Wyncote GC’s Walker birdies playoff hole to nab T.O.C. title

 COATESVILLE, Pa. – Michael Walker of Wyncote GC birdied the third and final playoff hole (No. 3, par 5, 539 yards) to take the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 50^th edition of the Tournament of Champions Monday at Coatesville CC (par 71, 6,429 yards).

Walker, who was playing in his first GAP event since 1990, came off a 10-year golf hiatus to win Wyncote GC’s club championship and then Thursday’s Tournament of Champions in this his first year of returning to competitive golf.

  “I’m getting to the point where I feel like my game is good enough to start playing competitively again,” said the 39-year-old from Oxford, Pa. “For a while there my game was just not there and I didn’t want to come out and play if I didn’t feel like I could compete.”

 After each player made par on the first two playoff holes, Walker’s his tee shot on the third hole got caught up in the left rough. He was left with a difficult second shot in which he was able to work the ball around a tree leaving him 110 yards to the hole. From there, the former Elon University golfer knocked his ball to roughly seven feet left of the hole.

  “The playoff was tough,” Walker said. “These guys can certainly play.”

  Meanwhile, with Owsik out of the playoff and Walker on the green for birdie, Pruchnik, too, reached the green safely and Walsh stuck his approach shot just inside of Walker from about 90 yards out.

  But as sun continued to set, and Pruchnik’s and Walsh’s birdie putts missed, Walker was able to convert his strait putt for birdie and the win.

  “I’ve got to tell you, I was nervous,” Walker said. “I haven’t been in a playoff in probably 15 to 20 years, but once it got going I felt pretty confident in my game and luckily I made birdie on the third playoff hole to take it.”

  After the win, Walker vowed that he would once again play in GAP events in the future.

Senior Flight

McCool, who had been suffering all season from a pinched nerve in his lower back that was a result of a shift in one of the vertebra in his spine, rode a steady and accurate game to win his flight at the tight course.

  “It’s great,” McCool commented on his repeat performance. “I’m finally healthy and I think that also has an awful lot to do with how I played today.”

  He added, “I hit the ball very well and kept it in play which is obviously extremely important on this golf course.

  I’ve only played here a couple times but I did remember where I had to be coming into some greens and that helped out quite a bit,” he said.

  Despite wining this event last year after a two-hole playoff, McCool instead pointed to his experiences at the Lehigh Valley Amateur last week as a source of momentum headed into today’s event.

  “Anytime you play six matches in a tournament during a week, you’re either exhausted or you are right on top of your game,” said McCool of the Lehigh Valley Amateur where he made it to the finals. “Although I’m a little tired from that, I’d have to say it helped me out quite a bit today.”

  The Tournament of Champions is open to all current club champions and past event champions.

  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.