20th Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup Super Senior: White Manor

Donatoni adds to GAP and White Manor legacies

MALVERN, Pa. – Just six days ago, Don Donatoni wasn’t sure if golf would be part of his life anymore.

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If you know anything about Donatoni, losing golf would be cataclysmic. 

Donatoni’s back pain levels reached excruciating levels to where he needed to go to the emergency room. Surgery was on the table. But he needed relief. 

“I have had a lumbar spine problem that flared up last week,” Donatoni said. “I went to the emergency room and saw a surgeon last Tuesday. He told me my condition was my spine moved to a point where one of my bones was impinging on a nerve. The pain was excruciating. I got an epidural injection on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday, I couldn’t walk without pain.”

Facing a three-day invitational at Fox Hill Country Club with his son A.J. and the Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup Super Senior over four consecutive days, Donatoni was prepared to withdraw from both. A.J. convinced him to give the former a go since they were defending champions.

Donatoni cured all ails Monday at a place he knows better than anyone. He carded a 4-under-par 67 to claim the 20th Chapman Cup Super Senior at White Manor Country Club (par 71, 5,950 yards), his home of 43 years.

His victory ends a drought of more than two years. His last victory came in the 2022 Super-Senior Amateur at Coatesville Country Club.

“It is just a terrific feeling,” Donatoni, 77, of West Chester, Pa., said. “I’ve been playing a lot of national events and senior events and I haven’t done my best in GAP events the last couple years or so. I had low expectations coming into today even with my track record at White Manor. It is exciting to be back in the winner’s circle in GAP.”

As Donatoni entered the parking lot for the first time not being a member, his mind started to race. What would a win at what used to be his second home mean? What would it take to accomplish it?

“This past year we moved into the Hershey’s Mill community,” Donatoni, of Hershey’s Mill Golf Club, said. “I love it there and the membership has welcomed me. But I did sort of miss White Manor. The club meant so much to me. It was really hard to leave. The hardest thing to do in golf is to win when you are expected to. That was on my mind a lot today. I just wanted to shoot a respectable round.

“When you play your home golf course, you have a certain comfort level. You know where to hit the ball. You know where not to hit it. You have a familiarity with the break of the greens. I made every single putt I needed to make.”

His ailing putter found its cure as well. Familiarity.

Donatoni, playing in the last group of the day off the front nine, rolled in a 4-footer to get to red figures on the opener (par 4, 384 yards). He’d give it right back on No. 2 (par 4, 353 yards). It would be the last mistake of his round.

A pitching wedge from 115 yards to 2 feet on No. 4 (par 4, 341 yards) would begin a trend of even-numbered-hole red figures on the front. He’d can a 30-footer for a birdie on No. 6 (par 5, 512 yards). 

A near-ace birdie on No. 8 (par 3, 111 yards) got him to 3 under. The ball hung on the front lip. Eight consecutive pars put him well ahead of the field until Overbrook’s Oscar Mestre took the clubhouse lead with a 69. Heading to No. 17 (par 5, 505 yards) he had a one-shot lead with two holes to play.

Playing it as a three-shot hole, Donatoni relied on his 50-degree wedge from 95 yards to four feet to give him the relief he needed heading down the last (par 4, 342 yards). A savvy save on a 50-footer from the fringe that broke about 10 feet pushed him back to where he belongs. In the winner’s circle.

This victory is Donatoni’s 18th GAP Super-Senior Major. It is his fifth Super Senior Chapman Cup (2013, 2015-16, 2019) title.

“So even if I have had a hiatus for a year or two, to win another one validates that I am still a decent player,” Donatoni, a nine-time Super Senior Player of the Year, said. “It shows when the chips are down, I can get the job done. Who knows if this will be the last one. I enjoy the competitive nature of the game and the camaraderie of the guys. I understand my window of high-level competition is shrinking. So while it is still open I am still going to give golf my best shot. The hugs and handshakes I got after I won from guys who are great players was awesome. That is what makes everything so special.”

Super-Senior Silver Cross Update – With just two rounds to go, Donatoni and David West of Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association are deadlocked at 2-under-par 141. West won the Warner Cup Super Senior with a 70 and backed it up with a 71. Donatoni fired a 74 in the Warner in addition to his 67 in the Chapman. The Super-Senior Amateur Championship Sept. 23-24 at Bala Golf Club represents the final two rounds that comprise the award.

Frank H. Chapman, a Whitemarsh Valley Country Club member, served as the Association’s secretary-treasurer for 23 years. He died on June 7, 1955 at the age of 88. It is held in his honor.

To meet the needs of its members, GAP separated a Super-Senior Division from its traditional Chapman Cup counterpart.

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 130,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.