Rick Cloninger
HIGH POINT, N.C. — The National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame was a bit of a redemption run for South Carolina's Rick Cloninger. About a month ago, Cloninger lost in a playoff to Michael Mercier at the
Chanticleer Senior Invitational.
There was no playoff needed this week in High Point, N.C. as the Fort Mill resident posted rounds of 70-67-73 to claim a five-shot win over Gary Robinson and by seven of two-time winner in 2015 Bob Kearney.
Cloninger's second round is what got him at Chanticleer as he still managed to find himself in the playoff with Mercier despite shooting 79 in on day two. This time around, Cloninger posted his best score of the tournament on day two, and coasted to victory on Friday.
Second-place finishing Robinson, of Fayetteville, N.C., led by a stroke after the first round with 68, with Paul Simson trailing close behind at 69. Robinson closed with 72-75 while Simson fired 74-76.
Kearney, who kicked off the year winning at the Kingsway Senior and Old Corkscrew Senior, notched his fourth top-five of the season with a 70-76-71 showing at the Willow Creek Course at High Point Country Club.
Kearney leads the AmateurGolf.com Senior Player-of-the-Year Points race by 565 points over Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Ga., while Cloninger jumped into the top-10 with his victory. He now sits in 9th place and just 225 points out of the top-five.
For more on the Senior Rankings, click here.
In the Super Senior division, John Cuomo played steady golf, shooting 73-73-72 to claim a three-shot win over Don Marsh, John Blank, and Berger Warner. Over in the Legends division, George Owens edged Charles McClaskey by two strokes.
ABOUT THE National Senior Hall of Fame
54 hole invitational started in honor of Dale
Morey
(a member at Willow Creek) typically draws one
of the strongest fields of the year. The tournament
organizers desire to create and maintain a true and
meaningful Hall of Fame that recognizes the best in
amateur golf of national and international acclaim.
Their list of previous inductees and champions attest
to our success in these efforts, most have won
either
the U.S. or the British Senior Amateur Championship
or innumerable other prestigious championships
such
as the U.S. Amateur.
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