2010-2015 Section History
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A Chronicle of the Philadelphia Section PGA and its Members by Peter C. Trenham 2010 to 2012 2010 In November Leo DeGisi was sworn in for a second three-year term as a PGA of America director. 2011 The Section celebrated its 90 th birthday and Rich Steinmetz won the Section Championship for a third time. 2012 Stu Ingraham won the Section Championship, Sr. Championship, Player-of-the-Year, points and scoring average. 2013 Harry Hammond won the PGA Bill Strausbaugh Award, Mark Sheftic was on the PGA Cup Team for a 3rd time. 2014 Lou Guzzi-teaching, Rick Kline-merchandising and Scott Nye-merchandising were honored with national awards. 2015 The Philadelphia Cricket Club hosted the PGA Professional National Championship. 2010 A new decade began with the country in a deep recession and the business of golf was in just as deep. There were more golf courses than there were golfers. Definitely, there were too many golf professionals. Some golf courses were closing which was the best for the business in general but difficult for the employees. One golf writer stated that for the first time more golfers were on waiting lists to get out of clubs in the United States that there were waiting to get into clubs. In January the PGA made some changes to the apprentice program. One of those was that all applicants to the apprentice program would have to complete three online courses and pass a knowledge course before being al- lowed to register in the program. In February Jeff Kiddie, who was now the professional at the Aronimink Golf Club hosted a Section educa- tion seminar. The seminar featured the Stack and Tilt golf swing method and its founders Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett. More than 100 Section members and apprentices were in attendance. Some were there to learn how to teach this new method to their golfers and some were there to try and incorporate it into their own games. As usual the seminars on golf instruction always drew the largest turnout. In the third week of March Lancaster County’s Jim Furyk won the Transitions Championship at the Innis- brook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. The tournament was played on the resort’s 7,340-yard Copperhead Course. In spite of the length it was a course that required ball control which suited Furyk’s game. With rounds of 67, 68 and 67 he teed off in the final round with a three stroke lead over K.J. Choi. Choi proceeded to make birdies on four of the first six holes, which put him in a tie with Furyk. In the last round Furyk made six birdies but he also made four bogies. One of the bogies came on the 72 nd hole. Playing the par-four last hole with a two stroke lead Furyk drove into the trees on the right side, shanked a long-iron second shot, put his next shot on the green and two putted for a one stroke victory. His 69 gave him a winning total of thirteen-under-par 271. It was Furyk’s fourteenth win on the PGA Tour. Choi finished second at 272. Bubba Watson was third at 273 and Nick Watney finished fourth at 275. There was a lengthy rain delay during the last round and play didn’t finish until 7:30. First prize was $972,000. The Section’s spring meeting was held at the Radnor Valley Country Club on the fifth Monday of March. The Section had 708 members and 154 apprentices which were employed at 590 golf fa- George Forster, Sr. cilities. Valley Country Club professional Clark Luis gave his usual 2010 “Golf Professional of the Year” 1 powerful rendition of our national anthem. There were the usual reports from the various officers and committee chairmen. The Section’s executive director Geoff Surrette reported that the Section’s reserve fund was now val- ued at $511,800. The budgeted income for the year was $1,500,000 and the budgeted expenses were $1,475,000. Concord Country Club professional Mike Moses, the director of tournaments, announced that the “one ball rule” which had been in effect since the introduction of the solid golf ball, was being removed from the Section’s rule sheet. The tournament committee had decided that the golf balls were all so similar now that the rule was no longer necessary. Another rule was that all communication devices were not allowed during tournament rounds. That included use by the caddies. If a device was turned on it was considered to be in use. The Section’s instruc- tion committee chairman Lou Guzzi, announced that the Section now had a website titled “The Lesson Tee”. It could be found on the Section’s website under the “Guide to Golf” button. Guzzi managed a golf academy at the Talamore Golf Club. The Section’s 2009 “Teacher of the Year” Elizabeth Granahan was honored. She was the golf instructor and operator of three GolfTEC facilities in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. Radnor Valley Country Club professional George Forster, Sr. was honored as the Section’s 2010 “PGA Golf Professional of the Year”. Forster had been the professional at Radnor Valley for seventeen years. He won the 1999 Philadelphia PGA Championship and in 2001 he won the Section’s match play championship. In 2008 Forster won the Sec- tion’s senior championship and beginning with 2006 he was the Section’s senior player of the year for four years. He had served on several Section committees, which included the tournament committee. Forster volunteered as a “Buddy” in the Variety Club program. He had hosted numerous Section events at Radnor Valley and supported the Section’s pro-ams by participating in more than 150 of them. The Masters Tournament was played at the Augusta National Golf Club in the first full week of April as it had been for many years. As usual it was another exciting tournament. The weather was good and the scoring in spite of what was now a long golf course was torrid. There were 34 eagles made and 87 sub-par rounds. Phil Mickelson who was no stranger to success at August began the tournament with a 67 and a 71 which left him two shots off the pace. On Saturday Mickelson put together an eagle-eagle-birdie stretch on holes 13, 14 and 15 for a 67 but he still trailed the tournament leader Lee Westwood by one stroke. On Sunday Mickelson shot a bogey-free 67 which featured an eagle on the 13 th hole after having driven into the pine trees on the right side. When it was all over Mickelson was in with a sixteen-under-par 272 and three stokes in front of the field. It was his third Masters vic- tory. Lee Westwood finished second at 275 and Anthony Kim was third with a 276. Tiger Woods and K.J. Choi tied for fourth with 277 totals. Sean O’Hair tied for 30 th at 291 and won $45,563. Jim Furyk missed the cut. First prize was $1,350,000. O’Hair and Furyk were in the tournament as winners on certain designated tournaments on the PGA Tour during the previous 12 months and for being in the top 30 money winners on the PGA Tour in 2009. Jim Furyk missed the cut at the Masters Tournament but the next week he won the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head, South Carolina. The tournament was once again hosted by the Harbour Town Golf Links in the third week of April. Furyk opened with a 67 and a 68 to lead by one stroke at the halfway point. Another 67 in the third round kept him one stroke in front of the field. On Sunday Furyk put together a steady 69 but when Brian Davis (68-69-66-68) made a birdie on the 72 nd hole they were deadlocked and a playoff was needed to determine a winner. The two players returned to the par four 18 th tee for a sudden-death playoff. Furyk was on in two but Davis’ second shot bounced off the left edge of the green into the wetlands. In playing his third shot Davis’ club head moved an unattached reed during his backswing. He asked the rules official for a ruling. After checking the television replays it was determined that his backswing had moved a loose im- pediment in the hazard. The penalty was two strokes. Davis played one more stroke and picked up. Furyk two putted for a par and the victory. Their 13- under-par 271s were three strokes better than anyone else. Bo Van Pelt and Luke Donald tied for second with 274s. First prize was $1,026,000. Lewisburg’s Jason Bohn captured his second PGA Tour title in the fourth week of April at the Zurich Classic. The tournament was played on the 7,399 yard TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana. Bohn put five injury filled years behind him with the victory. He had two broken ribs in 2007 and in 2008 he had Jason Bohn three back surgeries which confined him to bed for a month. The PGA Tour’s 2 Wins on the PGA Tour 2 medical exemptions had made it possible for him to return to the tour. Bohn led from wire to wire with rounds of 65, 67, 71 and 67. Due to weather delays in the earlier rounds he had to play 30 holes on Sunday but he was not to be denied.