Round 2
Tom Winegardner, from Old South Country Club, highlighted his closing round with an eagle, and went on to capture the 90th Seniors championship of the Maryland State Golf Association at Talbot Country Club in Easton, September 13. He finished the two-day, 36-hole test with 68-75 and a 1-under-par 143.
The champion was solid for the two rounds, tee to green, but struggled on the greens. He reached the surfaces in regulation on 33 of the 36 holes, but, among other things, included three 3-putts in his final round.
He wasn’t the only one to have problems, though, as eight of the top 12 first-day scorers ended with marks of 77-78-79.
As a result, Kevin Allis, of Hobbit’s Glen GC in Columbia, was able to vault into second place with the low round of the day and scores of 74-71–145. He said he hit the ball solidly, but admitted to “a couple of bad bogeys on 9 and 10,” which, as it developed, proved costly. Lee Flemister, University of Maryland GC, who was fighting an illness, still placed in the top five for the fourth straight year (he was runner-up in 2015), claiming third with 74-72–146. Of that top 12, Tom Grem, Hunt Valley GC, rounded out the group with 74-74–148, and a tie for fifth.
Although rain was in the forecast and a distinct possibility for both days, what little there was did not hamper play under cloudy skies, with temperatures in the low 80’s. The course was played at 6,444 yards to a par of 36-36–72. A first-day cut to the low 24 and ties ended with 25 players at 77 and better advancing to the final round.
Winegardner, 57, a Lothian resident, had his only sub-par hole at the 488-yard, par-5 14th, where he hit driver and a 225-yard rescue club to 12 feet. The effort came in a stretch about which he said, “My game is as good as it’s been in a long time.”
In July, he was the medalist in a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Senior Amateur, and two weeks ago, at the Eugene (Ore.) CC, he qualified for the 64-man match-play bracket out of a playoff, then lost in the first round. “I took a 10 on my sixth hole of the first day of qualifying, but I played pretty well after that,” he said. He shot 80-72 to get into the playoff.
Will Shanahan,III, who has compiled a legendary career as a member of the host club, won the Super Senior title in a runaway, posting 70-73–143. His closest challengers were Jim Castagna, Manor CC, and George Marin, Hayfields CC, at 151.
The victor took a three-stroke lead into the second round, but gave it all away with bogeys and a double-bogey in the first four holes. From there, he was solid, and four birdies got him back to even, before failing to get up-and-down for par at the 18th
“It was a struggle at first,” said Shanahan, 67, who suffers from arthritis. “I usually don’t play in the morning, and this time I just kind of nursed it until it got better as I went along. For the first day, I had a late time and that helped.”
A building contractor, he is still working, but there is not too much competitive golf, although he said he still plays in the “A” team matches.
Talk bout competitive, Shanahan has won 21 men’s club championships in six decades and still remembers being medalist in a MSGA Amateur when it was at Talbot in 1978. He lost to Wayne DeFrancisco in the second round. He also recalled his ability to drive a golf ball. In one National Long Drive contest, in 1982 when it was part of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills CC, in Tulsa, Okla. he was 11th among 36 starters with a drive of 338 yards, probably equal to about 400 yards with today’s equipment.
Speaking of his club championships, Shanahan kind of wistfully wondered about the 2020’s and whether he could win in a seventh decade.
“Right now the brain is willing, but the body isn’t.”
Super Senior Division Champion William Shannahna, III of Talbot CC
Round 1
Tom Winegardner, from Old South Country Club, in the midst of a solid golfing campaign, took one more step, September 12, at Talbot CC in Easton, when he fired a 4-under-par 33-35–68 to take a one-stroke lead in the first round of the 90th Seniors championship of the Maryland State Golf Association.
Winegardner, who qualified for last month’s U.S. Senior championship when he led a sectional qualifying field at the Elkridge Club in Baltimore, started on the back nine and birdied two of the last four holes to turn in 35. He saved his best for a late rush when he dipped 4-under with birdies at his final three holes (Nos. 7-8-9) to close out a round of 33-35 against a par of 36-36.
For the round, the Lothian resident finished with six birdies, two bogeys. He hit every fairway and every green on the back nine, then went on to finish 17-of-18 in greens reached and ended with 31 putts, including one three-putt. ” I really played solid,” the leader said. The Talbot County course was played at 6,444 yards.
With the field of 60 trimmed to the low 24 and ties, 25 players at 77 and better will play the final scheduled round, September 13. Tee times, all from No. 1, will be between 8 a.m. and 9:40 a.m.
Pete Hiskey, from the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Club, almost matched Winegardner’s round, finishing 34-35–69, with five birdies, two bogeys. Marc Ehudin, Norbeck CC, shot the back in 2-under to end on 71, followed by Talbot CC member Steve Ford, who was in the same threesome with Ehudin, at 72. Two-time titleholder John Howson (2014-15), from Hayfields CC, also posted 72.
Two of the three former champions in the field survived the cut, as Tom Grem (2016), Hunt Valley GC, joined Howson in this distinction.
Another Talbot CC member, Will Shanahan, III, tops the Super Senior (65-over) division with 34-36-70, a tour that included five birdies, three bogeys. George Marin, Hayfields CC, carded a 74, followed by Jim Castagna, Manor CC, and Ibo Levent, from Bretton Woods Recreation Center, at 75, and Dick Ham, Old South CC; Paul Dillon, Congressional CC, and Barry Flaer, a former division runner-up from Maryland National GC, all at 76. The starting group of 17 was cut to seven and all played the course at 6,010 yards.
In the one-day net division, Rick Slaten, from TPC Avenel, was low with 85-18-67, backed by Matt Neitzey, Glenn Dale GC, 78-9-69, and Sam Woods, from Mount Pleasant GC, 78-8-70. Among the Super Seniors (65-over), Joe Smith, from Timbers at Troy, was low with 79-9-70, followed by James Boyd, The Courses at Andrews AFB, 80-9-71, while John Newman, U.S. Naval Academy, 83-10-73, and Harry Rieckelman, 86-13-73, tied for third.
Notes — Dicky Smith, Glenriddle GC, returned a card of 34-35–69, but withdrew later because of a death in the family. . .John Vollmer opened with a 2-over 38 on the back side, then recorded four front-9 birdies to finish at 1-under 71.
Reported by John Stewart
