Kraft Sets Lancaster Course Record at State Open
LANCASTER, Pa. - Sometimes golf can seem so easy. In Monday's opening round of the 102nd Pennsylvania Open Championship at Lancaster Country Club, Kevin Kraft played well but had 32 putts en route to an opening score of 68. But the putts that weren't falling on Monday all went in on Tuesday. At least that's what it seemed like to observers, as Kraft had 12 one-putts among his 24 total putts on his way to a competitive course record of 64 (-6) and an overall lead at 8-under par. He leads by four shots over Stu Ingraham heading into Wednesday's third and final round of the championship, which is presented by LECOM.
"I didn't make anything yesterday," said Kraft, a professional from Newport, Pa. "But the greens were better today, a tiny bit faster, and that suites me. I just had really good reads on everything."
The summer of weather delays in Pennsylvania golf continued as Tuesday's round was suspended at 2:57 p.m. due to lightning in the area. That's after Monday's opening round was delayed two hours at the start and then cut short with four groups still left on the course due to inclement weather.
For Kraft, the round was another part of his comeback tour since he returned to playing competitive golf in 2015. Kraft had a 14-year professional career that included four top 10s in the Web.com Tour. But he left the game for seven years as he worked through anxiety issues. Ironically enough, his return to the competitive level came in a qualifier for the 2015 Pennsylvania Open. He made it through that qualifier and then placed fourth in the championship proper at Rolling Green Golf Club.
"I still have that anxiety," the 47-year old Kraft remarked. "But I've learned to work through it."
It didn't appear that Tuesday's round would be record-breaking after the opening hole. Kraft started on the front side and blocked his tee shot into a bunker on the right side and made bogey. After a par at the second, he then reeled off three straight birdies to get to 2-under for the day.
Kraft turned in 33 (-2) and made a nice par save on 10. Then on the 11th hole, the momentum turned to his side for good.
"I made a bomb for birdie there and the light kind of went off then," said Kraft of the 478-yard par 4.
For Kraft, who was playing the William Flynn design for just the third time in his life, there was a certain symmetry to the golf course that he was able to use to his advantage.
"Everything is uphill then downhill here," Kraft said. "You've got to play to that and I was able to do that today."
That included another birdie at the 14th, where he hit a knockdown 9-iron to seven feet. He was 4-under par with just two holes to play. On the par-3 17th, he striped a 6-iron to nine feet, just below the hole. Another one-putt put another birdie on the scorecard.
That led to the 18th and final hole of the day. After a nice tee shot, Kraft's approach with a 7-iron from 160 yards came to rest about 25 feet from the flag. But on this day, as most of his putts did, the birdie try went into the center of the cup. The score of 64 broke the competitive course record of 65 that had been done five times, including in Monday's opening round by Craig Hornberger.
For much of the day, Kraft was in a back and forth battle with Ingraham, the 1998 Pennsylvania Open champion. Ingraham, of Broomall, Pa., birdied three of his first four holes to get to 6-under for the championship and into the lead. He was still at 6-under when he got to the tee on the par-4 14th hole. But a double bogey there combined with Kraft's birdie flipped the two players on the leaderboard. Ingraham went on to post 69 and is 4-under par for the championship.
"Stu and I definitely fed off of each other these past two days," said Kraft.
The top amateur through two rounds is Carlisle's J.D. Hughes, who fired rounds of 69-68 and is 3-under par, five shots behind Kraft.
The top 40 players and ties advanced to Wednesday's final round. A total of 45 golfers will compete Wednesday, including 31 professionals. The cut line fell at 4-over par 144.
For Kraft, he's just hoping to keep up the strong play for 18 more holes.
"I hope to have a little more left in the tank for tomorrow," Kraft said.