36 holes were not enough to determine a winner at the 92nd MSGA Men’s Senior Amateur Championship, as Vance Welch and past champion, Tom Winegardner (2018) were tied after two rounds at Rolling Road Golf Club in Catonsville, September 8-9. Welch of Hobbit’s Glen GC, needed three more holes to earn victory along with some redemption. Eight days earlier, Welch was tied for the lead throughout most of the final round at the 76th WMGA Senior Amateur, before a bogey-triple bogey finish left him out of a playoff.
Tied at 4-over (144), Welch and Winegardner began the playoff on hole 13 and managed two-putt pars from 20 and 15 feet respectively. They tied the next hole with pars as well – Welch two-putted from 25 feet, holing a 4-foot comebacker for the second consecutive hole, while Winegardner putted from just off the green from about 15 feet leaving a short tap-in for par.
The playoff was decided on the fifteenth hole with the clubhouse overlooking the 163-yard par 3. Winegardner was first to play and left his tee shot short and right of the green. Welch’s shot landed short of the front hole location and came to rest 20 feet past the hole. Winegardner’s ball came to rest in its own pitch mark in the rough. He took relief, then chipped to eight feet and missed his bid for par. Welch converted a two-putt par and emerged as the winner.
Welch opened with an even-par 70 in his first round at “The Road” that included five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey at the difficult par-4 sixteenth. He started the final round one ahead of Drew Forrester of Eagle’s Nest CC, whose opening round 71 included four birdies, all of which he converted on his final ten holes. Winegardner, The Cannon Club, and Jim Winner, Maryland G&CC, trailed by two after opening rounds of 72.
Welch’s lead disappeared quickly. He carded bogeys on three of the first four holes, offset by an important birdie at par-4 second, when his approach shot came to rest within five feet of the hole. Winegardner and Forrester made pars on the first four holes, playing alongside Welch in the final pairing, and the three were tied heading to the fifth.
One group ahead, Jim Winner struck the shot of the tournament, when his tee shot at the 175-yard, par-3 fourth flew straight in the cup for an ace. He followed the incredible ace with a birdie that brought him to 3-under for the day and -1 for the championship. A double bogey at the par-4 sixth brought Winner back to the pack, but he still held the lead through 9 holes at (+1) over Welch (+3), Winegardner (+4) and Forrester (+5), when the final pairing made the turn.
After excellent play on the front nine, Winner struggled coming in with four bogeys and a double bogey. He managed a birdie on the back nine and posted 34-40—74 (+6) but back-to-back fives for double bogey and bogey on the final two holes left Winner two behind Welch and Winegardner and eventually tied for third with Forrester.
Welch birdied the par-3 tenth and parred holes 11 through 15. He was one shot clear of Winner in the group ahead, and two clear of Winegardner and Forrester when he walked off the fifteenth green. An errant tee shot at the challenging par-4 sixteenth led to his second double bogey on the hole for the tournament, and set up a 3 way tie between Welch, Winegardner, and Forrester approaching the 17th tee, with Winner one shot ahead before his double-bogey, bogey finish. Welch and Winegardner made par on holes 17 and 18, while Forrester bogeyed both holes. Welch and Winegardner needed to hole 3-footers on the last hole, after both were aggressive with their birdie attempts to win in regulation.
The runner-up, Winegardner, made five bogeys and three birdies en route to an opening round 72. During the final round, he played steadily and made par on every hole aside from bogeys at holes 6 and 8. He made numerous par saves from tough spots throughout his round to finish in a tie with Welch, including from over the green on hole 14, 20 yards short of the sixteenth green on the steep, treacherous approach, and from a nasty lie in the rough over the seventeenth green.
The event included several other contests:
- Super Senior (gross)
Jim Castagna, Manor CC (72-72—144) - Senior (net)
Bob Filler, Mount Pleasant GC (90-4—81)
Barry Falgout, Leisure World GC (85-4—81) - Super Senior (net)
Donald Meyer, University of Maryland GC (81-14—67)
59 players (47 senior, 12 super senior) registered to compete in the Championship (gross) division. The field was cut to the low 24 and ties, with 1/3 of the super senior gross division also making the cut. Altogether 30 players (26 senior, 4 super senior) made the cut and competed in the final round.
The Championship was originally scheduled to be at Chartwell G&CC but needed to be moved to another site on notice. Rolling Road answered the call, and the course played at 6151 yards with a par of 70 for the Championship, and 5730 yards for the Super Senior (gross and net) and Senior (net) divisions. The classic course designed by renowned Scottish architect and golf professional, Willie Park, Jr., showed its teeth despite the relatively short yardage displayed on the scorecard. Only five seniors and 3 super seniors finished better than +10 for the Championship.
Super Senior Champion, Jim Castagna
Super Senior Champion, Jim Castagna
Reported by MSGA Staff
