White Manor’s Wood walks away with Spring Net crown

 ROYERSFORD, Pa.- After a recent knee-replacement surgery, David Wood of White Manor Country Club proved to himself that all of the hard work and rehabilitation was worth it. Wood walked away from the Tee It Forward — Spring Net Championship at Spring Ford Country Club on Thursday with the winning hardware, a personal-best on his scorecard, and most importantly, a healthy left knee. | Scorecards | History |

  Wood, playing from the white tees (par 72, 6,267 yards), broke 80 for the first time en route to 45 stableford points and his first victory in a Golf Association of Philadelphia event. He collected 13 gross pars on the autumn-like day, which helped propel him to the top of a 46-player leaderboard.

  “My knee was replaced in early December and then it had complications. In February, I went back in and I started feeling good after that. For five or six years, it was nothing but bone on bone. I couldn’t even finish rounds,” Wood recalled. “But I’m totally healthy now. My scores are really coming down and soon my handicap will too.”

  The Glen Mills, Pa. resident was the master of par 3s at Spring Ford, paring all four of them on Thursday with solid iron play and timely putting.

  No. 15 (par 5, 485 yards) proved to be another highlight of Wood’s round. After a drive that ended up in the trees off the tee, he punched out into a bunker across the fairway. Wood played it safe out of the fairway bunker, then placed a sand wedge behind the hole. He jarred the 15-footer for a crucial par save, and finished his remaining three holes with consistency and bogey-free numbers.

  “I’ve never putted like I have today. To save pars, to save bogeys, to save double bogeys … you name it,” said the 46-year-old. “When I got in trouble, I made putts to stop the bleeding.”

  Due to his knee injury, Wood was forced to take a hiatus from his coaching position on the University of Pennsylvania’s football team, where he had been on staff for the last five years. Prior to UPenn, he was the head coach at Widener University. The recent time away from football has not only allowed Wood to spend more time with his four children, but also more time to spend on his golf swing.

  “I’ve been playing with a bunch of guys on Wednesdays at White Manor, which has helped me really gain confidence in getting down thru the ball with my driver and long irons. When I first came back from my injury, probably my first five to 10 rounds, I was real cautious on going down on my wedges and long irons and kept leaving everything right,” Wood said. “This confidence I’ve gotten back is helping me find consistency again.”

  The Spring Net Championship, formerly known as the First Handicap Tournament, is open to players 18 years of age and older with handicap index less than 36.0. The event began in 1946. The Association adopted the Tee It Forward parameters in 2012. It also changed the scoring format to net stableford.

  The Tee It Forward initiative encourages golfers to play the course at a length that is aligned with their average driving distance.

Golf Association of Philadelphia
  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 151 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.