Chapman (Gross): Huntingdon Valley’s Whipple wins Super-Senior

 NEW HOPE, PA. — Charles Whipple of Huntingdon Valley Country Club canned a downhill 25-footer for birdie on No. 10, the first playoff hole, to best Herbert Gordon of Doylestown Country Club for the Super-Senior title in the Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup (Gross) at Jericho National Golf Club (par 72, 6,217 yards) Thursday. Both players finished regulation in a 2-over-par 74 deadlock.

   “It feels fabulous,” Whipple, 65, of Meadowbrook, Pa., said. “I didn’t think I was playing well enough to win, and then I realized I was playing well. I went home, looked at live scoring and saw there were five or six really good players in front of me [scoring well]. I lucked out. I got the win.”

  In the playoff, Whipple carried the fairway bunkers with a towering drive and knocked a wedge 100 yards to 25 feet above the flagstick. Gordon missed the green right with a wedge from 110 yards. He chipped up to six feet. Start Whipple’s fireworks.

   “One of the guys I played with this morning had a similar putt,” he said. “I knew it didn’t do much. I just hit it right at the hole. It didn’t break. I didn’t do too much thinking.”

  In regulation, Whipple relished in the morning breeze and avoided trouble throughout his round.

   “I didn’t make any mistakes,” Whipple, 65, of Meadowbrook, Pa., said. “I kept it in play and got up-and-down when I needed to.”

  Starting on the back nine, Whipple wobbled on the uphill No. 11 (par 4, 335 yards). He logged a double bogey courtesy of a lethal missed green/three-putt combination. Poor approaches also led to bogeys on Nos. 1 (par 5, 536 yards) and 16 (par 4, 383 yards). Whipple birdied two par 5s to soften the mistakes. Close chips supplemented strong 5-woods on Nos. 7 (505 yards) and 14 (524 yards).

  Playing in the afternoon, Gordon, who also started on the back nine, began with a bogey on No. 10 (par 4, 371 yards) after a three-putt from 35 feet. He dropped back to even with a birdie on No. 14 (par 5, 524 yards), sticking a wedge to eight feet. Gordon also birdied the 18th hole (par 4, 369 yards) following a 140-yard 8-iron shot to four feet. He dumped an 8-iron approach into the right greenside bunker and bogeyed No. 1 (par 5, 536 yards). Gordon followed a rousing eagle on the par 5, 505-yard No. 7 with consecutive bogeys to finished chained with Whipple atop the Super-Senior leaderboard.

  Ultimately, Gordon, 72, of Doylestown, Pa., felt fortunate to be in a position to triumph.

   “I got very lucky today,” he said.

  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. The Gross tournament, now in its seventh year, is held in his honor.

  Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 145 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.