Thompson survives six-hole playoff to take Warner Cup (Gross)

  LITITZ, Pa.– It took nearly 12 hours and 24 holes for rookie senior Ray Thompson of Overbrook GC to defeat Charles “Buck” Jones in a six-hole, sudden-death playoff to take the Francis B. Warner Cup (Gross) on Wednesday at Bent Creek CC (par 71, 6,461 yards).

  “We go way back to the days when we played junior golf together 35-40 years ago, so I knew he could play,” said Thompson of Jones just after their matching rounds of 70. “Sometimes you feed off each other. I was just trying to keep close to him and maybe he was trying to keep close to me for a while.”

  Thompson, a former professional in the 1970s, and Jones swapped pars on first five playoff holes and flirted with birdies in at least four of those instances. They began the playoff on holes Nos. 10, 11, 17 and 18 before heading back to Nos. 10 and 11.

  On the sixth playoff hole (No. 11) the outcome was still very much in doubt. Thompson’s drive headed straight into the fairway bunker while Jones hit his tee shot left into the thick rough marked as a hazard along the embankment of a lake. At that point all Jones could do was advance the ball to just beyond 100 yards from the green.

  “Playoffs turn more into like match play where you try not to make a mistake,” said Thompson, who’s tee shot on the sixth playoff hole sat in the fairway bunker roughly 80 yards from the green.

  With Jones hitting his third shot into the hole, Thompson tried to play it safe from the fairway bunker and left it just short of the green in the rough.

  “It looked like he was maybe going to make a five at the absolute best and I figured I would try and play it safe and I didn’t hit it quite far enough,” Thompson said. “I didn’t just want to give it away.”

  Thompson’s third shot rolled past the hole and came to rest against the collar of the green some 15 feet from the hole. His par putt then settled just two feet to the right of the hole.

  Jones, who missed a six-foot birdie putt earlier on the third playoff hole for the win, still had a chance at bogey but saw his putt burn the left edge of the hole for a double bogey.

  With the sun setting on the horizon, Thompson tapped in for bogey to win the playoff over Jones.

  “When you miss putts like that you have to figure you’re living on borrowed time,” said Jones of his missed opportunity to win the event on the third playoff hole. “I just sort of fell apart on that last playoff hole.”

  “We each had our chances and couldn’t get a putt to go down and unfortunately he missed one on the last hole,” said Thompson, the brother of Andy Thompson, the 2006 Chapman Cup champion. “It’s always nice to win because you never know when you are going to get back here.

  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.

Results
Gross
Overall
  1. *Raymond Thompson, Overbrook GC 70
  2. Charles W. Jones, Philadelphia Publinks GA 70
  3. Alan R. Over, Bent Creek CC 71
  3. Daniel B. Burton, Bent Creek CC 71

Ages 55-59
  1. Wally Swiger, Huntingdon Valley CC 72
  2. Martin Klagholz, Rolling Green GC 73
  2. William P. Lawler, Fox Hill CC 73

Ages 60 and over
  1. Charles McClaskey, Wyncote GC 73
  2. Carl B. Everett, Merion GC 74
  2. George Carr, Running Deer GC 74
  2. Michael J. Sofranko, Wyncote GC 74
  2. Stephan H. Whitenack, Philadelphia Cricket Club 74

Super-Senior Division
  1. Richard A. Smith, Philadelphia CC 72
  2. Larry Loughner, Bent Creek CC 76
  3. Curt Fromal, The Springhaven Club 78   3. Jay Kocher, Wilmington CC 78   3. Robert C. Proto, Little Mill CC 78   3. Thomas F. Conboy, Sandy Run CC 78 *Won in a playoff