will battle it out with Aronimink, once a perennial contender for this title getting a shot at it again after a long absence, Little Mill Country Club and defending champion Philadelphia Cricket Club. The Cricket Club won the Team Matches for the first time a year ago when it got the clinching point from reigning Daily Times Player of the Year Cole Berman, who was finishing up his junior year at The Haverford School at the time.

   Overbrook is coming off a sterling 37.5-16.5 victory over Glenmaura National Golf Club that earned it a spot in the four-way AA shootout.

   Oscar Mestre, Overbrook’s 54-year-old captain, teamed with Mark Endres, a two-time All-Delco at Radnor and a member of the Raiders’ 2006 PIAA championship team, to shoot 5-under in their better-ball match to win 1-up.

   The ageless Thompson brothers, Andy and Ray, several decades removed from their days as Central League standouts at Marple Newtown, are still players Overbrook can count on in these matches.

   “Andy and Ray shot 4-under better-ball and halved their match,” Mestre told the GAP website. “We came out on the winning end, but it was just great competition.”

   Aronimink earned its ticket into Saturday’s playoff with a 30-24 victory over Yardley Country Club.

   “We felt really good about our chances coming into this year,” Aronimink captain Jeff Fialko told the GAP website. “We started the process of lining up our team for this year’s matches during the winter months. We were able to field very competitive teams in each of our matches this year by leveraging the play of our young guns like Joe Fabrizio, Dan Bernard and Chris Ford with that of our veterans like Doug Schroer and Charlie Bernard.”

Kim takes girls title in Elite event at the Shore

   Radnor freshman Gabby Kim had another strong showing in winning the girls division at a Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour Elite Tour event over the weekend at Sand Barrens Golf Club at the Jersey Shore.

   The Elite Tour event had just one boys division and one girls division with youngsters ages 13 to 18 all competing against each other.  There was a qualifying event and boys had to have at least a 79 or better and girls at least an 89 or better in a Junior Tour event just to have a chance to qualify for the two-day, 36-hole tourney at Sand Barrens.

   Kim found herself trailing Chichester freshman Caprian Kan following Saturday’s opening round as Kan posted a solid 81 over the 5,815-yard, par-72 Sand Barrens layout to Kim’s 84.

But Kim backed up her 84 with an 85 in the second round and her 169 total left her two shots clear of Kan and Tiya Chowdary of Montgomery, N.J. Kan fell back with a second-round 90, but still had a nice showing with a 171 total.

   On the boys side, Methacton’s Kyle Vance, the Class AAA District One champion as a freshman last fall, had rounds of 74 and 79 for a 153 total that gave him the title.

   He finished a shot better than three players who shared second at 154, including older brother Brandon, a senior at Methacton who had a pair of 77s. The Vance brothers led Methacton to a dominating victory in the District One Class AAA team chase last fall. Also tied for second were Spring-Ford junior Matt Keim (78-76) and Jake Niedosik (79-75) of Lansdale.

   John Updike of Wayne was the youngest player (Class of 2019) to complete both rounds and had an outstanding showing with rounds of 80 and 77 for a 157 total that left him alone in seventh place.

Jaster, Hargrove shine at Ivy League tourney

   Scott Jaster was a man of few words while earning All-Delco honors three times during his illustrious career at The Haverford School. He let his golf clubs do the talking for him on the course.

   A member of a strong freshman class at Dartmouth that included former Inter-Ac League rival Sean Fahey of Episcopal Academy, Jaster had his moments in his rookie year.

   But in classic Scott Jaster fashion, he saved his best for when it mattered most.

   At last month’s Ivy League Tournament, Jaster opened with a sparkling even-par 70 over Baltursol Golf Club’s 6,996-yard Lower Course layout, which has been the site of several U.S. Opens and the 2005 PGA Championship.

   Jaster added rounds of 75 and 77 for a 12-over 222 that landed him in eighth place and helped the Big Green finish sixth at 913. The final round was a battle as Jaster offset four bogeys and a double bogey with a birdie on the outward nine. He settled down to par the first seven holes on the back before bogeys at the final two holes left him with a 77.

   Jaster’s big finish earned him a spot on the all-Ivy League second team.

   The future is bright for Dartmouth as Jaster led a trio of freshmen as the Big Green’s top finishers. Jeffrey Lang (78-76-76—230) finished in a tie for 21^st and Fahey (74-79-78—231) was another shot back of Lang in a tie for 24^th. Junior Charlie Edler had the Big Green’s best score of the final round as he posted a 75 to go with earlier rounds of 77 and 80 for a 235 total that left him in a tie for 32^nd.

Dartmouth had rounds of 299, 308 and 306 for a 913 total.

   Jaster, however, was not the low Haverford School finisher in the field. Brown senior Nelson Hargrove took that honor as he played brilliantly with rounds of 70, 72 and 73 for a 5-over 215 total that left him in a tie for first with Harvard’s Theodore Lederhausen (72-72-71).

   A par by Lederhausen on the first hole of a playoff gave him the title. But it was a spectacular finish to his career at Brown for Hargrove, who made the all-Ivy first team.

   Hargrove’s heroics led Brown to a fifth-place finish in the team standings at 908, five shots better than Dartmouth.

   Greg Jarmas, the 2009 PIAA runnerup as a senior at Lower Merion, capped off his career at Princeton with a brilliant 1-under 69 in the final round. Combined with earlier rounds of 76 and 78, Jarmas finished in a tie for ninth at 223. He joined Jaster on the all-Ivy second team.

   Jarmas’ final round enabled the Tigers to jump up three places and finish fourth at 905, three shots ahead of Brown.

   Columbia, led by Brandon Jowers (74-69-75—218, fourth) and Harrison Shih (77-70-73—220, tied for fifth) ran away with the team title at 881. Yale was 12 shots back in second at 893 and Lederhausen and Harvard were third at 895.

Sheftic second in Philadelphia Section PGA opener

   The Philadelphia Section PGA kicked off its 2014 campaign with the Callaway Golf TPD Championship Monday at a new site, Waynesborough Country Club in Easttown Township below Paoli.

   The format was modified Stableford scoring, always a nice change of pace with one point for par, three for a birdie, six for an eagle, nine for a double eagle and minus a point for a bogey or worse. The format encourages a player to really go for birdies or better to try to pile up some points.

   Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club, did just that as he had six birdies against two bogeys and his 26 points had him in the lead most of the day.

   But Philadelphia Country Club’s Mark Sommerville used five birdies and an eagle to offset two bogeys and take the top prize with 29 points.

   Stu Ingraham, the ageless teaching pro at M Golf Range in Newtown Square, easily topped the senior division with 24 points, a total that left him in a tie for third overall.

   Among some of the other top finishers were: Tony Perla of Radnor Valley Country Club, tied for fifth with 22 points; Overbrook Golf Club’s Eric Kennedy and Rolling Green Golf Club’s Michael Little, tied for ninth with 20 points; Aronimink Golf Club’s Bryan Kienke, 15^th with 19 points; Aronimink head of instruction Jeff Kiddie, tied for 16^th with 18 points; Radnor Valley head pro George Forster and Ben Debski of The Springhaven Club, tied for 29^th with 16 points; Aronimink’s Patrick Clark, tied for 40^th with 14 points; and Aronimink’s Nick Knight and Anthony Napaoletano of GolfTEC in King of Prussia, tied for 48^th with 12 points.