3rd Net Championship

Picture perfect: Makefield’s Murray wins at Whitford

EXTON, Pa. — As a Philadelphia Inquirer photographer of 36 years, Clem Murray is an expert behind the lens. On Monday at Whitford Country Club (par 72, 5,899 yards), he flipped to front and center.

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Murray posted 41 points to win the Men’s Division in the 3^rd Net Championship. The Makefield Highlands Golf Club member inked a career-best 4-over-par 40 on his outward tour to ultimately fortify victory.

“That’s the best I ever shot. It was unbelievable,” Murray, 69, of Newtown, Pa., said. “On the front nine, everything was in sync: my drives, my approaches. I one-putted on three holes. I was just in sync. It was crazy.”

The venue prompted Murray’s participation Monday. Safe to say he and Whitford hit it off. Murray left the property with a trophy to his name. A special memory in a sport he’s loved since the age of 7, a sport he’s truly reconnected with since retirement in 2017.

Moreover, golf is Murray’s grace in the wake of physical trials. He underwent dual knee replacement in Jan. 2021. Five days after Thanksgiving a year ago, Murray went under the knife for a right shoulder replacement.

“Everybody said, ‘You’ll know when you want to have the surgery because it will just be too painful.’ And it was,” Murray said. “It’s difficult because with a shoulder, you have to keep your arm in place, in a sling for six weeks. With knees and hips, you have to start using them right away. So, I was going crazy with my shoulder in this stupid sling against my body. Once I was able to start moving it, I did physical therapy. I started playing golf in March.”

Upon his return to the golf course, Murray wasn’t happy. Sure, he felt lucky to be playing the game again. But the returns left agitation. Plenty of “Jesus” exclamations, Murray’s go-to when a bad shot occurs.

Enter Brad Shade of Baylinks® Golf, an indoor golf center in Newtown, Pa. Murray took lessons with Shade, which instrumentally improved his golf game.

“I didn’t put a whole lot of mental stock into [my recovery]. The doctors said I would be doing fine,” Murray said. “I went skiing a year after my knee replacements. The doctor said after three or four months, you’ll be able to go out on the golf course and hit. I took them at their word, and I didn’t seem to be hitting better shots, which is why I went to Brad Shade.”

Nothing suspicious about the golf shots Murray executed at Whitford. Maybe Nos. 12 (par 5, 431 yards), 14 (par 4, 339 yards) and 16 (par 5, 482 yards) beg to differ. Hello, double bogeys. But by day’s end, Murray, who captured priceless golf images during the Philadelphia Open Championship at Pine Valley Golf Club in 2012 and U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in 2013, emerged as the lasting snapshot.

“I retired [from the Philadelphia Inquirer] Dec. 31, 2017. The Eagles/Cowboys game [in Week 17] was my last shoot,” Murray said. “They went on to win the Super Bowl. I didn’t get to go.”

Murray does travel nowadays. Hawaii, Europe, Mexico. He and wife Susan Sampson, whom he paired with Monday at Whitford, will take a trip to Spain in October. In addition to traveling, the two enjoy golf and boating on their 23-foot runabout.  

“My wife and I are a second act. We both lost our first spouses to cancer and amyloidosis when they were in their 50s,” Murray said. “We have five kids between us and four grandchildren. [I enjoy] taking pictures of the grandchildren.”

“He’s still editing pictures. A lot of nights, he’s still editing,” Sampson, 67, of Newtown, Pa., added.

Murray smiles. Once a photographer, always a photographer.

“I’ll tell our friends, ‘If you have any pictures you need me to edit, I’ll do it.’” Murray said.

Plenty of Whitford polaroids. Zero editing required.

Women’s Division
Friends can be persuasive.

Karen Hazleton and Joanne Vansaun convinced Rose Senunas to compete in her first GAP event. 

“They said that I’ve just got to try,” Senunas, 64, of Hanover Township, Pa., said. “You come into something like this, and I was nervous. I had never done it before. I didn’t know what to expect.”

A victory exceeded her expectations. Senunas, a Wyoming Valley Country Club member, bested Tracey MacGown of Saucon Valley Country Club, a GAP Executive Committee member, in a scorecard playoff to win the Women’s Division (par 72, 4,921 yards). Both posted 36 stableford points. Using the USGA-recommended tiebreaking method, which starts with back nine scores, Senunas accrued 20 points, MacGown 17.

A birdie on the par 4, 295-yard 14^th hole proved the difference. Senunas hit a 6-iron to three feet. She is co-owner of Senunas’ Bar & Grill, located on Kings College campus in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She also owns a hairdressing company.

“I thought I played really well today. The course was super nice,” Senunas said.

See what happens when friends tell their friends to play in the Net Championship?

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 110,000 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.