Overbrook’s Lange takes Senior; Frank McFadden grabs Sr. Silver Cross

  PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.–A relentless gusting wind and treacherous putting greens turned Wednesday’s 40th Senior Amateur Championship into the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s version of Survivor: Sunnybrook GC (par 72, 6,605 yards) style. When it was over, senior rookie and amateur icon Chris Lange of Overbrook GC emerged from a compact leaderboard with a one-stroke victory over clubmate and brother-in-law Frank McFadden. Lange posted a second-round 74 for a two-day total of 3-over 147 to outplay the strong Senior field.

  “Today was very challenging. The wind was really moving the golf ball. You were going to hit some good shots and not be rewarded,” said Lange, 55, of Bryn Mawr, Pa. “It was really a day when you had to hang in. If you’re putting defensive, these greens own you.”

  The tournament turned into a wild scramble over the final three holes as seven players stood within two shots of each other. James Muller of Manufacturers G&CC held the clubhouse lead at 5-over par with the six remaining contenders still on the course and a few holes to play. Of those half dozen, which included first-round leader Michael Domenick, it was Lange who rose to the occasion. On No. 16 (par 5, 523 yards), the Brewer Cup runner-up rocketed his fairway wood second shot hole high and left of the green. His ensuing chip stopped three feet right of the hole and he made the birdie to seize the lead. McFadden, in the group behind Lange, stood at 4 over at the time.

  Lange added to his legendary status on the next hole with one of the most improbable up-and-downs in his stellar career after a 6-iron plugged in the “eyebrow” of the left greenside bunker. After a long search, fellow competitor David Brookreson found Lange’s ball buried in the long, willowy grass. An impossible chip turned miraculous when his approach somehow landed softly and stopped just six feet away. He converted the par save to remain one ahead of McFadden. Minutes earlier, McFadden, whose putter let him down at the most inopportune times all day, missed a four-foot, straight-up-the-hill birdie try on No. 16. Groupmate Thomas Bartolacci, Jr., did make birdie, however, after reaching the green area in two, and tapping in a short under-par try. That moved Bartolacci to 4 over as well.

  “Seventeen was a key hole,” said Lange. “I had just made birdie and knew where things were [in relation to the scoreboard]. I don’t make a good swing and I can’t find the ball for three or four minutes. I really thought it was a lost ball. I didn’t think we were going to find it. Sure enough I whack at it, it comes out soft and I make the putt. I went from making five or six to making three.”

  As McFadden parred No. 17 and Bartolacci registered a bogey, Lange readied his approach shot from the middle of the No. 18 (par 4, 392 yards) fairway. As good as advertised, Lange knocked his 8-iron from 135 yards to 12 feet. However, Lange, too, struggled with his putting stroke all afternoon and left his golden try short.

 “I thought I might have to make that putt. I hit it where I wanted to but I just didn’t get it to the hole,” said Lange.

  Meanwhile, McFadden answered the Lange challenge with a magnificent 132-yard, 9-iron on No. 18. Staring at a downhill, seven-footer to force a playoff, and after watching his two playing partners leave their putts below the hole, McFadden rolled his attempt to the high side.

  “The conditions were hard. For myself, especially hard was the putting and trying to stay still,” said McFadden, 60, of Newtown Square, Pa. “I missed three putts within five feet on the back nine and two on the front. I hit the ball pretty good. Some days you make [the putts], some days you don’t.”

  The day was not a total loss for McFadden. He earned his first Senior Silver Cross. Awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the Warner Cup, Chapman Cup and Senior Amateur Championship rounds, McFadden outlasted yet another clubmate, Ray Thompson, by three strokes.

  “It’s an honor winning the [Senior] Silver Cross,” said McFadden. “It would have been nice to be in a playoff with Chris [for the Senior Amateur title], but it’s good. I just had a balky putter today.”

  Lange’s victory moved him one step closer to Senior Player of the Year honors as well. Lange surged ahead of leader Chip Lutz of LedgeRock GC, who did not play in the Senior Amateur due to a prior commitment. Lange has previously won three William Hyndman, III Amateur Player of the Year awards.

NOTES-The Super-Senior Silver Cross is awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the Warner Cup (Gross), Chapman Cup (Gross) and Senior Amateur Championship rounds.