David Nocar, the 2017 Maryland Senior Amateur champion
(MSGA photo)
URBANA, MD (September 13, 2017) - David Nocar, from Chartwell Golf and Country Club, returned a score of 3-over-par 75 (with the help of two late birdies) and won the 89th Senior Amateur championship of the Maryland State Golf Association with 71-75–146 at Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, September 13.
Craig Ostrom, from Hobbit’s Glen GC, went from last to first to second on the wings of a 68 — easily the low score for the two-day tournament — as he had opened with a 78, tying for the final place (low 24 scores and ties). The total of 146 left him in a tie for first, but he was in the second group off during a rainy morning, and later called to say he was unable to return for a playoff, as he was at work, and apologized for the situation.
Besides Ostrom, there were only five other starters in the 27-player field to post a lower second-day score, and his round gave him a seven-stroke edge on his closest challengers.
“As easy as my round was yesterday, it was that hard today,” reported Nocar, 55, a quarterfinalist in last month’s U.S. Senior Amateur championship. The tour included four successive bogeys among five for the front nine, but his last one came at the 11th, and he followed four straight pars with birdies at Nos. 16 (12 feet) and 17 (four feet).
Ostrom’s round began with a bogey at the first hole, but he birdied Nos. 5-6 and closed the nine with 35. On the back side, he birdied 11 and 14-15-16 before a bogey at the 17th. Par for the 6,434-yard layout was 36-36–72.
George Murphy, a new (this year) Hillendale CC member, ended third with 71-76–147. A co-first-round leader, he birdied the second hole, then slipped back to shoot 40 for the nine. Coming back, he offset two bogeys with an eagle-2 at the 398-yard 16th, where he hit driver, 9-iron, the latter from 132 yards.
“This was my first competitive golf in 10 years.” he said, “but I 3-putted four times and you [just] can’t do that.
Defending champion Tom Grem, from Hunt Valley GC, was fourth with 73-75–148, backed by John Lombardozzi, Redgate GC, 74-75, and Lee Flemister, University of Maryland GC, 73-76, at 149.
DAY ONE RECAP
Day 1 Recap
George Murphy, from Hillendale Country Club, fashioned a 1-under-par 71 late in the afternoon to climb into a first-place tie with David Nocar, of Chartwell CC, after the opening round of the 89th Seniors championship conducted by the Maryland State Golf Association at Worthington Manor GC in Urbana, September 12.
With a cut to the low 24 and ties, a field of 28 players at 78 and better will play the second round.
Murphy, who has an index of 0.7, started from the first tee, about 40 minutes behind Nocar, and returned a card of 36-35 that included five birdies, four bogeys, 1-under-par for the Frederick County course that was played at 6,434 yards.
Nocar, a former MSGA Amateur champion who went to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Amateur championship last month at the Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Minn., had all his non-par holes in a stretch of Nos. 11-12-13, where he went birdie-3-putt bogey-birdie and finished 36-35. He started at No. 1 and made 10 straight pars, hitting every green in the process.
Steve Ford, from Talbot CC, who finished fourth two years ago, posted 72, followed by Lee Flemister, University of Maryland GC; John Lambardozzi, RedGate GC; Larry Martone, Kenwood CC, and defending champion Tom Grem, Hunt Valley GC, all at 73.
Defending Super Senior champion Michael Weiner, from Hayfields CC, won the Super Seniors division with 38-42–80. A year ago, he won with 78-77–155 at Hunt Valley, but this year for the first time since the specific Super Seniors began in 2012, the champion did not survive the cut.
Mark Budd, from RedGate GC, and Mark Kaprelian, from Rattlewood GC, led the way in the one-day net tournament, Budd had 90-19-71 in the Super Seniors, and Kaprelian, aided by a hole-in-one, topped the Senior division with 85-14-71.
Budd was followed by Joe Smith, Timbers at Troy, 80-8-72; John Pauliny, Hillendale CC, 81-8-73, and Donald Meyer, Montgomery CC, 89-16-73. Budd started over in the first three holes, then settled down to collect three net birdies for 37 on the front nine. Coming back, he had four net birdies, two net bogeys, for 34.
The second ace of Kaprelian’s golfing career came at the 136-yard 15th, where he struck a pitching wedge. At the finish, it helped him edge Mike McKenzie, Clifton Park GC, who had net birds on both par-3’s on the back on his way to 86-14-72. Tom Whelan, an MSGA past president from Manor CC, collected two net birdies on each nine to place third with 82-8-74.
Both net divisions played the par-72 layout at 6,043 yards.
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