Overbrook GC’s Thompson tops Senior leaderboard; looks for sweep

  PAOLI, Pa.–Ray Thompson of Overbrook GC moved to within a round of sweeping all three Golf Association of Philadelphia Senior Major tournaments after opening the 37^th Senior Amateur Championship on Wednesday at Waynesborough CC (par 71, 6,625 yards) in 1-under-par 70. The 55-year-old, who already holds the organization’s 2007 Warner Cup and Chapman Cup titles, is looking to become the first individual in the Association’s history to possess all three titles simultaneously.

 The Warner Cup is the oldest of the Championships, dating back to 1933.

  Thompson begins the Senior Amateur’s second and final round three strokes clear of his nearest pursuers, Ed Chylinski of Chester Valley GC; Hugh Kenworthy, III of Gulph Mills GC and Frank Treml of Sandy Run CC. A field of 122 players started the day.

  The final group of Chylinski, Kenworthy and Thompson will begin their final 18 holes at 1:20 p.m. tomorrow. Second-round tee times begin at 7:30 a.m.

  The red-hot Thompson, who also captured the State Senior Amateur Championship as well as his 10^th Overbrook GC Club Championship in the past couple of weeks, opened in style on Wednesday.

 Was it going to be a round to remember?

  “It crossed my mind but I was probably getting ahead of myself,” said Thompson, when asked if he thought this was going to be a really low round after such a fantastic beginning. “That was probably a mistake. I’m always looking to make a statement but I’m not sure it always works out that way.”

  A pair of three-putt bogeys on Nos. 6 (par 3, 199 yards) and 11 (par 4, 397 yards) followed but Thompson righted the ship on No. 12 (par 4, 335 yards) with a sand wedge from 47 yards to 15 feet for birdie.

  That was just the start of Thompson’s adventurous back nine. A side in which he carded four bogeys, three birdies and only two pars.

  “It is what it is,” said Thompson.

  He bogeyed No. 13 (par 4, 396 yards) when he failed to get up-and-down from the left greenside rough but followed with another birdie on No. 14 (par 3, 147 yards) with a 9-iron to three feet. Two more bogeys followed as a result of two poor approach shots, but Thompson responded with a birdie on No. 17 (par 3, 176 yards) with a 7-iron to three feet.

  “Everyone would like to take it as low as they can,” said Thompson, who carded the day’s lone under-par round. “I wasn’t just trying to guide it around, I was looking to go it as low as I could.”

  Treml, like the others, knows overtaking Thompson will be a daunting task tomorrow.

  “I’ll just play my own game,” said Treml, 58, of Skippack, Pa. “He deserves everything he’s getting.”

  Chylinski, 57, is from King of Prussia, Pa., and Kenworthy, 60, is a resident of Newtown Square, Pa.

  The Senior Amateur also serves as the final two rounds of the Senior Silver Cross (the aggregate score in the Warner Cup, Chapman Cup and Senior Amateur). Thompson holds an overwhelming 11-shot lead in that competition.

  David Brookreson of Huntingdon Valley CC has captured all three prior Senior Silver Cross titles. Brookreson, however, who qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur at Flint Hills National GC in Andover, Kan., starting on Sept. 1, is not competing in this year’s Senior Amateur due to that competition.

Super-Senior Division
  Robert Proto of Little Mill CC carded an even-par 71 (6,038 yards) and holds a two-shot advantage on Jay Howson, Jr., of St. Davids GC and Joseph Scott, Jr., of Kennett Square G&CC. Proto birdied his final hole to secure the top spot as he looks for his first Super-Senior Division title.

  The 69-year-old resident of Medford, N.J., is a past Senior Amateur Championship titleholder, though. He took that crown in 2001.

  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 135 Member Clubs and 60,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The purpose of the Association is simple: To promote, protect and preserve the game of golf in the region.